Bell called up - Butcher out of Tour

[flanflinger]

Well that ends the Key/Butcher deabte for a bit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cric...nd/4160585.stm

[Occasional Fan]

Possibly forever. It's tough on Butcher, who has had rotten luck with injuries, but this really could be curtains for him. I know he's not an old man, but there's younger blood after his place, and two tests in a year for Butcher (which it will be before the Bangladesh tour starts in May) will not be enough to keep the young blood out, I'm afraid.

[Rahul_Dravid_is_No.1]

god butcher really is unlucky. maybe he needs to be fitter? still rotten luck. cant help but fee a bit sorry for him!

[vosser]

I would hope the england selectors would take this opportunity to move on from Mark Butcher and start thinking Robert Key, Ian Bell and the many others moving into contention and producing the goods at county level. Butcher has done a fabulous job over the years but the time has come for the next step to be taken.

[Chuck Palumbo]

Bell should have been in there in the first place- Which country apart from Australia would drop a player after scoring 70 on debut? He should have least been in the squad let alone the starting XI. I think Bell is going to be the No.3 for years to come and he can also field well and turn over his arm unlike Key and Butcher

[Rachael]

Thing is.. Butcher is one of the few batsmen of recent years who has consistently threatened to take that extra step to the sort of level of play that Thorpe, for example, manages: he's improved both technically and in terms of temperament... and has looked as good a bet as Vaughan or Tresco to mature into a great Test match player.

Is Butcher, at 32, any less likely to take that step than Colingwood (nearly 29) Tresco (29), Jones (nearly 28), Strauss (27), or Key (nearly 26)?

Sure, it would be good to find that Bell is going to step up, at 22, and give 15 years of batting at the sort of level that Thorpe manages... but there's no more evidence to suggest that wil happen than there is to suggest that Butcher is going to cap his career with a further 5 years in which he shines - and Butcher does at least bring experience (70+ Test matches) to the side!

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

He can be a "grafter" somthing the england batting line up lacks. Having said that he can be very impatient and is as guilty as anyone else with rash shots. Key can be a decent replacement, but not sure he's a better prospect than Bell. Collingwood isnt going to claim the number 3 spot anytime soon.

[Chuck Palumbo]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Thing is.. Butcher is one of the few batsmen of recent years who has consistently threatened to take that extra step to the sort of level of play that Thorpe, for example, manages: he's improved both technically and in terms of temperament... and has looked as good a bet as Vaughan or Tresco to mature into a great Test match player.

Is Butcher, at 32, any less likely to take that step than Colingwood (nearly 29) Tresco (29), Jones (nearly 28), Strauss (27), or Key (nearly 26)?

Well the fact is that Butcher still only averages 34 and hasn't scored a test century for nearly 18 months- Clearly not good enough for a No.3 and even Vaughan who has been going through a miserable time in the last 18 months has scored 4 centuries and still averages Mark Butcher's career average in that time span. I just feel we need to take the step forward now and that means dropping Butcher for good and that either Key or Bell replace him.

[John]

I think England ought to stick with Butcher once he has recovered from his injury. I just don't see any batsmen knocking at the door. I think if Key was the answer we would know it by now. Bells been talked about on and off for a couple of years hardly a ringing endorsement.
But you know Butcher has got important runs before and not just against the hopeless attacks of New Zealand and West Indies.

[Ernest]

I don't think as a cricketer we cant write Butcher of yet, but there will soon come a point when Key will take over, and that will like as not be soon.

I wonder if he is injured as bad as we think, or has he perhaps he is not as commited as he was, this happens to all players at some stage.

Butcher is one of those few players who one can say, is a better player than his average sugests, it is sad but I think we may well have seen the end of one of the best England players, scoring runs is not always the full picture, I think this is one such case.