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Road to the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia

TheJediBrah

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Wouldn't it be hilarious if all of Australia's meme 4 ended up injured at the time of the first Test and they went in with a bowling attack of Bird, Sayers and Faulkner
 

flibbertyjibber

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How many top 5 batsmen do you think we'll take? If it's only six of them, then maybe Hales gets the gig as he could conceivably do a job as spare middle order batsman or spare opener.
Root
Cook
Westley
Hameed
Stoneman/ AN Other opener
Malan/Hales
 

Gnske

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Wouldn't it be hilarious if all of Australia's meme 4 ended up injured at the time of the first Test and they went in with a bowling attack of Bird, Sayers and Faulkner
Bet Moeen couldn't even play Sayers's bouncers
 

ImpatientLime

International Regular
think westley looks gash tbh but what choice do we have?

i'm on board with LTs suggestion, just take buttler and hales and hope for the best. both players with higher ceilings than any of malan, westley, ballance etc.
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
I'd take a batting squad of Cook, Root, Hameed, Hales and whichever two of Stoneman, Westley and Malan do well in this series. All three if Hameed doesn't get any runs in the second half of the season.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Wouldn't it be hilarious if all of Australia's meme 4 ended up injured at the time of the first Test and they went in with a bowling attack of Bird, Sayers and Faulkner
Substitute Faulkner for Behrendorf (or however you spell his name) and you'd still have a better attack than the English.
 

S.Kennedy

International Vice-Captain
Hales has reconfigured himself as a (first-class) number 4 or 5 apparently at Notts, so it will be the Malan spot he would be grabbing.
 

TheJediBrah

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I'd take Buttler tbh, purely because I want him to be good enough
I'd have Buttler in the 11 for sure. He can't be any worse than Stoneman, Jennings, Whiteley and all those other batsmen that seem pretty ordinary. I don't know if Bairstow insists on keeping but he definitely doesn't have to to keep his spot.
 

Adders

Cricketer Of The Year
I'd have Buttler in the 11 for sure. He can't be any worse than Stoneman, Jennings, Whiteley and all those other batsmen that seem pretty ordinary. I don't know if Bairstow insists on keeping but he definitely doesn't have to to keep his spot.
It's been a while since I've seen Butler keep......but unless his glove work has come on a lot then Bairstow would be comfortably a better keeper now. YJB really has done a Matt Prior for us in terms of massively improving his keeping and becoming a very reliable middle order bat.

I'm not against Butler making the squad purely as a batsmen but afaic if Barstow wants the gloves he's got them.
 

TheJediBrah

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It's been a while since I've seen Butler keep......but unless his glove work has come on a lot then Bairstow would be comfortably a better keeper now. YJB really has done a Matt Prior for us in terms of massively improving his keeping and becoming a very reliable middle order bat.

I'm not against Butler making the squad purely as a batsmen but afaic if Barstow wants the gloves he's got them.
I had a feeling that was the case, and wonder if Buttler being a keeper is holding him back because selectors just don't consider him because they already have Bairstow, even if Buttler would be a better specialist bat than others that are getting selected.
 

91Jmay

International Coach
I'd have Buttler in the 11 for sure. He can't be any worse than Stoneman, Jennings, Whiteley and all those other batsmen that seem pretty ordinary. I don't know if Bairstow insists on keeping but he definitely doesn't have to to keep his spot.
If we are taking Ross Whiteley we are in trouble.

I don't necessarily disagree Buttler probably a better option than a few of others who have played but his FC record has consistently been bad and not shown much signs of improvement.
 
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grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
If we are taking Ross Whiteley we are in trouble.

I don't necessarily disagree Buttler probably a better option than a few of others who have played but his FC record has consistently been bad and not shown much signs of improvement.
The meme team has been my main reason for picking him for years, but honestly he's a decent option.

Look Bairstow wants to keep, he's improved massively, he scores better when he keeps so there seems no sane reason whatsover to pick anyone else as 'keeper but a reserve.

Love Jos but can't see any reason to pick him at all, keeping and batting in first-class cricket is average at best.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
You wouldn't pick Buttler based on his first class record or even having seen him bat in Test Cricket. But given the lack of options he might just make a difference with an innings or two somewhere in a five match series. The rest of the candidates might graft out a 40 somewhere against a decent attack but what's the point.
 

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