Steve Harmison pulls out of Zimbabwe tour

[steds]

who can't get into the Surrey team?

 

[superkingdave]

My thoughts

Flintoff wont tour, Vaughan will if England do, Tresco maybe not, Solanki will, Strauss dont know, Jones will, Collingwood will, Wharf sure as hell will, Giles dont know, Gough cant afford not to, Harmison isnt, Anderson will , Mcgrath will if given the chance, Batty would

So i think most people will tour, i'd like to see Mascarenas and Pietersen instead of Flintoff and Mcgrath. Someone can replace Harmison but Anderson should take his place in the XI.

Solanki
Vaughan
Pietersen
Strauss if he doesn't tour Jefferson with Vaughan dropping to 4
Collingwood
Jones
Mascarenas
Wharf
Giles/Batty
Gough
Anderson

Saggers, Napier and either Jefferson or Ed Smith as the other 3
Should be enough for the Zimbabweans

 

[luckyeddie]

where'd Sampson come from?

And sledger can't add up to eleven either - ran out of fingers.

 

[Richard]

don't you mean Phillip Sampson anyway?

No, he means Philip Sampson.

 

[Richard]

in fact if several more players pull out england might actually get a world class one day side consisting of ......

ben hutton
antony mcgrath
rikki clarke
ian blackwell
james foster (wk)
ronny irani
richard jonsohn
chris silverwood
paul sapmpson
jamesormond

world beaters i thinl u will agree.

A few names plucked from the blue, there - 4 of them wouldn't even get into my best county side of theirs.
And Anthony McGrath's not an opener any more - hasn't been for 6 years.
Why not this:
M Robbins
E Sanders (something like that - isn't it???)
R El-Heath
? (insert)
? (insert)
R Hingston (yeah, I know, you'd prefer play for South Africa - but tough)
R Tywman
P Young (wk)
T Halsey
N Pickup
R Dickinson (cpt)
Apologies if I've got anyone out of position.
Though of course I'm only joking - as I've already said, I wouldn't go to Zimbabwe to do anything if you paid me for it and I'm sure most would feel the same.
And I also know the might of Chigumbura, Utseya, Taibu et al would be greatful for a game to go into as favourites.
But it would be almost equally plucked from obscurity!

 

[Richard]

i hope he dont get dropped like MCgill was for not touring Zim

Don't think that's likely!
I doubt Australia would drop a bowler who's got figures like Harmison has in his last 10 ODIs and his last 11 Tests.
Not, of course, that MacGill missed anything in the end.
Anyway, Australia can afford to drop a substandard legspinner.

 

[Richard]

Wonder if Richard will come on here and say it's a futile gesture?

I'll say it's not as futile as MacGill's - well, it might be, but I doubt it, I can't see the series being cancelled.
But no, I don't think him not going will help bring down Mugabe. Though of course no harm in hoping. Nor do I think many other players will follow-suit, though I wouldn't rule-out 2 or 3 doing so.

 

[marc71178]

i hope he dont get dropped like MCgill was for not touring Zim

No chance of that.

I bet the English selectors are secretly glad he has, and will hope for a few others to do the same.

 

[steds]

Why not this:
M Robbins
E Sanders (something like that - isn't it???)
R El-Heath
? (insert)
? (insert)
R Hingston (yeah, I know, you'd prefer play for South Africa - but tough)
R Tywman
P Young (wk)
T Halsey
N Pickup
R Dickinson (cpt)

S Bennett?

 

[Mister Wright]

Hopefully this wil cause others to pull out or the tour to be cancelled. Well done Harmy !

The same was thought here in Australia when MacGill pulled out, we though a few others might pull out, but it didn't happen. IMO the only way there will be mass withdrawals is if the captain decides he does not want to tour on 'moral gounds'.

 

[Craig]

I hope Englands entire front line of cricketers pull out, and we go along for a farcical tour where the likes of James Tredwell, Kadeer Ali, Keith Parsons and Chris Schofield pummel the Zims senseless... It would be cruelly fascinating viewing..

If Kadeer Ali got picked for England, does that mean Chris could then claim to be right about Kadeer Ali all along and then say Marc and so foreth were wrong?

The mind boggles

 

[marc71178]

He'd certainly try to Craig.

At least then Rikki would be made to look World Class though!

 

[luckyeddie]

He'd certainly try to Craig.

At least then Rikki would be made to look World Class though!

<quack>



He is

 

[Son Of Coco]

i hope he dont get dropped like MCgill was for not touring Zim

I think there's some major assumptions being made when you suggest MacGill was dropped for not touring Zimbabwe. His form against India at home in the last series may have had something to do with it.

 

[a massive zebra]

A few names plucked from the blue, there - 4 of them wouldn't even get into my best county side of theirs.
And Anthony McGrath's not an opener any more - hasn't been for 6 years.
Why not this:
M Robbins
E Sanders (something like that - isn't it???)
R El-Heath
? (insert)
? (insert)
R Hingston (yeah, I know, you'd prefer play for South Africa - but tough)
R Tywman
P Young (wk)
T Halsey
N Pickup
R Dickinson (cpt)
Apologies if I've got anyone out of position.
Though of course I'm only joking - as I've already said, I wouldn't go to Zimbabwe to do anything if you paid me for it and I'm sure most would feel the same.
And I also know the might of Chigumbura, Utseya, Taibu et al would be greatful for a game to go into as favourites.
But it would be almost equally plucked from obscurity!

Who is R El-Heath??

 

[Son Of Coco]

I'll say it's not as futile as MacGill's - well, it might be, but I doubt it, I can't see the series being cancelled.
But no, I don't think him not going will help bring down Mugabe. Though of course no harm in hoping. Nor do I think many other players will follow-suit, though I wouldn't rule-out 2 or 3 doing so.

Two players pull out for the same reasons, one players decision is deemed to be a futile gesture, the others isn't - how does that work?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Two players pull out for the same reasons, one players decision is deemed to be a futile gesture, the others isn't - how does that work?

I have to agree here. MacGill was brave enough to take a moral stand to publicly register his dissent at a repressive regime. Such gestures are never futile. An extreme example, but would one say that the Tibetan Monks who self-immolate are making a futile gesture?

It's stating the obvious, but what an invidious position for the players to be put in. That said, I hope others have the courage to follows Harmy's lead.

Maybe now is a good time to try to call the ICC's bluff & England to withdraw? With the SA tour & Ashes looming would they dare to ban England? I think the financial implications of the cancelling of the tours would guarantee South Africa's & Australia's support for an English boycott.

 

[luckyeddie]

Two players pull out for the same reasons, one players decision is deemed to be a futile gesture, the others isn't - how does that work?

Any decision made out of conscience is never a futile gesture, even if all it does is lets the person concerned sleep a little easier.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Harmo was my favourite player by a margin already, and it's now a chasm.

 

[Richard]

Two players pull out for the same reasons, one players decision is deemed to be a futile gesture, the others isn't - how does that work?

MacGill said he wouldn't go on a tour that didn't happen.
Harmison has said he won't go on a tour that looks all but certain to happen.