2009 Ashes

[Woodsey]

Hooligans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ud5o-8eOnk

[Matt50]

England without Pieterson and Flintoff are only better than W Indies and Bangladesh of the test playing nations IMO.

Key, Bopara, Bell, Ramprakash, Collingwood etc etc are all of the same average standard, so the selectors may as well go for a couple of players with form and confidence ahead of those under extreme pressure.

If it was up to me the team would be:

Trott
Cook
Strauss
Ramprakash
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions/Rashid (depending on pitch)


If Flintoff is not fit then either Sidebottom or Plunkett to bat at 9

[Longy]

England without Pieterson and Flintoff are only better than W Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh of the test playing nations IMO.

New Zealand could barely make 200 against our bowling attack in the last few series.

[thetank]

Why does everyone want Ramps in the side? He's like 40 years old and hasn't played any test cricket for 8 years. When he did, his test average was under 30

He might have over 100 first class centurys but he only has 2 in test matches.

[TightEnd]

Why does everyone want Ramps in the side? He's like 40 years old and hasn't played any test cricket for 8 years. When he did, his test average was under 30

He might have over 100 first class centurys but he only has 2 in test matches.

Far better player now than he was a decade ago, has made 60 first class centuries since he was last dropped for England

Test Ave of 42 vs Australia back then even so

Best batsman in the country, well one of them. Pick a team for a one off cup final..I'd have him in over any of the alternatives

Don't think they'll pick him though

[thetank]

Say you do pick Ramps and he goes out in the first innings for under 20 (which would probably happen ~50% of the time) Would that not have a huge psychological impact on the rest of the innings, the secret weapon not working.

Ignoring the last test, England have had a pretty good series. If Freddie's fit for the showdown (fit enough to play anyway) then why make too many changes?

[TightEnd]

Bowling wise I wouldn't make too many changes

Maybe a second spinner, of course Flintoff if fit

Batting wise numbers 3,4,5 are the big problem. Bopara has to go. Question is do you go the whole hog?

[AndrewT]

Ramprakash is good now, in county cricket, where there is absolutely no pressure on him.

The only time he has been under recent pressure (when he was on 99 first class hundreds) it totally got to him and he got stuck.

I think there might be a bit of pressure on him were he to play against Australia...

Chopping and changing batsmen rarely works as well as swapping bowlers. I'd keep Bopara and Bell in - give them the opportunity to respond to the situation. They're not terrible players (otherwise they wouldn't have got picked). It's not as if we've got Wally Hammond and Len Hutton on the sidelines - there's absolutely no reason to think Key, Shah, Ramps et al are appreciably better. If they were they'd already be in the team.

It's our bowlers I worry about - on a good batting track without help from the conditions they are just not good enough. I'd be tempted to tell the groundsman to attack the pitch with a blowtorch and play two spinners.

[TightEnd]

I'd be tempted to tell the groundsman to attack the pitch with a blowtorch and play two spinners.

agree totally. For gawd's sake prepare something that loads the dice in our favour

[Josedinho]

Yeh seems like a bit of an over reaction to me. Vaughn Ramps and Key all been mentioned to ship out Bell Bopara and Colly. I'd probaly drop Bell. Let Key bat at 3 and let Ravi come in as late as possible.

[Woodsey]

Freddie gonna be fit by the sounds of it...........

[nirvana]

Other than openers the Aussies tend to bring new batsman in the team at 6 and then let them work their way up. Bopara at 6 might be OK

[mondatoo]

LOL that we crush them in 2 tests then they crush us in one and we now want to change whole middle order,only player i'm not keen on is bell,obv bopara had bad series but he's better than any of the replacements being mentioned imo and has had a few harsh decisions against him, show of faith may be the boost he needs

[Pelham Boy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8195859.stm

WTF. Just typical of Surrey, they should concentrate on getting their own house in order before telling the England selectors what to do. What about the speculation surrounding Bopara,Bell etc? I expect us to name a 13/14 man squad, so even if he's in the squad, there's no guarantee he will play.

[nirvana]

I have cogitated, ruminated etc Lloyd Grossman style and overall I think we should stick with the same top 6, bring Flintoff back for Harmison and let the bulk of the guys who took us this far (1-1 with 4 played is better than the general trend of the last 20 years) & see if they can finish the job, no panic, no weakness of mind shown.

After this series is over think about who our 3 & 5 should be for the long run, the rest of the top 6 picks itself. Could even consider promoting Collingwood to 3 for a year or so and just look for a 5.

Replacing Flintoff at 7 not directly necessary imo, horses for courses picks  (batsman, sipinner or seamer) in his spot should do, as I think Onions, Anderson, Swann, Broad (with a little more development) represent a half decent attack with useful runs to contribute too.