Vorn not selected for Windies tour

Says.

Maybe Owais will get a game at last.

Bell.

THERE IS A GOD.

Well, almost.
Dinga still "performing" for Piles ... hence "keeping faith" with him!
Why else would the gelding warrant selection ?

Oh yeah, I forgot ... averages 40+ (just), youth, "talented", plays for Warwicks ... did I miss anything out?

Rashid apart, same old, same old.
HTF does crock Sidearse make it?
Thought he was done in for at least 3 months?!

ODI 's - Mascarenhas forgiven already ?!!

Sidebottom's hardly crocked. He should be fully fit by the time the tour starts and as England's outstanding seam bowler (sad though it is to say that) simply has to be selected.

Apart from that, who else could we really pick to freshen things up? Luke Wright? Amjad Khan? Ian Botham?

There's not a lot out there. The only other thing I'd have done is drop Bell altogether, with Bopara as backup. That way it would have made things quite clear. A number 3 who has never scored a Test hundred there should be nowhere near the squad. Shah is the present, Bopara is the future, Bell is an over-rated, timid skunt who should never play for England again.

Auggie - the reason I asked about Sidearse was BECAUSE I THOUGHT HE WAS CROCKED INDEFINITELY - first hip then groin.

The gelding, I agree, should have been left at home with either Key or Denly going ... just in case one of the openers got crocked.

But then, who'd be his replacement to "massage" the Gashed Piles?

Seeing as Bell hasnt got anything of his own to massage how is he going to be able to do it for Giles?

Ask a Warwickshire supporter!
They do strange things oop Edgbaston way.

You just know Bell's going to score a stackload of runs against a poor Windies attack and then he'll be number 3 come the Ashes.

But hey ...even Bell should be able to take Hauritz and Siddle for a few.

'Imaginative' from the selectors.

I can imagine the selection meeting went something like this:

Windy Miller: Right time to put a stop to the naked percussion and pick a team.

Gilo: *sounds of naked percussion*

Willy Wonka: Taste my new gravy flavoured chewing gum!

Peter Moores: Mike Yardy, Jason Lewry, James Kirtley, Luke Wright, Murray Goodwin, Mike Yardy...umm...how many is that?

Windy Miller: Right f*ck it- same again but chuck in Abdul Rashid just so it's not exactly the same squad (even though we did bring him to India as well hidden away in a suitcase).

Gilo: *sounds of naked percussion*

Ah, you beat me to it Tom.

Yay: Vaughan out.
Yay: Rashid in.
Yay: Cook finally dumped from the ODI squad.

Boo: Pretty much everything else remaining exactly the same.
Argh: Gareth Batty into the Lions' squad.

Hisss: The Sherminator's vice-like grip on both the Test and ODI teams in spite of being bobbins.

Eh?: Mascarenhas. Ayyai.

Oh, and I like that they've brought Steve Davies into the ODI set-up. Makes sense - two hundreds and three fifties opening for Worcs in the Pro40 last season.

What doesn't make sense is why he wasn't on the India tour. Were they just patronising Ambrose by giving him a little holiday - a reward for winning them a Test in NZ?

What has Davies done, or Ambrose not done since the announcement of the previous ODI squad?

Making it up as they go...

Three Spinners? On a tour of the West Indies? Jeez louise. What message are England trying to send to their players. We now expect the WICB will be looking at this squad and they'll be pushing for 3 featherbeds now, playing slow and low to counteract Panesars problems on slow pitches (as he is expected to start) and to not help the pacemen, on both sides.

Rashid won't play on this tour, unless Swann and Panesar get absolutely battered. It is extremely exciting to see him up in the squad though.

I am keen to know when Rashid will debut. WI Tour? Ashes Series? SAF Tour in the next Winter? They will all be interesting series' but where and how?

We may have picked three spinners because all our seamers are shit. Just saying, like...

Maybe Rashid's in the squad to nudge Monty ... complacency and flat darted-in negative over-the-wicket leg-side sh!t notwithstanding.

And for the experience .... of course!

I think he's been picked - apart from the "to gain experience" bollocks - as back-up all-rounder to Fred.

Which, I suppose, makes some kind of sense. If Flintoff goes down, Rashid comes in, and a seamer replaces (probably) Panesar - Prior goes up to six.

Spin isn't likely to be a major factor on the tour, so a guy who can handle a bat at seven and chip in some overs with the ball will probably suffice.

Or maybe he really f*cking impressed out in India and they thought "Jeez, we'd rather have this bloke to call on than that darty f*cker or Captain Underbite".

In any case, getting to bowl at blokes like Pietersen in the nets every day can't help but be helpful to the kid's development - he'll never face him in county cricket.

1st Test?:

Strauss
Cook
Shah
Pietersen *
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior +
Rashid
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson

Probably not, but who knows? Who even cares anymore?

Why didn't they pick Cowdrey?

So the selectors have definitely finished with Hoggard then

We now expect the WICB will be looking at this squad and they'll be pushing for 3 featherbeds now, playing slow and low to counteract Panesars problems on slow pitches

The WICB is not capable of organising that lol, no way, they can't organise anything.

1st test Jamaica - This is where our bowlers have performed well, but our batsmen have really struggled. We had Australia at 12/4 even though our best bowler (JT) was injured. It has a fair bit of pace without being as fast as it was in 2004, and takes a fair amount of turn on all 5 days. It is a good cricket pitch.

2nd test - Antigua = roadiest of all roads snorefest

3rd test = Barbados which will have pace and bounce. I remember 3 Aussie batsmen being dismissed by being late on pull and hook shots.

4th test = Port of Spain which suited our pace bowlers during the last test there. It is not quick, but their is certainly sideways movement.

One of the most annoying things about our last test series against England was Monty and his outrageous over appealing. I haven't watched him for a while though, so hopefully someone had a word in his ear. Lets also hope that our batsman will use the bat more against him as they kept padding him away last time which was asking for trouble as they were giving Monty lbws very freely.

He hasn't been bowling well enough to even create anything worth appealing for.

Although he did go up for a few which pitched miles outside leg-stump in India which the umps gave a disdainful shrug to...

Dello wrote:I think he's been picked - apart from the "to gain experience" bollocks - as back-up all-rounder to Fred.

Which, I suppose, makes some kind of sense. If Flintoff goes down, Rashid comes in, and a seamer replaces (probably) Panesar - Prior goes up to six.

Spin isn't likely to be a major factor on the tour, so a guy who can handle a bat at seven and chip in some overs with the ball will probably suffice.

Or maybe he really f*cking impressed out in India and they thought "Jeez, we'd rather have this bloke to call on than that darty f*cker or Captain Underbite".

In any case, getting to bowl at blokes like Pietersen in the nets every day can't help but be helpful to the kid's development - he'll never face him in county cricket.

1st Test?:

Strauss
Cook
Shah
Pietersen *
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior +
Rashid
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson

Probably not, but who knows? Who even cares anymore?

PMSL @ Dellboy ... my Rashid line re. "experience" and "nudging the dart throwing Monty" was a p!ss take !
Didn't think NSR was your bag somehow!

Anyway, since when was spin a "major factor" on a WIndies tour ???
Unless Harmi was tweaking it last time round when bagging his 20 wicket series haul !
As WIFAN points out - the tracks (bar Antigua) are custom made for the quicks/swingers (unless you know different) ... with maybe Kingston offering some turn on the last day... reckon there'll be 6 maybe 7 quicks on show each test ... Monty/Benn might just get an occasional twirl!

He said spin isn't likely to be a major factor.

You should play Monty in the first Test, Swann in the 2nd and Rashid in the 3rd and the 4th test goes to the best performer and the person who plays in the 4th test should be in the XI for Cardiff on July 8th!

spangler wrote:He said spin isn't likely to be a major factor.

Don't worry about it - he'll claim his illiteracy is NSR on your part.

DJ_Smerk wrote:

I am keen to know when Rashid will debut. WI Tour? Ashes Series? SAF Tour in the next Winter? They will all be interesting series' but where and how?

I really hope Rashid gets a proper game on the WI Tour. lets see how he performs and therefore whether he is a runner for the Ashes. Otherwise he either sits out the Ashes or debuts in the series.

Mind you, given how "ordinary" or average Oz look ATM it may be an easier debut than on the WI pitches.

Good for him. People who come out of retirement don't usually bathe themselves in glory. Not everyone is a Warne. Even Vorn.

spangler wrote:He said spin isn't likely to be a major factor.

My bad ... ooops!

Nevertheless, three spinners ... begs the question ...

Why?