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Selection conundrum
Humiliated at Headingley, how can England turn the series around? It's Your View...
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Comments
Maurice Foy says...
After the defeat at headingley it proves to me that we are not as good a team as the recent results would suggest, The wins against New Zealand gave the team a confidence boost but the opposition was not top quality, this South African team is, we need to get more discipline in our batting, and bowling, or we will get humiliated again like we did against the Aussies, I dont understand why Pattison played instead of someone like Tremlett who was in the squad for the first test at Lords.
Posted 00:22 23rd July 2008
Damian Tate says...
For all of the talk about Vaughn et al, people are forgetting one thing: you need to take 20 wickets to win a test match! We had an impotent bowling attack at Headingley, and this was mostly the case againsy New Zealand. Freddie is not the all-round force he was and there is too much reliance on Bell and Pietersen. Broad in the side as a bowler? Nope, as he SHOUDLN'T have to be there for his batting. Bring back Simon Jones for Pattinson and why on earth wasn't Hoggy playing on his home patch?! Vaughn and Strauss have to get their collective acts together and quickly with the bat as there is no time for loss of form with the Ashes around the corner. Tim Ambrose is too easy to bowl against, although his keeping is up to scratch. Monty is a fine finger spinner but the pitches are too settled and even to provide any real challenge for top quality batsmen and without his ability to field and bat is a liability in my book. In my view only Cook, Pietersen and Bell are safe in the batting line-up, while I's keep faith with Fred. The rest are too inconsistent in terms of both line and length, which doesn't cause doubt and impatience in batsmen leading to rash shots, top edges and poor defense. Glenn McGrath was never the quickest but all he did was put the ball on the spot from BALL ONE!!! Until we get the same level of quality bowling batsmen such as Ponting, De Villiers and Gayle will eat this bowling attack for breakfast. Time for a change and stop living in past comfort blanket of Ashes glory. The Ozzies have moved on. Why haven't we? If we can't compete with the South Africans we may as well not turn up against the Aussies. Let's hope for bad weather...
Posted 21:41 22nd July 2008
Mark Tierney says...
England quite simply lacked aggression with ball. I dont think at all you can blame Pattinson etc for the result. England need Harmison back in the team immediately. This guy was number 1 bowler in the world ranking not that long ago and has the pace and aggression. Also for me Ambrose has to go, he isn't good enough with bat or gloves. Harmison in and Foster back.
Posted 21:18 22nd July 2008
Dilip N says...
England would be well served if they could recall Harmison or Simon Jones to add a bit of pace and hit the deck kind of bowling.Stuart Broad seems to be a better batstman than a bowler.Then Michael vaughan's batting is below par now and with teh team not winning it would be tough for him to keep his place.I guess its time for Freddy Flintoff to take the reigns and it would add a bit more responsibility in his batting.He is the right man for the job.Then i would include Bopara or Shah in the team as they are much better players than the available ones.
Posted 20:39 22nd July 2008
Chris Grathwohl says...
Starting to see some comments not based on fact but based on the individuals particular hang-ups on that player, it is unfortunate. Blast a guy who went for under 2 a over, and if he had some luck about 5wickets. First game facing International Bowlers and showed some good promise the 2nd innings. I also agree removing the Capt. in mid-series would be a disaster. I also disagree with comments regarding Harmie, were playing at home, not overseas, so why not select him to play where he excels? selecting him for the SA series does not mean your going to India! Removing the wicket keeper is a tricky call also in mid-series, especially if your thinking of bringing back a keeper who does not have the bowlers trust, ie. Prior who was mainly dropped for poor form with the gloves. Broad needs first some time off, then to go back to County before the season is over and work on his bowling. He just simply bowls the wrong line and lentgh to consistently, and is giving up way to many runs for a wicket here or there. To take wickets you need 2 bowlers piling on pressure. Look at this last match, Fred bowls a maiden, Pattinson at the other end and gives up 6 runs in the first 2 balls, all the pressure is off the batsmen. Jimmie bowls a maiden, Broad gives up boundary's at the other end, are you seeing the problem? No one has also taken into consideration the fact that SA batted for 4 of the last 6 days these Teams played against each other, big mental blow, then your Eng. openers come to bat and DUCK out fast and cheaply. To be fair you cannot blame the batters at number 6 down, they should of never had to bat on day 1 of your innings(both times at bat), especially without a score on the board from the top 5, bottomline!!! You want to blame someone be fair and honest, and this last game the top 5 and the last minute selection and injured player selection caused this embarrissing loss, NOT Ambrose, Flintoff, Paesnar, or Anderson.
Posted 18:35 22nd July 2008
Neil Morris says...
Who would be a selector? Lets hope that they are at least kind to Darren Pattinson who looked, the part, played is heart out, and supported Broad really well against an attack with the end in their sights. As someone said you cant change a Captain mid series - or can you? Think back to 1981!
Posted 17:28 22nd July 2008
Carl Vertigan says...
Come on what's this about bring back Simon Jones he doesn't play all his county matches due to fitness (too much of a risk) the obvious choice for me would be Sajid Mahmood he is regulary bowling at 91-93 mph and is bowling good lines. Ambrose to drop out for Chris Read a specialist keeper who bats very well and been in great form all season.
Posted 16:52 22nd July 2008
Brian Harris says...
I feel the balance of the test team was disturbed by the lack of Ryan Sidebottom and by the inclusion of Fred & Darren Pattinson. I thought that Pattinson bowled pretty well and showed guts with the bat but the truth probably lies in the fact that his inclusion relied almost entirely on England winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. When that didn't happen, the gamble suddenly became to look rash. The only way to have recovered the situation was to have had Pattinson turn in a match winning performance. The batsmen have to carry the responsibility for this loss, by not having enough discipline at the crease, especially when they had got in. In Stuart Broad I see a parallel to that of Brett Lee, in whom the Aussie selectors showed faith in his early test career. For me he is a must for the team. My suggestion for an alternative batsman would be Robert Key, who has showed good form in the season and hs the advantage being successfull at test level. I think he well overdue for selection. Changing the wicketkeeper would be a priority plus adding Simon Jones to the squad, he too classy to ignore now he is fit
Posted 16:23 22nd July 2008
Malcolm Burgess says...
When are we going to learn?Moores Miller should go Harmison Jones and Foster should come straight back so we have some proper fire power
Posted 16:15 22nd July 2008
Garry Cooney says...
following the treatment of paul collingwood surely tim ambrose and michael vaughen should follow and whats the point of telling harmison and hoggard to get sum form together and then ignore them? the selectors bottled it cos it meant if they had performed then it would have been to hard a decsion to drop one of them or recall sidebottom but surely hard decsions are what the selectors should be striving too cos then it means we have lots of players performing
Posted 16:11 22nd July 2008
Kendra Fox says...
I agree that England played badly in this test but South Africa also played very well and are a first class team. I think that removing Michael Vaughan as captain would be the biggest mistake our selectors could make, he is by far the best captain we have had in a long time and makes inspirational field and bowling changes. I do think he should move himself down to 4 or 5 in the batting order, at least until he gets his form back.
Posted 15:02 22nd July 2008
Jack Mumford says...
I feel Michael Vaughan has to go, when all around him people are being dropped for not performing then why not him aswell, you can't play in a Test side just because you are a captain you have to offer something. He doesn't bowl hence he is a batter yet has given hardly anything with the willow in the series against New Zealand or thus far against South Africa. As to who should take place as captain I am unsure-if you were to go for experience possibly Strauss could step up to the plate or even Flintoff after all he's seen it all and showed a very spirited performance at Headingley, my main point is that Vaughan cannot have the audacity to stand there and criticise selection about people not delivering when Pattinson came into the side as a bowler and got wickets. Okay it wasn't an amazing performance yet he has gone somewhere towards fulfilling his role in the side yet Vaughan has nothing to show at batting 3, Bell should go 3, Pietersen 4, Collingwood back in at 5 and Flintoff at 6, I would go as far as to say Broad could bat 7 comfortably as Ambrose hasn't shown much form with the bat recently. Overall my main feeling is that Vaughan should go,I say this even as a Yorkshireman-I feel he is offering nothing and not fulfilling the job he is picked for to bat and get runs aswell as captain the side, at present he is doing just one thing and thats not scoring runs thats setting fields.
Posted 15:02 22nd July 2008
Darran Walters says...
Why dosent the selectors pick a squad of 18 players for a home test series instead of picking 12 or 13 for each test match. my squad for the next test would be as follows: Cook,Strauss,Denly,Key,Bell,Pietersen,Vaughan,Colly,Fredy, Foster,Prior,Broad,Jones,Anderson,Monty,Sidebottom,Harmy,
Posted 14:29 22nd July 2008
Martin Chapman says...
Wow, it's incredible how fast we in this copuntry turn on our sports stars. Yes England were woeful without a doubt but credit needs to be given to South Africa for being outstanding with bat and ball. That's something we should learn from. Yes we made a huge selection error but these things happen let's just move on and try and get back in this series. To oust a captain mid-way through a series would be rediculous but they do need to act on all fronts. Move Bell to 3 and move Vaughn down the order and see how he does. As for the wicketkeeper situation this needs to be resolved soon or we may end up in a bigger mess than before. Bowling wise I felt from the word go it was a silly mistake to bring Freddy back so soon and that Hoggard should have played due to his Headingly experiance but the pressure from fans/pundits forced the ECB to bring him back. All us armchair supporters need to take a step back and actually look at the tough job the selectors have to do. They are only human and they will make mistakes but what if Pattinson had proved a huge hit and we had won the match? Then we would all be sat here applauding how great the selectors are. We as a country of armchair followers are fickle to the slightest thing that comes our way, win and we go over the top with praise, lose and we need to sack everyone we can. We need to learn to be paitant and respectful of those doing a tough job in all sports!
Posted 14:15 22nd July 2008
Mike Smith says...
michael vaughan is at the moment a walking wicket, he might be a great captain but you cant bat at 3 and get 10's,20's and 30's need hundreds big hundreds and he does no deliver, Tim Abrose is a good keeper but cant bat at 6, Flintoff as to do that if he to be considered the all rounder, The big problem he Broad gets runs everytime and looks class with a bat,but he does not get wickets and he is in the team as a bowler, the selectors have a real problem.
Posted 13:37 22nd July 2008
David Mckeown says...
worst thing about this test whatever you all say??- letting that creep de villiers get 170.That catch claim was the most blatant act of cheating and underhand play i have ever seen-and what about the celebrations of the guys around him-including Smith.I've never liked him either.
Posted 13:31 22nd July 2008
David Mckeown says...
Stuart Broad-fine bat yes but he's there as a strike bowler and he just doesn't look like getting any wickets. He bowls too short and rarely looks a threat.We need strike shock bowlers to get up this mob-Jones and Mahmood please.Stop mentioning Harmison, he could get a million wickets for Durham but he falls apart like a jigsaw when he leaves Chester le Street.
Posted 13:22 22nd July 2008
Stew Branford says...
There is one common factor in all of these posts - SIMON JONES, get him in the squad now, only a complete bunch of morons would overlook such a player in such brilliant form. As for Monday's batting collapse, you have to question the intelligence of Moores as much as the batsmen! Why oh why do players continue to play at balls that pose no threat to the stumps? I walk in from work to see Flintoff edge a ball that was outside off stump straight to boucher? Why play it? Did he think the game could still be won??? Our batsmen really lack intelligence and common sense. Strauss has got to go - how he continues to be selected is beyond me, likewise Vaughan and Ambrose. Time for major changes - it has been for some time now!!!!
Posted 12:28 22nd July 2008
Mark Punter says...
got to admit we got it wrong team selection & generally out played by a far better stronger team.. headingley for me aint no spinners paridise so why do we keep with monty & who the 'eck' is pattinson ! , why is ambrose still in the team when he is just not up for the job.. i feel england should of played 4 seamers & one extra bowler batsman,,,, for me its time to move with the times & get rid of the 'old school' my team for next test is , Cook Denly Shah KP Bell Freddie Colly Prior Hoggy Broad Jimmy
Posted 12:06 22nd July 2008
Keith Smith says...
My main concern is the form of the captain (vaughan) he can,t bat, can,t catch can,t field and with this weak batting line up who are living on past perfomances against the might of the windies and the mighty NZs he cannot be carried. Even his captaincy is beginning to lack imagination. STOP LIVING IN THE PAST PICK THE TEAM FROM FORM PLAYERS it is this series we need to win not keep referring to the Ashes as if it is the only thing of importance.
Posted 11:39 22nd July 2008
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