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jtstriker9

Listed below are comments made by jtstriker9 between Thursday, 17th July 2008 and Wednesday, 10th December 2008.

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Indian thoughts return to cricket 10:46am on 10 Dec 2008 How is Collingwood still in the team?? What do Shah and Bopara have to do to get given a chance....??

Other than that though, looks like a nice balanced side and with Broad to come back for the second test there's plenty of competition for places. Now we just need a solid batting performance.......
The most divisive and tasteless selection in cricket history 6:40pm on 09 Sep 2008 Its just a game of cricket!! Not even real cricket, just some T20 fun.....

It sounds like people on here are just jealous of cricketers getting paid for once. Look at footballers, now that's embarrassing...!!

I know JA's views about this form of the game are not particularly complimentary, but i enjoyed the IPL this season and will be an avid viewer for years to come. The onlt thing it missed this year was english talent on show, which i'm sure will not be the case next season.

As regards Vaughan, is it any surprise?? This England management team have shown from the beginning they have no balls and i'm sure things like this will continue. Once a player has been dropped, like Hoggard, his contract should not be renewed. Think of Shah and Bopara, they are the future of England's batting line-up now (and i guess Key too). This is another in a long line of kicks in the teeth for these guys.
Lack of runs costs emotional Vaughan 11:39pm on 03 Aug 2008 Great spell as skipper i mean, of course!!!
Lack of runs costs emotional Vaughan 11:38pm on 03 Aug 2008 Thanks MV, great spell as kipper, brought the ashes home for the first time in years and provided us with a lot of well earned glory!!

As for the next captain, there is only one player in the England side who is world class and is guarenteed a place in the side, so it has to be KP. I think Strauss would also be a top consideration, but he is not in the limited overs team and this split captaincy thing doesn't really work. KP is young and a lot like Ponting for the Aussies, talented but tempestuous. It made him the player he is today and i think KP will find the same.

Moving on, lets hope that the selectors grasp this wonderful opportunity to use this dead rubber of a game at the Oval to give some players a chance. We are not discarding the recent bunch, but lets see what the rest can do. My team for the final test would be:

Cook
Key
Shah
Pieterson (c)
Bopara
Napier
Flintoff
Foster
Broad
Swann
Jones/Tremlett

I don't want to discard the other players, but this will give us a chance to see how the others could do over the winter and against the aussies next summer. KP and Fred stay for obvious reasons. Cook because he's young and needs more experience. The others should all have a chance to get a game under their belt and see if they can take their chance.

Any other ideas??
Frail batting costs England again 8:20pm on 30 Jul 2008 Another shambolic batting performance from England, but to be honest, we all half expected it (except for 'Bumble', who for some reason always has a feeling England might win before evry game, bless!!). I'm not going to Harp on again about the selectors who should all be put out to pasture and maybe shot by the farmers son for practice, just a couple of points that have riled me today:

1) I understand the need to criticise Vaughan as the captain must take the most of the blame when a team fails, but people calling for ROB KEY to take his place as captain are ridiculous at best. He hasn't played test cricket for years, lets not be silly here. He's also extremely overweight for a professional sportsman and his fielding is below par at best. I know we don't have any immediate replacements in the team, barring a nowadays slightly timid Strauss, but lets not drop that far yet!!

2) If anyone else suggests we play STUART BROAD as a number six batsman, you should stop writing on any blogs in future and probably stop watching cricket altogether!! The reason he bats so well is because he's comfortable at 8, it suits his style of play and he is a BOWLER who can bat. Like Freddie, but again that is a different point, he should not be forced into a position above his status where he will only under-perform and come in for more criticism. Not to mention the likes of Shah and Bopara who would probably become Zimbabwean if Broad was picked at number 6 of them. Please, i hate reading the same drivel over and over again.

Thanks, rant over....

Lets hope someone can step up tomorrow from the mire and whittle SA out and we can rejoice in something good again

Come on England!!
Pressure mounting on the England captain 8:23pm on 29 Jul 2008 Come on guys, five bowlers cannot be the way forward!! Look at the best teams in the world: Australia, SA, India, Sri Lanka; all play with 6 frontline batsmen because if you dont get runs on the board then you dont stand a chance of winning test matches. This is not limited overs where each bowler can only bowl an allotted amount, its called test cricket because it 'tests' players to the maximum of their abilities.

Flintoff is the dilemma. Everyone says that he cant have too much of a work load in a four-man attack, if thats the case then he's not fit enough and should not be picked. Bowling all-rounders dont get picked to bat at 6, seven is the highest and then you need to fit in a keeper too!! This attack should be perservered with for this game, and if it fails then Hoggard, Jones, Harmison, Broad and co should be breathing down their necks.....

As regards the batting, England were always going to recall Collingwood as the selectors have proved they dont own a pair of balls between them!! Shah, Bopara, Key and co have all been proving themselves in county cricket for the last couple of years with no reward and England have not been racking up scores of 400 plus for some time now. I think we as England fans are going to have to ride out this period of mediocrity until an Ashes thrashing is dealt out next summer and then hopefully managerial heads will roll and forward-thinking change may be on the horizon. Sub-standard coaching/selection like thiswould not be tolerated in other countries or other sports for this long, surely....
Five batsmen not enough for England 12:21pm on 23 Jul 2008 Anyone thinking of dropping Broad must be joking!! The guy has again showed what he can do with the bat and his bowling, albeit not the most penetrative as yet, is improving with every game he plays. There was obvious tiredness in Broad and Anderson after the first test and hopefully they will both be back fighting fit for the third test.

Dropping Collingwood was obviously a mistake and it would not surprise me if he is recalled for the third test, even though Shah, Bopara and co will be left disappointed. England have to play 6 batsmen at all times, with two of them able to contribute with the ball to make a fifth bowler a la Australia. South Africa are very lucky to have someone like Kallis, but most teams make do with 4 bowlers and rely on the likes of Symonds, Clarke, Sehwag, Jayasuriya and so on. Pieterson needs to be one of those and i guess either Collingwood or Bopara would be favourite for the other role.

The keeper situation will just not go away at the moment. The mentality is all wrong, far too much pressure for county players to handle, and thats unfortunately all we have in that position. We could try Read, Foster, Prior or Mustard instead of Ambrose, but will any of them do so much better than their last chance(s)??

So my bet for the team for the next test reads:

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pieterson
Bell
Collingwood
Flintoff
Ambrose
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson
(Panesar if there is spin/Sidebottom unfit)

Runs and pressure win matches, wickets will fall if pressure is applied with big scores and consistent bowling of line and length and swing. At least if we score big runs we cant lose, hopefully!!

Any takers...??
Five batsmen not enough for England 10:11am on 22 Jul 2008 Surley there is one batting all-rounder in England who can bat 6 and bowl with a certain amount of bite (not Colly's dobbers!!) so we can keep both Fred and Broad and have a batting line-up to be proud of???

Could Bopara be given a run in the side....??

Anyone else around......Rashid.....?????
England bowling lacks menace 11:15pm on 20 Jul 2008 For pty4tt1,

We cant just do away with Broad, your suggestion of a four-man pace attack including fred, anderson, jones and hoggy with monty as well leaves with a very long tail. Broad needs to be perservered with, I know he's not Brett Lee pace, but the Aussies continued with him when he was young and that gamble certainly paid off!!

With Broad and Flintoff in a five-man attack, we need to pick wicket-takers to complement their accuracy and consistentcy. Anderson does seem to be doing the job for now, but Pattinson is not the way forward. Even Tremlett would have been a better choice than bowling an 80mph swing bowler. Sidebottom was rested because his sore back restricted him to only 81-82mph!!

The wicket-keeper position is another dilemma. Ambrose has shown promise, but with a five-man attack, our gloveman has to able to bat 6 or score very consistently at number 7 to cover freddie. Jone did well for a while, but Foster and Prior are both knocking on the door very hard this season and more low scores from Timmy will make it very hard to ignore them.

In regards to the Vaughan/Moores situation, I think Vaughan will certainly need to find some form soon, his captaincy is not in question, but you can not carry a batsman when we can only pick five-specialists in those positions. As for Moores, well I just don't think he has what it takes to lead his country. He is like the 'Steve McClaren of cricket', good levels of success at club level but never quite cut it at the highest level. Its a shame to see all the good work that lead to the ashes victory in 2005 being undone slowly by weak tactical ploys and bizarre selection policies!!
South Africa keep England at bay 1:27pm on 17 Jul 2008 There needs to be more balance in the england side. If Freddie comes in to the team he surely cant bat at 6, and is not strong enough to be part of a 4-man attack?

So where does he fit in? I just hope that we dont end up short of runs if we drop our sixth batsman, or short of overs if we lose Sidebottom.

And if broad is dropped for Flintoff i think i will give up supporting england for good!! We cant keep dropping young prospects when the likes of Anderson at 27 still hasnt secured his place.....

I guess my preferred team would be:

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pieterson
Bell
Prior (I actually prefer Foster, but not at 6!!)
Flintoff
Broad
Sidebottom
Jones (more penetration than Anderson)
Panesar

I know going back to Prior could be bad form, but we need extra batting to cover Flintoff. I wish we could have Foster, but only with a FULLY fit and proven Freddie can we do that.

Jones has to come back in soon to use the old ball for reverse swing, and he's not quite so similar to Broad as Jimmy is.

Would love to see Rashid in the team because i prefer bowlers who can bat too, but will need to be tested and cant replace Monty just yet. Maybe he could be experimented with next time we visit the sub-continent and two spinners are required.

Any comments......??

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