I've added polls entitled "who should make the shortlist" to threads on potential openers, potential middle order batsmen, potential wicket-keepers, potential seamers and potential spinners.

At present we have no clear shortlists on most positions... though the wicket-keeper decision looks like being Foster, Foster or Foster (though Davies remains an outside chance).

In this thread I'd like to discuss who should be considered an 'automatic selection'... and I'm going to kick things off by suggesting no choice exists on Joyce, Clarke and Tremlett... that Foster is almost as certain... and that Yardy, Dalrymple and Broad have made cases that will be difficult to ignore.

Any thoughts / comments?

ps. If anyone wants to nominate other candidates in any category then contact me ASAP: the official WAT thread will be starting shortly and only folk making the shortlists will be considered!

If I had to pick a shortlist (no-one else has so I may as well) I’d put this forward. Its basically all the players I think have a reasonable claim to selection, nothing more than a list of possibles. Ive tried to split it into the standard format we initially follow, but players can be moved between groups if desired (but please don’t move Rikki Clarke into a bowling place!!). My initial team is in bold.



Top 5

Nick Compton 1

Ed Joyce 3

Varun Chopra

Owais Shah

Ed Smith

Scott Newman 2

Rikki Clarke 4

Michael Yardy 5

David Sales



Batting Allrounder

Jamie Dalrymple 6



Keeper

James Foster

Luke Sutton 7

Simon Davies



Bowling Allrounder

Dimitri Mascharenhas

Adil Rashid 8

James Middlebrook



Bowling (9-11)

Stuart Broad 10

Chris Tremlett 11

Charlie Shreck

Graham Onions

Nayan Doshi

Tom Smith 9



I am still open to suggestions for a number of positions, mainly:-

• Sales in the top 5 as I do rate him and usually pick him
• Foster for Sutton, another pick based on consistency from previous years and Sutton has done nothing to deserve being dropped
• No. 8. Basically I think the best attack contains the 3 seamers I picked so there is no room for Mascharehas despite the fact that I would like him in the team. Doshi and Dimi. in could be more popular for some people in place of Rashid and (probably) Smith.

Interesting points. But I cannot pick Rashid or Smith. I can't possibly vote for guys that I've never seen play. Stuart Broad is bloody lucky that I got to watch some of the ODIs on the gogglebox over here - but Smith and Rashid I've not seen a jot of!

I also don't think Rikki "Don't lose that number" Clarke should be anywhere near this side. He looked woeful with bat and ball in the ODIs he played.

Also, no need for James Middlebrook if Dalrymple's going to play. He might get a run out in a One Day specialist WAT A side though

The votes are coming in across the various threads and if we take number of nominations as a guide we may be heading towards the following:

1. Compton
2. Newman / Chopra
3. Joyce
4. Yardy
5. Shah / Clarke
6. Clarke / Dalrymple
7. Foster
8. Rashid
9. Tremlett
10. ?
11. ?

We've had very few votes on the seamers at this stage but several "spray it all over the shop" seamers are off to a marginally better start than the few candidates with some notion of control: Mahmood, Broad, Onions and Shreck are marginally ahead of namely Tom Smith, Mascarenhas and Sidebottom.

On a personal note, I'd really like more feedback on Tom Smith: he appears by far the most prospect of the much vaunted Mahmood / Broad / Smith trio. Note - please add comments in the potential seamers thread.

Fair enough. Does that mean you think Doshi should be the only specialist spinner to make the shortlist?

1. Compton
2. Smith**
3. Joyce
4. Sales
5. Clarke
6. Yardy
7. Foster/Sutton
8. Mascarenhas
9. Tremlett
10. Mahmood
11. Sidebottom
** Point of order here - if Middlesex are not playing Ed Smith as opener, then why can't we choose him at 3 or 4?.

Also Mahmood a match winning type bowler, can go for some at times - but will get wickets.

Anderson and Caddick used to bowl ordinary - then come up with match winning spells, in Test cricket - that's also Mahmood.

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Ern

If you wish to nominate Ed Smith as a middle order bat you may do exactly that. Do bear in mind, though, that the competition for middle order batting spots is considerably tougher than the competition for openers.

For over half a season Tom Smith was the stand out bowler in the championship, with cheap wickets and economical bowling, he can also hold a bat down the order. He bowls at a decent pace and has already done enough to go to the England training camp in Perth. Rashid has only played the 2nd half of the season for Yorks/England U19 but has both taken regular wickets and scored runs, including batting up the order for the U19. I appreciate that you want to see the players you pick, but they have put in many good performances which may well encourage those of us over here who have seen them play to push for their selection.

I dont really want him in the team either, I dont think he will go any further than slotting 2nd rate teams around coming in at 350-3. I'd rather have a proper batsman in the side at 5 (ideally Sales). As for his bowling, he wouldnt get a minor counties game for that alone.

No-one has come up with a better nomination that Ed Smith for either Opening bat, or upper middle order - I think the crossing of threads has to be permissable at this stage.

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Ern

Quite and I would pick him over Broad because I am looking long term at England Test cricket, Broad was ok in the one dayers.
A Teams are for breeding Test crickers - not one day players IMO.
Dalrymple is another we don't need IMO - I think Yardy can do that job, in fact he was impressive, and also Mahmood has more vores that Dalrymple also.
I feel Mahmood is a must, if the England selectors find him good enough for the England Test side, then he must make an A Team.

At this late stage I ask for some support for Ed Smith, he has one attribute over the others, he has England experience, ok he did not do that good first time round, but it took Flintoff a while to find his feet, on form Ed Smith IMO is class, another Ramps.

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Ern

Who said Stuart Broad was a one-day player?

It's not the selectors' (our) fault that Stuart Broad has entered the breeding ground of our future test cricketers; the one-day arena but that is no reason to suddenly label him as just a one-day player.

Also, I know he didn't do superb in the one-dayers but that doesn't suddenly mean he's a poor player (Saj Mahmood suddenly springs to mind). We've had plenty of time to see Mahmood for ourselves in a test side that normally wins so the pressure wasn't going to be too big. Whereas Broad had to open(!) the bowling in an England outfit that had spent the past few years on a fine losing run and was even ahead of Mahmood in the pecking order. I wouldn't have expected him to bowl like a great - and he didn't - but he still did just as well as Mahmood who has played far more matches and will have been more comfortable in the England setup.


Tom Smith; he's a good bowler, could be a bit of a Jimmy Anderson if he gets another yard of pace.

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Watch this for a perfect about.
James May