Bears/Pears/Domestic Cricket Thread 2016

[paul_e]

I'd be more than happy with Flower, Donald or Giles.

Yep, any of those would be good.

[Dave Cooper please]

KP has several massive chips on both his shoulders about anything to do with England, maybe quite rightly in some cases, but that shouldn't distract from the fact that Flower is a great coach and would be a massive coup for The Bears if we could get him.

[cdbearsfan]

I reckon we should go for Ryan Giggs.

[Dave Cooper please]

I reckon we should go for Ryan Giggs.

Can he open the batting?

[adrenachrome]

I reckon we should go for Ryan Giggs.

Can he open the batting?

No, but Gary Neville could.

[ACVilla]

I reckon we should go for Ryan Giggs.

Can he open the batting?

No, but Gary Neville could.

I think Phil was the superior cricketer.

[PGW]

There is a heck of a lot anti-Flower sentiment here. I wouldn't listen to anything KP says for starters. Flower did an absolutely fabulous job as England coach. I would absolutely be not adverse to him taking the Bears forward. I still think it will be an in-house appointment though.

Jim Troughton!!!

[Villan For Life]

There is a heck of a lot anti-Flower sentiment here. I wouldn't listen to anything KP says for starters. Flower did an absolutely fabulous job as England coach. I would absolutely be not adverse to him taking the Bears forward. I still think it will be an in-house appointment though.

Jim Troughton!!!

Troughton would be a sentimental choice, "oh he's a Bear through and through". We shouldn't go down the sentimental route, we need a coach with a proven track record. The club are facing several challenges over the next few seasons, not least of which is the ageing squad. Flower would bring experience and gravitas and help attract the right calibre of player.

[Dave P]

Has Donald done any coaching? If you follow him on twitter, he just seems to spend his time watching rugby.

[Villan For Life]

Has Donald done any coaching? If you follow him on twitter, he just seems to spend his time watching rugby.

He was South Africa's bowling coach but I don't think he's been head coach.

[Villafirst]

Still no news on the new director of cricket? I'm hoping Ashley Giles rejoins the Bears. Apparently he still lives in Droitwich which might sway his decision if approached?

[Villan For Life]

Good article about Keith Barker:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/37363776

[Villafirst]

Barker doesn't play for a Southern County. Look at how the selectors have persisted with people like Vince who's simply not good enough.

[paul_e]

That's not fair really.  I reckon anyone who's watched Vince at county level would've thought he looked like an international in the making, he's got an elegance to him that seems suited to it.  He reminds me of Bell when he first got in, you could see the ability was there but it just wasn't happening.  I wouldn't be surprised if Vince comes back into things in a couple of years and makes a much better fist of it.  If we're going to talk about selectors persisting with people then I think the first place to look is Gary Ballance.  started well for England but fell apart when an obvious flaw was found in his technique, he did nothing to rectify it and had a very average time at Yorkshire and suddenly he's back and failing again.  That decision is highly questionable and looks worse every time he gives his wicket away cheaply.

I think Barker is really a victim of the fact that England have a lot of very good swing bowlers, who out of Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Stokes, Wood and Finn is he a significant upgrade on?  The latter 2 maybe but they're carrying drinks when we have everyone fit and I don't see much point in calling up a 30 year old to carry drinks.

Personally I'd have made the Ansari>Batty change they have and also Hameed>Ballance and nudge Duckett down to 3 (the Broad change is just wrapping him up which is fair enough) for tomorrow because I really wanted to see if Hameed is the player he appears to be and I can't imagine them giving him a debut in India, certainly not in the first couple of tests.

[AVH87]

Barker is a very, very good county bowler.

The art of being a good selector though isn't just picking everyone that does well at county level, not all will excel at the next step up. For me, Barker is one who wouldn't make the step up, he doesn't have that extra yard of pace (the yard which Woakes has gained over the last 2 years which has seen him go from average at best Test bowler to a good one).