Dave Graveney versus Flaming Bails

Ok, so having thought about it and the obvious must plays basically that the selection committee want to pick if fit.... Heres a comparison of perhaps what I think would be the best England side to pick on form over the last year or so.

This includes players currently injured!

Pick your favored side and compare it to the obvious Dave Grave side, with a five bowler policy below:

Strauss
Cook
Vawn
KP
Bell/Colly
Fred
Prior
Harmison
Hoggard
Panesar
Anderson

Ok here goes, here's my side:

I'm assuming Vawn must be captain:

Cook
Vawn
Shah
KP
Colly
Sales
Fred
Prior
Panesar
Anderson
Hoggard

holcs wrote:Ok here goes, here's my side:

I'm assuming Vawn must be captain:

Cook
Vawn
Shah
KP
Colly
Sales
Fred
Prior
Panesar
Anderson
Hoggard

That would be mine, although if we're fantasising about people being fit, I'd have Tres instead of Cook.

Aye but he's unavailable and not played in a year!

Whereas Flintstein 2007 = Flintstein 2005!

You've both missed Ian Bell off your teams for some reason.

My side:

Cook
Vawn
Bell
KP
Colly
Shah
Fred
Prior
Harmison
Hoggard
Panesar

Not a hope in hell of that being the team though.

This is nowt to do with that JK. Stick your favored England side and set up in.

holcs wrote:This is nowt to do with that JK. Stick your favored England side and set up in.

it's done man, are you blind!

Um, you seem to have an aesthetically pleasing bloke with little substance at 3, JKL.

not when I wrote it.

so not much difference really.

What would be interesting to see:

Trescothick
Cook
Vaughan
Bell
Pieterson
Collingwood
Flintoff
Read
Broad
Hoggard
Panesar



Go ahead and scoff, I can take it

I'd go with Read at 8, so long as we could be guaranteed Fred at 7.

(Not that he'll even make the tour of course..)

It's supposed to the team we want we're posting, not what will be isn't it?

Aye.

*crawls back in hole*

Cook
Bell
Vawn
KP
Collingwood
Strauss
Read
Tremlett
Hoggard
Panesar
Sidebottom

Yes ange

And Read FFS? Pfft!

But I do like the look of your bowling attack

Nice. I see what you're doing Ange - sticking a couple of weak links, spread out over our line-up to give us a bit of a challenge and keep viewers interested. Good idea.

A fully fit Flintoff capable of bowling 20 overs a day? That would be the day!

For Sri Lanka then, I would pick:

Cook
Key
Vaughan*
Pietersen
Shah
Collingwood
Rashid
Flintoff
Read / Nixon+
Hoggard
Panesar

And before the howls of protest come in...

Yes Rob Key! - I think Vaughan can't cope with the workload of being a captain and opener - just doesn't want to do it. And as he's captain its his choice. So it is a bit of a cop-out picking him as an opener. You either have him as captain in the middle order or not at all. So, with Strauss' form so bad I would have to look somewhere else and at the moment the only viable alternative is Key. Maybe Strauss will come back stronger after a break.

Have gone for the best two seamers (Flintoff & Hoggard) and spinner & spin bowling all-rounder for SL. For English conditions you would probably change Rashid for SiBo, Anderson (or if the cosmic galaxies are in alignment - probs by 2012!) Harmison.

FWIW I would have Bell as the batting reserve for the tour, mainly because of his improvement in form at the end of the English summer.

The only howls I would make would be over Wissy Weed.

Well I won't turn this into yet another me vs the world thread about Read. Suffice it to say (in my opinion) he can bat as well as Prior and in Sri Lanka you need to take as many chances as possible.

JKLever wrote:Aye.

*crawls back in hole*

Good chap.

holcs wrote:Yes ange

And Read FFS? Pfft!

But I do like the look of your bowling attack

Ye gods and little fishes, praise indeed.

Tres
Cook
Vawn
Shah
KP
Colly
Fred
Mustard
Anderson
Hoggard
Panesar

Subs:
Strauss
Harmisson
Sales
Prior
Bopara

Batfink Begins wrote:Nice. I see what you're doing Ange - sticking a couple of weak links, spread out over our line-up to give us a bit of a challenge and keep viewers interested. Good idea.

It's why I watch.