Bothan says,Hussain out Colly,or Strauss in

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

OK who would swap around batting wise ? If we are going to be really ruthless you could pick the best 6 bats, jones the gloves and our 4 best seamers but that aint going to include freddie.

Look at our current top 5, change how you see fit and show me how we'll get any bigger scores than we are already getting.

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by ernest

Dont Forget next year is 2005 if you are saying leave him in to play against the Australians,fair enough,but to my mind,if he is not in the selectors plans for 2005,he would be better going now,I take your point Kirsty but he has to be in for 2-3 years or go now.I dont mind I think he is class,lots of gets,

Lots of guts,same as Stewart,i am sure he retired,he played some good innings for England,and saved their blushes more than once,I recall he seemed to bat with the tail enders a lot,

Not with yu there Kirsty Top Chap,stewart....

Ernest

I haven't said that there is anything wrong with Stewart (although I do find him very smug!), and I agree he has been a great player for England (leading test run scorer of the 1990's, least we forget..).

My point is that everyone seemed determined to allow Stewert his moment of glory, even though he was in dire form most of the winter and did little that summer to justify his place in the side. I didn't hear many calls for him to be dropped in favour of Read or Jones... and I guess on balance I don't begrudge him it. I feel Hussain has done enough for this country to be allowed to reach his 100 test match target, and I think he is still in good enough form to squeak into the side. It would be a tough person weho decided he didn't have the right. If this is not the Austrialian way, then I'm pleased we aren't like them...

[Scott-Wozniak]

Originally Posted by high_on_linseed

Obviously, individual bias cannot be eliminated either. i notice, for example, Scott that you were just itching...aching even...to get Tres (who averages 41) out of the side after a few bad innings. But Nas should be kept on just out of sentiment it seems.

HOL

You make some very good points and some not quite so fair ones!

I'm loathe to raise the Tresco issue again (my views on this I think are fairly well known) but I think it's a little unfair to say I'm biased against Tresco and for Nas. It's true I hold Nasser Hussain in very high esteem, as a Captain, as a batsman and as a person. So I guess, in Nas's case there is a little bias there, but not so much that I think he should keep his place if he wasn't performing - he's doing just enough to keep it at the moment.

As I've said many times on here - yes I'm very concerned about the failures of the two openers, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here as I'll be going over old ground, but lets just say the two openers set the tempo for the whole innings and if both of them fail it does put a lot of pressure on the middle order. You can't do a lot about Vaughan, as Captain he's guaranteed his place, but you can do something about the other opener slot. I'm not just calling for Trescothick to be replaced on one poor tour, but there does seem to be evidence that suggests that Tresco does well on flat tracks but not so well on tracks where the ball is swinging and seaming - and that's exactly the kind of tracks England will be playing the Kiwi's on. If I'm right - Trescothick will fail to make any useful contribution with the bat against the Kiwi's - I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see it.

Scott

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Kirsty Harris

Ernest

I haven't said that there is anything wrong with Stewart (although I do find him very smug!), and I agree he has been a great player for England (leading test run scorer of the 1990's, least we forget..).

My point is that everyone seemed determined to allow Stewert his moment of glory, even though he was in dire form most of the winter and did little that summer to justify his place in the side. I didn't hear many calls for him to be dropped in favour of Read or Jones

He may have gone on a little to long I dont know Kirsty,I always thought he kept warren Hegg out of the side,he was a good keeper,and a very good bat,as good,as Read,or jones I would say,just Heggs luck to be in the shadow of Stewart.

Botham has maid a strange statement,He says Nasa should go,to help the younger ones,and went on to say(this is from memory)it wouls be bad if hussain,Thorpe,orButcher all went at the same time,to be honest this has bothered me for a while.
he picked Hussain as the one to go first.

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by Scott-Wozniak

It's true I hold Nasser Hussain in very high esteem, as a Captain, as a batsman and as a person. So I guess, in Nas's case there is a little bias there, but not so much that I think he should keep his place if he wasn't performing - he's doing just enough to keep it at the moment.

My thoughts exactly - if he'd got no runs in the WI's, I could understand it, but he didn't do badly at all! And I think Naz has been such a key figure in the England side over the years, I am puzzled why some of the cricket media don't have a little more respect for him.

Still haven't won me over re: Tres though!!

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by ernest

He may have gone on a little to long I dont know Kirsty,I always thought he kept warren Hegg out of the side,he was a good keeper,and a very good bat,as good,as Read,or jones I would say,just Heggs luck to be in the shadow of Stewart.

Botham has maid a strange statement,He says Nasa should go,to help the younger ones,and went on to say(this is from memory)it wouls be bad if hussain,Thorpe,orButcher all went at the same time,to be honest this has bothered me for a while.
he picked Hussain as the one to go first.

Yep, Stewert the batsmen kept many a good keeper out of test match cricket!! Shame really- he could have been an even better batsmen if he hadn't had to bat with the tail half the time!!

I agree that it would be bad for England if all the middle order went at the same time, but the indication is that Hussian will retire after this summer, but Buther and Thorpe seem likely to go on a while. Certainly, Butcher intends to play next summer, and with all his talk about Zimbabwe, it seems likely Thorpe intends to play this winter (politics aside).

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Kirsty Harris

Yep, Stewert the batsmen kept many a good keeper out of test match cricket!! Shame really- he could have been an even better batsmen if he hadn't had to bat with the tail half the time!!
Kirsty

I agree that it would be bad for England if all the middle order went at the same time, but the indication is that Hussian will retire after this summer, but Buther and Thorpe seem likely to go on a while.

We are at one over stewart,nothing to add spot on.

Problem is if Hussain goes through the summer(and you have answered my other point re thorpe and butcher.) it only leaves next winter for a new batsman to settle in,there may be no cricket next winter,and even if there is it will be against,rubbish opposition

I think the selectors are on the horns of a dialema Hmmm

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by ernest

Problem is if Hussain goes through the summer(and you have answered my other point re thorpe and butcher.) it only leaves next winter for a new batsman to settle in,there may be no cricket next winter,and even if there is it will be against,rubbish opposition

I think the selectors are on the horns of a dialema Hmmm

Sure, but Strauss (or Collingwood, but I prefer Strauss) has at least had some international experience in the recent OD series, and should play the OD games this summer against some good bowlers. I know this doesn't square up with playing in the test series and requires a whole different approach, but he wouldn't be an international newcomer next summer, especially if he played on the winter tours.

Sure, it's a tricky one, but I'm convinced they will stick with Naz for the time being.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Kirsty Harris

Sure, it's a tricky one, but I'm convinced they will stick with Naz for the time being.

Sent tou a reply,its gone,bet the other turns up when I have wrote this,two choices Kirsty,let Hussain play his 5 matches he wants to play,

or let him carry on playing until 2006,to be honest I think he is better than Collingwood or Straus,Bothams right though they need blooding,
Tricky one ,like you say

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by ernest

Sent tou a reply,its gone,bet the other turns up when I have wrote this,two choices Kirsty,let Hussain play his 5 matches he wants to play,

or let him carry on playing until 2006,to be honest I think he is better than Collingwood or Straus,Bothams right though they need blooding,
Tricky one ,like you say

We shall see... not long till we find out, anyway!

I've just cut my hand stripping wallpaper