West Indies v England, 4th Test, Bridgetown - Feb 26-Mar 2

Might as well appoint Pete Tong as Moores' successor.

**looks down, shakes head**

"batted well against the Kiwis".

Tosser. Up there with :

"bowled well against the Banglas".

Bring back Sammy.

Groan groan groan...........

Dyson backs Powell

Daren is an honest assessor of his own performance. He realises that it would be great for him to put some big performances on the board with the ball

So he knows he's carp, big deal. Is that a good enough reason to keep his place?

If you watch Daren work in the nets and if you watch him work around the whole scene, you realise that he is a very, very hard worker. At net sessions, a lot of the times, he is the best bowler.

I remember this being used as an excuse for Ian Bell's continued selection as well. It's just an awful excuse.

Sometimes in matches, he bowls balls that the batsmen aren't good enough to nick. Maybe he needs to bowl to better batsmen at times

Have we been watching the same matches as the coach?

We've had glimpses of that throughout other matches since then. I'm just waiting for the day where it all clicks for Daren and he walks away with a bag for five or more.

He's going to be waiting an awful long time then.

WIFAN wrote:I just pray that Windies bring in Baker for Powell and Simmons for Devon Smith.

Yes he held on at the end of the last test etc, but he is in the team as the 3rd fast bowler and he was carp yet again. Baker has taken wickets in the last 2 FC matches he played. He is not fast and is nothing special, but anything is better than Powell and he can hold down the spot until Bravo comes back.

[quote="PlanetPakistan"]

WIFAN wrote:I just pray that Windies bring in Baker for Powell and Simmons for Devon Smith.

Yes he held on at the end of the last test etc, but he is in the team as the 3rd fast bowler and he was carp yet again. Baker has taken wickets in the last 2 FC matches he played. He is not fast and is nothing special, but anything is better than Powell and he can hold down the spot until Bravo comes back.

[/quote

If it were up to me Kemar Roach would have been plying from the first test of this series, no ball problems and all. But I am fed up with Powell and I would even select Baker ahead of him.

"The reality is that the reasons we dropped Ian Bell haven't particularly changed," said Strauss.

"We feel that he needs to work on a few things and he needs to freshen up mentally.

"If he comes into the game then he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do that, or at least it would only have been a very short window to do that."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7908230.stm

Like your thinking there, Andrew. Almost sound like someone who isn't an absolute idiot. Most un-English, you Saffie bastard.

You'll still be outvoted by Flower and whichever selector they've got out there now (it was Miller earlier on in the tour, but I heard mention of James Chocolate the other day, so who knows...?) and we'll be careering headlong down the Belly Highway once again, but kudos points to you, sir, for stating the obvious.

I'll be quite impressed with the captain/selectors if they stick to that. When a player is dropped for reasons of form they shouldn't be put immediately to the front of the queue to return when someone gets injured, it sends out the wrong message. Of course on occasions it can be unavoidable on tour because the playing resources are limited (and the original squad for this series was one if not two batting options too light IMO) but in this case a replacement has been called up and deserves his chance.

Still think we really need to gamble and play 5 bowlers though. Anyway, Jimmy's inevitable appearance as nightwatchman shortly after evening session drinks negates the problem of a weak number 6!

With Willy Wonka out there, I'll be very impressed if Bell doesn't play.

What a great day of Cricket ahead tomorrow on Sky Sports. Anyone off work or tempted to phone in sick!?

holcs wrote:With Willy Wonka out there, I'll be very impressed if Bell doesn't play.

From an interview Gilo gave on the Beeb during the India tour, the (completely unsubstantiated) conclusion I drew - reading between the lines - was that Gilo was the nepotist, Miller the "let's not rock the boat... do I have to vote? Maybe I'll just hang back here in the background unless a deciding vote is required. That's what Gravy would do. See, I've got my WWGD wristband on...", while Whittaker was the "wildcard" who threw up random county players and brought the confectionery.

Andy Flower's supposed to be a Bell fan, Geoff Miller justified his inclusion for the first Test with the old "he's looking brilliant in the nets", so you'd have to assume he's a Malteser Balls fan - but Strauss has pretty much given Sherman the vote of no-confidence with his remarks, so it'd be a surprise if he played now.

Not that anything surprises me anymore.

BOO!

Nothing. Not a flinch.

Aye - can see those roles played out very well.

I would very much hope that Bopara plays ahead of Bell, as per Strauss' comments. Not that I believe Bopara should be there at all IMO, I'd have Key there really. But anyone instead of the NPB!

We're going 4 bowlers - assuming SiBo and Swann are fit, I would definitely go with:

Swann
Sibo
Broad
Anderson (for no more reason than at least he tries even when the cycle is stuck on carp!)

holcs wrote:
We're going 4 bowlers - assuming SiBo and Swann are fit, I would definitely go with:

Swann
Sibo
Broad
Anderson (for no more reason than at least he tries even when the cycle is stuck on carp!)

Anderson FFS

As was said before, where is 20 wickets coming from with that lot?

JK, even if you change it to Harmison, or Khan, same effect! We are not going to get 20 wickets!

JKLever wrote:

holcs wrote:
We're going 4 bowlers - assuming SiBo and Swann are fit, I would definitely go with:

Swann
Sibo
Broad
Anderson (for no more reason than at least he tries even when the cycle is stuck on carp!)

Anderson FFS

As was said before, where is 20 wickets coming from with that lot?

Two of them are crocked going into the game as well.

Doomed, we are.

Its fairly pony that I would rather pick a half fit SiBo than Harmi!!

Rashid to debut in the dead rubber IMO.

Dello wrote:

"The reality is that the reasons we dropped Ian Bell haven't particularly changed," said Strauss.

"We feel that he needs to work on a few things and he needs to freshen up mentally.

"If he comes into the game then he wouldn't have had the opportunity to do that, or at least it would only have been a very short window to do that."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7908230.stm

Like your thinking there, Andrew. Almost sound like someone who isn't an absolute idiot. Most un-English, you Saffie bastard.

You'll still be outvoted by Flower and whichever selector they've got out there now (it was Miller earlier on in the tour, but I heard mention of James Chocolate the other day, so who knows...?) and we'll be careering headlong down the Belly Highway once again, but kudos points to you, sir, for stating the obvious.

And moreover: -

Meanwhile, inconsistent paceman Steve Harmison's starting place is in doubt.

The 30-year-old, who is the most likely of England's bowlers to extract the extra bounce on offer in Barbados, has shaken off a back injury, but captain Andrew Strauss revealed he is not certain to play.

He said: "There are two ways of looking at Steve Harmison.

"One is that he is frustrating and you don't always get the same level of performance out of him, the other is that he is a bowler and bowlers rely on rhythm that doesn't come as easily as people think.

"Generally with Steve if he is bowling quick and with hostility then no batsman likes facing him.

"He knows what we want from him and I think he knows how to get there so it is up to him to put that work in."

Amjad Khan, who travelled with Bopara from New Zealand, is being considered as a replacement for Harmison.

Frankly, even more damning (and just as warranted) as his Bell verdict.

Oi loiks it.

Sock it to 'em, Johann.

Can't have Sibo as part of a four-man attack with his fitness record, and I wouldn't pick Harmison on principle. So, it will have to be:

Broad
W@nkerson
Amjad Khan
Swann

Prior going home has really screwed things up. With him at six, we could have played five bowlers, with Rashid getting the nod over Monty.

Look, to get a result, we need 20 wickets, right?

So here we go

Strauss
Ambrose
Kev
Bopara
Broad
Swann
Sibo
Rashid
Amjad
Jimmy
Harmi
Monty

And hope they don't notice we have 12 in the field. Monty can be excused batting duties.

The BBC thinks Bops will play BTW.

english cricket can always be relied upon for humour...

must say tho that Strauss is looking like the first serious captain England has possessed for decades

horace wrote:english cricket can always be relied upon for humour...

We can't compete with Punter's captaincy.

lol@bas...nice try....think yawn...think KP....think Fredalo...think bell...think harmi...think monty...think jammy..think colly...think athers/gooch et al...all are good for a very good chuckle

horace wrote:lol@bas...nice try....think yawn...think KP....think Fredalo...think bell...think harmi...think monty...think jammy..think colly...think athers/gooch et al...all are good for a very good chuckle

Punter wins hands down for the last day of the last test against India if for nothing else.

MPV shits all over Ponting as captain. Strauss will do so by the end of August. Look at this way, we'll be doing Aussie cricket a favour by winning the Ashes - no way will Punter survive that.

Five big calls in one post. Is this a record?