England v West Indies : Cricket

[Hippy Dave]

1st Test begins on May 17, so thought I'd just stick the series odds up. Hopefully more bookies will price up other markets shortly.

Series winner
England 1.29 (Premierbet)
West Indies 11.0 (Various)
Draw 7.0 (Skybet)

Not going to be easy for West Indies to get anything out of this series without Brian Lara, and that's reflected in the odds.

[Swooperman]

Hadnt really thought about starting this until the weekend as I didnt think there'd be any interest, but as we're up, here goes.....

West Indies look very susceptible to me. Theyve lost their best bat in Lara, their next best bat, Gayle, has just had a poor WC although arguably that means nothing here, Sarwan is a new captain & that leaves Chanderpaul as the reliable bat.
England are in a new era, although as ever they'll be without Vaughan so Strauss will captain....you'd expect anyway. Moores the new coach will want a fresh approach & the squad should be interesting. Personally I dont expect much achange as Vaughan hasnt played a test in over a year now, & I fully expect:
Strauss, Cook, Bell, KP, Colly, Flintoff, whoever the flavour of the month to keep wicket is but I suspect Nixon or that Sussex bloke, Plunkett or Anderson, Hoggard, Harmison, Panesar

If conditions insist then I guess Plunkett or Anderson might become 2 of Plunkett/Anderson/Mahmood in place of Panesar, but not according to accuweathers long range forecast:
http://ukie.accuweather.com/ukie/for...postalcode=NW8 8QN&metric=1

I suppose the queries are Harmison, as to whether he plays, & Tresco, as to 'where do we go from here ??' type thing. I definetly think on a playing perspective that we look stronger with Tresco than without....but is it worth the potential grief ?? Its interesting to note that in the age of retirements being announced from everybody from the kit man to the tea lady, Tresco has been silent Also, I may be mistaken but I think Tresco is still a central contract.
I guess dropping Harmson would prove a few things but I dont see it happening tbh, although I'd like to see Broad get a go but I think it'll be because of injury before anything else.
The WIs bating is a bunch of 'good o'le boys' for me...they cash in when on top but cant be seen when the goings tough. Samuels omission says a lot about that bookies conversation thing & whilst I can see the WIs bowling possibly bowling England out for -350 once or twice in 1st innings, I can see WIS going for -250 at the same time.
A good may weatherwise ?? 4-0, otherwise, 3-0

[mullet1984]

Harmison was bowling in the 94-95mph mark today at times, i'd expect him to start.

[Swooperman]

Couple of things I meant to add. I think Englands appointment of Andy Flower is a brilliant step in the right direction as theyve got a batting coach & a wicketkeeping one at the same time.
Also, for all I've said that I believe England will trounce WIS, odds of around 1.2 just wouldnt tempt me tbh, as whilst I think WIs will get hammered theyre just not worth it against a side that does produce strange resurrections at times, like this one when they were missing half a side due to contractual disputes:

http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/20...04APR2005.html

[Pie-chucker]

At last, back to the red cherry. Yeah, test selection likely to be very predictable, Strauss, Cook, Bell etc. It won't be until ODIs that geezers like Bell will be scanning their text messages.

Is Bopara, Flintoff, Nixon, Hoggard, Harmison, Monty a possibility? Do the old Aussie trick of 4 bowlers (plus Bopara). Can't see the Windies going well, so it may be hard for Tresco, Broad etc to push open the selectors' door.

But, the first test Lords might give Windies a sniff if the sun is on their backs and fair winds of cricket gods etc. At 4-1 WI win I might be interested. Maybe.

[Colbro]

So who picks the England team? Is it the captain, the new coach or David Graveney and his committee?
Top 5 Strauss,Cook,Bell,KP,Collingwood would have been the obvious choice this morning but Trescothicks 185no today may force him back in. Who would he replace though? Strauss - but will he be captain - or Cook. Will he replace Strauss and be captain? or will they play 6 batsmen?

So assume 5 batsmen, 6 and 7 will be Prior and Flintoff but in which order. Nixon will probably make way as his unorthodox batting is more suited to one dayers. His choice in the squad of 25 is probably more a signal to Jones and in particular Read that their international careers are over. And given that most judges think Read is still the best wicket keeper in England Prior has probably been picked more for his batting and has played as a specialist batter for England before. The only problem though is Prior is currently on a terrible run of form with the bat and his team have been beaten by an innings inside three days in their last two games.

To add further intrigue if the wicket keeper is to be picked mainly for his batting as the dropping of Read suggests then currently on top of the batting averages in the cc is the warwickshire keeper Tim Ambrose. The same Tim Ambrose who left Sussex in 2006 because his opportunities were limited by Prior being the first choice. Now whilst Peter Moores had left Sussex when Ambrose was released, the choice of Prior for England looks like his choice and would he be prepared to replace him for Ambrose when he clearly thought Prior the better player during his spell at Sussex?

So 6,7 will probably be Flintoff,Prior although they probably envisioned it being the other way around when the squad was announced due to Flintoffs current woes with the bat.

8,9,10 Jack will probably be Mahmood(if only for the batting), Hoggard, Panesar and Harmison with Broad having to wait for the one dayers for a chance. Broad has not really done enough so far this season to oust Harmison who has bowled well. It will also be intersting to see if they could find room for Adil Rashid in the team at some stage this year.

[Pie-chucker]

Good stuff, Colbro, particularly about Tim Ambrose. He was top of run aggs and averages 200+ in current domestic season last time I looked. But i suppose mid-May is no time to put much weight on this.

But this is one postion Moores may make his selector voice loud in terms of 'new beginning'. Also, as i mentioned, dropping Flintoff to 7 and doing the Aussie 4 bowlers.

Tresco has almost said 'not quite yet' himself, so even if he goes on to 200 today... later.

Owais Shah is being talked about (as he is always at times like this).

All this leaves a monumental pile-up for batting places if Tresco gets his head right and Vaughan comes back. Ed joyce, robert Key must be doing their heads in.


Possible Lords team (if KP fit)

Strauss
Cook
Shah
KP
Collingwood
Bell
Flintoff
Read
Harmison
Hoggard
Monty

But. I'd give the captaincy right now to Cook. Stop mucking around and let Vaughan know 'his team' is moving on.

[Hippy Dave]

Don't think there is any chance at all of Read playing. Prior, Nixon and Foster are probably the first 3 choices (although in what order, who knows).

Also, can't see us playing 4 bowlers - especially with Harmison being a bit of an unknown factor coming back. If we do only play 4 it might be 4 seamers.

And Strauss should captain, just like he should have in Australia.

[Pie-chucker]

The wkt keeper position, I have no idea.

But Moores will make a statement in his input selectorial thinking. It'll either be Flintoff 7 or, less likely, Cook captain.

This would be ballsy:

Quote Moores: Vaughan is a very good cricketer. I've worked closely with him in Perth (blah, etc) and he will always have a place in the England top order when....

[Hippy Dave]

Cook captain? You are having a laugh. It simply won't happen.

Flintoff may bat 7 though.

[Colbro]

Captain Cook - to take on the aussies.

Interesting how in his "I'm not ready yet" statement Trescothick says the only person he has spoken to is Michael Vaughan. Is he still picking the team?

[Pie-chucker]

Dave, you're right about the cab rank of wicketkeepers. There's this damn silly 'Squad of 25' -- only Nixon and Prior are in it with the gloves.

They say it's open to others to come in etc, but it looks locked from that lot until at least India arrive.

Then we'll soon have the 'Golf Report'.

Vaughan will be all over the Lords dressing room like a rash. I'm fed up with him.

[Swooperman]

Interesting that KP missed this championship match & may be a doubt for the test. Obviously we'll know by sunday but it would make selection interesting. Key scored a big ton today although I dont see a way back for him although obviously he has form against WIs

I'm no fan of Prior

[Hippy Dave]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cric...es/6644239.stm

Vaughan might be playing.

[Pie-chucker]

Vaughan would 'chop off his finger' to play. He was there, benificiary, when Nasser moved over -- started ODI ousting -- and knows how quickly that set in stone can turn to dust.

I don't think he's got a Ponting innings in him, looking forward.

Good skip, OK. But I detect a touch of 'mine by right' about him, and I can almost hear him saying it.