Spearman for England?

[Macka]

Spearman wouldn't be any worse than some of the players picked for England recently. He's probably not the answer, but would he do any worse than Vaughan?

 

[Smudge]

Macka,

You play down south? I played for Albion for about 7 years.

 

[Macka]

Well I'll have to admit that I'm completely hopeless, basketball is more my sport. So no I don't play for a club, just go down to the nets for a hit every now and then.

 

[Craig]

He won't make it.

Age and there are no spots available (Vaughan would just open if Trescothick or Strauss got injured and had to miss a Test or two).

 

[superkingdave]

No way do we need Sausage boy - leave him to his cumberlands

 

[Richard]

Spearman wouldn't be any worse than some of the players picked for England recently. He's probably not the answer, but would he do any worse than Vaughan?

Quite possibly.
18 was worse than 24 last I looked.

 

[Richard]

Spearman wouldn't make any International side better.

And England have no hang-ups whatsoever on picking non-English borns.. in fact, I couldn't tell you when we last picked an XI without one.

I really don't know why there has been the talk there has been about it recently.
All that matters is that they're playing for England and trying to help England achieve success in Test and ODI cricket.

 

[Richard]

Waste of time...it would be a backward step by England to call up a 32 year old who's previous record in international record is bordering on the poor.

18 is only bordering, is it?
Dread to think what making it to poor is, then.

 

[Barney Rubble]

If Spearman is eligible for England, wouldn't that mean that players like Mushtaq Ahmed, Jamie Cox, Brad Hodge, Mike Hussey, Andy Flower, and Murray Goodwin either are eligible or will be soon? Or am I misunderstanding the ruling?

 

[steds]

Spearman wouldn't make any International side better.

What about Bangladesh? Kenya? Zimbabwe?

 

[Barney Rubble]

Steds, can I join the Dave Mohammed fan club please?

 

[steds]

Steds, can I join the Dave Mohammed fan club please?

yeah, sure. Write it on your sig.
I'm trying to get a website going, but it's not doing too well(might need a little help with that)

 

[Smudge]

Well I'll have to admit that I'm completely hopeless, basketball is more my sport. So no I don't play for a club, just go down to the nets for a hit every now and then.

So am I - I just prove it more often than you!

 

[Craig]

If Spearman is eligible for England, wouldn't that mean that players like Mushtaq Ahmed, Jamie Cox, Brad Hodge, Mike Hussey, Andy Flower, and Murray Goodwin either are eligible or will be soon? Or am I misunderstanding the ruling?

Ahmed, Cox, Hodge, Hussey, Goodwin are all overseas players.

Flower has a British passport because of residency (IIRC his wife is English), and Spearman qualifies because his Grandmother is Welsh.

 

[Macka]

Quite possibly.
18 was worse than 24 last I looked.

I think you're missing the point. I wasn't comparing Vaughan to Spearman of a few years ago, I was comparing Vaughan with Spearman's current form.

 

[marc71178]

Form in County Cricket means nothing when he's not performed at the higher level.

 

[Loony BoB]

While I agree that he sucked for NZ, if anyone here at all says that people cannot increase in talent or ability over the stage of four years, I'd have to assume they haven't watched much cricket lately. That's just stupid. Spearman wasn't exactly the best FC player in the world when he was playing for NZ. To say that the player he was then is in any way similar to the player he is now is also stupid. His career FC average is 38.5 - that's not incredible. Compare that to his average for this County season - 62.28. That's a lot better. Now, yes, he may be another Hick, but I can tell you now that when he was playing OD's and tests for NZ, he wasn't averaging 62.28 in domestic season, nor was he scoring double centuries. So while I can't deny that he might not be able to perform at international level, you can't deny that he might be able to. I'd say he'd be a good bet right now, to be honest.

If Spearman was to play for England and do well, I'd be proud that it was an NZ'er that was doing well - although I'd rather he didn't help England beat NZ at any time.

Form in county cricket might mean nothing, but a massive improvement over his past seasons and also four years since his last international? That could mean absoloutely anything.

 

[Richard]

Oh, there's no doubts Spearman's improved - I happened to read an article proclaiming his "final" career averages when it was assumed his leaving CD meant the end of his career.
His First-Class-average was 34.18 (it is now 38.45) and his one-day average was 23.22 (it is now 29.91).
His First-Class-average excluding Tests is currently 40.45, his one-day average excluding ODIs is currently 33.51.
I'd still prefer him not to be picked for England, just because he's already failed in Tests and ODIs, badly, and even if he were to have made some very-late-career improvements he'd only have about 3 years left in him.

 

[Craig]

If he plays for England I wouldn't having three years of consistentcy by any player so that IMO isn't a bad thing.

He is down the list at the moment. If Strauss and Trescothick fell over tomorrow and had to miss the tour of South Africa, Vaughan and Key (most likely) would open, although Butcher could do if asked (ie last resort).

 

[marc71178]

Depends what the consistency is.

Past form suggests that the consistency isn't going to be high scores.