Ali has been tremendous.
Probably no harm in alternating Board and Anderson against the Windies. How far away has Steven Finn's game fallen? He has always been an enigma, but the pace and bounce he can extract means he would be a contender for Australia under normal circumstances, even if he is only 70/80% firing. Jennings' form is a concern, but if he can't keep the scoreboard moving on, the next best thing is to stay in and occupy the crease. Take the shine off the new ball and avoid no 3 and especially Root coming in before the 10th over, which seemed to be happening way too often in the winter. To kick on, he'll need scores. But I'd give him at least the first Windies test. All the thinking is understandably geared to Nov 23 in Brisbane; and ideally you want as close to a settled XI as you can get by then. But England and Australia are two flawed sides. Some of their batsmen seem happier in one day mode too. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that England could get something in the first test even with a top order nowhere near as competent as the one in 2010/11. If changes have to be made again after Adelaide or Perth, so be it. Cast your mind back to Trott's debut at Lords for the 5th test in 2009. Far from ideal if you have to chop and change key positions mid series, but a player who has the mettle to come in and make an impact in high stakes cricket of that nature can set himself up for a notable career.
Probably no harm in alternating Broard and Anderson against the Windies. How far away has Steven Finn's game fallen? He has always been an enigma, but the pace and bounce he can extract means he would be a contender for Australia under normal circumstances, even if he is only 70/80% firing. Jennings' form is a concern, but if he can't keep the scoreboard moving on, the next best thing is to stay in and occupy the crease. Take the shine off the new ball and avoid no 3 and especially Root coming in before the 10th over, which seemed to be happening way too often in the winter. To kick on, he'll need scores. But I'd give him at least the first Windies test. All the thinking is understandably geared to Nov 23 in Brisbane; and ideally you want as close to a settled XI as you can get by then. But England and Australia are two flawed sides. Some of their batsmen seem happier in one day mode too. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that England could get something in the first test even with a top order nowhere near as competent as the one in 2010/11. If changes have to be made again after Adelaide or Perth, so be it. Cast your mind back to Trott's debut at Lords for the 5th test in 2009. Far from ideal if you have to chop and change key positions mid series, but a player who has the mettle to come in and make an impact in high stakes cricket of that nature can set himself up for a notable career.
Bit quick to write Hameed off so soon, unlessyoure a Lancashire member I doubt you've seen much of him, how do you come to the conclusion he's a poor player?
Alex Hales seems to be in the form of his life at the moment, yesterday he scored a run a ball 218 for Notts against Derbyshire. Now admittedly that is in Division two but it's still a remarkable innings.He was tried at test level last year and had a good run in the side. He passed 80 on three occasions but didn't go on to convert them into centuries. Maybe his decision not to tour Banglasdesh is being held against him but given the dearth of batting options I'd give him another chance.
Quote from: KevinGage on August 07, 2017, 09:16:34 PMProbably no harm in alternating Broard and Anderson against the Windies. How far away has Steven Finn's game fallen? He has always been an enigma, but the pace and bounce he can extract means he would be a contender for Australia under normal circumstances, even if he is only 70/80% firing. Jennings' form is a concern, but if he can't keep the scoreboard moving on, the next best thing is to stay in and occupy the crease. Take the shine off the new ball and avoid no 3 and especially Root coming in before the 10th over, which seemed to be happening way too often in the winter. To kick on, he'll need scores. But I'd give him at least the first Windies test. All the thinking is understandably geared to Nov 23 in Brisbane; and ideally you want as close to a settled XI as you can get by then. But England and Australia are two flawed sides. Some of their batsmen seem happier in one day mode too. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that England could get something in the first test even with a top order nowhere near as competent as the one in 2010/11. If changes have to be made again after Adelaide or Perth, so be it. Cast your mind back to Trott's debut at Lords for the 5th test in 2009. Far from ideal if you have to chop and change key positions mid series, but a player who has the mettle to come in and make an impact in high stakes cricket of that nature can set himself up for a notable career.If we throw out the pitches we've had for the past few years, I don't think batting will be an issue for either side - the fact that you lot bat deep should be more than enough to make up for the shakiness of the specialist batsmen. Think the key will be whether the pace attack can be sufficiently threatening for long enough - I know Moeen's improved and all recently, but given that the likes of Yasir and Ashwin have copped hammerings down here, have to be realistic about what he can manage.
Quote from: Villan For Life on August 08, 2017, 10:29:15 AMAlex Hales seems to be in the form of his life at the moment, yesterday he scored a run a ball 218 for Notts against Derbyshire. Now admittedly that is in Division two but it's still a remarkable innings.He was tried at test level last year and had a good run in the side. He passed 80 on three occasions but didn't go on to convert them into centuries. Maybe his decision not to tour Banglasdesh is being held against him but given the dearth of batting options I'd give him another chance.It's very tempting to consider Hales at no.5 for England, as his recent scores are hard to ignore.My concern is that his big 3 recent scores have either been in one-day competitions, or his First Class knock against weak bowling (Derbyshire at the bottom end of Div. 2). Now you can only score runs against what's served up in front of you, but it's whether he'll be capable of scoring against the genuine quicks down under this winter.He has to be under consideration though, I'd also look at Rory Burns at Surrey, can open or bat no.5. If we want a younger player, Duckett and Joe Clarke are the best 2 talents from what I've seen.
Quote from: AVH87 on August 08, 2017, 10:51:05 AMQuote from: Villan For Life on August 08, 2017, 10:29:15 AMAlex Hales seems to be in the form of his life at the moment, yesterday he scored a run a ball 218 for Notts against Derbyshire. Now admittedly that is in Division two but it's still a remarkable innings.He was tried at test level last year and had a good run in the side. He passed 80 on three occasions but didn't go on to convert them into centuries. Maybe his decision not to tour Banglasdesh is being held against him but given the dearth of batting options I'd give him another chance.It's very tempting to consider Hales at no.5 for England, as his recent scores are hard to ignore.My concern is that his big 3 recent scores have either been in one-day competitions, or his First Class knock against weak bowling (Derbyshire at the bottom end of Div. 2). Now you can only score runs against what's served up in front of you, but it's whether he'll be capable of scoring against the genuine quicks down under this winter.He has to be under consideration though, I'd also look at Rory Burns at Surrey, can open or bat no.5. If we want a younger player, Duckett and Joe Clarke are the best 2 talents from what I've seen.I think Westley should be given an extended run as he has definitely shown enough in this series to suggest he is worth persevering with. Jennings and Malan should make way, with Stoneman being given a chance to open and then I think we could experiment at five.
Quote from: tomd2103 on August 08, 2017, 10:57:03 AMQuote from: AVH87 on August 08, 2017, 10:51:05 AMQuote from: Villan For Life on August 08, 2017, 10:29:15 AMAlex Hales seems to be in the form of his life at the moment, yesterday he scored a run a ball 218 for Notts against Derbyshire. Now admittedly that is in Division two but it's still a remarkable innings.He was tried at test level last year and had a good run in the side. He passed 80 on three occasions but didn't go on to convert them into centuries. Maybe his decision not to tour Banglasdesh is being held against him but given the dearth of batting options I'd give him another chance.It's very tempting to consider Hales at no.5 for England, as his recent scores are hard to ignore.My concern is that his big 3 recent scores have either been in one-day competitions, or his First Class knock against weak bowling (Derbyshire at the bottom end of Div. 2). Now you can only score runs against what's served up in front of you, but it's whether he'll be capable of scoring against the genuine quicks down under this winter.He has to be under consideration though, I'd also look at Rory Burns at Surrey, can open or bat no.5. If we want a younger player, Duckett and Joe Clarke are the best 2 talents from what I've seen.I think Westley should be given an extended run as he has definitely shown enough in this series to suggest he is worth persevering with. Jennings and Malan should make way, with Stoneman being given a chance to open and then I think we could experiment at five. Stoneman is another one where the wealth of support he has is perplexing me a bit. He averages around 34 over a long First Class career, but just because he's moved to the fashionable county, Surrey, and had 1 good season he seems to be the name on everyone's lips. If I was picking one from there it would be Burns who is younger than Stoneman at 26/27, and averages 10 runs more than Stoneman and has a more solid technique.I'd go:CookBurns/DuckettWestleyRootClarke/Hales