Test series in England, 2009: England v West Indies discussion

[Chandan]

Why not discuss the WI team as well, Salil? Or you think the English team will wallop WI? To be honest, instead of watching how the test match pans out, I'll be more interested in watching how Taylor and Edwards do on Lords batting paradise. I'm also interested in watching how the WIndian LA spinner goes here. Onion will also be quite exciting to watch. We need next set of superstars in bowling department in cricket.

[amits]

if england want to take only 1 spinner, then it has to be greame swann. but going with 4 bowlers is enough in test cricket(3 pacers + 1 spinner), england need to go with 6 batsmen & 1 wicket-keeper

[f.b.m]

Looking forward to Edwards and Taylor bowling with the new ball in slightly more favourable conditions. Oh and Big Benn in England would be quite interesting too. The English side (both batting and bowling) is seriously dreary and isnt worth talking about (even if they go on to win) apart from watching James Anderson bowl in ...... well they arent playing in Trent Bridge or Headingley so no.

[Shane]

Who would be the third seamer for the Windies, i guess Powell missed out on this tour, he was below par in the return fixture early this year, CI has Sammy in for the first change bowler,from what ive seen of him seen of him, seems like a trundler, What about this kid Pascal, never seen him bowl,read somewhere he took 4 wickets in the warm ups ? May be he should get a look in.

[Don Sharma]

Who would be the third seamer for the Windies' date=' i guess Powell missed out on this tour, he was below par in the return fixture early this year, CI has Sammy in for the first change bowler,from what ive seen of him seen of him, seems like a trundler, What about this kid Pascal, never seen him bowl,read somewhere he took 4 wickets in the warm ups ? May be he should get a look in.[/quote'] I doubt they will play a genuine third seamer if they do then Andrew Richardson is my choice.

[Shane]

I doubt they will play a genuine third seamer if they do then Andrew Richardson is my choice.

Havent seen either, but its imperative that they go in with strong back ups for these Tests, coz the first change bowlers from both sides were dissapointing during the WI series, both Harmisson and Powell were well below par, well the pitch too would have a say then, i just hope they prepare a Good Test Wicket, where the bowlers would have a say in the First morning of a Test Match and then evens out as the match progresses, but maybe i might be asking too much, its Lords.

[Gambit]

I think this will be a battle of attrition. Apart from Gayle and Sarwan at times, the rest of the WI lineup are old school test bats. As is the entire English lineup apart from KP and maybe Bopara. Expect a close test. I love watching test cricket played in England,Australia and South Africa. WI used to be fun until they started producing horrific highways.

[Don Sharma]

Havent seen either' date=' but its imperative that they go in with strong back ups for these Tests, coz the first change bowlers from both sides were dissapointing during the WI series, both Harmisson and Powell were well below par, well the pitch too would have a say then, i just hope they prepare a Good Test Wicket, where the bowlers would have a say in the First morning of a Test Match and then evens out as the match progresses, but maybe i might be asking too much, its Lords.[/quote'] WI will be looking to draw this one and if possible the next one too. I will be very much surprised if they pick the third seamer but I wud love to see A Richardson/Baker make his debut. I am not sure if Taylor is fit.

[Gambit]

Toughie...I like both. If you ask me to pick one' date=' then BCL by an inch... dont call me a traitor:(( But India first:isalute:[/quote'] I thought as much.I have met quite a few cricket fans from TN who regard BCL>SRT. I wonder why that is.

[Don Sharma]

I thought as much.I have met quite a few cricket fans from TN who regard BCL>SRT. I wonder why that is.

I feel BCL has got an edge over SRT in test cricket whereas SRT wins hands down in ODIs. Overall BCL is no way better than SRT, but I just like the way he plays, when in full flow he is such a delight to watch not even Sir Viv can come close. If only Lara had the temperament of a Steven Waugh or Ganguly, his record would have been much better.

[Chandan]

Who was that third seamer for WI? In the first session, his average bowling speed was 88 m/h but towards the end the day it had dropped to 83. Still he was getting very good swing. England certainly scored much more than what I had expected. And it'll be difficult for WI to outscore them.

[Don Sharma]

Who was that third seamer for WI? In the first session, his average bowling speed was 88 m/h but towards the end the day it had dropped to 83. Still he was getting very good swing. England certainly scored much more than what I had expected. And it'll be difficult for WI to outscore them.

Lionel Baker

[Chandan]

Strauss © Bowlers: Anderson Bresnan Broad Panesar Swann Onions Batsmen: Strauss Pietersen Bopara Collingwood (A Class Act, as always) Cook Prior as WK. Really interesting lineup of 12 named; a little top heavy batting wise as it looks as if Broad/Bresnan will probably have to shoulder some batting load at 7/8. I'm curious to see whether they're insecure enough to pick four seamers for the early-May test (that too at Lord's), or daft/indecisive enough to pick two seamers for a Lord's test, when it's blatantly obvious to anyone with ten working brain cells that Swann is a significantly better bowler than Panesar and should be picked ahead of him.

If this will be the squad in the Ashes' date=' England will be thrashed![/quote']

who else would you like to see in there Chandan? Knowing that Simon Jones would not be available for the ashes because of injury concern yet again' date=' also knowning that Hoggard hasn't heard a word yet from ECB since he was last dropped, and also knowing that Trescho doesn't have any plans of coming back.[/quote'] See, it isn't that England has too many choices at the moment. But the squad for second test is a much better one than the first, as sidebottom is included in place of Panesar. Bell and Sidebottom in second Test squad I'm not very impressed at England recalling Bell so early after he failed for England Lions. This just shows that England's batting bench strength is almost non existent or English selectors aren't willing to put their money on any new talent. But still, if Sidebottom finds his form and swing and Flintoff recovers well before the Ashes, they can hope to at least put up fight rather than simply getting slaughtered. The bowlers of the test at Chester-le-street are:

Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions, Ryan Sidebottom

This is better than what they had at Lords. Batting options are:

Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk),

Looks a bit thin as both Pietersen and Collingwood failed terribly at Lords. But I don't think they have an option here. I hope WI puts up a better fight this time.

[graphic23]

I agree Chandan - bringing back Bell is definitely going back a step. He's failed to deliver on several counts in the recent past, and he's not like Viru, where you can tell that he will deliver when it matters even if he doesn't perform all that well in domestic games. Bell's been pretty ordinary. That being said, I probably wouldn't have gone back to Vaughan either.

[Don Sharma]

Maybe Robert Key could have been given a chance. I am not sure about his current form but he was in quite a decent nick in the last two seasons, moreover he has done well as Kent captain too.

[Shane]

Maybe Robert Key could have been given a chance. I am not sure about his current form but he was in quite a decent nick in the last two seasons' date=' moreover he has done well as Kent captain too.[/quote'] May be in the squad, but the Eleven looks settled imo, Freddie should come in for Bresnan (when fit) , Key for some reason hasnt been able to find his touch in the International arena, other than the odd performance. Btw, Happy Birthday Rob Key.

[Don Sharma]

May be in the squad, but the Eleven looks settled imo, Freddie should come in for Bresnan (when fit) , Key for some reason hasnt been able to find his touch in the International arena, other than the odd performance. Btw, Happy Birthday Rob Key.

I think he was not given enuf opportunities.Whenever he wa provided one, he was not in form so he found it difficult to find his feet. They should atleast play him in the T20 WC, his record is quite good, dunno if he is part of the squad though. Even Warne mentioned that he should captain England in all forms of the game when KP stepped down.

[punjabi_khota]

3000 tickets sold for the first day of 2nd test match. Wow, thats lame by any standards.