WAT England 'A' 2007: build up thread.

[Rachael]

With the season under way it's time to start following the progress of the 2006 selections and drawing everyone's attention to the rise of challengers.

For the record... the 2006 side was as follows:

Nick Compton (Middlesex)
Scott Newman (Surrey)
Michael Yardy (Sussex)
Ed Joyce (Middlesex)
David Sales (Northants)
James Dalrymple (Middlesex)
James Foster+ (Essex)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Leicestershire)
Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire)
Chris Tremlett (Hampshire)

Shah and Clarke were edged out by Sales and Tom Smith lost out to Mahmood.

[greg]

I think Adil Rashid is already a certainty for this years team and he has shown that he was a justified selection last season,hopefully his batting will improve to make him higher up the order and give a better balance to the side.As for the rest,well nearly half the team haven't played yet as they were part of the world cup squad so time will tell.

[Rachael]

Compton must also be a near-certainty: his recent 'A' tour to Bangladesh was a HUGE success... and it can only be a matter of time before he is challenging for a full England cap.

[Andy Mellon]

I take it that Saj Mahmood is now ineligible for having played too many test matches? David Sales must be getting pretty close to the '30' mark which will make him ineligible too.

[Rachael]

Saj Mahmood is ineligible on the grounds of having been found out as the irrideemably **** waste of space I argued he was in suggesting he shouldn't be selected last year.

[darksideofthemoon]

I hope Compton is not going to have a second season syndrome. He just can't get started at the moment.

[adamberry]

Scott Newman's in pretty good nick at the moment, with a ton and two fifties in five innings so far. One of those players who quietly goes about their job, I had to look up his performances as I had no idea!

[pie_chucker]

Originally Posted by darksideofthemoon

I hope Compton is not going to have a second season syndrome. He just can't get started at the moment.

Thats one of the problems with English domestic cricket. The standard is so poor its easy for players to stand out after a few games and then they get all hyped up when they clearly arent good enough. Thats why I'm not keen on the selection of players based on CC performances.
When I see the likes of Broad, Compton and Rashid hyped up it get a bit annoyed because they arent yet ready but they are important to the future of our team because IMO they all have the ability to succeed at the highest level.

Sorry, Rant over!

Oh and I agree with Rachael about Mahmood, his only hope of ever becoming a test cricketer is to either gain a yard and a half of pace and be Englands "Brett Lee" or to gain some b***** accuracy!

[adamberry]

Originally Posted by pie_chucker

Mahmood, his only hope of ever becoming a test cricketer is to either gain a yard and a half of pace and be Englands "Brett Lee" or to gain some b***** accuracy!

I'd change that to "gain a yard and a half of pace and gain some b***** accuracy! Else he'll end up bowling faster wides... which are pointless of course.

[Ernest]

I think despite his warts - Mahmood can bowl faster than Flintoff or Harmison.