England v WI, 2nd Test, Chester-le-Street, May 14 - 18

Bresnan bowled just 7 overs in the lord's test match ffs. He surely deserves to be given another chance.

I think the Windies will bring in Richardson for Baker. Baker actually bowled half decently at Lord's, but he just couldn't take any wickets. Looking at his first class stats, it seems to be the story of his career so far.

Henry wrote:Bresnan bowled just 7 overs in the lord's test match ffs. He surely deserves to be given another chance.

Possibly, but deserving another go and getting another go are two different things, especially as far as England team selection is concerned. As the Gloomy Dane (not Ole Mortensen) says:

"....use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping?"

(Hamlet, Act II, sc.ii)

which is particularly true of the England bowling attack in recent years although not in the last match, I grant you.

I still think Bell's long-term route to a regular England place, like Dennis Amiss before him, lies as an opener. The flaws in Cook's technique would be mercilessly exposed by a decent bowling attack and Mitchell Johnson & Co. must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of bowling to him and he runs a considerable risk of providing bunny rabbit stew to one or more of the Oz bowlers if he continues to fill the opening spot with Strauss.

I believe Cardiff is a turning pitch. Two spinners might be useful.

Aus will probably take Hauritz and McGain in the squad but I reckon they'll only play one.

England to win in 4 days.

With the predicted weather oop Norf (not unlike the Lord's gloom last week) - can't see an alternative result TBH.

Frankly, the WIndians don't look like their hearts are in this tour ...
Crystal looks even more glazed than his usual self whilst Sarwan and Chanders look knackered. Only Fidel looked the real business at Lord's ...

Allan D wrote:I still think Bell's long-term route to a regular England place, like Dennis Amiss before him, lies as an opener. The flaws in Cook's technique would be mercilessly exposed by a decent bowling attack and Mitchell Johnson & Co. must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of bowling to him and he runs a considerable risk of providing bunny rabbit stew to one or more of the Oz bowlers if he continues to fill the opening spot with Strauss.

And you're saying Bell doesn't run that risk, despite never having been a regular opener and never having been the first century-maker in an innings?

The only way he can sustain an England career is by hiding away at 5 or 6 on flat pitches, coming in with 400 on the board and taking apart tired bowlers under no pressure. For Bell read Ramprakash, Hick, Crawley - talented but temperamentally flawed. Move on, selectors. Cook may be having a few technical problems right now but will battle through them and make 50 more often than not.

Merlin wrote:England to win in 4 days.

With the predicted weather oop Norf (not unlike the Lord's gloom last week) - can't see an alternative result TBH.

Frankly, the WIndians don't look like their hearts are in this tour ...
Crystal looks even more glazed than his usual self whilst Sarwan and Chanders look knackered. Only Fidel looked the real business at Lord's ...

Agreed. England were always going to be favourites in their own conditions, especially up north and in cold weather but I am thoroughly pissed off with the attitude of most players on tour so far. I hope they prove everyone wrong but I'm not convinced they even want to.

WIFAN wrote:

Merlin wrote:England to win in 4 days.

With the predicted weather oop Norf (not unlike the Lord's gloom last week) - can't see an alternative result TBH.

Frankly, the WIndians don't look like their hearts are in this tour ...
Crystal looks even more glazed than his usual self whilst Sarwan and Chanders look knackered. Only Fidel looked the real business at Lord's ...

Agreed. England were always going to be favourites in their own conditions, especially up north and in cold weather but I am thoroughly pissed off with the attitude of most players on tour so far. I hope they prove everyone wrong but I'm not convinced they even want to.

One comment by Gayle in his post-match interview surprised me - he said that tomorrow (Saturday) the players would have a day off! FFS!

Have to admit that sometimes Crystal's so laid back he'd be better off lying down when he opens his mouth to speak in public!

Aye, that comment of his about a day off made me chuckle too ... what was it, 7 catches dropped, your best bowler thoroughly p!ssed off, your two best batsmen scoring a massive 15 between them over 2 innings - and hey, let's all have a day off!!

Dats cool maaan ... pass the spliff!

I'm only skimming the forum but is that right? Bell recalled? WTF!?

JKLever wrote:I'm only skimming the forum but is that right? Bell recalled? WTF!?

Yep ..... along with Siders.

beamer wrote:
And you're saying Bell doesn't run that risk, despite never having been a regular opener and never having been the first century-maker in an innings?

The only way he can sustain an England career is by hiding away at 5 or 6 on flat pitches, coming in with 400 on the board and taking apart tired bowlers under no pressure. For Bell read Ramprakash, Hick, Crawley - talented but temperamentally flawed. Move on, selectors. Cook may be having a few technical problems right now but will battle through them and make 50 more often than not.

Ahhh, beams, that made me sigh with contentment. I don't have to wax lyrical. You've done it for me!

Surely there has been enough talent exhibited of late to banish Tinker to the annals of Test history?

Dale Richards has returned to the Caribbean with a shoulder injury. Every time he gets picked for Windies, he gets injured. That might be it for his test career. No replacement is coming for the Durham test but the selectors are meeting to name a replacement for the ODI squad.

It'll be the X-man. It's always the X-man.

WIFAN's PC in crisis.

Gayle's captaincy, like WIFAN's PC. In crisis.

He does not want to be in chilly England, and he does not want to be up early when his preferred habit is to sleep in until 2pm. Then the list continues, and he admits that he does not want to be West Indies captain any more and that he does not particularly care for Test cricket.

"I wouldn't be so sad," says Gayle when asked how he would feel if Test cricket were to die out. He prefers Twenty20 over the traditional game. About the captaincy he is similarly blase. "To be honest with you, there's a possibility I might give it up – I will be giving it up, shortly."

testing testing 123???? Wahey I'm back. Was trying to post quotes from the Gayle captaincy article but thats been done now anyway!

This is the 3rd forummer that has sprouted air.


Maybe Dello is trying some modding techniques?

A lot of forummers' PC in crisis.

So if Gayle quits the captaincy, then who? West Indies need someone to enforc some kind of discipline, but I don't think there is anyone in the team who really fits that description. Maybe Bravo? Assuming he's a test regular when 'fully fit', which I assume he is. He certainly should be. And he has always played like at least he gives a damn.

Any insight onto the psyches of some of the younger players, wifan? Will Barath be captaincy material in a few years?

Ramdin is an excellent tactician and was an excellent skipper at under 19 level. He is the current vice captain.

Bravo has the respect of his teammates and leads by example but has had almost 0 captaincy experience (he has only ever skippered the West Indies senior squad).

But I know Gayle's media style and sense of humour quite well and I think he is annoyed with the press for their reaction to his late arrival and so was giving deliberately difficult answers to the questions.

For example, I am sure he does find captaincy a chore as he is not a massively outgoing personality, but he was definitely egging the reporter on when talking about quitting immediately etc.

DJ_Smerk wrote:This is the 3rd forummer that has sprouted air.


Maybe Dello is trying some modding techniques?

Nothing to do with me, but I'm loving the new air shots feature.

Hissy fit from Crystal ... slagging off Straussie then quoted as saying that he wouldn't mind if Test cricket was replaced by T20 ...

What a pussy.
Seems he's missing the IPL (for IPL read $$$$$) in Safferland ... poor ickle diddums, is it too cold for the softie up at Durham compared to the balmy warmth of Cape Town that he left just last week ...
If he's looking for "respect" doesn't he know he's got to earn it first?
Rocking up to meet his team 2 days before a test match with his pockets bulging with $$$ bills ain't exactly the best prep ...

WINdian greats of the past would kick his arse given half the chance.
Silly qunt. Nice laid back guy sure, phenomenal bat (when in the mood) too ... but a silly qunt nonetheless.

Test cricket was popular long before Gayle was around, and God willing, it will be popular long after he's gone. In 50 years, people will still remember a great bowling spell in an ashes test, or a fantastic backs to the wall knock on a difficult 5th day pitch, but who the hell is going to remember Chris Gayle's 50 off 25 balls for the Calcutta Knight Riders against the Delhi Daredevils in game 36 of the IPL? Not me.

Besides, didn't the man invest a shit load of his money in the Stanford Corporation? You'd have thought he would have learnt his lesson. Ah well....