Ashes, Third Test, Edgbaston, July 29-Aug 2

[Arthur Crabtree]

England selectors meet tomorrow.

[yuppie]

Neville to stay, seemed a better keeper and better bat.

[GarlicJam]

If they haven't fired you then they have to take you back after a leave of absence. I think that's fair enough even though I would love Neville to stay.

Doesn't mean that they have to select him though - otherwise before dropping any player, CA would have to have given them 2 written warnings. I am sure that somewhere in Haddin's contract with CA there is the phrase "if selected to play".

[Aidan11]

Surprised Haddin is back.

Reports earlier in the week said he'd be out for the tour.


On the positive side this must mean good (or better) news for his family.

[yorker_129-7]

Reports on the ABC say that Haddin is in line for a recall for this test. Very hard on Nevill(e) who had a very good debut.

If that is true then it's great news for England.

[KipperJohn]

If they are mindful to drop Bell presumably the ECB will check first that Edgbaston is sold out

[Arthur Crabtree]

It's possible that the new coach might have formed a few ideas since being in place, and so decided if there's a player or two he doesn't like.

Strauss and Bayliss are not being judged on results, the ECB said, but there was a bit of a leak that Cook might be got rid of at the end of the series. And obviously, the players will be vulnerable.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ballance is the only player I think is at risk, but dropping him would mean the whole batting would be reordered. I've got a hunch they'll call up Bairstow to the squad and drop no one. Which would be the worst circumstance for Yorkshire.

Guess this will be announced tomorrow if selectors are meeting today.

[Making_Splinters]

It is tempting after such a huge loss to ring the bell for change. The talk of dropping Lyth is testament to the dangers of such thought; the lad has only played four tests against two of the best new ball attacks going. If England had taken the sensible decision and played him in the West Indies then we may have had a better idea of where he is at, but they didn't. You have to take domestic performance as some measure of who to pick and Lyth was far and away the best batsman in county cricket last year, if he's not good enough then what merit is there in saying players who could not produce at the same level he excelled at will be?

Adding to this is the oft thrown around phrase that, "England have struggled to find an opening partner for Cook". This ignores the fact that England have actually struggled to find an opener full stop as Cook as been a long way short of Test standard for quite some time, have any of Robson, Carbs or Compton really been given a fair shake of the stick in that quest because none of them did that much worse than their seasoned opening partner during their brief tenures in the side.

When your opening partnership is not seeing off the new ball this throws huge pressure on the guys below, early wickets get the bowlers tails up and your second and third drop are facing an attack with a fresh cherry and plenty of spirit all of a sudden. There are big questions over Ballance's technique against the new ball at pace and Bell's continued run of poor form, but these are being exacerbated by the failure of the opening pair to blunt the attack. Yes there is little excuse for your first drop to have a weakness against the new ball but your second drop shouldn't be coming in against it time and again. Maybe Bell is at the end of his run in the Test team, but I don't think that many players could come in and deal with batting four given what is going on above them.

Pushing Root up the order is one suggestion that has been made, but he is one of the few parts of the side that is doing well at present - not to forget he was badly dropped on 0 before he went on to make his ton at Cardif - is it really worth the risk of moving him away from where he is making runs?

Something has to be done to stop the continued loss of early wickets at the top of the order, but it is a difficult game to play when there simply aren't any stand out top order batsmen at present not in the side.

[yorker_129-7]

It's possible that the new coach might have formed a few ideas since being in place, and so decided if there's a player or two he doesn't like.

Strauss and Bayliss are not being judged on results, the ECB said, but there was a bit of a leak that Cook might be got rid of at the end of the series. And obviously, the players will be vulnerable.

I think there's a growing body of opinion in the media that whatever the outcome of the series Cook may well give up the captaincy at the end of the series, presumably to Root. Not that I think that means Cook's place is under threat, he's been one of the better England performers so far in this series and I can't see them axing him from playing any time soon.

[Making_Splinters]

As an additional thought, this talk of County pitches not preparing batsmen for Test match pitches is nonsensical.

Your typical County pitch is designed to get a result far more than your average Test pitch. County sides are looking to win in three and a half days, not five, there is also no additional pressure to make a county game last a full four days as gate takings for LVCC games contribute a small percentage of a County's income. Most County pitches both swing more and have more for the spinners than any Test pitch we've seen in England for a long time, you also see some rather extreme pitches such as the green top at a recent Essex game which had more grass on it than any international strip I've seen since the late 80s in New Zealand.

The real problem is County batsmen simply aren't used to facing up to genuinely quick bowlers. Your average County pacer is anywhere from the late 70s to mid 80s with a few exceptions who bowl at the high 80s. Yes a few Counties have a bowler who can hit 90 but none of them have a whole attack that bowls at that pace. If England as a team can't find two bowlers who bowl consistantly above 90 than sure as hell no county can.

If young batsmen aren't getting any experiance of facing over after over of true pace bowling, then it is going to take them time to adapt to doing it at international level. Perhaps England should be trying to work out how Bangladesh have a quicker attack than we do rather than making daft comments about pitches at domestic level.

[Aidan11]

Wood is carrying a slight niggle.

Hope he's fit for the match.

[Aidan11]

The Womens Ashes series began today.

[andy]

i would like to see this side for the 3rd test, but i know it wont happen..

1.Cook
2.Hales
3.Taylor
4.Bell
5.Root
6.Stokes
7.Buttler
8.Rashid
9.Wood
10.Broad
11.Anderson

[Aidan11]

Squad due to be announced.


Plunkett & Bairstow expected to be in.