Ambrose in, Mustard out

Good consistency lads...

Squad


England one-day squad: PD Collingwood (Durham, capt) Age 32 Caps 141, AN Cook (Essex) 23 21, TR Ambrose (Warwickshire, wkt) 25 0, IR Bell (Warwickshire) 26 64, KP Pietersen (Hampshire) 25 69, OA Shah (Middlesex) 29 35, LJ Wright (Sussex) 23 5, RS Bopara (Essex) 23 21, AD Mascarenhas (Hampshire) 30 10, SC Broad (Nottinghamshire) 21 26, RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire) 30 13, JM Anderson (Lancashire) 25 86, GP Swann (Nottinghamshire) 29 7, CT Tremlett (Hampshire) 26 8.

Not many surprises there.

Guess this pretty much guaranteed we'll have to give the openers spot to Wright, whilst Cookie is crabbing it up the other end?

doremi wrote:Not many surprises there.

There's not a surprise at all. Shame really.

JKLever wrote:Guess this pretty much guaranteed we'll have to give the openers spot to Wright, whilst Cookie is crabbing it up the other end?

Why not? Not many other options.

Aye.

Obviously no Fred either and good to see they've stopped their flirtation with Tredwell

Oh well. No Simon Jones. Maybe I was getting a little excited there.....

Mustard has been in terrible form for Durham so far this season. Really hasn't done anything. That, combined with the fact that his few ODI performances to date have consisted of merely flashy cameos, probably led to the axe falling. I'm surprised that Ambrose has been called up, however. He's hardly in red hot form himself. I thought Read might have been a chance. He'd bat down at 8-9, and his poor technique wouldn't really matter.....He can slog a few in the final overs.

W@nk, w@nk, w@nk!!

"National Selector Geoff Miller said: “In choosing these players, we were keen to show consistency with the nucleus of the squad from the winter and give further opportunities to individuals who we feel are likely to be an important part of our plans as we build towards the ICC World 2020 event in England next summer and the next ICC Cricket World Cup."

These are the same qunts who were a shambles against NZ right!?

This consistency bullsheet is getting on my wick. Especially as most of these feckers get carted or do f'all in ODI's?

How does Tremlett keep getting into the ODI set-up. He gets smoked to all parts in the shorter formats.

[quote]"National Selector Geoff Miller said: “In choosing these players, we were keen to show consistency with the nucleus of the squad from the winter and give further opportunities to individuals who we feel are likely to be an important part of our plans as we build towards the ICC World 2020 event in England next summer and the next ICC Cricket World Cup."
[quote]

What bollocks. History suggests that we never actually 'build' towards a world cup. We are normally in just as big a shambles 3 months out as we are 3 years out.

AN Cook
LJ Wright
OA Shah
KP Pietersen
PD Collingwood *
RS Bopara
TR Ambrose(+)
AD Mascarenhas
GP Swann
SC Broad
RJ Sidebottom

Bats down, arguably, to 11. Three 'full tenners', maybe 4, 3 or 4 bit-part bowlers for different conditions.

JKLever wrote:Guess this pretty much guaranteed we'll have to give the openers spot to Wright, whilst Cookie is crabbing it up the other end?

Not a big deal ... but ...... given I'm a Cook supporter, I nevertheless find it strange that he gets
the openers spot when Strauss has been the in-form batsman lately against this lot!
Presume there's some logic in that??

Not a bad lineup, but they'll go with Anderson ahead of Mascharenhas. 2 specialist seamers won't happen in England.

Merlin wrote:

JKLever wrote:Guess this pretty much guaranteed we'll have to give the openers spot to Wright, whilst Cookie is crabbing it up the other end?

Not a big deal ... but ...... given I'm a Cook supporter, I nevertheless find it strange that he gets
the openers spot when Strauss has been the in-form batsman lately against this lot!
Presume there's some logic in that??

I'm a Cook fan but he shouldn't be anywhere near the ODI team imo.

Merlin wrote:
Not a big deal ... but ...... given I'm a Cook supporter, I nevertheless find it strange that he gets
the openers spot when Strauss has been the in-form batsman lately against this lot!
Presume there's some logic in that??

Yeah. Andrew Strauss was a gash-ferret the last time he played ODIs? He's 32, with the next WC when he's 36?

It must have been pretty hard for Miller and Co in fairness:

"So, we have a choice between Mustard - who has been crap in ODIs, Ambrose - who has been equally crap in the Tests, and Prior, who can't actually catch."

They might as well give it to Ambrose so he gets a full crack of the whip.

The rest of the team is absolute shite though. Utter dogshit. If the odds on New Zealand are any good, pile on...

I'd rather Dave Sales opening the batting than Cookie or Strauss!!!

The winds of change are apaprent on Flaiming Bails these days:

B@s - I love Bell but he's not doing it
JK - Bell needs dropping
JK - Dave Sales for England Opener

Hurrah! My work here is almost done!

Augustus wrote:It must have been pretty hard for Miller and Co in fairness:

"So, we have a choice between Mustard - who has been crap in ODIs, Ambrose - who has been equally crap in the Tests, and Prior, who can't actually catch."

They might as well give it to Ambrose so he gets a full crack of the whip.

The rest of the team is absolute shite though. Utter dogshit. If the odds on New Zealand are any good, pile on...

Well, we should actually still beat the Kiwi's. Even in the ODI's.

Brass Monkey wrote:

Merlin wrote:
Not a big deal ... but ...... given I'm a Cook supporter, I nevertheless find it strange that he gets
the openers spot when Strauss has been the in-form batsman lately against this lot!
Presume there's some logic in that??

Yeah. Andrew Strauss was a gash-ferret the last time he played ODIs? He's 32, with the next WC when he's 36?

Mebbe, mebbe ...but taking JK's above comment into account (my sentiments as well - good test bat future)
... regarless of age/WC etc etc ... d'you honestly think Cookie's the right opener in ODI's?

Maybe they're looking ahead rather than picking on-form for immediate success ... who knows.
They're England selectors eh!

JKLever wrote:I'd rather Dave Sales opening the batting than Cookie or Strauss!!!

You're just saying that to keep the lid on the Fink!!

Cook isn't the right opener, and neither is Strauss. Strauss could do a job as the nurdler in the middle order, however. I'd open the batting with Wright and Bell.

Bell
Wright
Shah
Pietersen
Collingwood(c)
Bopara
Ambrose+
Swann
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson

Is the best team out of that squad, imo.

JKLever wrote:I'd rather Dave Sales opening the batting than Cookie or Strauss!!!

**thud**

I'm not saying i'd select the porker, but those 2 just don't work in the shorter format.

I don't think Cook should be anywhere near the ODI side. Replace him or Collingwood with Key.

Merlin wrote:Mebbe, mebbe ...but taking JK's above comment into account (my sentiments as well - good test bat future)
... regarless of age/WC etc etc ... d'you honestly think Cookie's the right opener in ODI's?

Maybe they're looking ahead rather than picking on-form for immediate success ... who knows.
They're England selectors eh!

TBH, yeah, I don't mind Cook. I think every team needs one crab. He should be the man, your opener should be the crab.

I'd f*ck Bell right off, then we'd have some OD class in the middle order and a bit of nuggety biffing lower down. I'd possibly replace Cook with Strauss, but I'm trying to be realistic. Bell will play. The selectors are trying to 'build' which means Strauss won't play.