Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:46 am  

fc baldy wrote:

England need to take a long hard look at Cooke,Prior and Bell.

Disagree. A lazy glance at Prior, a stern glare at Cook and an obsessive, elongated stare at Bell (Just to make sure he has definately left the building!)

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:37 am  

Cook gets hailed as a future England captain etc etc but he really needs to start performing with the bat. He is nowhere near the player he was when he first came into the side. Bell should not even be there. Plunkett would not be a bad option as he can bat a bit and push Swann, Broad and Prior up one place each. Sidebottom is the better bowler, just depends on how the pitch looks I suppose.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:08 pm  

Bell has to go - the amount of times he has failed when England needed a good innings has been startling. As someone said, he is the Graeme Hick of this generation, just not as good.

I would go with Sidebottom for the next test if the weather offers any assistance. He offers control and discipline.

As far as Luke Wright is concerned, I am not convinced his bowling is test match standard. he is above the likes of Collingwood as he is far mroe pacey and dangerous, but has not done enough at County level to suggets he is a perfromer and the same can be said about his batting. He is a talent, but I think England need an 'old reliable' in this series.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 1:31 pm  

PAUL M wrote:

Cook gets hailed as a future England captain etc etc but he really needs to start performing with the bat. He is nowhere near the player he was when he first came into the side. Bell should not even be there. Plunkett would not be a bad option as he can bat a bit and push Swann, Broad and Prior up one place each. Sidebottom is the better bowler, just depends on how the pitch looks I suppose.

I don't get all the talk about Cook being future England captain at all. He should be considered as a player that could 'possibly' have a future as an England batsmen but only if he picks his game up. His poor run of form is now just starting to look like a guy that simply has to many frailties to be in the side at the moment. His issue is technique not form imo.

As for Bell i've never been a fan. He has probably the best technique of all the England players but he just doesn't have the attitude to tough it out in test match cricket. I just wish we could give Collingwoods mentle toughness to Bell and then you'd have one of the worlds best players on your hands. I'd have picked Ravi Bopara in the squad ahead of Bell even though his Ashes form was horrendous. He's never a number 3 but a place at 5 or 6 in this series would have suited him imo and it would have been handy to have the option of him bowling a few overs. He's a really classy player and long term I think he'll become a cracking test match batsman at 5 or 6.

Moving onto Prior. His place should be under no pressure whatsoever imo. He's had a quietish time of it with the bat during the Ashes and in this test but he's got a great record and his keeping has come on fantastically well. He's doing nothing wrong with the gloves whatsoever after working really hard to improve. I get the feeling his hard work with the gloves may be effecting his batting but hopefully he can put both things together soon enough. I think he's a fantastic player tbh.

We should be positive for the next test and bring Sidebottam or Plunkett in for Bell. If you want a little bit more depth to the batting then it would have to be Plunkett. He would probably bat at 9 and along with Broad at 7 and Swann at 8 should just about be able to make up for the lack of a genuine batting number 7.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:58 pm  

As has been the case with most of England's last few 'keepers, the clamour for Prior to be dropped only comes about because he hasn't pummelled 100 off 70 balls or similar.

Adam Gilchrist has got a lot to answer for!

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:09 pm  

Prince of Denmark wrote:

Wright, Plunkett or Sidebottom for Bell would be the most likely change. I'm not convinced Wright is a much better bowler than Collingwood, Plunkett is a very capable lower order batsman, Sidebottom in for Bell with Broad & Swann moving up a place would obviously leave us with a long tail.

Jeez - that would be bold.

I have stuck up for Bell previously, but how many chances is he going to get, that 'leave' was the stuff of legends / nightmares.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:47 pm  

flipper wrote:

I have stuck up for Bell previously, but how many chances is he going to get, that 'leave' was the stuff of legends / nightmares.

Aye me too.

However, I would replace him with Wright now. He looks as though he could be a long term player for England, he performed well in the warm up matches. We have to give him a chance some time, now would be the perfect opportunity.

I can't believe people are wanting Bopara back, he was woeful versus the Aussies.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:59 pm  

Nemanja wrote:

Aye me too.

However, I would replace him with Wright now. He looks as though he could be a long term player for England, he performed well in the warm up matches. We have to give him a chance some time, now would be the perfect opportunity.

I can't believe people are wanting Bopara back, he was woeful versus the Aussies.

Wright looks a bit more ballsy to me, and quite brisk with the ball.

Bopara has lots of flair, just had a mare in the ashes, prior to that was it 3 consecutive tons against (a poor) the windies.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:42 pm  

flipper wrote:

Bopara has lots of flair, just had a mare in the ashes, prior to that was it 3 consecutive tons against (a poor) the windies.

Agreed. It was right to drop Bopara (just as the Aussies were forced to drop Philip Hughes) but he shouldn't (and won't) be forgotten. He flayed the West Indies attack but was the wrong type of player for the number three spot in a series against a top rank side, at least until he's a lot more experienced, and would be a sound alternative to Bell at 6 IMO.

Bell was a limited success when recalled in the Ashes, but he's now got fifty Tests to his name and can't be regarded as "one for the future" anymore; he's had his chances and should be discarded for good unless he produces Ramprakash-like runscoring feats at county level over a sustained period of time.

Re: Super Cricket- England in SA : Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:54 pm  

Prince of Denmark wrote:

Bell was a limited success when recalled in the Ashes, but he's now got fifty Tests to his name and can't be regarded as "one for the future" anymore; he's had his chances and should be discarded for good unless he produces Ramprakash-like runscoring feats at county level over a sustained period of time.

Therein lies a problem as, from what I remember, Bell has an excellent County record and does get big scores in County Cricket...however, rather like Harmison, Bell is too good for County level but not mentally strong enough for top class test cricket IMO.

I think there could well be a couple of spots up for grabs this coming summer with Bell, Cook and Collingwood (through age and batting limitations) all being particularly vulnerable if they dont get runs in the 2 winter tours...players such as Bopara, Carberry, Moore, Horton, Sayers, Hildreth will/should be pushing for selection if they get early-season runs