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Listed below are comments made by Silk between Monday, 20th July 2009 and Thursday, 29th October 2009.

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Andrew's autumn test 4:11pm on 29 Oct 2009 Simon Austin - BBC Sport : Thanks for your comments, which make things a lot clearer.

But it begs the question, is Johnson picking the England Senior side? Indeed, aside from negotiating the release of players, does Andrew have any input into the selection or coaching of England?

Because if he does, what is Johnson's role?

If he doesn't, it seems like a perfectly sensible division of duties, to be honest. But it wasn't clear when you said

"The 96 names in England's senior, Saxons and Under-20 squads are neatly arranged in colour-coded rows on a wall of Rob Andrew's Twickenham office.

He's been busy rejigging them in recent weeks, following injuries to a dozen players in Martin Johnson's senior squad."

who was actually calling the shots.
Andrew's autumn test 11:10am on 29 Oct 2009 The article doesn't answer the question. What does he do?

If Andrew is selecting the squads, what is Johnson doing? Johnson isn't the coach, he's the manager.

"Directors of football" don't work in football. can you imagine Wenger, Fergie or Capello being told to work with a Director of football?

So what does Andrew do?

And are England a better team now than when they sacked Ashton (who'd taken them to a WC final)
Benitez faces biggest test 1:18pm on 21 Oct 2009 The guy spent a huge amount of money on Keane, then sold him within a year, losing a heap of cash in the bargain. What on earth was that about?

Seems to me Rafa has only himself to blame for what looks like a very ordinary squad, on paper, at least.
Ashes player ratings 5:12pm on 24 Aug 2009 I think the ratings are spot on.

Swann, in the end, averaged 40 with the ball. He failed at Cardiff, and he didn't bowl England to victory as hoped, at Edgbaston. But he did bowl well at Lords and very well at the Oval. 7 is fair, I feel. 7/10 is a good score, 8/10 a very good score and 9/10 a great score. I'd say Swann was good, but not very good.

what on earth has happened to Monty? Surely Rashid or Tredwell will be second spinner on tour?

Many players were a disapointment to me, none less so than Anderson, who simply disappeared at half-time. And he'd been so brilliant up to that point!

Cook, Bops, Colly were obviously a let down.

Kudos to Prior! Proved the doubters wrong.
Broad's Ashes spot no longer secure 10:23am on 04 Aug 2009 "If Flintoff does not make Headingley, then Broad's position is secure "

If Flintoff isn't fit, I don't see how Broad can possibly play.

England's batting is fragile enough as it is. Replace Flintoff with SiBo or Harmy, and you've weakened it further.

The only way to get a balanced team, without Flintoff, is to pick the extra batsman, and go with yuor 4 best bowlers. And Broad is not one of our best 4 bowlers. At Headingley SiBo, Onions, Anderson, Swann are.

The idea of Broad moving up to 7 fills me with horror. Our tail is suddenly extremely long. You've got Bopara and Bell at 3 and 4. It's a horrible, horrible batting lineup.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 4:48pm on 20 Jul 2009 " I bet a lot of the people who are on here calling for Broads head are the same types of people who were calling for Flintoff's head when he first started his test career"

Flintoff was dropped, went away and came back better.

Just an observation.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 3:16pm on 20 Jul 2009 "The only one I disagree with is Strauss"

Did he not win the game by 100 runs?

Was he not, in fact right?!
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 3:09pm on 20 Jul 2009 "He is a better bowler on his day, it's just a shame that those days rarely tend to be when he's playing for England"

Indeed.

But he's had more good days with the ball than Broad has.

I mean, seriously, how many good days with the ball has Broad had?

Anyway, forget Harmison. What about SiBo? Hoggard? JAR Harris?
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 3:03pm on 20 Jul 2009 "Would harmison have covered all that ground to take that catch? The catch that broke that partnership and started the Australian rot?"

Don't know. Neither do you.

"Is Harmison capable of sticking around at the crease for over an hour?"

Yes.

Ultimately, you select your bowlers on their bowling ability. Harmison is neither a rabbit with the bat (though he's not in Broad's league) nor a disaster in the field.

But he's (IMHO) a better bowler, TODAY, than Broad.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 2:53pm on 20 Jul 2009 Kapnag - But ultimately, the question is "Would Harmison or SiBo bowl better if given the chance?"

I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I think the answer to that question is yes.

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