England v Pakistan, 1st Test, Lords, 14-18 July, 2016

Jimmeh reckons he'll be right

"James Anderson, the spearhead of England's pace attack, is confident that he will achieve full fitness ahead of the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's, scheduled to begin on July 14. The 33-year-old fast bowler from Lancashire pulled up sore during the third Test against Sri Lanka last month and was later diagnosed with a stress fracture of his right shoulder blade. On their part, the England medical staff reckon that it is a rare injury and amongst the bowlers, only one such case has been reported."

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Likely England XI?

And will the Wackies be competitive?

There's talk of Buttler playing as a batsman only, which doesn't make sense at all considering he's a better keeper than Bairstow. Not miles better, but better all the same. There's also talk of Stokes playing as a batsman only but I think they should resist that and give Vince one more chance, but Root should move up to three. Mooen is also under a bit of pressure. Is he the best spinner in England right now? I really don't think he is, and he can't be picked for his batting if he's going to be down at number 8. I'd say on form Rashid should be picked.

I'd go with-

Cook(c)
Hales
Root
Vince
Bairstow
Buttler+
Woakes
Rashid
Broad
Finn
Anderson

A fit Stokes has to play, surely?

Agree with Buttler as keeper and Bairstow as batsman though, he's a liability behind the sticks but you can't drop him when he's batting like he has been recently.

both are Haddit standard with the gloves

Bairstow's far worse than Haddin. Can't recall many worse keepers than him.

Wayne B Phillips is the name you're looking for. They stuck gloves on him - cymbals on a clown - and ruined a perfectly good opening batsman.

Ahhhh, Flipper's keeping - a wonderful metaphor for Aus cricket in the mid 80s. Shit and shittier.

Meanwhile, Pakistan are apparently looking really good. England could be in for a real fight in this series.

England squad: Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Jake Ball, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Toby Roland-Jones, James Vince, Chris Woakes

Ballance? I didn't see that coming

interesting squad....how will Thompson Gunner (as in Roland the...) go? James Ball?

will be interesting to see how the team minus the great Jimmeh will go.

Looks like the Belfard is gone. Has he officially retired from test cricket?

Bell's gone I reckon. Apart from the team selected, there's Buttler, Stokes, Borthwick and Clarke vying for a spot in the middle-order.

Basil wrote:Ballance? I didn't see that coming

Who's the Wackie bowling coach? Shirley he'll get his boys practising the yorker now.

skully wrote:

Basil wrote:Ballance? I didn't see that coming

Who's the Wackie bowling coach? Shirley he'll get his boys practising the yorker now.

It's Azhar Mahmood for the seamers and Mushtaq for the spinners. If the ball seams / swings - I don't give Ballance a price.

Basil wrote:

skully wrote:

Basil wrote:Ballance? I didn't see that coming

Who's the Wackie bowling coach? Shirley he'll get his boys practising the yorker now.

It's Azhar Mahmood for the seamers and Mushtaq for the spinners. If the ball seams / swings - I don't give Ballance a price.

He's terrible against late seam movement.

Roland-Jones seems like a run of the mill county cricketer...or am i miss-reading him?

Big Dog wrote:Roland-Jones seems like a run of the mill county cricketer...or am i miss-reading him?

No you're not. He's mid 80s mph at best. I would recalled either Jordan or Plunkett. I suppose R-J got the nod on a horses for courses basis.

Another Mike Smith of 1997?

Plunkett must have shat in James Whitaker's cornflakes or something. Heart-breaking omission.

Surely Ball will get a chance this time and won't be leap-frogged again. TRJ will be carrying the drinks unless there's an injury.

embee wrote:England squad: Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Jake Ball, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Toby Roland-Jones, James Vince, Chris Woakes

Is it just me, or does the top order batting look a little fragile?

And the selectors clearly didn't believe Jimmeh's opinion that he'd be right.

The top order batting has been fragile since 2012. Still haven't found a permanent opening partner for Cook, and the number three has been a revolving door since Trott's problems in the 2012-13 Ashes.

How's the London weather looking, chasps?

Fine for tomorrow