Will Mark Ramprakash play for England this summer?

[wpdavid]

I've always thought Mark Butcher to be a poor cricketer and you know as well as me that Afzaal should of been a regular in the colours.

BTW, is Butcher of an Asian background?

Nope. His Dad (Alan - played a test for England in 1979) is white, and his mum's family originate in the Caribbean.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Has done nothing else of note for months though. And been out to some shocking bowlers in that time too.

 

[GIMH]

As has been said, the pressure he seemed to feel at being on 99 tons suggests he would once again have failed in Tests.

Wonder if he will go on another golden run now that he has the milestone.

 

[Richard]

Perhaps more interestingly, I wonder if we'll hear "Ramps for England" calls again should he do so.

My bet would be not but it wouldn't be a large bet.

 

[tin_tin]

Dont get me wrong he's a superb player at county level.

But just lacked any mental toughness when it came to the test arena. Had plenty of oppertunitys, and failed. Accept when he played againsed the Aussies!

 

[Richard]

Ramprakash also had success against West Indies, South Africa and Sri Lanka in 1998 and India in 2001/02.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Dont get me wrong he's a superb player at county level.

But just lacked any mental toughness when it came to the test arena. Had plenty of oppertunitys, and failed. Accept when he played againsed the Aussies!

It would be a bit difficult to get you wrong considering that up to that point you hadn't actually said anything.

 

[tin_tin]

It would be a bit difficult to get you wrong considering that up to that point you hadn't actually said anything.

Sounds like i committed a criminal offence!

He's a great player,. Just a nervous and frail batsman at times at test level. Heard storys about him being so relieved when they used to send out a nightwatchman, so he didnt have to face the last 5 overs.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Sounds like i committed a criminal offence!

No, if you do that a man wearing a blue pointy hat taps you on the shoulder and says "You're nicked squire."

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Unfortunately Ramprakash will not get a chance because the England selectors prefer investing in players with no future like Andrew Strauss rather than focussing on winning the next Ashes series.

With Ramprakash being touted for a recall this summer it's interesting to see what was being said at the start of last summer.
Particularly interesting quote from TEC about Andrew "no future" Strauss.

 

[aussie]

With Ramprakash being touted for a recall this summer it's interesting to see what was being said at the start of last summer.
Particularly interesting quote from TEC about Andrew "no future" Strauss.

Well presuming this thread was made at the end of the 2007 home summer. TEC was right ATT, given how woeful Strauss was looking. His revival is just one of things in cricket that one could never predict & thank god for ENG these days that he did.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Poor form. Butcher was always a highly capable batsman, just someone for whom everything went wrong early in his career, after he'd first looked to have been establishing himself - and he wasn't helped by continuing to be picked for too long (once going 23 innings without a half-century while missing just 1 Test - most people would be dropped long before they managed that). After his recall in 2001 he was a good Test batsman, always, and might well still be playing now but for misfortune.

In ODIs, yes - but he should never have got anywhere near the Test side.

As Dav said - mixed British-Caribbean. His dad, Alan Butcher, played a single Test for England, so therefore his mum is from somewhere in West Indies.

Reading back I find it interesting that Richard considers Butcher a 'good test batsman' after he came back in 2001 (coincides with the advent of flat tracks somewhat does it not?) yet other batsmen who shall not be named were simply flat-track bullies after finding some success during the same period.

Given he's completely free of any bias and judges players accordingly I find this slightly strange.

 

[Richard]

The 2001 Ashes certainly wasn't played on flat pitches and the Australian attack certainly wasn't a poor one. And Butcher showed quite clearly that series that he could succeed against top-quality bowling on tricky decks.

Yes, to a fair extent his scoring from 2001/02 onwards was, like everyone else, on flat pitches against moderate bowling, but he still failed when runs were there for the taking often enough, and he still played the odd blinding knock on the rare spicy deck that was served-up.

And not every batsman who succeeded from 2001/02 onwards was a flat-track bully. Though I realise my argument is easier to debunk if you try to make-out that I'm saying such a thing, so I understand why people try.

 

[Richard]

With Ramprakash being touted for a recall this summer it's interesting to see what was being said at the start of last summer.
Particularly interesting quote from TEC about Andrew "no future" Strauss.

So, hands-up, who was seriously expecting Strauss to manage the turnaround he did in 2008 and 2008/09?

The vast majority of this forum were traducing him in 2007/08 as a waste of space - it appeared for all intents and purposes that he had nothing left to offer at Test level. The flaws in his game were obvious, and teams were exploiting them seemingly without effort. It's to his considerable credit that he's overcome his faults to emerge as a good Test batsman in the last year.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

So, hands-up, who was seriously expecting Strauss to manage the turnaround he did in 2008 and 2008/09?

The vast majority of this forum were traducing him in 2007/08 as a waste of space - it appeared for all intents and purposes that he had nothing left to offer at Test level. The flaws in his game were obvious, and teams were exploiting them seemingly without effort. It's to his considerable credit that he's overcome his faults to emerge as a good Test batsman in the last year.

I'm not trying to belittle TEC for saying it. It's just interesting the way a lot of people were thinking at the time.

 

[mr_mister]

They should have given him that one last chance as an old rooster in '08

Brian Close killed it in '76 upon recall and England have a strong precedent of getting the most out of their veteran old timers

 

[turnstyle]

No. I don't think he will.