Well at least they arn't trying Ramps as an opener this time! Bell lost form hes a class act he just had one of those seasons from hell but he'll be back.
I'm watching for Northants' Young Opener Rob White who scored 277 at not far off a run a ball!
I really wish Pietersen could play for us at the moment, we need a real hard hitter against the aussies even if his bowlings gone to hell (why has it?) and I'm sure he could score just as quickly and much more consistantly than Flintoff!
Out of the current crop I would like to see any of Fulton, Owais Shah, Jim Troughton or Strauss in Key's place. Flintoff's batting average is less than half of Ganguly's and yet his bowling average (47) is the same, he's a constant bang it in short bowler and hardly ever tries anything different, he'd better get his bowling sorted soon!
While I'm glad to see England haven't made the mistake of going back to Croft (how can you moan to the selectors about not being picked when not only is your Test Average 37, but also your County Average!) I'm not so sure about Dawson, I mean he looked out of his depth in the last 2 India tests and had a similer season to last season in the County Championship...I couldn't see what the fuss was about when the guy averages well over 30 with the ball each season and at times his career average reached 40!
Also Giles is just not effective enough, I would choose Tufnell as he's a lot more effective and more attacking, and put someone like Schofield in the tour too as the guy came back strong from being left out of the Lancashire side and took his wickets at 20 odd and I think he could be useful as a backup bowler and also hes a very promising batsman too.
Although its strange that Brown suddenly lost all ability with the ball after going on an A-Tour and doing well and getting onto the Senior Side in Sri Lanka! I know England are low on Offspinners but Dawson is not the way to go, people say hes so impressive but he looks pretty average to me.
[Paragraphs added on 2/10/2002 by Neil!]
[Edited on 2/10/02 by Neil Pickup]