Who should be England's third seamer?

[Furball]

Poll to follow.

Think it's fair to say that Broad, after appearing to have turned the corner in 2009/10, has been majorly unconvincing this series. He seems completely unable to take wickets at the moment - and whilst he's had 2 fairly serious injuries in the last 6 months he needs to go back to county cricket and get some wickets under his belt. Shame there's pretty much no Championship cricket between now and the first Test.

Personally I'd go with Bresnan if he's fit - a huge hallmark of our success in Melbourne and Sydney was Bresnan keeping things tight as **** and almost boring the Aussies out - I reckon we'll need to adopt similar tactics at times to a batting lineup as powerful as India's this summer. Although Finn takes wickets, he doesn't build pressure the way Bresnan does.

 

[Furball]

And as dumbass me forgot to tick the 'add poll' box, we're stuck until a kind mod puts one in.

 

[Howe_zat]

Yeah, agree. I generally consider myself less trigger-happy than the average fan but I'd be happy to see him come out for the First Test. Maybe if he bowls excellently for Notts we can keep him, but if he's more a hinderance to them than anything else, like in April-May, we can look at someone else.

Bresnan I'm a big supporter of and would be happy to be in the side. I also think we ought to be keeping a very close eye on Graham Onions.

 

[GIMH]

Onions

 

[Jono]

Yeah If I was an England fan I'd be wanting Bresnan lining up as 3rd seamer.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Bres for me too. The quartet that bowled out Australia twice in both Melbourne and Sydney must have something going for it.

His extra runs a bonus as well, obvz.

 

[grecian]

Finn takes wickets, don't care how he does it, but he does.

 

[Uppercut]

Leaning towards Bresnan at the moment but it's too early to tell. A bunch of the candidates aren't even fully fit.

 

[Shri]

Oh sorry, I thought this was BOTM.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Finn takes wickets, don't care how he does it, but he does.

The trouble is he can be expensive; the two Andys made the tough (but correct IMHO) decision to cut the big lad for the last two tests of the Ashes tour because of it and, India have a 24-karat batting line up, so think the same could apply.

 

[Goughy]

Probably Finn or Bresnan.

With 4 bowlers you still need to take 20 wickets so everyone has to be able to make big contributions.

Finn has done little wrong-- even if he has bowled mainly at weakish line-ups, Broad looks out of sorts. Finn averages 4+ wickets a test. Broad averages less than 3. It is hard to ask the other 3 guys to regularly take 17 wickets to win a Test.

If not Finn then Bresnan. Can also take wickets but 1 run an over more economical than Finn, and offers something with the bat and can bowl to a plan.

Bresnan is the conservative pick but I dont think batting is important at 9 and, for all his faults, Finn may offer slightly more cutting edge. Flip a coin for me.

It really depends on the strategy England wants. Do they want to be able to keep pushing after the new ball has gone or do they want someone they can throw the ball to when the batsman as scoring freely and can bowl to a field?

 

[Howe_zat]

Probably Finn or Bresnan.

With 4 bowlers you still need to take 20 wickets so everyone has to be able to make big contributions.

Finn has done little wrong-- even if he has bowled mainly at weakish line-ups, Broad looks out of sorts. Finn averages 4+ wickets a test. Broad averages less than 3. It is hard to ask the other 3 guys to regularly take 17 wickets to win a Test.

If not Finn then Bresnan. Can also take wickets but 1 run an over more economical than Finn, and offers something with the bat and can bowl to a plan.

Bresnan is the conservative pick but I dont think batting is important at 9 and, for all his faults, Finn may offer slightly more cutting edge. Flip a coin for me.

It really depends on the strategy England wants. Do they want to be able to keep pushing after the new ball has gone or do they want someone they can throw the ball to when the batsman as scoring freely and can bowl to a field?

Good post. With regards to the bolded part, I think the latter may be more necessary given the batting lineup we'll be taking on. I also rate Bresnan's batting a bit higher than that, he'll be in at 8 ahead of Swann, who seems to have been having real problems with the willow lately.

 

[Goughy]

Good post. With regards to the bolded part, I think the latter may be more necessary given the batting lineup we'll be taking on. I also rate Bresnan's batting a bit higher than that, he'll be in at 8 ahead of Swann, who seems to have been having real problems with the willow lately.

Yeah you are right, Bresnan would bat 8 but the point I meant was that with Swann as a fine 8 then batting isnt really relevant in the conversation when picking your best 3 quicks. The selection should be exclusively based on bowling.

 

[Howe_zat]

True, but if there's not much difference in the bowling (as I happen to think) then it's fair enough to pick the guy who'll get you some extra runs too.

 

[Athlai]

I said Broad but I'd have Bresnan come in if he failed.

 

[Goughy]

True, but if there's not much difference in the bowling (as I happen to think) then it's fair enough to pick the guy who'll get you some extra runs too.

You pick the one that fits the role you want for the 3rd seamer. In order to be a success you first have to know what is expected of you. England will know what role they want the 3rd seamer to play with the ball. Finn and Bresnan offer very different skill sets. It isnt a like for like choice.

Personally I would go with the guy that offers the slightly sharper cutting edge which may be Finn. There is always Swann to tie up an end. I would like England to try and pick their three most penatrative seamers.

Others may want someone more capable of bowling to a plan and regaining contol of situation. As I said, Swann provides that option for me.

Know the plan, define a role, pick a player that fits the role and define success based on how they meet the aims. Id be happy if Finn took 4-5 wickets a Test at 4+ runs per over.

 

[BoyBrumby]

My take on it is that both Andersona and Tremlett are more likely to pick up wickets than any of the other options so we should pick the chap who most complements them. Broad and Finn both seem to release the pressure by serving up a few buffet balls amidst the wicket taking deliveries.

Bresnan keeps things tight, does swing it and is quick enough so would get my vote.

 

[Goughy]

My take on it is that both Andersona and Tremlett are more likely to pick up wickets than any of the other options so we should pick the chap who most complements them. Broad and Finn both seem to release the pressure by serving up a few buffet balls amidst the wicket taking deliveries.

Bresnan keeps things tight, does swing it and is quick enough so would get my vote.

Thats fair enough. I dont think there are any clear right or wrong answers to the question. I do think that puts a lot of pressure on Tremlett and Anderson though.

 

[silentstriker]

Is Dale Steyn eligible yet?

 

[silentstriker]

From an Indian pov, id least like to see Finn.