England v West Indies, 1st Test, Lords, 17-21 May, 2012

Shut up with the James Taylor thing... yes I know you've already said that you're the king of the mind-change but that doesn't give you the right to sit on the bandwagon full-time.

Chivalry Augustus wrote:I dunno why they went for Bairstow, though. Hasn't scored many first-class hundreds. Is older than James Taylor. Doesn't play for Nottinghamshire. Seems a bit naive, to me. Wee James Taylor is younger, plays for Nottinghamshire, and has nearly three times the number of first-class hundreds he does. He just played a blinder of a knock against the same team, as captain, for the England Lions. Oh well. People talk about consistency of selection with England. TBH, it's just b*llocks. They play darts, drink beer, then pick a name out of the hat. Bairstow played one good ODI innings and has been the second coming ever since.

Yep, Bairstow is a 100 or so days older. Definitely a retrograde step.

Good choice of Bairstow though i've heard there are one or two question marks against the short ball there too. I would've been ok with Taylor too.

Hard luck on Rav. I don't think he'd ever let anyone down at test level but is never going to be anymore than 'ok' imo.

Good to see Onions still in the frame. Overall a good solid squad, the only long term question mark for me is the future of Strauss. If the Saffers roll him over I don't see him going to india.

If they are considering Strauss's future they need to introduce a new top three batsman this summer though. We can't go to India with Bell at 3.

Our preperation (up until yesterday anyway) has been so bad that I have a strangely positive feeling about this tour. It cannot get worse!

I think our bowlers (provided Roach and Rampaul are fit) are going to cause a lot of problems, and Bravo and Chanderpaul look in good enough form to at least get some runs on the board and make it competitive.

The press are slagging off our top 3 a lot, which considering Barath's and Powell's form was fair enough. But Powell just hit a solid century in seam friendly conditions agains a decent seam bowling unit, Barath is one heck of a talent who has got a bit carried away with the shorter formats and become slightly loose. Also Kirk Edwards averages over 50 in test cricket. So all is not lost.

Yes it is frustrating that Gayle and Narine are not there (this would be a humdinger of a series if that was the case IMHO) but that's just the way it is and for now we have to live with it.

As Sammy has to play I hope they don't play Shillingford and go in with the 3 quicks. So:

Barath
Powell
Edwards
Bravo
Shiv
Samuels
Ramdin
Sammy
Roach
Rampaul
Edwards

I'm pleased they've gone for Bairstow ahead of little Jimmy T. Taylor would have been the typical, "next cab off the rank" pick that England tend to go with. But quite frankly, he failed to impress over the Winter, and his hundred against the Windies was the first decent runs he's made in over six months.

So congrats to the selectors. It's a little bit bold, and exciting. Let's hope it comes off.

If Johnny comes off, that's the back-up wickie slot filled for tours for the next decade.

It'd be handy to have a specialist batsman, worth his place as a batsman alone, who is also a genuine option with the gloves.

He's probably a better type of player to come in at 6 than Taylor too. Little Jim tends to scratch it around a bit.

Hopefully both will make it longer term. We need a mixture of aggressive players and scrappers in there.

The batting line-up has been a closed shop for too long, about time someone new grabbed their chance.

Dello wrote:If Johnny comes off, that's the back-up wickie slot filled for tours for the next decade.

It'd be handy to have a specialist batsman, worth his place as a batsman alone, who is also a genuine option with the gloves.

Who are you, the ECB's account manager?

JKLever wrote:Good choice of Bairstow though i've heard there are one or two question marks against the short ball there too. I would've been ok with Taylor too.

Hard luck on Rav. I don't think he'd ever let anyone down at test level but is never going to be anymore than 'ok' imo.

Good to see Onions still in the frame. Overall a good solid squad, the only long term question mark for me is the future of Strauss. If the Saffers roll him over I don't see him going to india.

Thought you might be a fan of JMB somehow, JK, can't think why though. It's a reasonable call given the fact that he is in the Performance Squad and has scored 107 v. Kent and 182 v. Leicestershire already this season. He would also solve the problem of reserve 'keeper on overseas tours. With a top 3 of Strauss, Cook & Trott it is clear that England have long needed someone, apart from Prior, who can push the score along once a foundation has been laid. Bairstow appears ideally suited to that role but of course the question mark remains as to how he adapts once opposition bowlers work him out. Taylor is more of a substitute for Bell and therefore may have a long wait to get into the side. However I think the selectors see him as a potential FEC which is always rather a blessing in disguise and may turn out to be a liability.

Allan D wrote:He would also solve the problem of reserve 'keeper on overseas tours.

Who are you, the ECB's account manager?

Yeah, I reckon JB may solve the backup wickie problem too

Brass Monkey wrote:

Dello wrote:If Johnny comes off, that's the back-up wickie slot filled for tours for the next decade.

It'd be handy to have a specialist batsman, worth his place as a batsman alone, who is also a genuine option with the gloves.

Who are you, the ECB's account manager?

No, they sacked me after I spunked the entire tour budget to the UAE on marshmallows and lottery scratch cards. Which is weird, because I won them £10 on the scratch cards.

Gratitude.

Better than chocolate and sex toys, like the last lot spent it on.

Brass Monkey wrote:Better than chocolate and sex toys, like the last lot spent it on.

You mean something like this:



Hmmm, very tasty.

Allan D wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:Better than chocolate and sex toys, like the last lot spent it on.

You mean something like this:



Hmmm, very tasty.

Really?

Lordy, what a rubbish effort by the Ganjas v the Lions.

skully wrote:Lordy, what a rubbish effort by the Ganjas v the Lions.

It's weird, there are some writers over here who are desperately trying to talk up the Windies' chances in this series. Lions V Christians seems more appropriate to me.

Looking forward to seeing Darren Bravo bat.

Windies fans - was Barath picked too early?

And can't believe the Fiddler is still getting picked after all these years of;

Gash, gash, gash, gash, jaffer, gash, gash, jaffer, gash, gash etc.

May as well recall Tino Best and Colly.

I can't believe Sarwan isn't in their squad, to be honest. Almost 100 tests and an average around 40 is not a record the Windies can afford to ignore, imo.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:

Windies fans - was Barath picked too early?

Was worth a shot. We don't have too many choices batting wise or else he would have been dropped already. He hasn't been a complete failure. He already has a test century and an ODI century. I think his constant struggles with injuries has hurt him, I think he just needs one big innings so that he reminds himself that he is capable of scoring runs. If he doesn't do it this series he'll probably be the one making way for Gayle when he comes back.

At least they aren't serving Kraig Brathwaite to the wolves of spicy English wickets.

shouldn't this thread be rikki'd?