Poor old Owais Shah........again

Looked a cert to bat at six for England before this tour started, but now it seems that Bopara's bowling and fielding has leap-frogged him over Shah for the final batting spot in the England team. Bopara is a fine young player, but I personally dont think he's quite ready for Test cricket yet. Time will tell. It looks like that time will be on saturday.

I agree with Mudge

Quick, have a lie down and one of your tablets!

Henry wrote:Looked a cert to bat at six for England before this tour started, but now it seems that Bopara's bowling and fielding has leap-frogged him over Shah for the final batting spot in the England team. Bopara is a fine young player, but I personally dont think he's quite ready for Test cricket yet. Time will tell. It looks like that time will be on saturday.

Or perhaps the myopic view of a polarised Yorkie whose tenure as captain hangs in the balance anyway!
It's a given that Vawn shared Feltch's view that a "disruptive" Shah wasn't welcome in an England team.

I don't think either of them are any good, to be honest. It's like choosing between a turd and a turd, so we may as well pick an in-form turd who has proven he has a lot of balls under pressure and can bowl and field.

Augustus wrote:I don't think either of them are any good, to be honest. It's like choosing between a turd and a turd, so we may as well pick an in-form turd who has proven he has a lot of balls under pressure and can bowl and field.

A compromise could be to dump the Dinga and play both turds of course!
I'm off to Ladbrokes to lump on SL at Evens to win the series.

Feck, are SL really evens to win the series?

Shah should rightly be gutted if he isnt selected for the first Test. 88 on debut, then dropped, then comes back for 1 Test, where he makes a couple of low scores on a pitch that is doing a bit, and is dropped again, then finally gets a good run in the ODI side, where he does well, averaging over 40, and now suddenly he's been leap-frogged by a guy who has yet to really prove himself even at first class level.

FFS, it's like the mid 90's again, where Ray Illingworth did everything he could to keep Graeme Hick out of the side, simply because he didnt like the bloke. Give Shah a good run in the 3 Tests. If he doesnt do well then ok, at least they would know for sure whether he can cut it at the top level. But dont deny County Crickets leading batsman in the last 5 years (Ramps aside) his chance, otherwise it could forever be a case of 'what might have been.'

At this stage, Shah is clearly a better batsman than Bopara, and if England really want to move on from the Fletcher era, then they should pick the guy who is a better specialist batsman, rather than the guy who is a better fielder and is able to roll his arm over for a few overs.

Try telling Vawn that Trev... and I do mean Vawn and not Moores.
Vawn pulls the strings .... nuff said.

I'd agree with dropping Bell and playing Shah AND Bopara.

Bell has an average of 35 in his last three series. And he has been hidden away at 6 in two of them. Batting him at 3 is suicide.

JKLever wrote:Feck, are SL really evens to win the series?

Aye - stingy methinks.
What's your show on Betfair?

Augustus wrote:I'd agree with dropping Bell and playing Shah AND Bopara.

Bell has an average of 35 in his last three series. And he has been hidden away at 6 in two of them. Batting him at 3 is suicide.

Spot on gaffer.

Bell will be top scorer this series.

He's a little hobbit of a run machine. You know it all makes sense...

Interesting that Cook has talked about the need to attack Murali like the Aussies did, whereas Bell has said he will adopt a more cautious approach. Telling, imo. Probably sums up right there who is more likely to be FEC.

Bell ? :?:
His is the browner nose for sure ...

Merlin wrote:Bell ? :?:
His is the top scorer this series for sure ...

Agreed...

Everything points to it JKL. His record against teams with good bowlers in, his record minus the minnows, his record in general in 2007.

JKLever wrote:

Merlin wrote:Bell ? :?:
His is the top scorer this series for sure ...

Agreed...

Huh?! As if by magic ....

Henry wrote:Interesting that Cook has talked about the need to attack Murali like the Aussies did, whereas Bell has said he will adopt a more cautious approach. Telling, imo. Probably sums up right there who is more likely to be FEC.

it's the only way to beat them in Sri Lanka.

Last tour there murali still took a fair few wickets but we scored enough runs off him quickly enough to win the series.

If you just try and keep him out you will get an unplayable one sooner or later, might as well at least have some runs on the board when that ball does come along.

Take out matches against Bangladesh and Bell only averages 37 in Test Cricket. Take out Pakistan and he probably averages a blob. His tour of Pakistan was impressive though. He scored runs against Kanera, Akhtar and a Chucker with grace and ease. Frankly, he has regressed since then and only gets in the team because he's "easy on the eye". Shah's too ugly to have a good run.

Augustus wrote:Take out matches against Bangladesh and Bell only averages 37 in Test Cricket. Take out Pakistan and he probably averages a blob. His tour of Pakistan was impressive though. He scored runs against Kanera, Akhtar and a Chucker with grace and ease. Frankly, he has regressed since then and only gets in the team because he's "easy on the eye". Shah's too ugly to have a good run.

Top reason for Vawn ... he likes "easy on the eye" ... and a half even chance that he manages a few more runs than Dinga this series.
Which in itself shouldn't be too hard.

You go with who seems the best bet at the time, and Bopara has done more thus far on this tour.

It's tough on Shah, who I think is a better batsman, but there's no room for sentiment in cricket. He has to be hidden in the field and - in spite of claiming to have worked really hard on his off-break pies - he's not really a bowling option. Bopara trumps him in the fielding and bowling stakes, and in a tight choice between the two, that's what'll edge him into the side.

Of course, it shouldn't come down to a tight choice between those two players for one place - I've no idea why Ian Bell no longer has to earn his selection: he finished bottom of the batting averages in their last Test series, yet has earned a promotion up the order! Work that one out.

But that's how it is. Good luck to Bops - he's a bright prospect. Much like Stuey Broad. But, much like Stuey Broad, I fear he'll be promoted to Test cricket a little too soon.

Dello wrote: But, much like Stuey Broad, I fear he'll be promoted to Test cricket a little too soon.

Sage words.

Our test team is a bit of mish mash at the moment isn't it?

Ripe for roasting with some Murali sauce...

And a side dish of Boggle.

He'll probably have the world record by lunch on day 1 of the first Test.