BBC Blog Network

User Profile

lingos

Listed below are comments made by lingos between Saturday, 9th August 2008 and Tuesday, 23rd December 2008.

«Newer
Older»

Who'd make your Ashes starting XI? 2:23pm on 23 Dec 2008 This obviously depends on what team plays in the Caribbean, but provisionally...

Strauss
Cook
Shah
Pietersen*
Bell
Flintoff
Prior+
Broad
Swann
Sidebottom
Anderson

12. Harmison
Who would make your team of the year? 7:08pm on 21 Dec 2008 Not so sure about Ponting, Tendulkar or Murali.

Sehwag
Smith*
Amla
Pietersen
Chanderpaul
Dhoni+
Flintoff
Z Khan
Johnson
Steyn
Mendis

Vettori for Khan if the pitch favours spinners.
The most divisive and tasteless selection in cricket history 00:03am on 10 Sep 2008 On reflection, Mega Spur you make an excellent point. Hopefully in the next year or so we will know more about what is going to be done with the money. Hopefully we will see an end product.
The most divisive and tasteless selection in cricket history 11:28pm on 09 Sep 2008 Whilst I wholeheartedly agree about the divisive and tasteless aspect of this tournament in principle, I cannot help but feel that this extra incentive (cash) has spurred the England players on in the one-dayers against SA, and that was one motivating factor behind the series win.

I hope I am wrong about that, as I don't believe for a second that this deal will ultimately be good for world cricket in general. I was an avid football fan for a number of years and saw it get destroyed by the influx of huge amounts of money, and have now almost completely lost interest in the game. This may be a very pessimistic view, but I hope this does not happen to cricket.

Re: Michael Vaughan. I am disappointed that he's got a central contract to be honest. And I certainly don't see how Andrew Strauss's place is under threat from him. At the moment he's just not good enough. Not giving him a central contract would have made him more determined to get his place back. Now he has a safety net.
Confidence and consistency is key for England 3:40pm on 21 Aug 2008 Cook
Bell
Shah
Pietersen
Prior
Flintoff
Wright
Mascarenhas
Swann
Broad
Anderson

Bat to 10 and with 5 good bowling options, plus a couple of part-timers.
England future brighter with Harmison back 01:38am on 12 Aug 2008 It may have been a "meaningless" game but it's something we need to build on. In India I would go with:

Cook
Strauss
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Sidebottom
Anderson
Panesar

With the other 7 of an 18-man squad being:

Key
Shah
Patel
Bopara
Davies
Harmison
Broad

(Don't actually know if its 18, it might be just a 16-man squad)
Graham Gooch's England ratings 01:25am on 12 Aug 2008 Anderson gets 7 but Harmison, who only played one test, gets 8. Anderson was the leading wicket taker and deserves better I think. I would have given him at least 8.

I think also you could have possibly been a bit more ruthless Goochie. We've lost a series but, Darren Pattinson apart, only 1 player has scored less than 6. Although that does highlight that, over the series, England simply weren't quite good enough.
England future brighter with Harmison back 4:34pm on 11 Aug 2008 I very much agree with the point about England being unpredictable and inconsistent. It has been like that for some time.

Consistency in performance can be helped by consistency in selection. Arguably, where it all went wrong for England was the Headingley test, with the "strange" selection of Pattinson, and Ambrose as a #6, thus breaking up a team which had been the same for 6 games. I think after the Lord's test everyone panicked too prematurely. SA have stuck with their XI (barring an injury to Steyn) throughout the series and have reaped the rewards. Although I don't believe that the team which England stuck with for those previous 6 tests was their best XI, SA's probably was.

It would be in England's best interests to keep the team as stable as possible from now on. Pietersen has shown already he is prepared to put faith in some under-fire players such as Collingwood, Broad and Harmison, and also Flintoff as a #6, which is a good sign. Pietersen and the selectors now needs to do the same with a wicket-keeper, (be it Ambrose or somebody else) not have one chosen for them by the media.
England struggle to turn the screw 3:20pm on 11 Aug 2008 "With regard to the England team, why are so many people calling for Robert key to come back? Does no body remember that he only had an average of about 29 over 15 tests"

Well Ramprakash had an average of 27 after 52 tests and everyone complains that he wasn't given another chance.

Incidentally, Key's double hundred (221) was against the West Indies not Bangladesh. If Strauss is to be dropped then I'd consider getting him in as an opener.

With England close to victory, congratulations to Kevin Pietersen, but I think he will have his work cut out in the one-day series.
Pietersen hides cracks in England batting 00:29am on 09 Aug 2008 "Would also consider Key and Denly to start making moves at the top of the order if cook and strauss dont stop the muppet show they are providing at the moment."

Cook and Strauss are looking like a solid partnership at the moment. Strauss is England's 2nd highest run scorer this calendar year (8th in the world), at an average of 42.38. Cook is not so far behind averaging 45.41. They have featured in 3 century opening stands so far this summer.

So to improve this the solution is to bring in Joe Denly who has played only 35 first class matches and averages 35? A lot of people mention is name but will he really be up to it just yet?

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

lingos