England ODI side

[CM]

An 8 wicket thrashing today, it was never in doubt once they had raced to 88 from the first 11 overs

We're a bit unlucky with injuries at the moment. Tremlett, Anderson, S Jones, Giles, Blackwell, Flintoff and Vaughan will all probably be in the world cup squad if they are fit come next year.

We can do better than what we are doing though. The whole side seems to be letting us down! The batsmen simply aren't making significant runs. They seem to get in, make a nice looking 30 and get out. If we are going to win games then we need players who get 80s, 90s and 100s on a consistent basis. The biggest culprits in the England squad are Strauss (11 scores of 50+ in 53 innings) and Collingwood (13 scores of 50+ from 85). Tres and KP are our only decent ODI batsmen really.

Bowling, Fletcher is doing no favours to the team by picking such an inexperienced bowling line up. Mahmood, Plunkett, Bresnan, Loudon, Dalrymple are all quite new to the game and we only have the inconsistent Harmison who has played any significant number of ODIs. Also, why no specialist spinner? Loudon and Dalrymple are ok but you get the feeling they could be hit around the park if someone really wanted to. They have been quite lucky that the seamers have been so poor otherwise they may have come in for some more stick.

The captaincy from Strauss has been quite poor too. He seems out of his depth and isn't really sure whether to attack or defend. The fields, especially early on, have been uninspiring and hes already made big mistakes with the power plays early on.

We have absolutely no chance of winning the world cup unless we something about it quickly.

Gough should come back. Get a specialist spinner in. Get players like Strauss and Colly to convert those 30s into big scores and give the captaincy to Trescothick. I know hes been through a bit but he has more experience and is just better at it than Strauss.

 

[Brauny Blue]

The score England posted wasn't far off being decent. The bowling was abysmal. Had we scored another 80 odd runs we would still have lost with such lacklustre bowling.

 

[flashyfox]

The batting isn't too bad at the moment. Its the bowling which is just awful. If you keep giving your opponents 30+ runs in extras and bowling wide erractic balls then any score is chaseable. Obviously we are missing key players and if fit, then we wouldn't have a problem, but for now we lack any quality bowlers.

Not a lot we can do at the moment, so we have to persist with this team. Bowlers just have to start bowling line and length deliveries, the basics of bowling at any level!!

 

[Brauny Blue]

Might sound ridiculous but why not give Monty a go. Admit he can't field but imo he's got the makings of being the best spin bowler since Derek Underwood. He's got control and can take wickets, defo worth a shout imo and can't do any worse than the dross being served up at the moment

 

[glyn]

The ODI team is a mess and has been a continuous mess since the 1992 world cup final. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but every time the World Cup comes round they have no idea what their best team is. And just after every world Cup they go on about having a 4 year plan and getting the players in now ready for the next one. But after a year of rubbish results they change their plans.

I've quoted this Stat before - aside from the Hollioake Sharjah cup we haven't won an away ODI series against someone other than Zimbabwe or Bangladesh since 1992.

We just can't play the game very well, batsmen can't build innings or partnerships and the bowlers don't have the nous. This isn't a new problem - Trescothick and Stewart have been our only consistent ODI century makers since Gooch.

Gus Fraser was on Sky this morning saying how all our bowlers are told that it's no good bowling anything less than 85mph and that it should swing this way and that, whereas line and length is the fundamental skill needed in ODIs.

I know it's short-termism but I think Goughie needs to be back for the World Cup.

 

[lurchio]

How come strauss has suddenly been promoted to captain when until he opted out of the india tour tresco was vice cap.

In my opinion strauss is a poor captain. Put tresco back in charge.

team at the mo should be

tresco
strauss
bell
pietersen
collingwood
solanki
jones
mascharanas
plunkett
hoggard
harmison

Whenever i see mascharanas of hants, he always seems to be playing well. Why pick a squad. just go from match to match picking the team. if 1 aint doing it get rid until we find some consistancy.

plenty of decent players around if they look at non fashionable clubs.

kabir ali
stuart broad
robin martin-jenkins
billy taylor
ravindar Bopara
darren gough? (can he still do it)
mal loye
stuart law
alex wharf
chris taylor

Any thoughts on the above players or am i speaking out my backside again? (prone to doing that) I just think that sometimes they should look further afield. Who cares if they are in their 30's. If there gonna do a job and give us a decent shout at the world cup then i'd pick them.

 

[Hazzman]

Mascharanas, I thought he is Sri Lankan and played from them.

I would consider Hampshire's wicket keeper, he's South African but never played for them.

 

[CM]

You've mentioned some decent players there lurchio. Some could do a job with no doubt. I think the problem many have is that they don't really stand out and get the attention of the selectors. Unless players go through a purple patch or have an oustanding attribute, they are normally just passed over, no matter how consistent they have been.

Also, I think too much emphasis is put on youth sometimes. Mahmood and Plunkett are primarily picked because they are prospects but I don't see why we don't play our best players. There is nothing wrong with preparing for the short term, especially as the champions trophy and world cup are both in the next few months!

 

[flashyfox]

I agree about Mascarenhas. He is English and not sure why he's been over looked for England. Good player IMO. Not sure whether Stuart Broad is ready yet though. He's hardly played one day cricket and is not very economical when he does. Mal Loye would be worth ago but he's 33 now and that supposedly isn't England's policy just now. Personally don't think players like Bresnan have done enough to justify their position in the team and its shown when they've made the step up.