England One Day Side

[greg]

I think we have had a glimpse of a more promising future for the one day side in this series against India even if we end up losing it,there are obviously a few things that still need tinkering with but if you look at it we have more players in the side now who you feel will do something than we had last summer which has to be an improvement.

The one area of concern is opening/keeper as Cook and Prior don't look like they are the right men for the job at present.If we wnt with Luke Wright who has been really impressive and Mustard we would have the explosive men we want at the top and with Bell to anchor the innings at 3 that gives us a solid looking top order.

KP,Colly,Shah and Bopara are all good enough to be the middle order men and then we come to Freddie,we need to decide what to do with him as his shadow could harm our development long term if we keep on shuffling him in and out of the side all the time.A decision on which form of the game he is to play needs to be done and stuck to.

Broad and Anderson have shown potential to be a decent pair of bowlers in the shorter game and if you add a fit Sidebottom to the line up we have a decent side in the making.Panesar needs to improve but who else have we got to be the spinner?

If we were to go with this team i think we would be a decent side for a change

Wright
Mustard
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Shah
Bopara
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson
Panesar

I guess others may have differing ideas but that side looks alright to me.

[first change]

This is the most sensible post I have read for a long time. Spot on. Sure, we'll be 20-2 now and then (like we were today!) but we will also be 100-0 off ten occassionally, with some quality batting to come.

[first change]

Oh, and two 'pinch-hitters' opening didn't do Sri Lanka any harm in 96, if I recall correctly. Left/right combo too could cause absolute mayhem.

[greg]

Originally Posted by first change

Sure, we'll be 20-2 now and then

Difference is we will be 20-2 off 3 or 4 overs and not 8 like Cook and Prior take us too.

[first change]

Yes, that's quite right. If you score 70 or 80 in the first ten, doesn't matter too much if you lose a wicket or two, but 30-2 makes it a real uphill struggle (can't take risks but need to push rate along)

[Ernest]

Your side would be a great step forward greg;if you had not included Pietersen and Panesar.

I have advocated a seperatate one day side for a while, Collingwood as captain would have to stay, and it IMO does not matter about Bell and Sidebottom who can easily be replaced in the Test side.

[first change]

Not included Pietersen. For what reason exactly? One bad series?

[Rachael]

I'd not be upset to see that side tried... but what's encouraging is that players like Cook and Flintoff are able to force players in that list into reserve spots... and players like Tremlet, Mascarenhas, Swann and Read are also pressing hard for a place.

With that said... the ODI side that competed with the Aussies in 2005 was damn good: it's just taken a year or two to fully recover from the litany of injury woes that blighted all the plans in place back then.

[Trescothick's Footwork]

I wouldn't dispense with Masceranas just yet though, I think he has the ability to be an important member of the team up to the next world cup. Adds some balance in the lower order, very quick scorer. Superb fielder, and on the right pitch is very tight with the ball. On a flat pitch he will go for a lot though, but the same could be said for Anderson and Broad. Despite Tendulkar's pasting of Anderson in the current game, I really like the way he's been bowling. I feel sorry for Ryan Sidebottom as I feel Anderson is a cert to go to Sri Lanka ahead of him. He's more of a wicket taker than Sidebottom IMO. As for seperate one day and test teams - meh. Won't happen and I really don't think it should. I used to hate one-dayers myself, but recently have come round to them. Mainly because of this series, England have finally shown they can hit big 300+ totals consistently on the right pitches, and that has always been our main failings in the past. And that's mainly been without KP and Flintoff, our two big scorers. Caps off to Colly, Shah, Cook and Bell. All been very impressive.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by first change

Not included Pietersen. For what reason exactly? One bad series?

My reason is simply because Pietersen would be better playing Test cricket only, rather than getting stale playing the PJ game also.