Selection favouritism hurting England - Gough

[Sachinism]

Darren Gough, the former England fast bowler, has blamed favouritism in selection for England's recent poor form in limited-overs cricket. Gough said proven performers from the recent Hong Kong Sixes, which the England side won, should have been picked for the seven-match ODI series in India, which began with a massive 158-run defeat for the visitors in Rajkot. England were drubbed by ten wickets in the Stanford 20/20 for 20 in Antigua before arriving in India. They were bowled out for 98 in their second warm-up game and conceded 387 in Rajkot. In reply, they were bowled out inside 38 overs and the only noteworthy performances were the half-centuries by Kevin Pietersen and Ravi Bopara. "We kind of have favouritism in selection," Gough told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek. "England have got potential but we seem to ignore players who, for me, are definite starters in one-day cricket. We won the Hong Kong Sixes with Graham Napier, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Tim Bresnan. They deserve a chance." Bopara scored a fighting unbeaten 54 at No. 8 but lacked support and Gough felt he should have been pushed up the order. "Ravi's a quality player and should bat higher," Gough said. "If it means Paul Collingwood has to drop down then so be it. You can't have Ravi playing in a one-day international and batting at eight. It doesn't make sense. "He bats at three for Essex, he gets runs and should bat up the order. I've spoken to Ravi. He's desperate to get that England berth but batting at eight and not bowling? Gough said one of the reasons for England's inconsistent performances in one-day cricket is that the players are still confused about their roles. "England lack something in one-day cricket I can't quite put my finger on," he said. "When you speak to other sports coaches and captains they say people have to know their roles. I don't think [those in] England's one-day side know their roles. Our one-day thinking has for years been behind the eight-ball. I played in two World Cups and we never looked like winning - we did well to win a game to be honest. "We still don't know our best batting order. Matt Prior's batting at the top of the order but has had a few failures now and his confidence might start to go. Luke Wright is a good player for the future, but is he good enough to be in the starting XI?" The second one-day international is in Indore on Monday. --- Dimi and Napier should be given a chance, not too sure about Bresnan, he can be dangerous, but don't think he'll be effective in India. Napier is a lethal batsman and would possibly be better than Prior. Regards to the Bopara situation, there is no doubt he should be batting further up the order.

[bharat297]

Yea ... This is def. not Englands best ODI team.

[Cricketics]

whatever happend to that Dimitri Mascrenhas.

[Sachinism]

^^ not being picked

[Predator_05]

Bell, Prior, Collingwood, Cook (who is in the squad) shouldn't be part of an ODI XI. Not for a series played in India, anyway. They just can't score quickly enough, and on these flat pitches, you need batsmen that can be relied upon to score at run a ball or better because contests here are all about the team with the better batting lineup. ALL the Indian batsmen - including the tailenders - can do that. In the England batting lineup, they only have Pietersen, Flintoff and Shah who can make good scores at run a ball or better. Bell or Collingwood can make a good score but they will use up a lot of deliveries and in doing so they will put pressure on the other batsmen. That's a big weakness, and it will be the main reason for their defeat in this series. I am surprised they ignored Mascarenhas, they should have remembered how he smashed the Indians last summer. Maybe Gough is right about the favouritism

[Ram]

Matthew Bell is a fine player. His record may not 'look' good at this moment, but he can definitely score quickly if he wants. I have seen him play some plucky little cameos. The problem with him is that he never goes on to score big 100s, which is when a player get noticed. Collingwood was only a couple of matches from getting dropped, before he saved his ar$e with a couple of decent knocks. Bopara is hopelessly wasted at no.8. But Gough is right, there seems to be no direction/purpose about the England ODI team. Rarely have they been rated as a formidable ODI side in the last 12-13 years. England seem to think, atleast with batting that 'longer the better'. Broad at no.9 again, quite wasted. Their bowling is decent though. Their pace attack is strong and will be tough to handle in pace-friendly conditions. But as it has been mentioned previously in this thread, they need bonafide hitters in the batting.

[Sachinism]

Matthew Bell is a fine player. His record may not 'look' good at this moment, but he can definitely score quickly if he wants. I have seen him play some plucky little cameos. The problem with him is that he never goes on to score big 100s, which is when a player get noticed. Collingwood was only a couple of matches from getting dropped, before he saved his ar with a couple of decent knocks. Bopara is hopelessly wasted at no.8. But Gough is right, there seems to be no direction/purpose about the England ODI team. Rarely have they been rated as a formidable ODI side in the last 12-13 years. England seem to think, atleast with batting that 'longer the better'. Broad at no.9 again, quite wasted. Their bowling is decent though. Their pace attack is strong and will be tough to handle in pace-friendly conditions. But as it has been mentioned previously in this thread, they need bonafide hitters in the batting.

you mean Ian Bell? Bopara is a big waste, he showed in the 1st ODI he is capable with the bat, he had an awesome domestic season batting at 3 for Essex, England really need to sort out their strategies btw one of you superstitious people make the match thread so we can start discussing

[Ram]

you mean Ian Bell? Bopara is a big waste, he showed in the 1st ODI he is capable with the bat, he had an awesome domestic season batting at 3 for Essex, England really need to sort out their strategies btw one of you superstitious people make the match thread so we can start discussing

Err. Yes.. :D Matthew Bell was a uselss player from NZ, wasnt he?

[f.b.m]

Darren Gough' date=' the former England fast bowler, has blamed favouritism in selection for England's recent poor form in limited-overs cricket. Gough said [b']proven performers from the recent Hong Kong Sixes, which the England side won, should have been picked for the seven-match ODI series in India, which began with a massive 158-run defeat for the visitors in Rajkot.

:hysterical::hysterical: I dont think that one spinner is enough under indian conditions unless theyre all either like Flintoff or Harmison and hit the deck really hard. And Samit Patel isnt much of a spinner either. For the record, I absolutely hate players like Ian Bell or Paul Collingwood. They look like overcoached robots with absolutely no flair or sense of character. Imo, they symbolize everything that is and has been mediocre about the English team.

Matthew Bell was a uselss player from NZ, wasnt he?

Two test match centuries with that stance is something quite special.

[Predator_05]

Ian Bell's SR of 72 belongs in the 1980s, not in modern day cricket. He is a very good test batsman, but there is no point in playing ball hogs like him ahead of the more dynamic run getters. I suppose he is there to hold up an end while Prior tries to score quickly, but that approach hardly ever works for England...

[bharat297]

Bopara is a talented player and should be batting in the top 4 somewhere. Also, they need to bring back Panesar in the ODI line up. I dont care whether he can bat ... in Indian conditions you need a REAL spinner.

[f.b.m]

Ian Bell's SR of 72 belongs in the 1980s' date=' not in modern day cricket. [i']He is a very good test batsman, but there is no point in playing ball hogs like him ahead of the more dynamic run getters. ..

Uhm, Hello? I agree with the rest though.

[Predator_05]

Uhm, Hello? I agree with the rest though.

What ? He IS a good test batsman.

[Mr. Wicket]

Performers from the HK Sixes? :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: Someone get Gough into the selection panel, the ODI side might be even worse.