Central contracts

[Moss]

These are the current holders of central contracts, due to expire soon:

Ian Bell
Paul Collingwood
Alastair Cook
Andrew Flintoff
Ashley Giles
Steve Harmison
Matthew Hoggard
Simon Jones
Monty Panesar
Kevin Pietersen
Andrew Strauss
Marcus Trescothick
Michael Vaughan

Obviously the list needs a shake up, so who would you see receive a 12 month contract?

I would drop Giles and Harmison straight away, and replace with Sidebottom and Anderson.
The issue of Trescothick and Jones seems harder. Jones has not played for England for 2 years, and Trescothick has just ruled himself out until at least the first Test of 2008.

[greg]

Giles,Jones and Trescothick should all be left off as they are unlikely to play for England again.Drop Harmison off it as he is no longer a one day player and has shown that he needs to bowl more for Durham to get the sharpness back.

Bring in Prior if they have decided he is the man to stick with.

Anderson,Broad and Tremlett probably need putting on contracts as they will probably play both forms of the game over the next 12 months as should Sidebottom.

[engssmoothcriminal]

Giles, Jones and Tres obviously come off the list. If they get back to form and fitness great (something only Tres looks to have a genuine shot of) but such a scenario is a bonus and we can no longer look to build a side around them and we need to make a firm statement that we are (finally) moving on from 2005. My patience has finally run out with Harmison and losing his central contract would be the ideal kick up the backside ahead of the winters tour and as greg points out he will probably benifit far more from the additional county workload provided of course he's fully fit and not already carrying an injury .

So that leaves four slots open; one batting, two fast bowling berths (no point having 2 spinners contracted) and a keeper. The batting slot I'd give to Bopara who with question marks over Flintoff's fitness and Collingwood's effectiveness in test cricket as a bowler (and batsmen on anything other than slow dead tracks) will IMHO come into contention for the number 6/5th bowler position in the next 6-18 months. Prior needs to pull something out the bag with the bat against India to fully convince me but if Moores believes him the best option (personally I'm in the Ambrose camp) then he should get a Geraintesque run to stake his claim and have the security of a central contract. In terms of the fast bowlers well I'd probably go with Sidebottom and Tremlett. I'm not convinced either of them have what it takes to have a long term future in the test side but I really don't see any point in giving a contract to a young raw bowler like Broad or Anderson who stil need to be bowling large quantity's overs in county cricket.

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Moss

Who would you see receive a 12 month contract?

Nobody. I'd much rather go back to the old system whereby no-one has tenure in the England team and everyone has to earn his place for every match.

[Moss]

I like the fact that the contracts have given a good base, a pool of players who perform fairly consistently. The old "mess up and you're out" never helped the likes of Ramprakash, who I think could've been a much more effective Test player were he to know he was guaranteed a run in the side.

engssmoothcriminal - I agree that Harmison needs a kick up the backside. I just wouldn't put it past him to resign completely from international cricket in a fit of pique!
Welcome to the forums.

[pie_chucker]

Originally Posted by Moss

- I agree that Harmison needs a kick up the backside. I just wouldn't put it past him to resign completely from international cricket in a fit of pique!

Harmi could well do that. He's not a member of the "bling" brigade and by his own admission has made enough playing cricket to support his family.

He wants to play test cricket to prove some points- not for the money. Dropping him would prove nothing, and do you really think that Tremlett or Anderson would do a better job in tests? Have you watched the current test? Fit and well he is the only bowler we cant replace. People seem to think that he hates touring - well he doenst like it but it doesnt bother him as much as people make out and a lot of the stuff he writes in the press is tongue firmly in cheek!!

As for the rest of the list; Jones wont play for England again and niether will Giles. Tresco wont till next May at the earliest so these should all go from the list.

I'm still not sure about Sidebottom long term so I'd bring in Bopara, Broad and Tremlett to replace the 3 i would remove from the list.

[Moss]

Originally Posted by pie_chucker

- I agree that Harmison needs a kick up the backside. I just wouldn't put it past him to resign completely from international cricket in a fit of pique!
quote]

Harmi could well do that. He's not a member of the "bling" brigade and by his own admission has made enough playing cricket to support his family.

He wants to play test cricket to prove some points- not for the money. Dropping him would prove nothing, and do you really think that Tremlett or Anderson would do a better job in tests? Have you watched the current test?

I certainly have watched the current test, and our relatively inexperienced attack hasn't gone too expensively considering, neither have they sprayed wides, short balls and inconsistent length deliveries everywhere like Harmison!
Surely playing cricket for England is about more than making enough money to keep your kids in trainers? What happened to national pride?

[pie_chucker]

The bowlers may not have conceded runs at a great rate during this match but India made a massive score on a very bowler friendly pitch and to me that says everything!! I doubt India would have passed 250 if we had an attack (if fit) of Harmison, Hoggard, Flintoff, Monty and possibly AN other.

Harmison does have pride, thats why he wants to play in the next Ashes series - he wants to make up for the rubbish he bowled in the last Ashes series. I also know who the Aussies would prefer to bat against and it isnt Harmison!! In 2005 the Aussies were worried about Harmison, as were they in 2006/7 and hopefully they will be in 2009

[Moss]

Trent Bridge is traditionally a batting friendly pitch - as shown by England's 2nd innings. Our poor first innings had more to do with the very wet conditions (or am I just making feeble excuses?!)

I think our bowling has exceeded expectations if you were to look at the bowler's purely on paper.
I also think that the Aussies are no longer scared of Harmison, who hasn't performed for a long time now.
I know you're a Durham fan, but I'm a Sussex fan and I have serious reservations about Prior, but that's another topic entirely!

Back on topic, I can't see a keeper getting a central contract, although I suspect the powers that be will persevere with Prior.

[pie_chucker]

I think that Prior will probably get a contract as i cant see them bringing in another keeper unless Prior has a complete 'mare at the Oval and has a bad start to the winter tour. I'm not convinved his batting or keeping is good enough but to be fair to him the selectors have to give him a 10 game run to see what he can do. More to the point do we need to give a keeper a central contract??

I may be a Durham fan but thats not the reason I'm a Harmi fan, i feel he gives something to the team that no other bowler we have does. He also has a tendancy to take wickets in clumps so a score of 150/1 can soon become 160/4, he does bowl at times bowl erractically and always has done. But consider in the last test he played he bolwed something like 17 overs unchanged (interrupted by lunch) and was excellant. Bowling with good pace and consistantly troubling all the batsman, including Chanderpaul. Oh and I hope we keep Plunkett and Onions away from the full team for at least a season they are far too raw.