Am I missing something?or did we not finish selecting the England WAT A Team 2007.
Have we given up trying?, thought we were on the verge having agreed on the bowlers.

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Ern

I need to get through to the end of term: 3 weeks. After that, progress should be possible. In the mean time... I'm struggling for time to breathe.

Are we going for an XI or say, a squad of XIII to cover all eventualities??

I think we could wrap a squad of XIII up quickly but an XI may take some more discussion.

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Mark.

I'm OK with either... but I suspect we'll end upwith intractable arguments either way. What we need is for the Eng-SA series to bring in enough folk to make the discussions more productive: right now the interest in the board is not really strong enough to make the exercise very productive!

True, but if we picked a squad it should be easier. I think it was Andy Mellon who suggested a squad of 14 with :
2 Openers, 4 Middle Order Bats, 2 Keepers, 2 Spinners, 4 Seamers. I personally think this a pretty good idea and should end arguments about the balance of the team. It would also end the arguments about Rashids selection because he'd probably get into the squad.

It would also be nice to get 2007's squad finalised before the '08 season finishes, so we don't end up having the 08 selection discussions with the 07 squad (still) not picked.

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Mark.

I think the best compromise is a squad, we almost had a side and I can see Rashid creeping in at the expense of a batsman or bowler.
He really has been the bone of contention, getting late to bring in more selectors - not fair on the ones that started the process.

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Ern

Looking back, we got close to putting forward the following provisional line up:

Horton
Denly
Shah
Hildreth
Bopara
Rashid
Ambrose / Foster / Mustard
Swann
Broad
Tremlett
???

I'm assuming Carberry's winter means his stock has risen (to the point where he surely displaces Denly)... and that Ambrose's stock has fallen too far for him to remain in contention... but that still leaves us short of a 3rd specialist seamer (with no obvious contender).

Rachael I have just looked at all the polls, and Rashid does not get in the side on merit.

He did not even show well on your "Key Players" poll.

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Ern

How has Ambrose's stock fallen? He's been selected for the test side since we picked our team, and has done reasonably well, often getting runs when under pressure. Onions would be most likely as the 3rd seamer I'd have thought, especially in a side which is supposed to be preparation for a test match, and picking based on last year.
I'd pick
Horton
Denly (Carberry would be in if it was an over winter side, but it isnt)
Shah
Hildreth
Bopara
Ambrose
Rashid
Swann
Broad
Tremlett
Onions

I'd very much prefer Mustard (the far better gloveman) to Ambrose (the marginally better batsman), and have consistently favoured Carberry (who did actually have strong backing even before the winter tours and who is clearly the classier bat) over Denly (perhaps the cleaner hitter, possibly the better ODI prospect, and a player whose temperament seems to get good reviews).

That said... I'd very happily sign off with the other nine in your side.