Well at the moment they have several lets so dive right in shall we.
England have played the last two games without a genuine opener. The issues with this has been only too evident.
While KP continues to put his ‘faith’ in Bell and Prior, Cook warms the bench.
Why? Is it because of his strike rate? To me this is not important at the moment.
What England need are good solid starts in the early overs so that when KP and Flintoff get to the wicket their job is not one of rebuilding. But of working the singles and keeping the momentum going.
To me Ian Bell has no place in the ODI team. A ODI opener needs to be slightly flexible in his game, Bell is anything but.
Prior can provide the early gusto when needed.
Drop Bell bring in Cook to partner Prior.
Whats England obsession with trying to convert Owais Shah into a no3 batsmen? True he plays the role for his county. But this is a different ball game.
KP has the experience. He is the best batsmen in the team. There is no better spot for KP to bat in than no3.
Owais at 4 and Freddie at 5. To me that’s more solid.
The next question is going to be about Collingwood.
Should he play? Then at what position.
If not who should replace him ?
I like Collingwood. He is a fighter and has a tendency to prove everyone wrong when you least expect him to. That is the kind of performance England need on Thursday. No6 is ideal for him.
Sending in Ravi Bopara at no8 is a bit of a joke. He is a very good batsmen and has a good temperament for the shorter game. England need to be flexible in their batting line up. In the off chance that they get a good start, Bopara could be sent up the order to take advantage of power plays. If rebuilding is needed maybe Collingwood could be sent up.
I believe your best batsmen should get the maximum number of overs to face. There is no point in holding them back to slog in the late overs or when the asking rate is beyond 12.
So that leaves us with
Cook
Prior
KP
Fred
Collingwood
Bopara
IF England were to have learnt anything from the Australian tour to India it should have been that in India you need a proper spin option. Samit Patel is not bad. But he is hardly world beating. Against SA he looked good because SA are not the best players of spin to begin with.
And the myth that India plays off spin less effectively than the dark arts were put to the test by Jason Krejza.
Do England have an off spinner on tour ? Well Hello there Grame we dint see you son.
He’s not getting any younger. I say chuck him in there and see what he’s got. Plus he can handle the bat so England are not really losing anything by picking him over Samit.
The fast bowling is safe in the hands of
Freddie, Jimmy, Broad and Harmision.
A fit Sidebottom could throw up an interesting debate for England. Mitchel Johnson bowled quite well against the Indians and troubled them with his angle.
Sidebottom could just be the last piece of the puzzle for KP. If he were to come in I would think either Jimmy or Harmison would have to step out. Considering Broads exploits with the bat.
England are not a bad side. But right now they are playing the wrong team and getting beaten soundly for it.
KP has to lead from the front and you cannot led India off the hook when you have them 3 down for nothing.
England need a win on Thursday to stand any chance of avoiding a 7-0 drubbing.
They can make it easy or hard for themselves. The choice is theirs.
Man… that is the most boring post you’ve written in a while!
LOL…
Maybe nobody can write something interesting about Poms! You know what I mean… 😛
Well I’ll be, a post about cricket on my cricket blog upsets my fans.
Freddie was already looking for excuses before the tour began, when he said India is the best team in the world at the moment. Well, now we see why! In the first ODI England put India in which was a mistake although the pitch had some grass. This England team looks very ordinary. I agree with your comments, to make the best out of the worst outfit available. Outsiders dominate English County Cricket. Hence they have no chance of blooding good English players.
Lionel>
Thanks for your comments.
I dont think the England team is that ordinary. I do think they have dug themselves a hole by not playing their best XI.
And I think KP and co forgot that the ball tends to spin a wee bit more in India than most places. Not bringing a fully fledged spinner is a bit daft !
Good post man.
You know my views on Swann, Damith, so glad he is being brought into the side. Would be fun to see England fielding 2 spinners! An interesting one about Cook – his inability to hit sixes seem to mark him out as “not one day material” but most teams seem to have some sort of steady guy at the top of the order – so why not him?
And Sachintha – the mark of a good blogger is that he (or she) keeps all elements the audience interested at one time or another- so hats off to you Damith for doing the English thing!
Jrod> Cheers !
Ceci> Ya Swann will be very interesting.
I do think Cook should open. I mean he is an opening batsmen after all. You dont need to guys who go hell for leather at the top.
There is no shame in playing some old school cricket of getting a good start. Specially now that teams know a power play can be taken when they want to up the tempo later on.
He or She ? Hey I’m 87% Man. Can you handle that ?
Chill guys that was supposed to be a joke…
Haha Sach I know !