Changes in the England team? (Rachael branch- Goatman sub-branch)

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Is this the austrailia with 3 seamers and warne, plus a few overs from lehamn, martyn and the like ? Lets trust our 3 + freddie to do the job, at least in the NZ series before we start, well not so much adding a bowler more taking away a bat. The bowling is fine , the batting isnt.

[Mark Kidger]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Is this the austrailia with 3 seamers and warne, plus a few overs from lehamn, martyn and the like ? Lets trust our 3 + freddie to do the job, at least in the NZ series before we start, well not so much adding a bowler more taking away a bat. The bowling is fine , the batting isnt.

Richie, at present you are right and on juicy May greentops it is likely to be the batsmen who suffer rather than the bowlers. One suspects that the totals will be fairly low and 4 bowlers will do the job, particularly if Trescothick, Butcher and Vaughan can be relied upon to fill in for a few overs, if necessary.

In South Africa though, all bets are off. There we really do want to field 5 bowlers and 7 batsmen and if we don't we'll get found out. With Jones playing as a batsman and Freddy getting some consistent both with bat and ball, it's doable, although there we really do need to replace Giles with a competant all-rounder or, at very least, a bowler who can bat properly.

The pity is that with the series against NZ likely to be low scoring and the West Indies likely to be rolled over rather comfortably, England are not going to face a real situation where the bowling is going to be properly tested until suddenly, we are up against Smith and co in South Africa. That leads to the danger of getting comfortable, thinking that things are okay and then getting a rude awakening when the conditions are not so favourable to the bowlers!

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Some valid points in there scott. I know its early doors, but your right if we do well this summer, we could be left lacking against SA. But will we ?

They havent got a decent spinner either, just because he bowls leggies and has an action like a frog in a blender, that doesnt make him a decent bowler.

We have got what at least appear a great team spirit in our bowling unit, with jones and harmo being particularly close. This might just spur us to greater things. Lets face it if we draw or dare I say win, we're number 2 in the world andd closing in on auss.

Ntini is a fraud, how he gets wickets i do not know, but unless action is taken, one of those wickets will be tresco if he opens.

Not ruling out blackwell for the spin option. Brown etc the usual suspects when this subject is mentioned but NOT giles or batty.

i know its a longgway, but if we get through our summer OK, true greatness beckons. Or is that over the top ?

[Mark Kidger]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Some valid points in there scott. I know its early doors, but your right if we do well this summer, we could be left lacking against SA. But will we ?

Errr... Am I Scott?

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

We have got what at least appear a great team spirit in our bowling unit, with jones and harmo being particularly close. This might just spur us to greater things. Lets face it if we draw or dare I say win, we're number 2 in the world andd closing in on auss.

Team spirit is crucial and has been one of the greatest things that first Nasser Hussain and then Michael Vaughan has brought. I truly believe that the substitution of team spirit for superstars was the key factor in winning in the Carribean, and damn nearly got us a Houdini-like draw in Sri Lanka. Interestingly, we will now come up against another team that lacks superstars and in which its hard to say that more than 2 or 3 players are world-class, but that keeps winning despite that. It will be an interesting test of the irresistable force and the immovable object.

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Not ruling out blackwell for the spin option. Brown etc the usual suspects when this subject is mentioned but NOT giles or batty.

Blackwell struggles to get wickets in the county championship - only three 5-fors in his career and two of those came in the same match. He is not going to get wickets in Tests. In fact, even his ODI record is pretty poor over the last year and there is little that suggests he could make the grade in the Test side. Funny thing is though, that he might just conceivably do the job required of him in South Africa. Brown though brings severe baggage with him in that he is a natural number 12 bat and thus the tail would be severely lengthened - do we want to drop Harmison or Hoggard to avoid playing an overlong tail? Let's see though, the West Indies have got on well in the past without a front-line spinner, perhaps someone will come through this summer, or we will decide that we just don't need a spinner.

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

i know its a longgway, but if we get through our summer OK, true greatness beckons. Or is that over the top ?

Don't let anyone from the BBC South Asia MB hear that. It could cause severe heart failure and real knashing of teeth. However, it's not impossible. The gap between South Africa and the pack is small and not opening. It will take a string of good results and a lot of luck, but they are reachable. Question is, can England even share a series in South Africa?

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Sorry Mark, I saw scotts name and didnt really see a gap. Too busy rushing. Less haste more speed !

Home advantage is critical. They'll be no green pitches thats for sure, Smith will see to that. But to honest I dont know what the pitches compare to over there, they might help dictate the series. they havent got kirsten anymore either, which helps us alot.

[cantplaycantalk]

No Kirsten and Pollock is getting on a bit, he isn't the bowler he was. Still good but not as good as he was at his best.

[Mark Kidger]

Originally Posted by cantplaycantalk

No Kirsten and Pollock is getting on a bit, he isn't the bowler he was. Still good but not as good as he was at his best.

This sounds like Ollie, the BBC cricket editor, who assured me just before the series with South Africa last year that the side was there for the taking and that if we didn't beat them then, we never would!

Pollock is still a very good bowler. Ntini is a tiger at home. South Africa still have a very good pace attack and plenty of depth in the batting. Getting even a draw in the series is not going to be easy and if we are even to think about beating Australia we need to beat the likes of South Africa first. Remember how badly England were hammered in the last series there?

[cantplaycantalk]

Originally Posted by Mark Kidger

This sounds like Ollie, the BBC cricket editor, who assured me just before the series with South Africa last year that the side was there for the taking and that if we didn't beat them then, we never would!

Pollock is still a very good bowler. Ntini is a tiger at home. South Africa still have a very good pace attack and plenty of depth in the batting. Getting even a draw in the series is not going to be easy and if we are even to think about beating Australia we need to beat the likes of South Africa first. Remember how badly England were hammered in the last series there?

Indeed remember how many of the England bowlers were out injured for the SA tour?
Remember them dropping Harmison for the Headingley test?

[Mark Kidger]

Originally Posted by cantplaycantalk

Indeed remember how many of the England bowlers were out injured for the SA tour?
Remember them dropping Harmison for the Headingley test?

True and one still wonders what might have happened if team selection had been a little more inspired. Having beaten South Africa so easily in the ODIs everyone seemed to relax far too much and, with the usual 20-20 hindsight, picking Gough for the first two, back to back Tests, was a selectorial disaster. What might he have done with that pitch in the 4th Test if he hadn't been pushed into retiring?

[cantplaycantalk]

Englands bowling options seem to be expanding at an almost exponential rate at present.

How long before the number of options in the England selectors minds will be higher than Zimbabwe's average test total?