**Official** England in Bangladesh 2016

[fredfertang]

Batty may be an off spinner of similar vintage to Graeme Swann but the similarities end there - surely it was essential to have a look at Ansari here, who might yet prove a better bet than his gob****e of a county captain

 

[OverratedSanity]

They aren't resting Batty tbf, they want to have a look at Ansari. They don't know who they are going to pick in 1st Test in India atm.

Hard or not I'm gonna have a crack!!!

I really don't believe it is arrogant at all........You are not going to get through 7 tests in 8 1/2 weeks with 11 players. It's ****ed but that's what we're faced with.

It's not arrogant to prioritise the 5 tests against India over 2 tests against Bangladesh, especially when we're 1 up. This is a good Bangladesh side and any team will have to play well to beat them in their own back yard.

But I'd take a 1-1 draw here if it means we have half an idea what team is our best for India and we're competitive.

I'm not buying this. Would England have done this if the opponent was Pak/SL/NZ/SA? The answer is no and you know it. Against any of the other nations, they'd prioritize the current series. It's almost as if they consider Bangladesh beneath them tbh, and it comes off poorly.

 

[Jono]

Its also just so harsh for poor Batty. Waits so long to get another test and then is dropped next game. oor bugger

 

[91Jmay]

Because they aren't dropping a good player for a bad player, they are dropping a bad player for a likely bad player who hasn't had a chance yet. You are acting like they've sent Root off to Vegas for a week, they have rotated Gareth ****ing Batty because they want to have a look at the left armer.

 

[Jono]

**** you Mr 2-0 prediction!!

I forgot how **** England are against spin

 

[Prince EWS]

It's not just about resting players, it's about having a look/getting game time into the others.

Yeah, I think the very idea of doing this in a Test - essentially selecting the team as if it were a tour game - when you've just scraped home against the very same team is inherently arrogant though.

If you're worried about someone's fitness over a long winter then it's a different thing so I can see why Broad was left out, but using a Test that you could very well lose as a selection trial is straight up arrogant IMO, or at the very least disrespectful.

You obviously disagree, but I find it a weird retort.. as if someone had accused you of stealing and you'd responded by saying you were in fact just taking someone else's property without their consent.

 

[GIMH]

I don't know if it's arrogant but it is disrespectful. Clearly we are using this as a warm up match for India

 

[Prince EWS]

They aren't resting Batty tbf, they want to have a look at Ansari.

Yeah, but that's my point.

 

[Jono]

I don't know if it's arrogant but it is disrespectful. Clearly we are using this as a warm up match for India

Its undeniable.

Fair enough you can not care or think its the right thing, but when someone points this out there's no need to blindly deny or defend it just because it's the team you support. Its just clear that England havent taken this test as seriously as they would have against any other major test nation.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I don't know if it's arrogant but it is disrespectful. Clearly we are using this as a warm up match for India

Yeah exactly. Bit of a shame since this has been an awesome series to watch. And England selections have treated it like a drill for the "actual thing"

 

[Jono]

ffs if only these ****s had a first innings lead like they could have. Such a **** tease team.

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah, I think the very idea of doing this in a Test - essentially selecting the team as if it were a tour game - when you've just scraped home against the very same team is inherently arrogant though.

If you're worried about someone's fitness over a long winter then it's a different thing so I can see why Broad was left out, but using a Test that you could very well lose as a selection trial is straight up arrogant IMO, or at the very least disrespectful.

You obviously disagree, but I find it a weird retort.. as if someone had accused you of stealing and you'd responded by saying you were in fact just taking someone else's property without their consent.

You are assuming the 1st XI picked was some kind of nailed on best 11 players though which is patently not true. England clearly don't have any spinners who can be relied upon so swapping one fairly ineffectual one out for first Test to have a look at another is normal.

The idea that making a change to your team after you win is arrogant is just bizarre. If they'd have rested Stokes/Woakes as well I'd have agreed, but they aren't.

 

[Adders]

I'm not buying this. Would England have done this if the opponent was Pak/SL/NZ/SA? The answer is no and you know it. Against any of the other nations, they'd prioritize the current series. It's almost as if they consider Bangladesh beneath them tbh, and it comes off poorly.

If you can tell me an instance where a test side has had to play 7 tests in 8 1/2 weeks and is looking down the barrel of 17 tests in a calendar year (+ 18 ODi's) then you may have a point.

This is not arrogance, it's self preservation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbeXL6AXmi0

 

[Howe_zat]

I think you could maybe argue that resting Broad was smart player management rather than arrogance, but there's no reason Batty needed a rest. That was just arrogant IMO.

Nah that was wanting a SLA bowler because Moeen has bowled better than Batty anyway. They were wrong but I'm sure that's what happened.

 

[ImpatientLime]

Yeah, I think the very idea of doing this in a Test - essentially selecting the team as if it were a tour game - when you've just scraped home against the very same team is inherently arrogant though.

this is the bit for me. you're probable strongest available xi has just gone life and death with this opponent and now you choose to weaken yourself when you don't need to.

 

[neville cardus]

Ansari is a handsome lad if I may say so

You certainly may.

Is it just me, or are sportsmen in general a helluva lot more handsome now than they were only a couple of decades ago? Seems almost a prerequisite these days.

 

[Jono]

If you can tell me an instance where a test side has had to play 7 tests in 8 1/2 weeks and is looking down the barrel of 17 tests in a calendar year (+ 18 ODi's) then you may have a point.

This is not arrogance, it's self preservation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbeXL6AXmi0

Haven't India just come off a test and ODI series vs. NZ and are about to play the same 5 tests? At home sure, they even were up 2-0 and chose their best team for the third.

 

[ImpatientLime]

stuart broads schedule since august.

august - 2x test match v pakistan
1x t20 for notts

september - nothing

october - 2x warm up games
1x test match v bangladesh

after the india series finishes in december he most likely won't play again until april.

 

[Prince EWS]

Nah that was wanting a SLA bowler because Moeen has bowled better than Batty anyway. They were wrong but I'm sure that's what happened.

If that was the reason then I think it's fairly silly but true enough it wouldn't be arrogant -- it would have happened against any other opposition. I'm not sure I really buy it though.

LIke I said I'm basically fine with the Broad thing .. if they've identified that he probably won't be able to play all the Tests this winter at full fitness and picked out this Test as probably the best one to rest him in, I think that's fine. Deciding that you'll just have a look at a player in preparation for the 'real series' when the one you're dropping doesn't need to rest, the series is live and you've only just scraped home in the previous game (if that's what has happened -- it's possible you're right and it was for other reasons) definitely seems a big step further than that to me though, and a bit ****.

 

[Burgey]

Look at Jono out of the woodwork now the Bangers are building a lead. Was nowhere yesterday when they fell in a hole