Onto 2015

[Furball]

And now the draw for England's 3rd seamer for the Melbourne Test. Number 14 - Boyd Rankin!

"This is the first time that number 14 has been selected since our Tour Squad Lottery Draw 3 months ago"

 

[Cabinet96]

I really have little idea about which players will come in. We'll have a better idea by the time of the first test against SL. Should probably be Balance coming in for Trott for continuity, although with this England they'll probably bring in someone completely knew.

 

[Cabinet96]

I suppose I'm biased against most allrounders really. I think the idea of playing 2 spinners was already a bit off, and then the idea that Woakes would be enough as third seamer was also a little silly.

They could've played any of their reserve third seamers and it would've been better preparation for the return series. Even resting Anderson or Broad would've made more sense to me than going for an allrounder.

I suppose that's not really arrogant.

I think they had to get through much more Woakes overs than they would've wanted due to both losing the toss and Kerrigan's stock ball being a long hop. Definitely see how testing a potential third seamer for down under could've been useful though.

 

[91Jmay]

Woakes is a good player, to suggest picking a bloke who has been dominating domestic cricket for best part of 3 years is arrogance is a bit strange to be honest.

 

[Spikey]

Furball WAG. Although i posted the same thing at the squad announcement and got no likes, so not particularly impressed with that.

it does over-look Bairstow though, and as I said to you following your post, I think Bairstow was, apart from Kerrigan and Woakes, the guy who showed most clearly that he hasn't ready for test cricket, yet he stayed and Onions, Compton, Taylor etc were cycled out. His selection never made sense to me

 

[marc71178]

Onions was royally ****ed but they'd always royally ****ed him.

How so?

For all his wicket taking at county level (a lot of which come in very helpful conditions), he's never done well for England away from home.

 

[Dan]

How so?

For all his wicket taking at county level (a lot of which come in very helpful conditions), he's never done well for England away from home.

We're talking about Finn, Tremlett and Rankin as alternatives here. Tremlett doesn't take wickets at county level, Rankin is crazily overrated IMO and Finn has never bowled all that well for England in Test cricket, as far as memory serves. It isn't like Onions is the worst option, even if he hasn't had that much success overseas. Success at home is still success, which is more than you can say for the rest in recent times.

I'd be taking a look at Keith Barker as a potential future #8 or #9. Can't say I recall seeing much of his bowling, but he has performed very well for Warwickshire. If he's a bit quicker than Woakes he could be very handy to have.

 

[GIMH]

No-one. England's attack goes to pieces without him.

This is Anderson's first properly bad series in years and the bowling has gone completely to ****.

The bowling hasn't gone to ****. We've struggled in the 2nd digs because of the way Australia have been able to play, but we've by no means bowled poorly per se. Broad has been our best player, I'd say.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

The bowling hasn't gone to ****. We've struggled in the 2nd digs because of the way Australia have been able to play, but we've by no means bowled poorly per se. Broad has been our best player, I'd say.

Agree with this, our first innings bowling displays have been fine for the pitches they have bowled on. The 2nd innings canings have come because they haven't had a rest and the Aussies have exploited that like England did at Lord's.

 

[Tpw123]

So what kind of hypothetical lineup could England be looking at for the next Ashes. If Pietersen calls it quits, something like:

Cook
Compton/Robson
Root
Taylor
Ballance
Buttler/Bairstow
Stokes
Broad
Coles/Meaker/Finn
Anderson
Kerrigan/Beer

12th Man : Tredwell/Panesar

?

I'm basing it on my by-no-means extensive knowledge of county cricket and various other aspects over the last couple of seasons, so I daresay hardly any of these players will feature!

Are you suggesting there will be no bell in 2 years time.

 

[NUFAN]

To copy GIMH, here's my opinion of the likely squad:

Still in the side:
Warner, Smith

Maybes:
Watson, Clarke, Bailey, Siddle, Lyon, Johnson, Harris

Nots:
Rogers, Haddin

So the two youngest are going to be there and the two oldest wont be. Nice likely squad.

 

[morgieb]

So the two youngest are going to be there and the two oldest wont be. Nice likely squad.

Lyon is younger than Warner.

 

[NUFAN]

Meh. You hardly put your balls on the line with your post though, which is what I was getting at.

 

[Spark]

It's interesting to see how England, barring yesterday really when the game was up and they played with freedom and nothing to lose, seem to only bat in one gear (not third). It's very one paced for the most part and as others have said, there doesn't seem to be a plan B when it isn't working. Your problem if you drop someone like KP is you're taking away one of th few batsmen who can play an up tempo game.

If you're playing moderate bowling then you can go along as you please. But if you have an attack which is bowling well, the approach England takes to its batting doesn't really throw much pressure back on the bowlers.

Spot on. There's complaints about England batting too aggressively - which is odd for a team that consistently bats at 2.7, 2.8RPO.

Losing your wickets to aggressive shots is a different matter, and it's not like batting too passively is unrelated to that.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Cook
Root
Bell
Ballance
Taylor
Stokes
Bairstow
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Overton/Finn

That is my early guess at the England side for the 1st ashes test of 2015.

 

[Tromperie]

Are you suggesting there will be no bell in 2 years time.

My mistake, substitute Compo (or a younger opener like Robson or Chopra) for Root and put Bell at 3.

 

[91Jmay]

I'd be shocked if Bairstow has done enough to permanently unseat Prior in 2015 to be honest.

Keith Barker is a pure swing bowler and barely gets it up above mid 80s (that's being kind to be honest low 80s more like), could be good enough in England ,though I'd have my doubts to be honest, but would never have enough to tour anywhere. Obviously he'd be a very good guy to have at 8/9 with the bat though.

The lack of a 3rd seamer is a huge worry. Part of the reason I think Rankin should get the nod next two tests (although ridiculous really as he should have played here). We know Bresnan/Tremlett aren't going to be the guys so we might as well have a look at Boyd. Steven Finn needs a good summer of cricket away from England team next year IMO, he still has the potential to be a good test bowler but needs some first class cricket and to sort his run up out.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I'm not sure attitude is an issue, save maybe KP

Really? I think one of the big things that got up the noses after Australia was the hubris around the English players.

Even something like Stuart Broad bringing in the newspaper after Day 1 of the Test series seemed a bit off. Was Warner-esque (doesn't count for him, his "how far ahead of yourself are you?" settings are at max levels, 24/7).

 

[vic_orthdox]

The bowling hasn't gone to ****. We've struggled in the 2nd digs because of the way Australia have been able to play, but we've by no means bowled poorly per se. Broad has been our best player, I'd say.

Yup, a bit like the last series out here, where our bowling was inconsistent, but really was the secondary issue after the batting put in limp efforts/was outclassed by Anderson.

Last time out here, all the English bowlers managed to find just a little hint of shape; not big benders but just moving the ball a tad. They haven't been able to do that so far; although to be fair they did this best in Melbourne and Sydney last time, so it will be interesting to see how they fare there.

 

[GIMH]

Really? I think one of the big things that got up the noses after Australia was the hubris around the English players.

Even something like Stuart Broad bringing in the newspaper after Day 1 of the Test series seemed a bit off. Was Warner-esque (doesn't count for him, his "how far ahead of yourself are you?" settings are at max levels, 24/7).

Well I guess it depends what you're looking at in terms of 'attitude'. I link it to their commitment to their performance & the team. I love KP but there's enough in the recent past for his to be questioned. The others may believe their own hype too much etc, but I don't think it's an application issue. I suppose it depends on context, semantics etc.