Sounds like Moeen is playing today instead of Tredders. Will make the batting line-up very strong (unless, of course they drop Trott. Also talk of Rashid in team - maybe instead of Jordan, which would make the batting line-up incredibly strong with...
Cook Trott Snail Bell Root Ali Stokes Buttler Rashid Broad Jimmy
I would go with that team but I would take the sloth out (Trott) and see what Lyth can do. You really like my description of Ballance don't you @The_President ? But you are in breach of copyright laws, as you have to either pay me royalties or ask my permission to use it.
Sorry, I wasn't digging at you. I just found it interesting to see how far his form has dropped in the last 3 years. Strange how it's all gone so horribly wrong
I didnt take it as a dig Chrissy, just accepted your stats were better than my guess. One of the things I notice is that he made a huge score v India in 2011 - I vaguely remember this also being a score where he had broken a lean spell ? We all know that he's going to get bugger all in WI , but then score a ton/near ton in last game when there is nothing at stake. Sounds sad, but I desperately want him to score bugger all v WI and NZ, which would make his position untenable- because I believe England will be stronger without him.
As harsh as it is, have to agree with this. A big score against Windies will keep him in for the ashes. England need to move on. We're not a strong enough team to be able to carry him through an ashes series
So, its looking like... Chef Sloth (Copyright pending) Snail (Copyright pending) Ding-dong Branch Baba Rhymes-with_pokes Hate-you Katie Price As its Long TopMan
Steven Finn has given a remarkably candid interview today that is just reaching us. In it he identifies the decision to shorten his run-up a couple of years ago as the source of his bowling problems - but blames nobody but himself.
"The short run got canned quite quickly after it came in," he said. "I think that's what cocked me up really - looking back at it, coming off a short run made everything tense and made me force bowling quick.
"It worked for a brief time in New Zealand. I didn't quite have the feeling of bowling well, but I was getting the results - so it was masked over.
"The short-term fix wasn't a fix to the long-term problem. It's taken a bit of unravelling, but it's no-one's fault other than mine."
Following remedial work Finn is starting to believe he has a lasting solution - thanks largely to watching video footage of him at his best.
"I came back to England and had to realign everything, but it's not easy once you've grooved bad habits," he said.
"It's taken a long time, but this running thing could be the last piece in the puzzle.
"You can see when I was running up as a carefree 21-year-old, I just legged it to the crease - it was natural. As I've had to think about other things, there's been tension that has come into my run-up."
Goes along with a lot said about Anderson this week looking back on his career and the fact going back to something closer to his natural game was key.
Obviously coaching is important but it shows the danger of forgetting what was making a player promising in the first place.
The ECB managed to chase Maurice Holmes, the 'English Murali' out of the game too.
That was the guy I was trying to remember the other day cheers. Conservatism (with a small c... Start of sentence notwithstanding) runs very deep in British sport especially cricket. If its not in the manual they can't handle it
Goes along with a lot said about Anderson this week looking back on his career and the fact going back to something closer to his natural game was key.
Obviously coaching is important but it shows the danger of forgetting what was making a player promising in the first place.
The great Australian Rugby League coach Wayne Bennett has the same piece of advice to any player who totally loses form and confidence: "Go back to what got you here in the first place."
I think that the demise of Steve Finn, is symptomatic of the way we approach our cricket generally - always safety first, never taking a risk to win the game.
I saw him bowl over here in 2010, and he was excellent - hostile, pacey and most importantly got people out. OK he went for a few boundaries, but so does Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson.
For reasons unknown it looks like various coaches have tried to turn him into a reliable seam bowler - why? We have plenty of those already.
This England attack is desperate for some variety - which he would give us, if he went back to bowling how he used to when he first came into the team.
Sri lankan coaches say that they had some English coaches in SL when Malinga was coming through who wanted to change the way he bowled!
To be fair, any coach worth his salt would surely have suggested that regardless of their nationality? Although he must have shown real potential, there was surely no way of telling if Malinga would have cut the mustard when he was a youngster, so you'd expect a coach to try to remove potential problems like the bowling arm pointing virtually horizontal. Hindsight is always 20-20, so I can't see how anyone can criticise a coach for this. Even now I'm still surprised every time I watch him that he keeps such control of his line.
Comments
Will make the batting line-up very strong (unless, of course they drop Trott.
Also talk of Rashid in team - maybe instead of Jordan, which would make the batting line-up incredibly strong with...
Cook
Trott
Snail
Bell
Root
Ali
Stokes
Buttler
Rashid
Broad
Jimmy
Chef
Sloth (Copyright pending)
Snail (Copyright pending)
Ding-dong
Branch
Baba
Rhymes-with_pokes
Hate-you
Katie Price
As its Long
TopMan
Alastair Cook (capt)
Jonathan Trott
Gary Ballance
Ian Bell
Joe Root
Ben Stokes
Moeen Ali
Jos Buttler (wk)
Chris Jordan
Stuart Broad
James Anderson
Standard conservative England selection. Boring! I don't know why I'm still surprised!
WI 12-1
Brathwaite b Anderson 1
Smith dropped by Ballance off Jordan.
Smith c Buttler b Jordan 15 (apparently he didn't hit it).
36-2
65-3
Chanderpaul c Moeen b Stokes 1
75-4
Steven Finn has given a remarkably candid interview today that is just reaching us. In it he identifies the decision to shorten his run-up a couple of years ago as the source of his bowling problems - but blames nobody but himself.
"The short run got canned quite quickly after it came in," he said. "I think that's what cocked me up really - looking back at it, coming off a short run made everything tense and made me force bowling quick.
"It worked for a brief time in New Zealand. I didn't quite have the feeling of bowling well, but I was getting the results - so it was masked over.
"The short-term fix wasn't a fix to the long-term problem. It's taken a bit of unravelling, but it's no-one's fault other than mine."
Following remedial work Finn is starting to believe he has a lasting solution - thanks largely to watching video footage of him at his best.
"I came back to England and had to realign everything, but it's not easy once you've grooved bad habits," he said.
"It's taken a long time, but this running thing could be the last piece in the puzzle.
"You can see when I was running up as a carefree 21-year-old, I just legged it to the crease - it was natural. As I've had to think about other things, there's been tension that has come into my run-up."
Goes along with a lot said about Anderson this week looking back on his career and the fact going back to something closer to his natural game was key.
Obviously coaching is important but it shows the danger of forgetting what was making a player promising in the first place.
Blackwood lbw Jordan 26
It usually works.
I saw him bowl over here in 2010, and he was excellent - hostile, pacey and most importantly got people out. OK he went for a few boundaries, but so does Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson.
For reasons unknown it looks like various coaches have tried to turn him into a reliable seam bowler - why? We have plenty of those already.
This England attack is desperate for some variety - which he would give us, if he went back to bowling how he used to when he first came into the team.
Although he must have shown real potential, there was surely no way of telling if Malinga would have cut the mustard when he was a youngster, so you'd expect a coach to try to remove potential problems like the bowling arm pointing virtually horizontal. Hindsight is always 20-20, so I can't see how anyone can criticise a coach for this.
Even now I'm still surprised every time I watch him that he keeps such control of his line.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/nov/06/maurice-holmes-english-murali-spin