England squad for the first Test

[Maranello]

News. No room for Dalrymple, Key or Read. Fairly predictable fare from the selectors; one wishes they could have been somewhat more adventurous.

England squad:
Andrew Strauss (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Geraint Jones (wk), Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard, Sajid Mahmood, Steve Harmison, Jon Lewis, Monty Panesar.

[greg]

Good squad in my opinion.We don't need 2 spinners so no need for Dalrymple,Jones was always going to be picked for this game so whatever Read did was pointless and Key isn't good enough anyway so bringing in Bell who can bowl instead of eat is a logical choice.

Fingers crossed that Hoggard is fit.

Also how adventurous are we supposed to be as we already have 5 players with less than 10 caps in the squad,if that isn't being adventurous then what is?

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by greg

Good squad in my opinion.We don't need 2 spinners so no need for Dalrymple.

Even though Dalrymple took four wickets yesterday? And the part-time spinners, together, took seven wickets?

Pakistan should not have trouble batting on a flat track against the medium pacers; its the slow bowlers that can cause problems, especially for the inexperienced batsmen. I don't think either Yousaf or Younis will be at all troubled at the prospect of facing Panesar or Dalrymple etc, but the rest are fair game.

Originally Posted by Greg

Also how adventurous are we supposed to be as we already have 5 players with less than 10 caps in the squad,if that isn't being adventurous then what is?

I meant finally biting the bullet on GO Jones and bringing in Read, and considering two spinners. I was not referring to the number of caps per se; more to the overall approach.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Maranello

I meant finally biting the bullet on GO Jones and bringing in Read, and considering two spinners.

Agree with the first one, not the second. On the first one, Jones has really struggled to maintain his early form from 2004. Sad, as he clearly tries very hard, and has put a lot of effort into his keeping, which arguably will not be the part of his game that gets him dropped (if he eventually gets dropped). Read has played another high profile innings to stake his claim. He's 27 now, and you feel if he doesn't get into the team within the next couple of years, time will pass him by. His glovework has never been in doubt, and he couldn't really be doing any more to remove the doubts over his batting credentials.

On the two spinner front, I don't think England have two spinners that will trouble the batsmen. Monty is impressive, but I don't think we'll benefit from having another spinner in there. Having said that, the seam bowling is very thin at the moment, with all the injuries to Jones, Flintoff, Hoggard and Anderson, and with Harmison feeling his way back after injury. England's bowling havs covered up batting deficiencies in the past, but it won't in this series, just as it didn't against Sri Lanka.

[Vrock]

Ian Bell is a bit of a surprise but I suppose he is getting his chance once again to make some runs in the side.

Two spinners, the captain would never get them bowling in tandem, we always see reluctancy to start bowling the first spinner so it would have taken quite a while to bowl the second! Then the risk of the second spinner scoring few runs would leave their impact on the game extremely limited.

If Hoggard doesn't play we will see Jon Lewis, I worry though that if two of Pakistan's batsmen get in and Saj Mahmood and Plunker were bowling in tandem to them. Can they keep it tight or will they get short and wide?

[Moss]

Originally Posted by Maranello

News. No room for Dalrymple, Key or Read. Fairly predictable fare from the selectors; one wishes they could have been somewhat more adventurous.

I agree. Glad Bell was in - he should stop being yo-yoed in and out of the side.
No Dalrymple? Ridiculous.

No Read - predictable but still stupid.

What does he have to do?! 150 not out against Pakistan's almost full strength side?!

[Mike]

This is my side:

Andrew Strauss (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Dalrymple, Read (wk), Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar.

I think the pace bowling attack is weak without Flintoff and Jones and, when they begin to struggle, Strauss will be glad to have a couple of spin options. I wasn't sure about Dalrymple until his good bowling performance in the 'A' game. He wasn't amongst the runs but Read was and he would bolster the batting in the middle order. Bell and Collingwood are similar players and I don't see any value having both players in the side. At the moment, it's not the batting which is causing as much concern as the bowling.

[Vrock]

I'm not sure what would be more funny:

A seamers paradise at Lord's and Monty Panesar not getting a bowl, thus resulting in the possible inclusion of Jamie Dalrymple being pointless - presuming we collapse in the batting.

Or a pitch that breaks up and offers plenty for the spinners and we see KP bowling 20 overs and the selectors regretting not picking Jamie Dalrymple.

Originally Posted by Mike

This is my side

Your side has nice balance but it can't happen, Read and Dalrymple aren't in the squad.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Vrock

Ian Bell is a bit of a surprise but I suppose he is getting his chance once again to make some runs in the side.

Not the only surprise - I thought we had seen the last of Lewis, also I thought Jones might go at last.
Also we don't need 2 spinners.

Originally Posted by Vrock

If Hoggard doesn't play we will see Jon Lewis, I worry though that if two of Pakistan's batsmen get in and Saj Mahmood and Plunker were bowling in tandem to them. Can they keep it tight or will they get short and wide?

If Hoggard don't play, then England will find it hard, Lewis is no substitute, he would have been better playing in the one dayers instead of Mahmood and Plunkett.

As for Mahmood and Plunkett-two inexperienced bowlers who should not have played in the one dayers, these types of players don't need gettting carted in Micky Mouse cricket - I just hope the experience is not engrained on their minds.

I think the selectors have missed a trick here in not picking Key, and making him captain until Flintoff is back, he has shown he can be ruthless in this A Team game with Pakistan.

[Notts Exile]

Apparently David Graveney (who was never any good himself) says that Jones is "the best wicketkeeper". If this is what they believe then I'm worried for the England Test team.

Following the poor performance in the Ashes to come and the World Cup I fully expect Fletcher to leave. At that point Read will be back in the side.

Anyone tell me what Bell was dropped for originally? And also what he's done to deserve re-selection?

Shame Naved isn't playing because I would have expected Pakistan to beat England with him. Instead it will be tight.