alfie wrote:You make a good case for Moeen , Sussex
Not really defending Moeen, but the data analytics behind his selection. I remember arguing with people for years about Englands strategic approach, being told consistently that Bell and Trott were the way to go and that aggressive players were incapable of scoring big totals. We ditched these useless planks, got some firepower, and what happened? And yet we still find in 2020 people and commentators banging on about a players average and saying Moeen isnt performing because he cant average 30 or 40 runs a game, or cant take wickets, when neither of these metrics are remotely important to his ODI output.
Does he score runs quickly? Yes. Thats the most important thing in his batting output as he so rarely has to make huge totals. Does he stop the other team scoring? Yes, better than anyone.
So its not about picking someone whos got a better average, a better this and that....can you find a SR105 number 7 who bowls 5.2 econ? Id suggest if there was someone there who could, hed already have a 100 caps. Its no mystery why Moeen has played more ODIs than anyone else for England in his career span. If you look at it mathematically, hes a rare find.
Imagine if he hadnt been there in the last 5 years. Stokes going at over 6, Plunketts and Rashid going at 5.8s.....if England picked another bowler of this ilk, theyd be throwing away all their batting firepower with their bowling. Englands bowlers arent really good at all, they are hugely expensive.