England Team 1st Test vs South Africa

[fredfertang]

This is a typically cautious English attitude.

Grecian betraying his age, remembering Chris Schofield and Ian Salisbury - I, on the other hand, can't remember Robin Hobbs at all

 

[Howe_zat]

We already know the South African test batsmen are vulnerable to Mason Crane.

https://twitter.com/somersetccc/status/868797230798471168?lang=en-gb

Cunning IMO.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Is it? That's good then, because I am English. Crane was totally ineffective in the first-class game against South Africa A, to think he will be better against the main team has no real logic whatsoever. Caution or not being stupidly reckless with a young talent, it's a fine-line ol' chap.

We have no front line spinners though. We have two bits and pieces spinners who sometimes bowl well, but who are sometimes ****e. If you are going to be looking ahead to say the SCG in the winter, we'll have to solve this conundrum which has existed since Swann jumped ship. He is a young chap and no doubt inexperienced but sometimes you have to take a bit of a punt rather than carry the same problems from series to series without really sorting anything out.

The selectors always pick the same stodgy teams. They'll probably just persevere with the two bits-and-pieces players and nothing will happen on the spinner front: ''Ali/Rashid'' or simply ''Ali'' - ''we'll muddle along''. Elsewhere, you know in your heart that if a bowler or two breaks down, and/or we've seen the last of Anderson, they'll go back to Finn. You know that they'll favour Ballance again-and-again over a Northeast, Stoneman, Borthwick or Westley. We need to get out of this mindset.

 

[grecian]

We have no front line spinners though. We have two bits and pieces spinners who sometimes bowl well, but who are sometimes ****e. If you are going to be looking ahead to say the SCG in the winter, we'll have to solve this conundrum which has existed since Swann jumped ship. He is a young chap and no doubt inexperienced but sometimes you have to take a bit of a punt rather than carry the same problems from series to series without really sorting anything out.

The selectors always pick the same stodgy teams. They'll probably just persevere with the two bits-and-pieces players and nothing will happen on the spinner front: ''Ali/Rashid'' or simply ''Ali'' - ''we'll muddle along''. Elsewhere, you know in your heart that if a bowler or two breaks down, and/or we've seen the last of Anderson, they'll go back to Finn. You know that they'll favour Ballance again-and-again over a Northeast, Stoneman, Borthwick or Westley. We need to get out of this mindset.

Rashid deserves a chance, if you want a front-line leg-spinner, he's performed for years in county cricket as a front-line spinner, how he's abits-and-pieces player I'll never know, my gawd I'm defending Rashid.

This is just so ridiculously 10 years ago. How the hell Rashid and Moeen can be considered stodgy. You truly tell me you think a bayying line-up of Root, Mooen, Stokes, bairstow, Woakes is "stodgy"? How many bowlers have made debuts in the last few years, Wood, Jordan, Ball, Woakes even Stokes, the idea we keep going back to the same is really odd. Oh and batsmen, long A4 sheet needed I reckon, Lyth, Ballance, Jenning, Hameed, Carbs, Compton, Hales, Taylor oh FFS I give up there's been dozens. Yet still people persist that we have a "conservative" bunch of selectors, it's really astounding.

The thing is a lot of the players that have played were on the same prospective lists not that long ago could easily have been "Jennings, Robson, Hameed, Lyth", what are they meant to do, just keep on regenerating adinfinitum until someone is satisfied.

Yes you do need to get out of your mindset about what the selectors are doing because it doesn't seem set in any reality whatsoever.

Yet people will always want new toys to play with I guess.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Stodge: Finn...Ballance....Finn....Ballance...Finn. Throw in the odd Compton also. The three must be bribing the selectors! Another example: selectors' answer to the spin crisis: various reconfiguration of the Rashid/Ali thing before they gave up trying to turn Mo into a frontline spinner and bumped him up the order. Alright they tried Batty, Leach and Ansari in India but they were still offering 'patch like solutions' to a bigger problem.

Well, it would be a wild punt Crane but I'm sticking with him. Selection is not an exact science by no means and sometimes you just have a gut instinct. New South Wales took that gamble and broke a thirty year tradition. This season for Hants, 11 for 27.27 - for a leggy.

PS

The batsman were nearly all the opener flops, to bat alongside Cook. Compton and Ballance appear there also.

 

[Pothas]

Most of those wickets came at Taunton in a match in which Dawson bowled better.

This is actually really annoying because Crane is someone we can legitimately be excited about, just go back to calling for non-entities like Borthwick to be selected, it is less irritating.

Would pick Ballance for sure, he came back before he regained any real sort of form but this year he has done exactly what Bairstow did a couple of years ago, just demand selection with the runs he has scored.

Why are we still using this thread instead of the tour one anyway?

 

[Furball]

Because the mods are lazy bastards.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Most of those wickets came at Taunton in a match in which Dawson bowled better.

This is actually really annoying because Crane is someone we can legitimately be excited about, just go back to calling for non-entities like Borthwick to be selected, it is less irritating.

Would pick Ballance for sure, he came back before he regained any real sort of form but this year he has done exactly what Bairstow did a couple of years ago, just demand selection with the runs he has scored.

Why are we still using this thread instead of the tour one anyway?

Borthwick, 'a non-entity'? With regular as clockwork seasonal hauls of 1000 plus runs (2013 -16) on a Chester-le green top? Even if you do not believe he deserves test inclusion he is certainly not a 'non-entity' - that is incredibly harsh!

This thread had eight replies yesterday before I spotted it and replied so, if it is an antiquated thread, it certainly wasn't me who bumped it up.

Hostility! Just because I put Mason Crane on my team selection!

 

[marc71178]

If you're going to complain about County form being ignored on one front you can't then go completely against that and not expect to be called out on it, especially when it's such a random and illogical name.

 

[Moonsorrow999]

Rashid has his chance just like Hales did, and both are not good enough at that level. Rashid should be further away from that test side than anyone, he's woeful.

 

[Groundking]

Cook
Jennings
Root
Ballance
Stokes
Bairstow
Moeen
Woakes
Broad
Anderson
Crane

 

[Marius]

Cook
Jennings
Root
Ballance
Stokes
Bairstow
Moeen
Woakes
Broad
Anderson
Crane

Sorry, you're living in a dream world if you think Crane is going to play in the first Test.

 

[S.Kennedy]

If you're going to complain about County form being ignored on one front you can't then go completely against that and not expect to be called out on it, especially when it's such a random and illogical name.

Well you lot can call me out all you want. That is my choice of a team selection and I am sticking to it.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Oh the ECB will certainly not select Crane. They will persevere with either Ali, or Ali/Rashid (and Root) and we'll still be stuck in the same situation in two years' time, of having two bits-and-pieces twirlers.

 

[FBU]

Why doesn't anyone talk about Dom Bess? Crane 4 games 11 wickets at 37.72. Bess 3 games 17 wickets at 19.47

 

[Furball]

Rashid has his chance just like Hales did, and both are not good enough at that level. Rashid should be further away from that test side than anyone, he's woeful.

Am I not right in thinking that Rashid has played literally all of his Test cricket in Asia?

 

[fredfertang]

Why doesn't anyone talk about Dom Bess? Crane 4 games 11 wickets at 37.72. Bess 3 games 17 wickets at 19.47

He has a silly name - if I were him I'd change it to something like Nathan Lyon

 

[S.Kennedy]

Why doesn't anyone talk about Dom Bess? Crane 4 games 11 wickets at 37.72. Bess 3 games 17 wickets at 19.47

I wouldn't be against the idea of giving Dom Bess a run.

 

[kingkallis]

Elgar (c) /
Kuhn /
Amla /
Duminy ( Jeez!! )
de Bryun / du Plessis (c) /
Bavuma /
de Kock + /
Morris o /
Philander o /
Rabada o /
Maharaj o /
---
Jennings /
Cook (c) /
Root /
Balance /
Moeen / o
Bairstow + /
Stokes o /
Woakes o /
Broad o /
Wood o /
Anderson o

 

[marc71178]

I was about to suggest you didn't keep up with current events by naming an injured Woakes then I saw your captain and realised you don't even keep up with events from this year...