England Lions v West Indies

[darksideofthemoon]

England Lions squad v West Indies – one-day Tour match at Worcester, Thursday June 21
Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire) captain
Kabir Ali (Worcestershire)
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Gareth Batty (Worcestershire)
Tim Bresnan( Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Leicestershire)
Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire)
Will Jefferson (Nottinghamshire)
Ed Joyce (Middlesex)
Paul Nixon (Leicestershire)
Owais Shah (Middlesex)
Michael Yardy (Sussex)

I was surprised at some of the selections. I thought Kirtley and Onions would be in the team. Graveney said this was the next best to the Test side.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by darksideofthemoon

Graveney said this was the next best to the Test side.

Did he not mean ODI side, because I assume that this A team is playing an one day game, therefore it the A side for the ODI team...

[greg]

This looks a promising one day squad,at least the likes of Gidman,Bresnan and Kabir Ali are in some sort of form this season.Just wish James Hildreth had been looked at as he is in exceptional form.

[darksideofthemoon]

Well Broad, Joyce, Anderson and Nixon were in the WC squad
and Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Strauss, Panesar and Vaughan are in the Test side so they would be rested.

Lewis, Flintoff and Mahmood are injured
Bopara and Plunkett are in the FPT semi-finals
and the only player that misses out from the WC squad that is not involved in the Tests is Dalrymple.

I should have said the next best players available rather than the next best to the Test side.

They are not picking a specialist 20/20 side for the World Cup and haven't decided if Vaughan will be in the ODI side but they have had talks about the ODI side and Vaughan was included in those talks about how they want the team to progress.

No players from the FPT semi finals have been picked but I suppose if someone was to have a brilliant game he would be in the mix. Hants, Essex, Durham and Warks are the 4 teams so players from there could be Mascarenhas, Tremlett, Bopara, Pettini, Onions, Plunkett.

Players like Benning, Loye, Kirtley, Blackwell, Read, Clarke, etc must be out of the reckoning otherwise I think they would be in the Lions squad.

[Rachael]

Cricinfo notes that the squad does not include any players from Durham, Essex, Hampshire or Warwickshire, as they are involved in Wednesday's semi-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy... so Graham Onions, Phil Mustard, James Foster and Dmitri Mascarenhas miss out.

They have them lining up as follows:

1 Will Jefferson
2 Ed Joyce
3 Vikram Solanki (capt)
4 Owais Shah
5 Michael Yardy
6 Alex Gidman
7 Paul Nixon
8 Tim Bresnan
9 Stuart Broad
10 Kabir Ali
11 James Anderson
12 Gareth Batty

No real surprises... but nice to see solid county stalwarts mixed in with academy folk.

[darksideofthemoon]

All have been with the Academy except Nixon.

[Collyisamackem]

Gareth Batty, doesn't his name ever go away?!!!

Good side otherwise.

[pie_chucker]

I'm still not sure about the bowlers though! They can all have the tendancy to spray it around.

[Henners]

Thing about that team si it has a mixture between expierence and youth. I think though, the game itself may be lost as most players will be working on their individual performance, trying to impress the England selecters. James anderson for me just doesn't cut it on the international stage whilst youngsters like Stuart Broad are coming through the ranks and have the talent to achieve great things.

I am not sure about some players in there, but obviously, the player may be tested on individual performances rather than how they fit in the team. This may result in a lot of sloppy play. Owais Shah in particular is one to look out for, but he doesn't have what it take on the test level.

[darksideofthemoon]

Originally Posted by Henners

Thing about that team si it has a mixture between expierence and youth. I think though, the game itself may be lost as most players will be working on their individual performance, trying to impress the England selecters. James anderson for me just doesn't cut it on the international stage whilst youngsters like Stuart Broad are coming through the ranks and have the talent to achieve great things.

I am not sure about some players in there, but obviously, the player may be tested on individual performances rather than how they fit in the team. This may result in a lot of sloppy play. Owais Shah in particular is one to look out for, but he doesn't have what it take on the test level.

Well Anderson has been cutting it in ODIs.
94 wickets. 5th in list of England leading ODI wicket takers. Best strike rate of any England ODI bowler past or present. Six four wicket hauls. Played in 66 games and has bowled in all conditions at all teams. Yes let's throw that experience away and try someone new.

I think you will find out Shah does have what it takes. How can you judge him from two Tests?