fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
You think changing the squad around will mean they'll magically start playing better?
The Ashes 2009
- Thread starter Santino
- Start date
You think changing the squad around will mean they'll magically start playing better?
strung out
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there are only so many changes you can make though. i don't want to go back to the bad old days when batsmen would get a handful of tests then get dumped for the next flavour of the month batsman. the players from this test havent become bad players overnight, they comfortably beat the windies earlier in the summer and have a fairly decent record between them. they just played shit in this test, that's all.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
It's not just this match, though. They've been poor all year. What is the justification for keeping Broad, for instance?
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I saw a day of that series at Lord's. West Indies were unbelievably awful. And England lost to them in the winter, remember.
The collective record of England's bowlers is very poor, btw, if you look at their averages.
fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
He's got a test batting average of around 30 and looks a genuine number 8. Ok his bowling average hasn't been great so far (39ish), but in spells he looks dangerous and he's also young. Harmison (I assume that's the suggested replacement) is a retrograde step in my opinion.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Fuck his batting. Terrible thinking to pick your third seamer on the basis of his batting.
Sorry but 'genuine number 8'
Have you been reading Ashley Giles's memoirs?
fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
Fuck his batting. Terrible thinking to pick your third seamer on the basis of his batting.
Sorry but 'genuine number 8'
Yeah, that's a bit of a cliche.
Wish I hadn't written it. I still say he shouldn't be dropped and that his batting is important. It's terrible thinking to pick your third seamer on the basis that he bowled well for two seasons 5 years ago.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I agree entirely. I don't want Harmison back either.Yeah, that's a bit of a cliche.
It's terrible thinking to pick your third seamer on the basis that he bowled well for two seasons 5 years ago.
fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
So what do you want then? I thought you wanted Harmison back, must have been someone else that said that.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Nope. I predicted that he would be recalled. Didn't say that was what I wanted – although I'd take Harmison before Broad.
fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
So what do you want then?
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
The moon.
On a stick.
Plus maybe Sajid Mahmood.
The depressing truth is that the cupboard appears to be worryingly bare.
(Obligatory 'Oh for Simon Jones' lament)
fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
Well a team still needs to be picked despite the bareness of the cupboard.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Complacency rules.
fen_boy
Exits gracefully.
Complacency rules.
You still haven't told us what you'd do.
TrippyLondoner
Well-Known Member
Its easier to criticize rather than give a solution to the 'problem'.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yes I have. I'd drop Broad and bring in Mahmood, for starters. Play just one spinner, probably Swann, so playing Onions as the fourth seamer.
I'd also drop Cook for someone in form. I'd use wise heads in touch with the county game to decide who that should be.
strung out
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no-one. everyone has been retained with harmy added to the squad.
TrippyLondoner
Well-Known Member
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
At his best he is, yes, but you can only fuck up so many times imo.
At his best, Mahmood is also very menacing.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Yes, he did. He'd be a gamble. Playing Broad, on the other hand, is not a gamble at all. He is reliably ordinary.
Harmison is a perennial annoyance to England fans; the way it works is: he gets dropped for inconsistent bowling, he goes and takes loads of wickets at express pace for Durham, he gets called up for England based on his county form, he plays half of a good match to remind everyone how good he can be, and repeat.
this however is still infinitely better than mahmood who doesn't even take shit loads of wickets in county cricket, and didn't take any for the Lions.
