England's Test squad for SL...

With Freddie now ruled out for definite - you have to wonder if he's played his last Test - how does that affect the likely squad for the SL series in December which will be announced soon? Also, will performances in the current ODI series have affected their thinking at all?

Assuming it's a squad of 16 it's likely that they will go for:

7 batsmen - Vaughan, Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood, plus two from Strauss, Shah, and if reports are to be believed Ramprakash

2 keepers - Prior and Mustard? Expect batting to be priority as the keeper will have to bat at 7 or even 6.

2 spinners - Panesar, and surely Swann has done enough for the second slot?

5 seamers - Hoggard, Anderson, Sidebottom, Harmison, either Broad or Tremlett.

There's always a chance they will throw in someone unexpected, particularly to try and fill the "genuine all-rounder" role - any possible candidates for that?

Don't take Harmison and take both Broad and Tremlett, I'd say.

Depends on whether Harmison's reputation is enough to get him in despite those two being streets ahead of his as bowlers over the last 12 months.

The Harmison issue is a tricky one. Off form he's awful, of course, but when he clicks he is as devastating as anyone in the game, and prople seem to forget he was showing real signs of a return to form in a couple of Tests before he got injured this summer.

On the other hand, the pitches in Sri Lanka won't suit him, he's not a good tourist and a poor series will just give more ammunition to his critics. I can't decide whether going or staying at home will be better for his career in the longer term.

I'd take him.

Can't pick and choose where he likes to perform anylonger IMO.

Just because the pitches may not suit and he may not be that successful he has to show he's prepared to do the hard yards.

There are other options for the attack these days, he's not guaranteed to just be able to turn up and expect to get picked

I think you probably take Tremlett over Broad as he's already had a bash in Tests and done well and he's almost a like-for-like style bowler to cover Harmison and whatever dramas he brings to the party this time.

I wouldn't take Tremlett. I think he bowls one type of ball - short of a length, and on the pitches we're going to get, it's likely to be useless. Broad is, imo, a better bowler, and equally importantly a better batsman. He bowls a bit quicker as well. Harmison, though often cold, is our only genuine quick, so we ought to take him.

My seamers:

Hoggard
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison
Broad

Both Tremlett and Broad have been named in the Academy squad - so it could well be that neither are on board.

Dello wrote:Both Tremlett and Broad have been named in the Academy squad - so it could well be that neither are on board.

If they both miss out, then it's Anderson, Sidebottom, Harmison, Hoggard and who else? They were probably banking on Flintoff being the fifth seamer in the squad, so I'd expect one of those two will go in his absence unless they pick a direct replacement all-rounder (can't think who though).

As for the make up of the side, with no Flintoff I think they'll go 6 batsmen, 1 batting wk, and 4 bowlers (2 of which are spinners)

I think Swann is almost a cert to bat at 8, and Hoggy will definitely be 1st on the list which leaves 1 from Broad, Sidey,Harmison, Tremlett

I've got this nagging feeling they'll push Prior/Swann up 1 place too high at 6/7 to push in another bowler.

Which is one place too high for their abilities at the higher level. Whereas it looks a decent 7/8 combo

as for the squad, I don't think there will be anyone picked outside of those mentioned by beamer

Trouble is, 4 specialist bowlers with 2 spinners means Colly as first change. And real problems if one of your new ball bowlers gets injured or just bowls crap.

We'd have still had the same problem to some extent with Flintoff available though, given the recent unreliability of his batting. At least with Swann and potentially Broad, five bowlers doesn't have to mean five rabbits.

beamer: I cannot believe that, when they announced the Academy squad little more than a week ago, the selectors had Flintoff pencilled in to tour this winter. He's had no chance of making the trip since he struggled to get through four overs of T20 cricket.

So I wonder who they've got in mind. Perhaps no-one. Perhaps four pacemen and two spinners is all they'll take.

JKL: I think they'll play three seamers - Harmison, Sidebottom and a close call between Hoggard and Anderson a spinner. All the talk of two spinners is just that: talk.

You've got to remember that, when he wants to be, Vaughan is a very handy off-spinner. I think he'll bowl in the series alongside Panesar for much of it.

At least that'll be plan A. Swanny might come in later on if things are going tits up.

They were talking about potential squads of 15 in the interval of today's game I think, so that probably does mean losing a bowler unless they take the risk of having only one keeper.

Mustard is also in the Academy squad, so perhaps they will go with a more experienced backup keeper for the Test series. Which means Read, Geraint Jones, Nixon or Foster I suppose.

I don't think England can go into a Test with just 2 frontline seamers. They will just have to play Panesar and get Vaughan and Pietersen to fill in a few overs.

This surely has to be harmisons last chance to keep his place in the side. He doesnt even have to finish the series with great figures but he does have to look like he's prepared to do the hard graft and not look like he's losing interest if he hasnt taken 4 wickets in his first spell.

I reckon:

Vawn
Cook
Dingdong
KP
Colly
Ace
Prior
Broad
SiBo
Montay
Hoggy

Puts a lot of pressure on Monty. KP and Colly will have to bowl.

No Harmi because he's done nothing for two years except at Trent Bridge, and his record away is shocking.

Anyone who thinks that Harmison is going to come back into the England side and instantly be even somewhere close to good form, on a stinking hot away tour to Sri Lanka no less, dead pitches, homesickness and all, is kidding themselves. The guy needs bowling to find form, and he hasnt had any for the last 3 months.

Send him off with the A team and if he does well, then maybe consider him for New Zealand. Im not sure how much longer he can keep living off his 2004 heroics. He's averaged about 40 with the ball in the 3 years since.

Dello wrote:Both Tremlett and Broad have been named in the Academy squad - so it could well be that neither are on board.

I wouldn't read too much into the selection of the Academy squad. My money is on the five bowlers mentioned by Augustus with Tremlett missing out.

Dello wrote:At least that'll be plan A. Swanny might come in later on if things are going tits up.

So they may as well start off with Swanny and save all the time and effort of Plan A.

You've got to remember that, when he wants to be, Vaughan is a very handy off-spinner. I think he'll bowl in the series alongside Panesar for much of it.

Im not sure he's capable of bowling longish spells these days with that knee. If the pitches for the tests are anything like the one's that have been used for the ODI's, then we'll want 2 specialist spinners in the side. Id go with something like-

Cook
Vaughan(c)
Shah
Pietersen
Collingwood
Bell
Prior+
Swann
Hoggard
Sidebottom
Panesar

I dunno. Maybe we could even risk batting Prior at 6 and Swann at 7 to get the extra seamer in the team?

Prior
Swann
Tremlett
Hoggard
Sidebottom
Panesar

Looks a bit shaky, though. Murali would more than likely skittle them in 3 or 4 overs.

According to The Times a 16 man squad will now be selected as Flintoff isn't going. Originally they were going with 15 and beamer got it right -
they are taking
7 batsmen
2 keepers
2 spinners
5 fast bowlers

So it's Broad or Tremlett.

Two from Shah, Ramprakash, Strauss and possibly Bopara.

And a back-up keeper to, in all slap-headed liklihood, Prior.

Interesting that Rob Keys team today had Prior at 6.

FFS!

And Bob Willis had Mustard at 7 !

I missed that. Didn't Keysie pick himself? Stupid British reserve - get in there wide boy, big yourself up.

Should know by now that Gravenly David takes his cues from TV and print media when selecting the team...

JKLever wrote:Interesting that Rob Keys team today had Prior at 6.

FFS!

And Bob Willis had Mustard at 7 !

Even more interesting, Bob picked Prior as his reserve keeper then spent two minutes telling us how **** he was. What a guy.

When Scyld Berry starts hysterically calling for the administrators to overrule Gravo on Ramps, you know its a live topic.

But I reckon the high-risk nature of making the call will scare off Dave the Grave in the end. Even though practically everyone acknowledges Ramprakash is a better player of spin than Strauss or Bell, and that the latter two have done little to justify continued selection over the past 12 months, the safe selectorial option is to leave Ramps at home.