1st Ashses Squad Announced

[Taunton_Shrimp]

Pietersen in for Thorpe; had to be done after his effors in the one-dayers against SA and the Aussies...surprised about Tremlett though as he didnt seem anything special in his one dayers earlier in the Natwest Series.

England squad: M E Trescothick, A J Strauss, M P Vaughan (Capt), I R Bell, K P Pietersen, A Flintoff, G O Jones (Wkt), A Giles, S P Jones, M J Hoggard, S J Harmison, C T Tremlett.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

A good decision, IMHO. Thorpe hasn't proved his fitness; and, frankly, KP represents the future. He has shown he's got the guts to take the game to the Aussies, and he deserves the chance to prove that in the longer form of the game.

Well done to the selectors.

Tremlett is the 12th man, and he's along for the ride and for the experience. Can't really see him playing.

Matt

 

[Taunton_Shrimp]

The aussies have shown us what happens when they raise game, it appears we cannot cope all bar Pieterson at the moment and i think there is now alot of pressure on him - I just hope they dont pin the series on him when you have people like vaughan who has been out of sorts for a long time now and needs to start producing the goods again on a regular basis - and in my opinion should get the boot from the one day scene, a specialist batsmen going in at number 3 averaging less than 25? that's not good enough!

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

Can't believe England have ousted a man who averages 44.66 in test cricket (and 45.74 against Australia).

The Ashes isn't about the future, its about now.

During the one-dayers, England showed a worrying ability to create a crisis, we've now dropped our expert at rescuing the situation.

Pietersen may have been putting forward a strong case, but the fact remains that England's best two batsmen - half injured or not - are still Vaughan and Thorpe.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (Hong Kong Blue @ July 14 2005,11:57)]The Ashes isn't about the future, its about now.

Fair enough, if it's about now, Thorpe has got a dodgy back and KP was the only man who batted competenly against the Aussies at the Oval on Tuesday.

That's about as "now" as it gets.

Still think that KP was the right choice, although I admit it was an extremely tough call. Thorpe is, clearly, first reserve.

Matt

 

[W4 Shrimper]

I'm with HKB on this one, Thorpe is very unlucky to have been dropped in my opinion.

We've also now got a very inexperienced middle order with Bell at 4 and Pietersen at 5...

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ July 14 2005,12:25)]

Quote[/b] (Hong Kong Blue @ July 14 2005,11:57)]The Ashes isn't about the future, its about now.

Fair enough, if it's about now, Thorpe has got a dodgy back and KP was the only man who batted competenly against the Aussies at the Oval on Tuesday.

That's about as "now" as it gets.

Still think that KP was the right choice, although I admit it was an extremely tough call.  Thorpe is, clearly, first reserve.

Matt

Thorpe didn't play on Tuesday!

My complaint isn't that Pietersen has been selected, its that Thorpe hasn't been.

Its like when Gower was dropped and someone commented "when you've only got two world class batsmen, you don't leave one of them at home."

Its a massive gamble as a middle order of Bell, Pietersen and Flintoff (as a batsman) have so much to prove in test cricket. Add in the fact that our openers look all at sea against Lee and McGrath and the inexperienced middle order could well be tested by as early as 11:30 on Thursday morning.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

True. To be honest, the selectors boxed themselves a little bit into a corner by saying, so early on, that Bell would play. It then became a contest between KP and Thorpe, which KP has won because of one of the most tried & tested formulas in sport... plain and simple momentum. The force is with him at the mo, and Thorpey is just plain unlucky.

I've a funny feeling that if the pressure to perform is on anyone, it's Ian Bell. Let's hope his young shoulders can stand up to it.

 

[sufcintheprem]

In spite of how exciting it has been to watch Pietersen against the Aussies I'm disappointed that Thorpe's been dropped from the team. I can't remember who it was against and, indeed whether it was against the Aussies or not, but Thorpe was thought to be ill prepared before the last time we called him up to the Test squad and yet he looked very assured.

In my eyes, Thorpe better by some way than our other batsmen in terms of holding an innings together. I can't think of another English batsman that I'd want in at 4 if we lose two quick wickets. Considering Australia have ripped through our top order with the new ball in virtually every game of the one day series, this seems a distinct possibility. Pietersen, I feel, just won't have the patience or finesse to do this sort of role and I can see us being skittled out for a low score at least twice in the series without Thorpe.

Of course, on the flip side, Pietersen is a mouthwatering prospect against the Australians because he has the attitude that has made Australia so dominant. I love his arrogance. He's also a very handy fielder and has taken a plethora of decent catches in the ODI series.

Still, I think we have enough big hitters in the team with Flintoff and Jones down the order and I have doubts over Bell so I think we may have missed a trick with Thorpe's ommission.

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

Now Nasser Hussain has retired,Thorpe is definitely my no.1 choice for a crisis. However to give Pietersen credit, the way he has held together a number of one-day innings, he'd probably be my second choice. That still doesn't justify dropping Thorpe.

The fact that Thorpe plays today, but Pietersen misses out injured, hardly strengthens the selector's decision.

 

[canveyshrimper]

On balance I think the selectors are just about right with Pieterson. Thorpe has been a great stalwart for 12 years or more, but sooner or later you have to look to the future.

Strangely the Aussies always have a massive go at England picking the old guard, but in their probable team they will have only Clarke & Lee in the side who are under 30. It is just possible that this Aussie side are just going over the hill, but this time they might just have too much for England in a hard fought series.

 

[ESG]

Does anybody know why Pieterson isn't bowling these days?

I'm sure he was always an allrounder and a fairly decent spinner at that.

 

[Taunton_Shrimp]

In first class cricket pieterson's average with the ball is a wicket every 47.36 runs; with career best figures of 4/31. Not good enough to fall into the "All Rounder" category.

http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/19296.html

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

I would have definitely picked Thorpe over Bell. Don't know why Bell was so safe. He scored some runs against Bangladesh - hardly the greatest challenge in the world.

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

Quote[/b] (lordlumpington @ July 16 2005,20:48)]Does anybody know why Pieterson isn't bowling these days?

I'm sure he was always an allrounder and a fairly decent spinner at that.

No idea.

He definitely started out as a spinner and number 9 batsman.

see here