England Test Selection Thread - Winter 2016

[Black_Warrior]

Ian Bell for the middle-order?

*sigh*

 

[Gnske]

As long as the Borthwick meme is resisted for no.3 I think England fans should rejoice regardless of how awful a squad is picked for India.

 

[JRC67]

One of the interesting things about this England side is that they have managed to, whether intentionally or not, challenge the traditional notions of an ideal test XI combination - 5 batsmen, 4 bowlers, 1 keeper and 1 allrounder.

Given the resources currently available, I wouldn't mind a combination that's something like

Cook
Batsman
Root
Batsman
Moeen
Bairstow /Stokes
Stokes/ Bairstow
Woakes
Rashid/ Spinner
Broad
Anderson

You can start with this playing XI and if the need arises, you can possibly drop Broad, not because he is bad but to play an extra batsman at the top. Given the form Mooen and Bairstow are in, and the way they played Yasir, they along with Cook and Root are probably the best batsmen against spin available. You do want them in the side.

This is all the more reason England should tour Bangladesh, or at the very least if there are security concerns, push BCB to arrange a neutral venue like Sri Lanka or UAE because two 2 tests against Bangladesh will help you test your resources and consider your options.

Be very surprised if that isn't something like the team which starts the next match. Bairstow, Ali and Stokes are decent enough batsman to all play at 5 if required. Woakes and Rashid are at least good test match 7s, maybe 6s. I think we will play 4 seamers because there are doubts about Ali and Rashid restricting runs and the seamers were very economical in the UAe, so they will hope they can do something similar in India ... plus Broad and Anderson will probably enjoy some success bowling cutters at 75 - 80 mph. Hoggard had a fantastic tour a few years ago basically bowling that way. If we could find some decent top order batsmen!

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah, the weakness of the top order makes me nervous about pick that few specialist batsmen though. Agree it is probably the way we look to go, but Ansari could be a massive potential bolter if they want to go.

 

[Black_Warrior]

But England would be making a mistake if they base their strategy on UAE last year. The Indian top order is totally different from the Pakistani top order. There is no way the likes of Dhawan, Kohli, Rohit (now that he is a test regular), Rahul, Rahane are going to go on a blockathon against Broad and Anderson and wait to pounce on the spinners. Firstly, they don't play the spinners as well as Younis/Misbah do, nor is it in their game to completely take out scoring against Anderson and Broad.

As far as the batting is concerned, I would want a very strong lower order against India because if you have a look at the batting stats of 6-9 against India in the last 4 years, they are really really good.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Yeah, the weakness of the top order makes me nervous about pick that few specialist batsmen though. Agree it is probably the way we look to go, but Ansari could be a massive potential bolter if they want to go.

You had pretty much the same team and it was quite successful this summer. That's what I am trying to say, England have managed to redefine the traditional notion of team balance. Pakistan went from "take out Root and Cook" to "**** it's Bairstow again"

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah think Ansari for Vince could be smart way to go. Left arm darts in Indian should be useful and he is a reasonable bat. As I've said before if we pick him I'd rather him top 4 where his technique is more suited than down the order.

 

[91Jmay]

Cook
Hameed/Hales/DBD/Duckett/etc
Root
Ansari
Ballance
Bairstow
Ali
Woakes/Stokes
Rashid
Anderson
Broad

If Stokes shuffle him up the order and JB/MA down one spot.

 

[JRC67]

Yeah, the weakness of the top order makes me nervous about pick that few specialist batsmen though. Agree it is probably the way we look to go, but Ansari could be a massive potential bolter if they want to go.

I think Rashid will get first shot but I can imagine the selectors being quite ruthless if he proves as expensive as last year. Effectively Ali will be the second spinner this winter and may well be batting at 5, so provided he keeps scoring runs and picking up 2 or 3 wickets a test he'll be safe. Logic would say the preference would be for a left armer in the spare spinner role to add some variety. I think they may well take 2 spinners in addition to Rashid and Ali, as it is unlikely the current management will drop a batsman until they've had a run of 6 or 7 tests, so once they've decided on their top 4 they only need a spare batsman to cover for injuries .... or bolster the batting if they are really shot of runs and the all rounders aren't scoring like they have done for the last couple of years.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I wouldn't pick Vince or Hales off the back of this summer but think Hales will go. Ballance will just about scrape a place but is in need of a good winter to stay in the side.

Cook
Root
Hales
Bell-Drummond
Ballance
Borthwick
Bairstow
Buttler
Moeen
Stokes
Woakes
Broad
Rashid
Anderson
Finn
Ansari

 

[Prince EWS]

Hear that Rayner would struggle in India hard. According to those who've seen him with Middlesex he looks like a legit bowler only when he gets plenty of bounce.

I think this has been a lot less true this season than it was in the past. A bunch of his wickets have been lbw and if you look at the highlights on his wickets on YouTube he's been varying the angle of his bowling arm a lot to try to do the batsmen for length.

I still tend to think he'd get flogged in India as well but I think it's less obviously so than it was a season ago (or even two-three seasons ago when he was last getting these sort of figures).

 

[Shady Slim]

the squads that you are putting up... how close are they to the actually predicted squad - how much does that differentiate from the "this is what i am hoping for"

 

[wpdavid]

Speaking as a Surrey man, I don't get the idea of Ansari batting in the top 4. Granted that's based on the odd match that I've followed rather than taking a moment to check out his season average, but every time I've looked, he's failed with the bat. imo anyone playing half of his county games at The Oval should be averaging 45+ to even be considered.

I can live with the thought of Ali batting at 5. As someone wrote the other day, batting at 7 in tests is probably a better audition for the role than maintaining a mediocre average at 4 or 5 in the CC.
I certainly can't live with the thought of him being our main spinner again, so something has to give.

Ali at 5 also means we're not introducing 3 completely new batsmen in our top 5, even if they do decide to drop all of Hales, Vince and Ballance.
Which would be a brave call in India. Whether we move Ballance up to 4 or play Borthwick at 3 or 4, I'll leave to others. The latter's leg-spin, imo, is irrelevant nowadays.

 

[Dan Jamson]

No more Gary Ballance please.

 

[FBU]

I expect our seam bowlers to get more wickets than the spinners whatever the wicket. (Stokes, Woakes, Anderson, Wood)

 

[Compton]

There's absolutely no circumstance in which I would have Stokes outside the top 6.

Stokes is a top 6 batsman.

 

[FBU]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...d-test-recall-bangladesh-india-trevor-bayliss

Bell's average in India is 27.07

 

[wpdavid]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...d-test-recall-bangladesh-india-trevor-bayliss

Bell's average in India is 27.07

Yeah, I read that article too. And also wondered whether Bayliss had done his homework regarding Bell's previous performances in the SC.
Not exactly a glowing endorsement of the newer generation of batsmen being produced via the CC.

 

[marc71178]

Whereas the performances of the likes of Vince and Hales have been a real glowing endorsement haven't they?

 

[91Jmay]

Bayliss doesn't watch CC, he talks about that all the time. How could Bell being recalled be any reflection on CC?