England in SAffer.

[westoelad]

Presumably Bell has a central contract, plus a recent 3 year contract with Warwickshire, so he's well placed in that regard.

Agnew reporting that Bell has told Strauss he'll fight for his place though Agnew suggests it's probably the end of his England career.

Time will tell. Having a player of Bell's calibre to fall back on has to be a plus for England whilst they gve others a chance.

Yes, a central contract which runs from Sept. To Sept worth £700k in present currency. So if he doesn't get called up again then he's received £700k for a 4 week tour of UAE. Not much to complain about there.

[alfie]

My team from that squad would be:

Cook
Hales
Compton
Root
Taylor
Stokes
Buttler/Bairstow
Ali
Broad
Anderson
Footit

That is my team after seeing the squad announcement. Obviously could change due to warm ups ; but looks the most likely first selection (not sure which of the keepers will be picked) Possible they may prefer Woakes to Footitt , I suppose - but you'd think they are after something a bit different in the pace department , hence the leftie.

[hopeforthebest]

Footitt can reach 90mph so a leftie with that pace could be a great addition to an attack in SA conditions. Woakes is no slouch as he is faster than many people realize, not 90mph though. My concern about him is the encouragement he's received to bowl quicker may have diminished his ability to swing the ball but as we've rarely seem him in red ball cricket that's yet unknown.

[Gingerfinch]

I'm not a massive fan of Woakes, from what I've seen of him. I know naff all about Footitt, but a left armer with pace sounds exciting.

[backfootpunch]

Bells test career will only be over if two of hales/compton/ballance succeed

if none of them score runs in south africa and we lose then early season runs for warwickshire he could easily be back in the side

not picking rashid is probably a good idea tbh, spinners tend to go the distance in south africa so it is probably good for his test future that he doesnt get clobbered all over the place by de villiers

think i would very much prefer to see compton in the side than ballance, unless gary has solved his major technical problems

[budgetmeansbudget]

Glad to hear that Pietersen isn't happy that Bell has been dropped.

[Slipstream]

Strauss went to his house and told him. Bell must have got a bigger shock seeing Strauss at his front door.

[hopeforthebest]

I wonder if Strauss sits in with the selectors as Downton did and felt a little guilty about Bell's exclusion> The partnership the two had in the 2009 Oval test first innings was mighty important to the first ashes win Strauss had as captain.

[shankycricket]

Why is Moeen Ali seen as a cast iron certainty when he was probably the worst of the 3 spinners in the UAE (not on stats, based on what I saw) and has failed over a much longer period than the other 2? I'm no fan of him but I think Rashid's googly would've made him a bigger threat vs the current SA batting lineup on a Day 4/5 pitch than Moeen would ever be. Not that Moeen is any better at providing control.

Good to see the back of Bell. Also agree with Ballance's selection. Better to have a look at him now to see if he has improved vs quality fast bowling than exposing a new guy to the slaughters and giving Ballance a free ride again vs the likes of SL next summer. Now they can settle the Ballance issue and decide whether they have to move on next summer.

Jordan over Plunkett is the one big blunder, a bit baffling that Plunkett gets picked for the UAE and is left out for SA. I presume Woakes is in as a backup for Stokes. Footitt is a good pick. Also heard Finn might be back for the latter half (a huge boost if so as the last 2 Tests are at Centurion and Jo'burg) and given that he has had Amla's number in the past.

[backfootpunch]

I wonder if Strauss sits in with the selectors as Downton did and felt a little guilty about Bell's exclusion> The partnership the two had in the 2009 Oval test first innings was mighty important to the first ashes win Strauss had as captain.

I would hope that strauss isn't that sentimental

[westoelad]

Strauss probably feels that a player who has over 100 caps deserves to be told in person by the leader the reasons for his omission. Displaying the qualities of leadership which earns the respect of the players. May well have been a touch of sentiment but that's not a bad quality.

[hopeforthebest]

I wonder if Strauss sits in with the selectors as Downton did and felt a little guilty about Bell's exclusion> The partnership the two had in the 2009 Oval test first innings was mighty important to the first ashes win Strauss had as captain.

I would hope that strauss isn't that sentimental

I'm sure Strauss has a higher opinion of Bell's career than many have been voicing.

[dan08]

Glad to hear that Pietersen isn't happy that Bell has been dropped.

Bell is a client of KP's sports management agency so that's probably why he's defending him.

[bigfluffylemon]

Bell's omission is a bit of a surprise, but not a huge one given his recent form. That said, a bit of a break may be what he needs. I have no doubt that he will score heavily for Warks in the CC season, so he'll be at the front of the queue to win his place back as soon as England look to make a batting change next summer. And let's face it, a pretty green batting line-up against the best fast bowling attack in the world, well, if someone's not getting dropped at the end of the tour, it will be a remarkable performance.

Samit ahead of Rashid is also a surprise, but Whittaker's explanation makes sense. It's almost amusingly blunt - 'well, the back up spinner will probably just be carrying the drinks all tour, so we may as well let the person we actually want to pick in the future actually play some cricket'.

Jordan's continued inclusion puzzles me. As several have said, the selectors obviously see something that's lost on the rest of us. Plunkett would have been a better choice. Hopefully Footitt will be given a chance of a start, although touring South Africa is a tough place to debut. Likewise, throwing Hales in to debut in one of the hardest places in the world to open is a bit rough (although opening in England is the other hardest place, so maybe he'll be ok).

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe they feel that in Wood's absence, Jordan replaces him as a reverse swinger. Though I don't think either has justified their reputation on that front.