England v New Zealand, 5xODI + 1xT20, 9-23 Jun, 2015

I'm kind of interested to see how this plays out.

I hope we persevere with the young/bold approach and don't bottle it after this series (which I'm presuming we'll lose) and consequently let Broad back into the team (I even think Cook feels somehow hard done by in terms of his ODI dropping - gawd help us).

Now it may be a coincidence but Chris Lewis just got released from serving at Her Majesty's Pleasure today - so if our boys seem to be turbocharged at Edgbaston then...well, you know.

The campaign to re-instate Cook starts now then.

That voodoo doll he made of Roy seems to have done the job.

Quite impressed with England's team selection, they don't have a single nudger in the top 7. Sometimes it will fall to bits, but I think this top 7 looks exciting. James Taylor's probably a little unlucky to be dropped, but I don't think he has the power or ability to dominate in ODIs. I hope they have patience with the opening partnership, neither Roy nor Hales have much experience, but one or both of them could turn out to be dynamic at the start of the innings, given time.

Fark me. Is everyone downunder called Mitchell

Okay, I take it back. Maybe we need someone like Taylor at 5 or 6. Didn't realise Stokes would be batting so high, though, he's always seemed to struggle as a ODI batsman. He's gone from batting at 8 to not making the World Cup squad to batting in a batsman's position. Strange, how England's "plans" vary from one selection meeting to the next.

Won't make 300 now, although we'll probably just sneak past what 'old' England would have managed, albeit having been bowled out in 40 overs. Still think this is completely the right way to go, no doubt England are already concerned and thinking longingly of an Ian Bell or an Alastair Cook somewhere in that top 6.

Actually I like the look of the batting line up. Bowling could be a problem but ODIs are supposed to be a batmans game

Not a memorable outing for either of the newbies, Roy or Billings.

I wonder if Root should open with one of either Hales or Roy (or A.N.Other banger if there is one). Might be a good balance and he does latterly appear to be able to tick it over at a run a ball pretty easily, and today's effort shows he can motor along far above that rate when he's in the mood.

That would then allow Taylor to get a go somewhere in the top 5? I agree that he's not your archetypal destroyer but he can keep things turning over pretty well and he's got the ability to play in an unorthodox fashion and therefore be hard to contain. Perhaps Morgan at 3 (although that would worry me against pace or on a track that's moving a bit - so maybe his and Taylor's position is fluid depdning on circumstance), Taylor 4 and then Buttler to 5?

No, I'd keep the top 4 as they were considering that Root and Morgan worked well at 3 and 4 today, while Roy and Hales are both very green. No need to fiddle with that unless it becomes very obvious that it isn't working. It's after that's a bit of a problem, there might be too much emphasis on attack with Stokes, Buttler, Billings all in a row, and they're all a bit mercurial so there's the capacity for them to fall in succession leaving you a bit short. Rashid at 8 is a massive luxury, though, if he can prove to be effective with the ball, it'd be great to have him around.

It's Billings who's the obvious one out and who you might consider fortunate to be in ahead of Taylor. He's similar to Buttler in that he's an aggressive keeper-batsman, I'm not sure you have two of those in your side unless they're both very, very good. We shouldn't assume that Billings cannot be that, but at the moment, you'd picture him as understudy in the ODI side rather than an obvious pick. Besides, if Buttler takes the gloves, what have you gained by having another power player shoved in at 7?

It seems like a bit of a waste of time. I honestly thought pre-match they'd go with; Hales, Roy, Root, Morgan, Taylor, Buttler, Stokes (as the top seven). I think that makes more sense as well.

I guess the most important thing about England so far is that they've actually been exciting. I can still see them losing this, but in series of this nature, winning or losing aren't as important as developing a philosophy and, above all else, entertaining the fans. Plodding along for a score of 270 to lose by 5 wickets is neither fun nor interesting. People don't remember England in ODI series because they're usually dour as anything. They've scored 26 fours and 8 sixes so far today, which is a lot for an England side!

Makes sense. Taylor for Billings balances out the power player ratio then.

Are the powers that be looking for Moeen to slot back in though? If so, who's keeping his seat warm? Billings? Rashid?

By the by, Finn must be bricking it just looking at this track and then realising he has Mccullum to bowl to.

Our bowlers need to come out with yorkers - from the off. Unless we're employing our standard double bluff protocol - the medium pace bouncer.

World record, why not.

Pom fans are funny.

taipan wrote:Pom fans are funny.

Give us four hours, and see how many bowlers we want to kill then. I bet you can't even get decent odds on a NZ win - for what would be the second highest chase of all-time.

This thread hasn't even been Rikkied, how apt.

What's the betting McCullum hits the winning runs with 5 overs to spare.

On a serious note, I do hope this is the death knell for Cook and Broad in JAMODIs

eowyn wrote:This thread hasn't even been Rikkied, how apt.

What's the betting McCullum hits the winning runs with 5 overs to spare.

On a serious note, I do hope this is the death knell for Cook and Broad in JAMODIs

Not Bell and Anderson?

What the phuck?

furriner wrote:What the phuck?

Cook, Bell, Moeen, Bopara, Patil, anderson, Broad, Bresnan you mean?

eowyn wrote:This thread hasn't even been Rikkied, how apt.

What's the betting McCullum hits the winning runs with 5 overs to spare.

On a serious note, I do hope this is the death knell for Cook and Broad in JAMODIs

Well woofed me!

England wil, win by at least 150

taipan wrote:

eowyn wrote:This thread hasn't even been Rikkied, how apt.

What's the betting McCullum hits the winning runs with 5 overs to spare.

On a serious note, I do hope this is the death knell for Cook and Broad in JAMODIs

Not Bell and Anderson?

Bell is already dead to me. Anderson can play IF he applies himself in every game, if not he can do one too.

408/9? Blimey, which parallel universe have I slipped into now?

You what? You actually what???? Insane. Didn't know we had it in us, brave new world or no... Can't believe the one ODI I miss is the one world I ain't watching

See, they should have tried this 10 years or more ago... instead it was Strauss, Bell, Cook, Trott, block, nudge, block, TAYPOC. 270 wins 68% of games don't you know? 98.6% of statistics are made up on the spot. Most of them by the England backroom staff.

So many weapons in this batting line-up, including a couple who didn't come off today. Root really could be our ABdeV - any format, any situation. Is there a more destructive lower middle order player than Buttler around anywhere? And Rashid just begs the question of why they weren't brave enough to try him sooner. Attacking spinner with plenty of variations who isn't getting smashed around, and can bat as well. Pace attack is work in progress but they've made the long overdue break from the Test line-up.

taipan wrote:

furriner wrote:What the phuck?

Cook, Bell, Moeen, Bopara, Patil, anderson, Broad, Bresnan you mean?

I saw the score is what I meant. Thought England had played out both their innings in one go.