Ashes - your England starting XI

[robf]

I would go with:

 

Cook, Stoneman, Vince *, Root, Malan, Bairstow, Ali, Woakes, Overton **, Broad, Anderson

 

* only because there is no other choice - I hope he proves me wrong

** it's between Ball and Overton and I think Overton is the better batsman (so protects the tail) and has had a better tour warm-up

 

On paper it's not too bad - one spinner (plus two part-timers in Root and Malan) and four seamers with a bit of variation. However, three rookies in the batting line-up is a worry. Stoneman and Malan have reportedly done well in the warm-ups (Malan is apparently in good form) but there's little you can do about Vince - it's either him or Ballance at three.

 

Tom Curran, Ben Foakes and Mason Crane are surely there for the experience and not in contention (crazy to put three such players in a squad of 16) so effectively you need to pick six batsmen from seven (with Ballance losing out in my XI) and five bowlers from six (with Ball missing out in my XI).

 

Gawd knows what happens if Ali is ruled out, you surely can't go into the opening game of the Ashes with a debutant legspinner - the only time you could ever do that is if the spinner was a genius like Warne.

[valiant_593]

How one player makes a team look so much weaker. Still we look ok overall but a little weak in that batting area.

Vince has batted well on the tour so far and is a technically very good player but was pretty poor last time out for England. Malan I don't think is brilliant; think he's quite an average batsman but maybe the best option we have in that lower middle order. Haven't seen enough of Overton to really comment but I'd select him over ball regardless; I just don't see what he offers in any format.

 

I'd probably go

 

Cook

Stoneman

Vince

Root

Malan

Bairstow

Moeen

Woakes

Overton/crane dependent on the pitch

Broad

Anderson

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

I would go with:

 

Cook, Stoneman, Vince *, Root, Malan, Bairstow, Ali, Woakes, Overton **, Broad, Anderson

 

* only because there is no other choice - I hope he proves me wrong

** it's between Ball and Overton and I think Overton is the better batsman (so protects the tail) and has had a better tour warm-up

 

On paper it's not too bad - one spinner (plus two part-timers in Root and Malan) and four seamers with a bit of variation. However, three rookies in the batting line-up is a worry. Stoneman and Malan have reportedly done well in the warm-ups (Malan is apparently in good form) but there's little you can do about Vince - it's either him or Ballance at three.

 

Tom Curran, Ben Foakes and Mason Crane are surely there for the experience and not in contention (crazy to put three such players in a squad of 16) so effectively you need to pick six batsmen from seven (with Ballance losing out in my XI) and five bowlers from six (with Ball missing out in my XI).

 

Gawd knows what happens if Ali is ruled out, you surely can't go into the opening game of the Ashes with a debutant legspinner - the only time you could ever do that is if the spinner was a genius like Warne.

 

I’d go with exactly that side even though though I think they will choose Ball over Overton sadly.

 

The rookies worry me especially with no Stokes to rescue us in the middle order as does the support for Anderson.

 

I see Pidge has predicted 5-0 again. Hope I’m wrong as I’m doing two of the tests but have a very bad gut feeling.

 

 

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[robf]

Haven't seen enough of Overton to really comment

 

Funnily enough we could be a team of Overtons and Currans in the future (I think that gives England a bright future).

 

At the moment we have Craig Overton and Tom Curran in the squad but Jamie Overton and Sam Curran are also very highly rated.

 

From what I understand, Craig has decent fast-medium pace and good batting skills. However, arguably brother Jamie is more exciting as he has real express pace. However, he is young and struggles for consistency at the higher pace wheras Craig has been steady this season.

 

I have seen both the Curran brothers in action. Tom is the older of the Curran brothers - he is a tall bowler who could develop into a Broad-esque paceman but he is less of a batsman than his brother.

 

Sam is seen as the real prospect - he could potentially bat in the top seven and is a left-handed bowler (so gives some variety to the attack) with the knack of taking wickets. He is a real phenonemenon - he made his debut aged 17 and is still only 19 but already has 82 FC wickets at 32 and 1,277 FC runs at 29.01 with a top score of 96. If he were a bit older I suspect he would have been a shoe-in to replace Stokes.

 

But in the future we could conceivably have numbers 7 to 11 as S.Curran, C.Overton, T.Curran, J.Overton...

[TheSage]

I'd agree with that team as well. The Aussies have the edge in the bowling department on their flat, quick wickets, so it's a shame that Stokes and Wood are not in the mix, but their batting is inconsistent and flaky, like ours, Smith apart, so it might not be the walkover the Aussie press expect.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Less than 300 in the first innings of the first 4 day warm up game yesterday against a nobody attack. I will be honest I’m a little worried.

 

 

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[The_godfather]

I'd agree with that team as well. The Aussies have the edge in the bowling department on their flat, quick wickets, so it's a shame that Stokes and Wood are not in the mix, but their batting is inconsistent and flaky, like ours, Smith apart, so it might not be the walkover the Aussie press expect.

 

The batting is inconsistent overseas, but it's a different story on home soil Sage. Khawaja when he gets in nick is imperious. Maxwell has been changing his approach to the red ball game in an effort to bed down a place in the side, but is still (in addition to Warner, obviously), able to brutalize an attack and take the game away in a session. Handscomb is a fine player too.

 

The biggest thing for me is that the Aussies are confident (as always) going into the Gabba Test, and have an amazing record there. By contrast, I feel like England, while trying to portray an aura of calm, are pretty rattled by the whole Stokes situation, don't know what their best team is, and are too inexperienced. While we have the ability to play some good cricket in patches, I think it could get ugly if we lose badly in the first test and the Aussies have momentum. We are too heavily reliant on Cook, Root, Anderson & Broad.

[valiant_593]

Less than 300 in the first innings of the first 4 day warm up game yesterday against a nobody attack. I will be honest I’m a little worried.

 

 

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Not great but at least those who got runs were the ones who I'm worried about, the likes of Vince and malan. I expect the likes of cook and root to perform in the ashes so hopefully these other lads can get a run going. Apparently crane bowled well today, I wonder if he can bowl himself into the team ahead of Overton?

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Not great but at least those who got runs were the ones who I'm worried about, the likes of Vince and malan. I expect the likes of cook and root to perform in the ashes so hopefully these other lads can get a run going. Apparently crane bowled well today, I wonder if he can bowl himself into the team ahead of Overton?

 

Vince only got 30 odd in this game.

 

 

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[Seamus O'Wye]

Personally, I would have taken Jason Roy and Alex Hales as well. I don't get this " they're good enough for 1 day cricket, but not good enough for the test squad." I'm not a Stoneman or Malan fan - I just don't like batsmen who scratch around for their runs, and end up out for 20/30 odd after ages.

And don't get me started on Gary Ballance!!

[valiant_593]

Personally, I would have taken Jason Roy and Alex Hales as well. I don't get this " they're good enough for 1 day cricket, but not good enough for the test squad." I'm not a Stoneman or Malan fan - I just don't like batsmen who scratch around for their runs, and end up out for 20/30 odd after ages.

And don't get me started on Gary Ballance!!

 

Stone man dosent scratch around to be fair. If the ball is there to be hit he will take it. He's our 2nd best opener id say. I do agree though I would've liked hales there. On bouncy pitches batting at 5/6 he could've been a real asset.