England Selectors Spring a Surprise
England announced their squad for the first of two Tests against the West Indies yesterday - a first chance to gauge their thinking ahead of the main Test series of the summer. 'Vaughan or Bell' talk dominated the days preceding the announcement, in the end, neither were included, the selectors opting for Bopara and two uncapped bowlers (at the expense of Harmison).
It's a brave move and, I believe, a positive one. For too long the England dressing room has been a closed shop. I'm all for being loyal to players, but they do have to earn that loyalty, and of late Harmison and Vaughan haven't. I thought talk of a Vaughan recall was crazy. Great captain that he was, we now have a new one, and in recent years he's been nowhere near prolific enough to warrant a place in the team on the strength of his batting alone.
Bell has been in the runs for Warwickshire, and I thought he meritted a place in the squad. But, Geoff Miller has come out and said "we need him to get even more passionate about getting into the side so when he does get back in, he doesn't lose his place again." It could just be the making of Bell, and I certainly wouldn't rule him out of playing a major part in the Ashes. He's better than the bushbaby-caught-in-the-headlights that you may recall from 2005
Shah literally ran himself out of contention in the West Indies by staging, and winning, a 'just how comically can I run myself out this time' competition with himself. Sitting on the Delhi Daredevil's bench for the past 2 weeks will have set him back even further.
As for the two new bowlers, Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan, they've both been rewarded for excellent county form. Bresnan is touted as an all-rounder, but it's fair to say he's there primarily for his bowling - which reaches 85mph fairly regularly. He's basically a less good Flintoff, and finding a replacement is crucial because Flintoff playing 5 Ashes Tests has to be rated as very unlikely. I'm doubtful Bresnan is the man, but next week will give us a decent indication.
Onions has been a good county performer for a number of seasons and deserves his chance. Cementing an Ashes place in just 2 Tests is a big ask, but he bowls at decent pace and has a knack of getting something out of flat pitches. Definately one to watch.
Ryan Sidebottom was back for his county this week, and if he returns to form I'm sure he'll swing his way into Ashes contention.
Of course all this is academic because a young guy called Philip Hughes has just come over here and made a mockery of county standard bowling. He'll be sure to head into the Ashes with his already high confidence enhanced by an improved knowledge of English pitches. Damn he looks good.
Finally, Andy Flower has decided not to use England's analyst for the upcoming Lords Test. This is in a hope that the players can start to think for themselves and engage their "cricket brains". Nice idea, but it's not always obvious that some of those players have any brain at all, let alone a cricket one. However I think it's a potentially positive move.
Sorry that reading this took longer than a Pietersen IPL innings, but then again, that's not hard.
| Posted by Rich on Fri 1 May |  19 comments |
Posted by JC on 2009-05-01 08:31:25
Posted by Rich on 2009-05-04 03:09:53
Posted by JC on 2009-05-05 09:51:45
Posted by Ajesh Nag on 2009-05-13 00:48:20
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