1st Test: England v Bangladesh: Lord's 26-30 May

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Victor Frankenstein

250 and declaring.

I was just Jesting, but even so Botham on TV last night said England should look to take a lead of 250 and then declare and get the game over with!!

[Paoli]

.....or press on for practice.

[cantplaycantalk]

Well having seen the 1st innings I would have to say, England could win this with any one of the batsmen + freddy + any of the other seamers any county keeper and 7 players taken from village cricket (if you really wanted to give them a chance we could pick Batty instead of the 2nd seamer)

Surely Bangladesh could find a few decent players with one grandparent in county cricket or even the local leagues who would be closer to test level.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Paoli69

or press on for practice.

That would be an option - but Vaughan has tickets for Sheffield Wednesday's game on Sunday, so he may want to get it done nice and early saturday, so he can have a nice journey down to Cardiff...

Botham basically said that is this really practice? Is smashing these bunch of pie-throwers any preperation for what is to come.. Also the Lords pitch tends to flatten out so why not get them in there as quickly as possible before the oitch dies...

[Rachael]

I wonder what a combined XI would look like if England offered up the following:

Ed Smith (c)
Rob Key
Antony McGrath
Vikram Solanki
Paul Collingwood
Matt Prior (wk)
Alex Wharf
Graeme Swann
Jon Lewis
Chris Tremlett
Kabir Ali

Would any of the Bangladesh side get in?

[flanflinger]

Rachael,

To be honest I think that team would cart this Bangladesh team as well...

I wouldn't put them up agaisnt Australia though. It does indicate that we do have tremendous depth these days...

and KP isn't even in the team!! I would also like to make a case for Rikki Clarke who has come on leaps and bounds in the last year...

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

I would also like to make a case for Rikki Clarke who has come on leaps and bounds in the last year...

Woah!!!!! Hold on there! Clarke was dire for England A in Sri Lanka in the off-season. There's no way he should be playing for England based on the way he played there. He's doing ok in County Cricket, but let him get some experience and grow as a player before any more international caps come his way. Mascarenhas should be ahead of Clarke.

I know you're only saying Clarke should be effectively in the England A team, but based on what I've seen of him in the past year, I've seen very little evidence of any improvement - let alone 'leaps and bounds'

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

I know you're only saying Clarke should be effectively in the England A team, but based on what I've seen of him in the past year, I've seen very little evidence of any improvement - let alone 'leaps and bounds'

Andy,

I am sure you will appreciate someone who attends County Cricket games, (unlike some on here who never even watch Test matches on TV, yet seem to think they have an opion that should be respected), and as a Surrey fan, I have seen a lot of Rikki Clarke. Now I would not say that he is ready for Test Cricket, but I would say that he is looking far far better than I have seen of him before.

IMO he is starting to fulfill some of the potential that the selectors saw a few years ago... when he was picked after one year in the county scene and at a relatively young-age.

He is no Freddie Flintoff, but he has more long-term potential than Masceranhas or Wharf...purely based on being 4-5 years younger than them

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I thought Bang had a leg spinner (the guy I thought it was is SLA) which would have been a useful exercise for the ashes to remind a few players what its like to face a leg spinner regardless of how good he is. But as there isnt one, the whole thing is pointless.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

the whole thing is pointless.

I'm quite bored by the whole game...hopeing that we will declare and get this farce over and done with by the end of today. Can't see them getting close to 250...