: Sun Jun 14, 2009 4:16 pm  

ash4hullfc wrote:

How on Earth you could drop Bopara for Bell is beyond me.

agree - that's unthunkable as things stand

: Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:40 pm  

flipper wrote:

agree - that's unthunkable as things stand

Yet it's England and ECB so it's probably gunna happen.

Strauss
Cook
Bopara
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Broad
Swann
Onions
Anderson

That'd be my team, although I expect Bell/Sidebottom/Vaughan to be in there somewhere.

: Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:12 pm  

Nemanja wrote:

Yet it's England and ECB so it's probably gunna happen.

Strauss
Cook
Bopara
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Broad
Swann
Onions
Anderson

That'd be my team, although I expect Bell/Sidebottom/Vaughan to be in there somewhere.

Bell & Vaughan should be completely discounted unless they do something spectacular in the County Championship. I doubt Vaughan will ever be the same again. Mark Butcher recently came back from exactly one year out with a serious knee injury and scored a superb 65 at Cardiff against Glamorgan last weekend - he looked like he'd never been away, but Vaughan never looks convincing after his injury lay-offs. On the evidence I've seen Butcher should be ahead of Vaughan in the pecking order.

The one bloke I feel should be in contention is Saj Mahmood. I've always felt he had all the necessary ingredients except consistency, but he seems to be finding that right now. He's a very similar style of bowler to Simon Jones, who was our best bowler four years ago in the Ashes series win, and I can't help feeling he could play a similar role.

: Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:33 pm  

Nemanja wrote:

Yet it's England and ECB so it's probably gunna happen.

Strauss
Cook
Bopara
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Prior
Broad
Swann
Onions
Anderson

That'd be my team, although I expect Bell/Sidebottom/Vaughan to be in there somewhere.

Flintoff can't bat at 6, we may aswell give up now, his batting is absolutely awful right now. I would be tempted to go for two spinners in the first test.

: Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:50 pm  

Flintoff batting at seven would be okay for mine.

On the bowling front, I'd gamble on Rashid. Really. I don't think we have enough quality pacemen anyway, so two spinners could be something to think about.

: Mon Jun 15, 2009 3:17 am  

bring on 4 spinners

: Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:34 pm  

whys that so you can borrow 1?? huaritz is dog iron he wouldnt be able to play club cricket over here never mind the ashes

: Mon Jun 15, 2009 3:21 pm  

PAUL M wrote:

I would be tempted to go for two spinners in the first test.

Given the reports I've read about Cardiff, I'd say 2 spinners is definitely the way to go there.

: Mon Jun 15, 2009 3:37 pm  

Lord_Percy wrote:

Given the reports I've read about Cardiff, I'd say 2 spinners is definitely the way to go there.

Swann and Panesar or Rashid ?

: Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:40 pm  

Rashid will give us more strength in the batting lineup and Panesar has been slipping this last year