England in South Africa

[horseplayer]

They have to rotate

Wood cant play to much anyway due to needing a op.

[nirvana]

Not sure what wickets are like in SA these days but I think it's a toss up between Finn and Wood on who would go better over there. I think taking wickets is more important than economy so would quite like to see Finn in the side. I guess that probably puts a bit more workload on Anderson & Broad and may be why Wood will tend to get preferred.

Lack of solidity at the top is a big concern. Not sure whether Balance is ready for a recall, rarely seen a player look so out of sorts and SA bowlers likely to give him the same test as the Aussie bowlers. Compton I think

Bairstow got to stay in for Buttler I think - not a whole lot better but Buttler's transition from slogger to test player is far from seamless.

Can't believe  there's any question about Ali - outstanding talent

Don't get why everyone raves over Finn. One good spell v an ordinary Aussie side this summer and it's almost like he's a second coming. Bowls too many bad balls and no balls. Wood has done nothing but impress and does take wickets

Bowl bowling attacks will go well, comes down to which side bats best

Never diss the Finn

[fatcatstu]

South Africa are currently getting dismantled by India, nothing to fear here!!

in mohali

a pitch that the BCCI said was too seam friendly (way up in the north, a lot of dew) so the curator was asked to dry it out so it could favour the spinners more

durban, cape town or joburg it is not

Well yes, but do we not think that conditions in south Africa will be far more agreeable for our bowlers than the recent series.

For what it's worth, my team would look something like

Cook
Hales
Bell (no one else to come in really)
Root
Taylor (he will be a regular for years to come now)
Bairstow
Stokes
Moeen
Broad
Finn
Anderson

With the extra pace of the ball, the bit of boom boom from Hales at the top of the order may well come off.

If there was any other option, I would drop bell. Think he is done for now. I suppose you could bring Rashid in at 8, put Taylor at 3 and Moeen at 5.

[TightEnd]

undoubtedly anderson and broad are a realistic threat to match steyn and co on SA Pitches

relying on our top six as a whole to withstand steyn and co feels like a longer shot, particularly hales as opener. which is why he has never been picked. however, few options now but to blood him

and yes bairstow is an automatic choice for now imo. buttler doesn't seem to have the mental fortitude for test batting

[buzzharvey22]

I know its one of the least of our problems now but Ben Stokes is not a test match number 6. Certainly not behind our top 5.

Il take the gloves and bat at 6.

[fatcatstu]

Agree Stokes is not a number 6. Yes he can twat it miles, but he doesn't come off often.

Bairstow at the minute is a fair bit ahead of buttler, he has the ability to get runs, just needs a good go at it


Our top order will look more secure with Taylor coming in at 5. Such an under rated talent. Think he could be worth a bet for England's top run scorer for the series.

[muckthenuts]

Stokes isn't good enough to be a 3rd seamer or a number 6 I agree. I'm of the opinion it should either he him or Moeen who play, never both at the same time.

Moeen is insanely talented but cmon; he's hardly ever going to take a 5 for. And that's what you need from your bowlers to win test matches - to be able to bowl a side out. He'll chip in sure, but use him as a 2nd spinner in the middle order not as an all rounder. This is one area where I think England are missing a trick.

[buzzharvey22]

Stokes isn't good enough to be a 3rd seamer or a number 6 I agree. I'm of the opinion it should either he him or Moeen who play, never both at the same time.

Moeen is insanely talented but cmon; he's hardly ever going to take a 5 for. And that's what you need from your bowlers to win test matches - to be able to bowl a side out. He'll chip in sure, but use him as a 2nd spinner in the middle order not as an all rounder. This is one area where I think England are missing a trick.

Exact reason why I put Rashid ahead of Ali. There's just no space in the team for both apart from Sub Continent.

Stokes batting number 7 and 4th seamer seems right. Rashid spinner and batting number 8 with Broad at 9 is a long enough batting line up IF the upper order contribute what it should.

[nirvana]

Stokes isn't good enough to be a 3rd seamer or a number 6 I agree. I'm of the opinion it should either he him or Moeen who play, never both at the same time.

Moeen is insanely talented but cmon; he's hardly ever going to take a 5 for. And that's what you need from your bowlers to win test matches - to be able to bowl a side out. He'll chip in sure, but use him as a 2nd spinner in the middle order not as an all rounder. This is one area where I think England are missing a trick.

Exact reason why I put Rashid ahead of Ali. There's just no space in the team for both apart from Sub Continent.

Stokes batting number 7 and 4th seamer seems right. Rashid spinner and batting number 8 with Broad at 9 is a long enough batting line up IF the upper order contribute what it should.

Rashid reminds me of club cricket 'leg spinners'. Half trackers, turns it but oh so slowly and a nice sprinkling of full bungers. At test level must be like being bowled a football.

[TightEnd]

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[DungBeetle]

You know the cupboard is bare when Bell is on everyone's team sheet.  A completely out of form veteran.  Surely better to give Lyth or Ballance another chance than play Bell.  You might get one swan song tune out of him but so what?  His form doesn't warrant that faith.

[verndog158]

Like Ali and Stokes together, dont think thats a big problem. Stokes isnt a great 3rd seamer but more than good enough 4th seamer behind Jimmy, Broad and Wood. ALi is as good as we have spinner wise, and is a v good number 8. plus his record, isnt actually that bad, and he does take wickets. no need for 2 spinners in south africa.
Wood > Finn and it isnt even close, think Finn could get whacked in SA. Wood has more pace, control and reverses it too

[verndog158]

Plus, assuming Bairstow continues to disappoint with the bat, which i think he will. Who is next in line? Billings is being picked as a batsmen for the one dayers, despite being an unbelievable keeper (good mate of mine brag!!) people seem to overlook this, if JB and buttler are overlooked, is he the next, as he is already in the set up?

[TightEnd]

Plus, assuming Bairstow continues to disappoint with the bat, which i think he will. Who is next in line? Billings is being picked as a batsmen for the one dayers, despite being an unbelievable keeper (good mate of mine brag!!) people seem to overlook this, if JB and buttler are overlooked, is he the next, as he is already in the set up?

Ben Cox is the best young wicketkeeper in the country but yes Billings is the next on the succession rank

he, like hales, roy, willey etc are pigeonholed as one day specialists. willey should be in the test team imo!

there are a lot of good batsmen too. tom abell at somersert would be my pick

in general, and compared to other countries, we don't pick youngsters early enough. on the odd occasion that we do we don't stay patient either. taylor was picked in 2012, took him 3 years to get back in despite a mountain of county runs

[nellberg]

Think we struggle in SA, they are number 1 side in the world and all sides around the world are finding it difficult to win away. We rightly talk up Anderson and Broad but Steyn, M. Morkel and Philander will be just as potent in conditions that they are used to and suit them down to the ground. With the bat Cook averages 41 in South Africa (only 4 tests so limited sample size) and Root should score runs anywhere and everywhere, but then we're up against Amla, Du Plessis and De Villiers. Both sides are a bit lacking in depth elsewhere, but they seem to have the edge in personnel and home advantage.

I'd assume the 1st test line-up will be:

Cook
Hales
Bell
Root
Taylor
Stokes
Bairstow
Ali
Wood
Broad
Anderson

I'd prefer a more solid opener like Compton, but Hales in next cab of the rank. Bell has to go due to lack of experience of the rest of the middle order. Taylor needs a run of games. Stokes is over-rated but in time should become extremely valuable. Bairstow short-term measure till Buttler works out what tempo to bat in tests. Ali will be far more useful in South Africa than Rashid, who I was very disappointed with in the UAE. Wood to rotate with Finn as he can't play every game.