Who will be the first Test debutant of the KP era?

[PavlovsDog]

Who will be #641?

I think a safe bet might be Graeme Swann. Chances are we play 2 spinners at some point in India and Swann would appear to be the leading candidate to get in the squad.

Batting wise, any players on the fringe are already capped (Key, Shah, Bopara), same for keepers (Prior, Foster, Read) and same probably for quicks (Hoggard, Jones, Mahmood, Plunkett, Tremlett)

So the second spinner seems the most likely pick, unless they go back to Udal or Blackwell, the last two spinners who paired up with Monty in the sub continent. And I can't see that happening.

 

[Richard]

Good God I hope it's not Swann.

Guess I'd be fetching very far if I were to hope Ed Joyce.

 

[PavlovsDog]

Good God I hope it's not Swann.

Guess I'd be fetching very far if I were to hope Ed Joyce.

I'd prefer to know who you believe it will realistically be rather than hope for.

I think my logic of a second spinner is fairly reasoned, so if not Swann, who?

 

[Richard]

Steven Davies?

Ben Scott???

 

[NUFAN]

I'm going to go with Vikram Solanki.

He's 32, but I think the way he bats could be ideal on the sub continent.

If choosing a bowler I'll go with Tim Bresnan.

 

[Uppercut]

Paha. Swann. If that's the best they can do, screw all principles, how long til one of the great FC pakistani bowlers are eligible for England?

 

[PavlovsDog]

Steven Davies?

Ben Scott???

I'd like it to be Davies, but I think this upcoming tour might be one too soon and as such I still fancy it being a spinner of some sort.

 

[Richard]

Paha. Swann. If that's the best they can do, screw all principles, how long til one of the great FC pakistani bowlers are eligible for England?

I think Murtaza Hossain is already. *Shudder*

 

[Richard]

I'm going to go with Vikram Solanki.

He's 32, but I think the way he bats could be ideal on the sub continent.

If choosing a bowler I'll go with Tim Bresnan.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at both of those TBH.

 

[NUFAN]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at both of those TBH.

It's pretty much a lottery when you see the likes of Pattinson getting a run.

 

[Julian87]

So the second spinner seems the most likely pick, unless they go back to Udal or Blackwell, the last two spinners who paired up with Monty in the sub continent. And I can't see that happening.

Blackwell would be the best option. For no reason other than I love how he plays the game. Never seen him play the longer version of the game though, and doubt it'd be his thing.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Nice thread!

Davies or Rashid (2nd Spinner in India).

I would have gone for maybe Horton or Denly (big outside bet). But with Bell wanting to move upto 3 then the next new batsmen would come down the innings which would rule out any new openers. Unless Strauss totally imploded over the winter.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Carberry.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Blackwell would be the best option. For no reason other than I love how he plays the game. Never seen him play the longer version of the game though, and doubt it'd be his thing.

Thats not serious is it? Blackwell must never play Test cricket. If he does im convinced the world will end.

 

[PavlovsDog]

Thats not serious is it? Blackwell must never play Test cricket. If he does im convinced the world will end.

Blackwell has a test, so is ineligible in the context of this thread. I only brought him up as someone who could potentially block my tip of Swann, though I would suggest it is highly unlikely.

 

[Prince EWS]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at both of those TBH.

Haha. Bresnan was dire was he played ODIs but IMO he has some potential in the longer form. Obviously it'd be pretty insane to pick him now but there might not be a Test debutant for a couple of seasons and his figures have definitely improved in recent times. The players you'd assume are currently on the fringes or just outside that have all played Tests before - Bopara, Broad, Shah, Key, Prior, Harmison, Tremlett, Jones. By the time all those guys have been tried out, Brensan could well have built on this season and fully deserve selection. Solanki isn't going to happen though.

My pick is Samit Patel. He's just been picked in the ODI squad which means the selectors rate him, and his FC record is pretty decent. The fact that he bowls left arm tweakers could help in the subcontinent as well. I wouldn't pick him but he's one who stands out to me as being at all likely to "jump the queue". Else, <insert random wicket keeper's name here>.

 

[Prince EWS]

Blackwell would be the best option. For no reason other than I love how he plays the game. Never seen him play the longer version of the game though, and doubt it'd be his thing.

Blackwell's batting is actually much better in the longer form. His bowling is pretty useless though - he's used as a "regular part-timer" (to churn out an oxymoron) in First Class cricket.

 

[Craig]

Out of interest, and I'm not implying anything PEWS, have you seen Blackwell bat at FC level or you going off second hand info like stats, reports etc.? (geniune question as well)

 

[Goughy]

It is an interesting question, and Swann is propably the answer Id go with as well.

The only 1 Test left in the summer and a tour to the sub-continent in the winter, then it is likely we will play 2 spinners at some point.

As for some of the choices in this thread, it propably says a lot for the standard of English cricket at the moment.

 

[TT Boy]

A second spinner will go to India, so Swann or Rashid.