England test squad for Sri Lanka

Strauss, Anderson, Bell, Bopara, Bresnan, Broad, Cook, Davies, Finn, Panesar, Patel, Pietersen, Prior, Swann, Tredwell & Trott.

Tredwell???!!!!!! FFS.

I really thought we'd moved on from him. And Fat Sam as well. Not so sure about that either. Average spinner, decent but perhaps a little short of test class as a batsman. Picking him as a bits and pieces guy rather than because he's one of the best spinners or best batsmen in England. Four spinners is going a bit over the top, imo.

I would have considered giving Bairstow a go.

maybe the 4 spinners are for providing adequate practice in the nets

Fat Sam has a higher first-class average than Morgan, and an average that is only marginally worse than Bopara's - playing half his matches at Trent Bridge, and few of them in Division Two. I don't see how anybody could argue he hasn't merited a Test call at some point, being one of the better cricketers in England without a Test call. I think it's pretty depressing though that either he or Bopara seems guaranteed to start the first Test. Don't forget Bopara's thrilling debut tour of Sri Lanka. Don't forget that he has generally been an awful Test player, except on the occasions when the opposition was the West Indies. And even then he was f*cking lucky.

I don't personally have any problem with England trying something new instead of something old, and out of the players available, Patel is probably among the best. I don't know whether he's a Test cricketer, but I do know for certain that Eoin Morgan, at the present, is not.

I think the selection of Bops, Patel & Tredwell FFS shows a thin lack of depth in some departments. We're fine for fast bowling back up but weak elsewhere.

I disagree. I think there's a core group of English youngsters who are good, possibly very good, but England are loathe to send them on a sub-continental tour and do what they did to Bopara. If even the senior players are struggling, it's better to leave the youngsters at home to continue their development and wait till they can debut in more familiar conditions. I think England have some good batting prospects. I also think that dobby all-rounders like Bopara and Patel can be more effective on the sub-continent than dashing youngsters. Tredwell is a bit crap but he'll generally land every ball on the cut strip which is more than you're getting from the likes of Borthwick. Besides, I think Tredwell's going to be fourth choice, anyway.

I personally think England have picked an okay squad. I also think they'll win in Sri Lanka.

Tredwell, though? Really? Could they honestly not rustle up another spinner who can hold the right end of a bat and isn't James Tredwell?

Patel's a poor selection. Not among the best 10 batsmen in England, and probably not even in the top 50 bowlers.

Perhaps they just want to keep him close so that they can regulate his gluttony.

Or maybe they fear they'll get stranded on a mountain somewhere and might need to eat somebody to survive. Plenty of Sam to go around - and I reckon he'd be properly tasty.

I actually rate FatSam in first class cricket more than I do in the shorter game - he's a very good batsman but I don't think we have batting depth in the way we have it in fast bowling.

Tredwell is a bit crap, understatement of the year there Gusman.

I have never believed in packing your side with spinners for the subcontinent. SA has probably the best record there and as everyone keeps pointing out, we have never had a spinner

no Blackwell?

So Morgan was the only batting casualty from their disastrous run of low scores in the Middle East!

SL is pretty ordinary at test level so they shouldn't have too many problems with them.

Much stronger batting than Pakistan. Worse attack.

England could still have trouble with them.

Flower's thoughts on Morgan seem pretty scathing.

Seems that England are calling him out now. There's a veiled criticism of his IPL involvement, and a suggestion that he must do what he has never done to make it back into the Test side - score a heap load of first-class runs.

I'd be amazed if he plays another Test.

I wonder if England might consider bringing Bresnan in in Morgan's place.

all we need now is for rangana herath to declare he has developed a new delivery for the series

They seemed to pick Morgan thinking he could pull off a 'magic' innings like he does in one day cricket. Always thought he was probably a bit too loose for test cricket but then I think that of Bopara too.

Chivalry Augustus wrote:Flower's thoughts on Morgan seem pretty scathing.

Seems that England are calling him out now. There's a veiled criticism of his IPL involvement, and a suggestion that he must do what he has never done to make it back into the Test side - score a heap load of first-class runs.

I'd be amazed if he plays another Test.

Not heard his most recent comments, but the other day he seemed somewhat underwhelmed at Morgan's record at Test level, murmuring about "only one or two hundreds" and an average "around thirty".

Aye, why mince your words though. Let's face it, he's shit. Has not clue how to build a FC innings, he's played half his FC matches on a road and he can't even average 40 there. 35 in fact. Abominable. Can't believe I ever thought he could do anything.

Samit Patel's a good batsman. He's marginally better than a part-time bowler, but that's about it.

Tredwell, welllllll as Cork said - 'if you want a reserve offie, who else do you go for?'. I agree. If you want a reserve offie.

Still, the spinning stocks are pretty bare - Rashid's gashing the place up, Briggs is gashing the place up - who else???

Davies back in ... bye bye Kieswetter?

No, Davies has always been back-up for Tests... Beddy is first choice OD specialist.

(we're not playing any limited over stuff on this tour)

Who's the young Yorks offie? British Asian, gives it a rip, can hold a bat..... He would have been a more forward pick than Tredwell, especially considering Tredwell will be 4th choice, and almost certainly wont get a game unless two spinners get injured at once.

What, Azeem Rafiq? Don't Trev him, his career's hardly started. IIRC he got plenty of tonk last year. Plenty. Don't get me wrong I like the look of him but surely, what, 8 FC matches isn't good enough? That's an uber-Trev of a Trev-up.

Tredwell is a waste of time, certainly, but he's more likely to take wickets or at the very least hold an end up.

If not offie Rafeeq, there's always leggie Rashid. Special talent him.
More importantly, has Rafeeq got his passport? Or will he have to pass the impossible citizenship test?

Too many spinners for me, especially if the Lankan ministers have lit a fire up the players' arses.

Shame that AU Rashid cannot kick on. It was clear that Panesar was going to be the second spinner to the UAE for the simple fact Rashid hasn't performed. He has been poor internationally and his economy and average do nothing to change my mind that, 280 FC wickets down the line he's still 'not ready'.

He could become the next Ian Salisbury if he got lucky.

Four spinners FFS? Have they added another ten f/c games to the tour without telling anyone?

Morgan has been an atrocious test player. Honestly one of the worst we've ever persisted with even for a short period. His average is bad enough at face value but when you take into account the fact that until the Pakistan series he has NEVER been under any serious pressure when he has come in to bat, either by score board pressure or by consistently good bowling.

Oh and Danny... I think you may have the upper hand in our "Ian Bell as a top test player under pressure" debate....