There may be troubles ahead: England selection issues.

[greyblazer]

As a cricketer all you want to do is to keep playing competitive games. IPL, County games or whatever. Facing Steyn or Johnson even in T20 cricket isn't bad.

[Alviro Patterson]

England do need to get over their umbridge with the IPL. If we want to develop our young players looking towards roles in the ODI and T20 side, then there is no better place to learn than a highly competitive, high pressure tournament featuring the best players in world cricket.

There is of course the rather amusing side to this: IPL sides don't really care about English players.

Understandable given the IPL clashes with the first two months of the County Cricket season and overlaps with the 1st England home series. The ECB don't have much flexiblity to schedule 7 tests, 10 ODIs and 2 T20is as well as 16 CC, 11 50 over and 16 20 over matches between April and September.

Allowing our young players to sign for the IPL is one thing, but getting the chance to play is a different matter. It would be a waste of time if the English players are thumb twiddling when they could be playing regular County Cricket. The Twenty20 Champions League was a brilliant platform for county cricketers to take their game to the next level, it's just a shame they can't participate in it.

[sussexpob]

The issue is not single handed. With virtually all of Sri Lanka's players in IPL being asked to tour Ireland from 30 April to play two matches the following week, I wonder how many of those will pull out of that tour and subsequently the England tour? Or how many of them skip the Ireland tour and turn up in England having just played IPL???

I think that could be a major breaking point tbf. Rumours are that SL players are pretty livid they have been asked to go to Ireland in the time they could only realistically contribute to the tournament, just so they can play a two match series vs a non-test playing nation.

Would a footballer skip the Champions League final with their club and a huge pay cut in earnings if England scheduled a friendly on the same day against Estonia?

[Red Devil]

The ashes has claimed Trott, Swann and KP (and Flower) so far. Also Jimmy, Finn and Tremlett are pretty gone at the moment too

test selection this summer gets more and more interesting

[meninblue]

The ashes has claimed Trott, Swann and KP (and Flower) so far. Also Jimmy, Finn and Tremlett are pretty gone at the moment too

test selection this summer gets more and more interesting

ECB has the worst player management system in cricketing system imo. I will be very surprised if England stay in top 3 teamsfrom here on.

[from_the_stands]

I reckon India will turn them over during the English summer.

[from_the_stands]

Surely Cook would stand down after that.

[KipperJohn]

The ashes has claimed Trott, Swann and KP (and Flower) so far. Also Jimmy, Finn and Tremlett are pretty gone at the moment too

test selection this summer gets more and more interesting

Many posters were calling for some new blood - well they've got their wish but it's a terrible way to go about it.

[Gingerfinch]

India will do well to beat us in blighty. We still have Jimmy and Broad to open up, and of course our new saviour, Stokes

I will bet it will be tighter than the last series

[D/L]

The ashes has claimed Trott, Swann and KP (and Flower) so far. Also Jimmy, Finn and Tremlett are pretty gone at the moment too

test selection this summer gets more and more interesting

ECB has the worst player management system in cricketing system imo. I will be very surprised if England stay in top 3 teamsfrom here on.

It's difficult not to have some sympathy with that view when one sees how long it took them to get rid of Pietersen.

Many England supporters will be happy to see England out of the top 3 (many of them take no notice of the rankings anyway) if, belatedly, it means a fresh start and a farewell to the corrosive Pietersen era.

[Durhamfootman]

Surely Cook would stand down after that.

It's fortunate for Cook that it's India touring this summer, and not SA. Difficult to see him surviving the kind of mauling that SA could potentially give us.

I'm sure that the new blood in the India team will cope with English conditions better than some of their vintage players did, but I think it would be quite a stretch for India to come away with a series win.

England will win both series this summer, and then we'll all see how easily the ECB bury their heads in the sands, and shrug off this ashes debacle as a 'blip'

or as some might put it.... a 'Pietersen fuelled blip'

[Making_Splinters]

The ashes has claimed Trott, Swann and KP (and Flower) so far. Also Jimmy, Finn and Tremlett are pretty gone at the moment too

test selection this summer gets more and more interesting

ECB has the worst player management system in cricketing system imo. I will be very surprised if England stay in top 3 teamsfrom here on.

It's difficult not to have some sympathy with that view when one sees how long it took them to get rid of Pietersen.

Many England supporters will be happy to see England out of the top 3 (many of them take no notice of the rankings anyway) if, belatedly, it means a fresh start and a farewell to the corrosive Pietersen era.

An era which of course saw some of the highest point in English cricket in the last 3 decades.

[DiligentDefence]

I hesitate to post this, for fear of damaging D/L's heart, but Vaughan seemed to be championing Morgan as potential England captain on Radio 5 this evening.

[Red Devil]

I hesitate to post this, for fear of damaging D/L's heart, but Vaughan seemed to be championing Morgan as potential England captain on Radio 5 this evening.

that would just be stupid - at this stage you'd think at most give him another chance to prove he can bat in tests

[D/L]

I hesitate to post this, for fear of damaging D/L's heart, but Vaughan seemed to be championing Morgan as potential England captain on Radio 5 this evening.

He'll have meant Piers Morgan which would, actually, be one of Vaughan's more astute observations.