England announce Zimbabwe Squad

[tooextracool]

good to see Bell make the squad

very poor move IMO bell is not an ODI batsman.....all this time i've been thinking that the selectors finally managed to get something right by not picking bell, and then this happens....

interesting to see Prior in (poor Chris Read)

or rather stupid....chris read should be in there ahead of jones, yet of course now he isnt even in the squad.

 

[tooextracool]

It looks to me like a hunch call.

They've made plenty of those in the past and rarely been proven wrong.

you mean like with mcgrath,blackwell,batty,key etc?

 

[tooextracool]

Is this a one-day squad? I thought Zimbabwe had been banned from ODIs until 2005???

certainly explains why they played in the champions trophy.....

 

[Craig]

Is this a one-day squad? I thought Zimbabwe had been banned from ODIs until 2005???

Just Tests.

 

[Craig]

It looks to me like a hunch call.

They've made plenty of those in the past and rarely been proven wrong.

Heck, what about Prior to play well, replace Jones and add another batsman to the line-up?

Just like Kabir Ali, Rikki Clarke, Vikram Solanki, Gareth Batty, Antony McGrath, James Troughton for example?

After all aren't the England selectors supposed to know more then the general public since they get to see them play more?

 

[marc71178]

very poor move IMO bell is not an ODI batsman.

Neither was Strauss.

 

[tooextracool]

Neither was Strauss.

and what gave you this idea?

 

[pskov]

Flintoff has revealed that he told Fletcher and Vaughan he would have pulled out if selected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/3699296.stm

http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/SEP/057966_ZIMENG2004-05_29SEP2004.html

It also seems that Gough has some doubts.

 

[Andre]

Just like Kabir Ali, Rikki Clarke, Vikram Solanki, Gareth Batty, Antony McGrath, James Troughton for example?

After all aren't the England selectors supposed to know more then the general public since they get to see them play more?

Wait a minute.

Kabir has played 1 Test, took 5 wickets, and is yet to bowl in an ODI. Can't judge.

McGrath was a hunch - fair point.

Solanki, Batty and Troughton demanded selection - not a hunch.

Clarke has been dismal, but I'm rather confident he will bounce back in the future with interest.

 

[Langeveldt]

Is this a one-day squad? I thought Zimbabwe had been banned from ODIs until 2005???

Nope, when coloured clothes are donned, I am afraid Human rights, ethics, morality and common sense go out of the window,

 

[Neil Pickup]

Wait a minute.

Kabir has played 1 Test, took 5 wickets, and is yet to bowl in an ODI. Can't judge.

McGrath was a hunch - fair point.

Solanki, Batty and Troughton demanded selection - not a hunch.

Clarke has been dismal, but I'm rather confident he will bounce back in the future with interest.

Add to the fact that McGrath is still statistically the best Test all-rounder in the world..

I've not seen the evidence that Batty's done anything other than what he was selected for, anyway - number two spinner.

 

[Langeveldt]

Add to the fact that McGrath is still statistically the best Test all-rounder in the world..

.

And Ganteaume is the best batsman ever to have lived..?

 

[chris.hinton]

We should have sent a Young Side to Zimbabwe and given the first choice players a rest

Captained by Ashley Giles

Prior
Solanki
Pietersen
Bell
Clarke
Collingwood
Read
Giles
Kabir Ali
Sajid Mahmood
James Anderson

other 4 would be

Newman
Swann
McGrath
Wharf

 

[a massive zebra]

And Ganteaume is the best batsman ever to have lived..?

And Wilf Barber the best bowler?

 

[Richard]

It looks to me like a hunch call.

They've made plenty of those in the past and rarely been proven wrong.

No, except in the cases of (thus far):
Wharf, Mahmood, Jones, Key, Troughton, McGrath, Clarke, Blackwell, Tudor, Snape, Kirtley, Foster, Shah, Vaughan, the list could go on but the last 3 years are all that's really fair!

 

[Richard]

you mean like with ... batty etc?

TBF Batty wasn't a hunch-call exactly - he has performed well in List-A-one-dayers for the last 3 seasons.
But of course spin-friendly New Road isn't exactly comparable to most ODI pitches, on which fingerspinners are mere cannon-fodder.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Neither was Strauss.

Or Vaughan... wait a minute...

 

[Richard]

Newman

Would be a classic example, yet again, of a player being picked for ODIs who has a good First-Class record and a (in this case very, very, very) poor List-A-OD one.

McGrath
Wharf

Neither are exactly young!

 

[a massive zebra]

No, except in the cases of (thus far):
Wharf, Mahmood, Jones, Key, Troughton, McGrath, Clarke, Blackwell, Tudor, Snape, Kirtley, Foster, Shah, Vaughan, the list could go on but the last 3 years are all that's really fair!

+ Sidebottom, Dawson, Batty.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Just like Kabir Ali, Rikki Clarke, Vikram Solanki, Gareth Batty, Antony McGrath, James Troughton for example?

After all aren't the England selectors supposed to know more then the general public since they get to see them play more?

Troughton, Kabir and Rikki were hardly hunch calls.