"Foreign" English Players. So What?

[Notts Exile]

Why worry about Law? Pietersen in his place instead!! Fourteen years younger, and hasn't played at all in South Africa for four years now .......... oh, and at least his Mum is English!

[darren cook]

And MINE .

[James M]

Can you bat 4??

[Victor Frankenstein]

I would rather lose the ashes than have non-britons playing. But by that i mean people that want to be british and want to represent their country (or as close to it as possible seeing as it's not a british team), i have no problem with people choosing a different country to the one they were born in or to the one they live in, so long as they are choosing the country and not just choosing the game.

So, ignoring his age, if Law wanted to play for england because he considers himself to be english and wants to beat australia with all his heart then i'd gladly welcome him into the side, but if he's just doing it so he can play test cricket and he would play for aserbijan if they played test cricket then i'd say no.

Nass and Hick are good examples, Nass to me is the epitome of an englishman and goes out every game wanting to represent his country and fight for it on the sporting arena. Hick on the other hand never looked particular proud of his shirt or interested in what he was doing and imo was playing simply so he could play test cricket, and going by some of the things said about him in recent autobiographies, particularly regarding world cups, this is actually the case, british for convenience is not british.

As someone else said, pieterson could walk into the SA side tomorrow if he'd chosen to, but he's chosen england and so i'll give him the benefit of the doubt that aswell as his own personal pride he wants to represent his country.

[James M]

When Rod Marsh said he was '100% English', I was at first sceptical. But now, I think his passions and energies are channelled totally towards the good of English cricket. How do we know Law will not be the same and dedicate himself purely to the cause? We don't! If we wasn't so talented, I would have an issue. But my main concern is the success and progression of the England cricket team and winning the Ashes. If the inclusion of one Aussie helps one or both of those, then why not?

[Notts Exile]

Chances are there is one place up for grabs and I would far rather select Pietersen than Law. Apart from my obvious pro-Notts bias Pietersen has age well on his side and if he progresses will give England many years of service. I don't see Fletcher picking Law purely because he is that old, he would rather go for someone who they can get more out of in the longer run.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

When do we play the aussies next anyway ?

[Victor Frankenstein]

because he's not really shown any inclination before to dedicating himself to the cause, being a coach is different as then it becomes a job so people do well in order to keep that job or get another, i'm sure he'd do well but it's just a personal thing rather than a logical thing. The logical thing would be to pick the best eligible players, but i personally would prefer a team of passionate performers than a team of players only out for themselves. The inclusion of an aussie into an english team would defeat the object of calling it an english team, but as i said, english is just a label for a persons way of life imo, if he wants to be english then he can be.

[Essex Eagle]

Originally Posted by James M

When Rod Marsh said he was '100% English', I was at first sceptical. But now, I think his passions and energies are channelled totally towards the good of English cricket. How do we know Law will not be the same and dedicate himself purely to the cause? We don't! If we wasn't so talented, I would have an issue. But my main concern is the success and progression of the England cricket team and winning the Ashes. If the inclusion of one Aussie helps one or both of those, then why not?

My problem with Law is that when he was at Essex, he gave an interview to the local radio.

In it he was talking about Aussies as 'us' and trying to explain what England 'you' had to do with county cricket to make England more competitive.

[Teatime FatCat]

[quote=Victor Frankenstein]I would rather lose the ashes than have non-britons playing. But by that i mean people that want to be british and want to represent their country (or as close to it as possible seeing as it's not a british team), i have no problem with people choosing a different country to the one they were born in or to the one they live in, so long as they are choosing the country and not just choosing the game.


Couldn't agree more. And again - why no mention by Law of a desire to play for England over the last couple of years. At least then it might seem a bit more as if he meant it, and that it is not just a convenient situation for him.

He's foreign, he's probably played against England on our Australian tours, he'll be 37, he'll have questionable motivation to do well - why should Fletch pick him?

I don't recall there being a clamour for Wasim, Mushy, Spearman or Franklyn Stephenson to be incorporated into the England team after playing here for several years and being ignored by their own slectors. They were pretty good players too!