Who is pushing for England places now?

[flanflinger]

Good to see Ian Bell is in the runs... He is a player who will play for England

[Victor Frankenstein]

dimitri will never get a call up because he doesn't play for a fashionable county He is english and has been performing well for a number of years, he's the only one that ever takes wickets at hampshire and often pulls us out of the mire with the bat too, shame the selectors don't go down the motorway from time to time instead of up.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Tom Partis

funnily enough i think chapple could have done a job for england, at least temporarily. i rate him higher than some seamers who've worn an england shirt over the years - mullaly, sidebottom, ormond etc

Chapple could have done a job,he has played a couple of times,never given a chance,like Schofield,That England,cant believe the England pace attack,no Anderson,57-0 as I post

Ernest

[Statto]

Victor,
You're probably going to be proved right about mascheranas but i think he would be the ideal man to come in, bat 8 and allow us to play a proper spinner when required. On current form he couuld have a chance to replace giles after todays performance but that would probably mean the selectors would have to drop a seamer (probably hoggard or jones) and replace them with a spinner just to keep themselves happy just in case the impossible happens and this pitch disintegrated. If they had the bottle to not take a spinner into matches where he would not be needed, masceranas may get his chance which i think he deserves.

[high_on_linseed]

Neither would I. But he might be more than useful injury cover.

[high_on_linseed]

I dont thnk Ryan Sidebottom is going to rock the test playing world, but when Ive seen him hes bowled ok, and hasnt bowled too many loose balls. In fact, hes a relative model of economy and consistency (seee latest county match where he bowled 14 overs for 19 runs and 3 wickets), and would be a good asset to the one-day side, in which form of the game hes considered one of the best. Better than a half-fit Gough anyway. John Lewis of Gloucs too.

[high_on_linseed]

Originally Posted by Scott-Wozniak

sostenurter

I really don't think you can assume that 'spinner' slot will go to a batsman. They may well play an extra batsman at Lords (in my mind they won't risk it) but that won't always be the case. England clearly want to play the tried and trusted formula of 3 specialist seamers + an allrounder seamer + a spinner. The questions in my mind are who should that spinner slot go to and is the batting strong enough to withstand a specialist spinner who won't contribute with the bat?

What I am sure about is that spinner slot will not go to a batsman in the majority of situations.

Scott

The "tried and trusted formula" you mention Scott, in English conditions usually produces the following results:

a) afore-mentioned spinner is bowled for 5 or 6 overs and smashed out of the attack (see Lords, Thursday)

or, the opposition rack up a big total, and the spinner is used to get through the overs, rest the quicks and ends up with figurs of 34-2-110-1

Once every few years, usually in late August/early September, and always at the OVAL, a spinner actually makes a difference to a game with his bowling.

Id like you to go through the stats of the last, say, twenty years and tell me that on the whole what Ive just said isnt true. IMHO, we should stack the batting.