My Team For Headingly

[Electric Vic]

Originally Posted by Oliver

This is based on the assumption that it's a seamers wicket so we need to pack the side with batting.
Strauss to open with Trescothick at six is your preferred version I imagine. Why drop Hussain from four?
Drop him down to three, leave out Butcher and put the fear of god in him.
He'll probably bat quite well after Nasser's retirement.

Not sure if the assumption that Headingley is a seamer's wicket holds any more - isn't it more of a featherbed these days? There have been a couple of matches there this season - not excessively high scoring, but with no major batting collapses.

All of these posts saying we can keep Strauss and Butcher in the side by dropping Giles are wishful thinking. Giles will play, I'm fairly sure. Dropping Butcher doesn't mean he has suddenly become a bad player - it just means that others with stronger claims than him have moved ahead in the queue.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Rich Greenfield

I'd swap Thorpe and Hussian becuase the best batsmen in the side should bat at 4 and imo that is Thorpe (except Vaughan). I'd stick Vaughan up top as he is a very good opener and I reckon if possible you should always have a left/right to disrupt the opening bowlers. You can't drop Butcher because of one bad test, don't forget he has average well over 40 in the last 2 years

I think it was on the BBC boards a few months ago. There was a discussion that the top Test sides appear to have three batsmen averaging in excess of fifty and three who average above forty.

Given that we allow Butcher as an over forty man because of recent form, depsite the fact that he's an over 35 man.
Thorpe, Trescothick and Vaughan are our over forties.
Oh hell...we need some over fifties.

And we've got Hussain at 37 ish. But he's got to play, because he's just won us a match...but he is about to retire.
And Flintoff is an allrounder - and like Butcher his figures have definitely improved of late. I believe on recent form, he too is averaging over forty. That's great.

We've got five guys (two by default) averaging over forty and one under.
So that's it we're not a top Test nation.

Hang on, Strauss is averaging 97.5. Well he's only played one match so let's leave him out.

Because that won't affect him at all will it? He's still young, he can come back.

OK this is all a bit of fun...so I will just say here that "ahem I have a theory" that if a side has a TOP bowling attack, then the batsmen do tend to do better. The bowlers DO knock over the opposition, the pressure is off and the batsmen WILL make big runs.

So this is sad, for the guys who retire over the next couple of seasons...but I reckon the way our attack is shaping up now, the incoming batsmen are going to find themselves averaging very much higher than English batsmen have of late.

And about bloody time too.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Indeed EV. Unless it ****es down till we play NZ we're putting up with Giles again. The strauss/butch/nas/tresco dropping quadangle (?) will run and run, but the weak link of this side is Giles. Put someone else in. Anyone else in. Keedy if you want. Swann also seems handy with a bat. At the moment we've an embaressment of riches batting wise. Whoever doesnt play will be upset but deepdown, they'll accept it because we can be pretty happy with any combo in that top 5. But whoever it is will thinking that england have a player in the side who is blatantly not good enough.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Indeed EV. Unless it ****es down till we play NZ we're putting up with Giles again. The strauss/butch/nas/tresco dropping quadangle (?) will run and run, but the weak link of this side is Giles. Put someone else in. Anyone else in. Keedy if you want. Swann also seems handy with a bat. At the moment we've an embaressment of riches batting wise. Whoever doesnt play will be upset but deepdown, they'll accept it because we can be pretty happy with any combo in that top 5. But whoever it is will thinking that england have a player in the side who is blatantly not good enough.

OR on the other hand, whoever it is will be bloody determined to prove that HE is the right man for the job the next time he gets a go.

And that's how it should be.

Look at Australia.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Originally Posted by Oliver

OR on the other hand, whoever it is will be bloody determined to prove that HE is the right man for the job the next time he gets a go.

And that's how it should be.

Look at Australia.

I agree Oliver. Competition will bring out the best in players, certainly if places are rotated "slightly", perhaps a more horses-for-courses policy. But as I said they still feel a ********** off about the fact our Ashley is playing yet devoid of any talent. Whoever is dropped will be sticking pins in ashley giles rather than there batting teammates.

Well perhaps not, but I would.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

I agree Oliver. Competition will bring out the best in players, certainly if places are rotated "slightly", perhaps a more horses-for-courses policy. But as I said they still feel a ********** off about the fact our Ashley is playing yet devoid of any talent. Whoever is dropped will be sticking pins in ashley giles rather than there batting teammates.

Well perhaps not, but I would.

Fair enough Richie...sorry I didn't catch your original drift.
Useless pair of hands me.

[high_on_linseed]

Even Australia made selection errors - Symonds for Katich in Sir Lanka. not too clever methinks. But thefact is, as you say, they are son brimful of talent, the odd quirky selection doesnt matter. With England it still does. It matters dude, it matters!

[Tom Partis]

Originally Posted by high_on_linseed

Vaughan, Strauss, Butcher, Hussain, Thorpe, Trescothick, Flintoff, G Jones, S Jones, Hoggard, Harmison.

that's the team i'd have for headingly. makes the most sense to my mind. right batting order as well.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Tom Partis

that's the team i'd have for headingly. makes the most sense to my mind. right batting order as well.

Fine, if that's the way you want it.

I refer you to the new thread I've just started.

[kriss]

.

My squad for the Leeds test is:



Vaughan



Trescothick

Strauss

Hussain

Thorpe

Collingwood

Jones

Flintoff

Giles

Jones

Hoggard

Harmison



This is assuming Hussain isn't going to retire.

No problem dropping Butcher as his batting is bad and his fielding stinks. If by some rare chance the conditions at Headingly require a spinner then I’d play Giles otherwise I would have Colly as the second all rounder.

IMO Hoggard needs to take some wickets this test or he’s going to be dropped.