This. England need Archer in Australia so he should be sent on a holiday this week.
England posters: Crawley has played well against Aus in the past so you should fear him
True. I wouldn't be surprised if SA win 2-0, or at least 1-0 with a draw.
SA ain't winning blud
I said the same about New Zealand last year, and look what happened
I don't think Crawley should be picked but he was always going to be in the X1 when the Ashes starts.He does have a good record vs Aus but I still wouldn't pick him.
Despite the pitches and the balls being much less scary for batters than before, opening is still a tough gig so I don’t see any alternative to Crawley coming now. OK we had a one-off Test against Zimbabwe, but India was never going to be a time to try anything funky, I think Bethell possibly getting a go somewhere in the top 3 would have been as funky as it got, but he was in the IPL (a cynic might suggest that England wanted him to stay there even if it meant sitting on the bench as it would avoid him staking a claim for Pope or Crawley’s spot)
they know the gig is up when he finally gets the chop, as he will never in a million years score enough runs in county cricket to force his way back into the reckoning.
The only way I see him getting the chop under the current leadership is if he gets injured and his replacement makes hay, obviously Dan Lawrence was never going to be that, but Bethell did well in NZ at 3, what if he ****s his finger again but the replacement has a Bradmanesque series?
even this group cannot keep justifying selection of a bloke barely averaging 30 who makes a decent score once every couple of series and hey, you know what, if they do? they deserve to keep falling short in the big series.
Ryan Patel's partner when he got home that day: How'd you get on?
