5th test

[PFKAKTF FOX]

My team for next summer would be :

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan *
Pieterson
Bell
Flintoff
Dalrymple
Read +
Hoggard
Harmison
Panesar

I want to see us play 2 recognised spinners as this would help protect our main strike bowlers who would then be able to come on in short sharp bursts, I see little point in selecting a fourth seamer as both Anderson and Mahmood whilst possessing potential, IMO have shown they are short on Test match class.

Selecting Dalrymple gives us the second spinner but also strengthens the batting line up, I would perservere with Read for the summer and at least give him an extended run and opportunity to cement his place, also there is IMO no other outstanding candidate at present.

 

[homer]

My team for next summer would be :

Boycott
Gooch
Gower
Gatting
Botham
Flintoff
Knott
Illingworth (c)
Trueman
Willis
Underwood

.

Looks good to me

 

[highland fox]

Looks good to me

Don't think Trueman would manage many overs and he'd be fecking useless with the bat

 

[Melton Fox]

Don't think Trueman would manage many overs and he'd be fecking useless with the bat

He's been falling to bits down under as well

 

[Joe_Fox]

I guess I can give it a go, it beats doing my actual uni work! Although I should point out that its only my own opinion and not definitive! I'm finding it quite hard to rate them actually as I believe England were pretty bad, more so than Australia being as good as they would have us believe.

*Ponting 9 - Was a bit defensive at times with his captaincy but with a 5-0 under his belt I suppose you can say he made all the right moves. Was in great form with the bat too even if he did trail off a bit towards the end. Wonderful player.
Hayden 7 - We were on top of him for most of the series bar two innings. He really doesn't like the moving ball although once the ball stops moving he is lethal.
Langer 6 - Quite a few players seemed to tail off towards the end of the series and Langer is another one. It was great to see him get a good send off in the end, hes had a fantastic career.
Hussey 9 - I just couldn't see any ideas from the England bowlers to get him out. He has quite a simple method, he loves to block and puts the bad balls away . Hes a machine with no obvious weaknesses.
Clarke 8 - Had a really good series. His two centuries were the two most fluent of the series.
Symonds 7 - I still don't think hes that good. We should have got him out a few times before he had reached 20 in the fourth test. We didn't though and full credit to him, he scored a 156 and got Australia right out of trouble.
Martyn 3 - Its safe to say we had his number. It was still very bizarre of him to retire in the way he did though. The biggest mystery of the series.
+Gilchrist 7 - Kept pretty well with the odd mistake. Looked quite scratchy with the bat at times but was another one who delivered when it mattered. That century at Perth was breathtaking!
Clark 9 - I'm not entirely sure what to make of him, he didn't seem that much of a threat but has came out of the series with the best figures of anyone. He strikes me as more dependable than eye catching, he will always keep it tight and put the ball in the right areas but I don't think he will be a match winner on the level that McGrath has. Australia already had match winners in their side though and dependability was just the thing they were looking for from a fourth bowler.
McGrath 7.5 - I don't think he bowled as well as he ever has and it was visible that age was catching up with him. He bowled in the low 70s at times! He did what was asked of him though and got wickets.
Warne 8.5 - Didn't bowl as well as he ever has, I thought we played him really well at times but like the world class player he is, he performed at the key moments in the game when Australia needed him most.
Lee 7 - Got better as the series went on. Although he does go for runs at times, he is important to the aussie attack as he has real firepower which adds good variation to the attack.

I didn't think anyone was worthy of a 10.

thanks mate - good stuff.