The Ashes thread

[Scratch]

I think Broad would be in line for being dropped as his bowling in tests has been average for a while. Obviously he would keep his place if Flintoff is out as your selection suggests.

My selection was mainly in jest....can't see us dropping Cook and replacing him with a bowler, no matter how well Swann has been batting.

However, i would like to see Pietersen moved up the order, not because i think he'll do well, but because i think it would teach him to be more disciplined and make him, in my mind, a much better batsman. Look at Smith for SA, he knows how to play an innings, be it at the start when you have to see of the new ball, or later on (he's usually there for both) when the ball is older and he can free his arms.

There has to be a young player worth blooding at the deep end, someone who has been setting the FC cricket scene alight? Whoever it is will be bound to score more than Cook at the moment...or Strauss, for that matter.

[dww]

My selection was mainly in jest....can't see us dropping Cook and replacing him with a bowler, no matter how well Swann has been batting.

However, i would like to see Pietersen moved up the order, not because i think he'll do well, but because i think it would teach him to be more disciplined and make him, in my mind, a much better batsman. Look at Smith for SA, he knows how to play an innings, be it at the start when you have to see of the new ball, or later on (he's usually there for both) when the ball is older and he can free his arms.

There has to be a young player worth blooding at the deep end, someone who has been setting the FC cricket scene alight? Whoever it is will be bound to score more than Cook at the moment...or Strauss, for that matter.

Smith - intelligent player. Pietersen - egotistical moron. Still I suppose anything is worth a try.

I haven't seen any sustained calls for anyone from those in the know in terms of young players (either in the papers or on the radio). We do need some stability in the team anyway.

At the end of the series the way we persevere with players will have to be looked at in my opinion. Strauss deserves a series before he is written off as captain (which Boycott has already done) especially as he does at least bring calmness and the ability to keep most of the side together to the table. I do think it is another issue that will probably have to be addressed though. Shame no one in the squad looks up to it.

[Scratch]

Smith - intelligent player. Pietersen - egotistical moron. Still I suppose anything is worth a try.

I haven't seen any sustained calls for anyone from those in the know in terms of young players (either in the papers or on the radio). We do need some stability in the team anyway.

At the end of the series the way we persevere with players will have to be looked at in my opinion. Strauss deserves a series before he is written off as captain (which Boycott has already done) especially as he does at least bring calmness and the ability to keep most of the side together to the table. I do think it is another issue that will probably have to be addressed though. Shame no one in the squad looks up to it.

Agreed, Pietersen is ego driven, hence my suggestion of moving him up the order, to a position where he learns how to be a team player, not a showman...ok, maybe opener is a bad idea, but number 3 might do...lets face it, in the England team that's nearly the same thing anyway.

Strauss has struck me as unispired so far...and a "oh ****, we have no other options" captain as well...Pietersen, Collingwood, Flintoff all having blown their chances, and Cook not being ready.

Stability is good, but mediocre stability is pointless...take a chance, like the aussies do, and then let them flourish.

[Neil Young]

The trouble with following the Australian recipe is that they have many more players with the right ingredients from which to choose. For instance, we have to make do with Onions and Swann while Sheffield Shield players like Paul Garlick never even won a single cap.

Yes, I am going to persevere with the cricket/food motif even though it has proved fairly unpopular so far.

[joyno]

i became disillusioned again with english cricket and i still am, no matter what people think about the courageous draw, when Adil Rashid was omitted from the england squad what does this lad have to do to prove his worth, miller says "he is a great prospect but not ready yet" bollocks play your best players. old school tie again im afraid.

[Shaggy]

Rashid does not deserve to be in the side.


Flintoff to retire!

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the current Ashes series against Australia.

The hero of England's victorious 2005 Ashes campaign has fought a constant battle against injuries and will now concentrate on one-day cricket.

Flintoff, 31, is currently fighting to be fit for the second Test at Lord's.

The Lancashire star is now struggling with a knee injury that flared up after the first Test draw in Cardiff.

Flintoff has so far played for his country 75 times in an 11-year Test career since his debut against South Africa in a famous England victory at Trent Bridge.

But undoubtedly his finest hours came in the 2-1 series success at home to Australia in 2005.

It was a summer which saw the best of Flintoff's cricketing ability, as well as his sportsmanship.

After a duck and then three in the first Test at Lord's, he made half-centuries in each innings and took seven wickets as England fought back thrillingly to win by just two runs and level the score at Edgbaston - where his hand-on-shoulder consolation for a beaten Brett Lee became perhaps the iconic image of the whole series.

Flintoff's maiden Ashes hundred helped bring a second home win in Nottingham, and there were more runs and wickets as England regained the urn in a fifth-Test draw at The Oval.

With 2005 captain Michael Vaughan out injured, Flintoff himself was to lead England in their ill-starred bid to retain the Ashes in 2006-07, a series that ended in a 5-0 whitewash.

He lost the vice-captaincy under Vaughan after his drunken late-night escapade in a pedalo at the start of a notably unsuccessful 2007 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean.

[Reece]

Not surprising really, his knee is pretty ****ed.

[dww]

Not surprising really, his knee is pretty ****ed.

[EwarWoo]

Not good

[dww]

It's a real shame.

I do think it could work well for English cricket in the long run though. For too long we have waited for Flintoff to do something special in games. Other players badly need to learn to take responsibility.

Another thing - I think we (as a cricketing nation) need to take series that aren't the Ashes more seriously. We've talked non-stop about them since the last lot. Devaluing all other series as if they were just warm up matches. If we want to be a top team we need to look to win every series - to want to win every test as much as we do the Ashes tests. That was one of the things about the 2005 side they had spent two years winning or at least competing very hard against everyone they played and it improved them hugely.

[Ben_Itez]

His injuries must be worse than he's been letting on.

Have to say im pretty surprised by this though. His batting hasnt been good enough for the number 6 position for a while now so perhaps we'll bring an extra batsmen in with Broad and Swann being able to bat a bit. Either that or Prior at 6 and 5 bowlers.

England actually have a better record with Flintoff out the side.

Still he'll always be remembered as a Test legend for 2005.

[Shaggy]

It's a real shame.

I do think it could work well for English cricket in the long run though. For too long we have waited for Flintoff to do something special in games. Other players badly need to learn to take responsibility.

Another thing - I think we (as a cricketing nation) need to take series that aren't the Ashes more seriously. We've talked non-stop about them since the last lot. Devaluing all other series as if they were just warm up matches. If we want to be a top team we need to look to win every series - to want to win every test as much as we do the Ashes tests. That was one of the things about the 2005 side they had spent two years winning or at least competing very hard against everyone they played and it improved them hugely.

Very fair point and I tend to agree, but there's no getting away from the fact that The Ashes is the pinnacle so to a degree it's understandable.

[Le Chef]

Another thing - I think we (as a cricketing nation) need to take series that aren't the Ashes more seriously. We've talked non-stop about them since the last lot. Devaluing all other series as if they were just warm up matches. If we want to be a top team we need to look to win every series - to want to win every test as much as we do the Ashes tests. That was one of the things about the 2005 side they had spent two years winning or at least competing very hard against everyone they played and it improved them hugely.

Apart from the Aussies, Saffers and India there aren't that many decent teams out there.

[Reece]

http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/2009/07/16/cricket-speech-presented-at-lords-14th-july-2009/

Good blog/speech from Stephen Fry

[dww]

Apart from the Aussies, Saffers and India there aren't that many decent teams out there.

We are 5th in the rankings and recently lost a series to the West Indies. If there aren't many decent teams out there then surely we should be doing better?