Changes in the England team? (Tom Partis branch)

[Mark Kidger]

Ok, Mike. I have a positive feeling about Strauss too. And knowing that Nasser will go this summer and that Thorpe will probably not go beyond 2005, it's time to start covering our options.

For what it's worth, I see Collingwood as all-purpose injury cover, not as a regular.

[DaveGillespie]

Am I the only one here who thinks that any batsman who has played county cricket for several years should be able to take care of himself against Fast-Medium bowlers (ie. Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Darryl Tuffey), dobbers (Jacob Oram) and craft Slow-Left Armers (Vettori of late) on a may greentop?

Surely if Trescothick is going to be dropped down the order, the NZ series when the ball is zipping around is the time to do it, rather than waiting until later when the pitches flatten out and movement becomes less extravagant so he can massage his figures with a big score again? But - if we do, Strauss is the only possible replacement as of now, as moving Butcher from #3 would be stupid. Is Strauss a genuine opener though, or a Trescothick/Gayle style "opener"? Some statistical analysis required when I get home tonight methinx. Ian Bell might be worth an outside punt for the openers slot too.

And another thing - if Hussain, or anyone from the middle order, is dropped for the NZ series Collingwood has to be the replacement, absolutely no question. He's the man at the front of the queue, Fletcher thinks enough of him to give him a central contract and so any notion that Ed Smith or Strauss will magically jump in front of him in the queue for a middle order berth is wrong. Strauss surely must be the front of the queue for opening, but I would imagine he and Smith are some way behind Collingwood for the middle order.

If we need 5 bowlers, it'll have to be G Jones at 5 and Flintoff at 6, or vice versa. I wouldn't feel confident with Flintoff at 5 though, and from what I saw in Antigue, albeit on a pitch that was flatter than a dead hedgehog, he looked like a chap more suited to batting higher up the order than Flintoff.

[cantplaycantalk]

On these early season pitches I don't see any advantage in playing Giles.

Bring in Collingwood play 4 seamers + Collingwood,Butcher,Trescothic,Vaughan as filler if required.

Batting order

Vaughan
Trescothic
Butcher
Hussain
Thorpe
Collingwood
Flintoff
G Jones
S Jones
Hoggard
Harmison
I know Tres is having a dreadful time at the moment, but he either needs to do the job for England or back to Somerset to work on his technique.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I think we're all united that giles wont play against NZ, he'll be even more than useless. Who to bring in ? Depends. Strauss looks a much more solid opening bat than tresco, who could move to 6, and turn his arm over, if he's effective. Never seen him bowl so cant comment really. Other option is to bring in(the centrally contracted) collingwood, who can turn his arm over. The other option is to drop nas (not totally comfortable with that) and play them both....two newbies in one go.

[Vaughan To Run]

I'd bring in Collingwood for Giles at the minute, unless Strauss has an exceptional one day series. My other change would be Bicknell for Simon Jones to exploit the early season conditions. Bit harsh I know but Bicknell bowled well for England last summer and should be given a chance again.

[Victor Frankenstein]

if you're going to bring back bicknell for jones, wouldn't caddick be a better option? or would he be for hoggard? or neither?

i'd keep hoggard myself, i know he gets a lot of stick but i think english conditions are his forte, especially early season and he did well against new zealand last time if i recall, but if caddick shows form in the early county games it would be hard to keep him out so i'd go for jones first out. Jones showed a lot of potential but he was also a little too wayward a lot of the time and maybe a few more games under his belt in the county scene will help him along, not too many mind or they'll break him.

[Mark Kidger]

VTR, I'd certainly back your comments on Nas, Collingwood, Giles, and Strauss. My guess is that long-term Strauss is the one to go for because he can open and let Trescothick go down the order, or bat at around 6 as tactics require.

Last autumn I was plugging Bicknell. Well, I was not to know that Hoggard would prove to be such an effective foil to Harmison (interesting that when Hoggard played, but not Harmison, Hoggard was ineffective; likewise, when Hoggard was off, Harmison looked less threatening). Given Hoggard's rebirth as a partner for Harmison a lot of the grounds for wanting Bicknell disappear, although you are right that he might be one to exploit early season pitches and then return to Surrey.

[Vaughan To Run]

Yeah, keep forgetting about Caddick actually. Wouldn't make two changes, so perhaps Caddick ahead of Bicknell assuming he is back to his best as he's been out for about a year I think.

Harmison and Hoggard are working well, before the Windies Bicknell for Hoggard would have been the option, but definitely not now. I really think Jones may be a bit wayward for the early conditions, I'm predicitng low scoring, rain interrupted matches where the bowling must be as tight as possible.

[Mike_Hock]

Not a fan of this idea at all I'm affraid. If Jones is to become a regular fixture in the Eng side he needs to be able to adapt his game to the conditions. I.e. Bowling on in Asia is a lot different to bowling here early on in the summer.
Another reason to play Jones is that he is more likely to take wickets then Bicknell. We have Flintoff & Hoggard who are more 'defensive' bowlers, and Harmison & Jones the 'attacking' bowler. Also why change a very successful combination?

[Mark Kidger]

Originally Posted by Vaughan To Run

Yeah, keep forgetting about Caddick actually. Wouldn't make two changes, so perhaps Caddick ahead of Bicknell assuming he is back to his best as he's been out for about a year I think.

Does anyone seriously think that Caddick will be a major force again? I really wonder if going back to him, except perhaps as a one-off, would be the right move. Why not Anderson or Mahmood?

Caddick has been picked in the past on the basis of a clatter of early season wickets for Somerset after an injury lay-off and it was not a success. He is no longer young and unlikely to go on much longer and after a year out of the game it will be tough for him to come back at the same level. Remember what happened to Gough.