There may be troubles ahead: England selection issues.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Great news for Vince after a mixed start for Hants.

A lack of options after Taylor's retirement together with his Lions record has given him the chance.

Not sure if he has what it takes upstairs to make it at the top level but sometimes you have to give people a chance. Often the most unexpected players go on to have good test careers and at other times players with all the ability in the world just can't hack up.

We'll see which category Vince falls into.

[sussexpob]

Vince test will be technique. I think a lot of England's last debutants with the bat have been exposed with chinks in the technical area. If Vince has a sound technique, he can make it.

Ballance is noticeably poor outside off stump.
Robson too problems nicking off to those fourth stump lines.
Lyth had problems all over his defensive technique, and didnt have the range of shots to score off.
Compton set his stall to bat time, but his concentration at times fails him
Carberry was exactly the same. An attacking bat who for some reason got to test cricket and wanted to grind out dour innings.
Bairstow cant play spin and lacks a good defensive technique to short balls.
Even Stokes has been very poor to spinners.

[sussexpob]

Ball is the obvious strange selection for me. Not because he hasnt played well, but because it goes against type.

Rushworth is told he hasnt the pace to trouble test batters, but then they go pick someone slower with an inferior record and less experience?

Sometimes I do think selection comes a lot down to who you are and who you have backing you, rather than what you can do.

[Arthur Crabtree]

My impression is Flower is making the picks of players coming through. Selvey has said as much when Wood was picked.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Just realized Jake Ball is the guy who did well for Notts in the televised game on Sky against Yorkshire.

I guess getting the wickets of England internationals improves your stock.

[sussexpob]

Well both Vince/Compton and Ball's picks to some degree mock the system that England have explained forms the basis of their selections.

We got told runs early in the season will matter, but Hales has hardly player, Compton hasnt a fifty in 4 games, Vince has a hundred but nothing much else....... but its Robson who missed out with 3 x 100 and the most runs in the league.

A lot is made of the Lions and how England use it to develop players, but Lions performances dont seem to mean jack sh*t in all fairness.

Who was the worst bowler out of the Lions Tour to UAE???? ..... Ball...with his extraordinary 8 per over economy rate
Who was the worst batter on the tour? James Vince, who scored 26 runs in 5 completed innings for an average just over 5.....and at the worst strike, if it matters

Wonder what all the other lads on the tour felt like.

"By the way guys, these two that were rubbish all tour have been decided as the best of you lot"

[sussexpob]

And I am not saying that these are the wrong guys, they could be the right ones, but picking the right guy at the wrong time is not picking the right guy for me.

Between 2013 and 2014, Vince averaged 65 and scored 9 County centuries...... we wouldnt go near him. Since he averages low 30's and comes off a horror tour for the A team, and suddenly we pick him?

Compton needed runs, his next dropping is his last, why would you pick him over Robson? I like Compton a lot, but its asking a bit much to expect him to have a good summer if he looks so poor in the county championship at a time he knows every run is important

There doesnt seem any cohesive selection policy in play here.

[sussexpob]

And the last thing about all this is AC's mention of Flower.

Isnt it laughable that a coach who failed to develop one single uncapped player for the national team now having such an influence on English players development.

Couldnt make this up really. Its like Jose Mourinho being given an international U-21 job.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Vic Marks wrote that the development programmes are a big factor now (not taking into account the statement about county performances) and these are run by Flower. Actual Lions games seem very infrequent now. It's hard to make much of them. The players don't have the quantity of cricket at A level that Patel, Taylor and Woakes had. And being stars of the Lion circuit for many years didn't really do them much good.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Though Marks doesn't give me the impression of someone whose finger is very near the pulse.

[sussexpob]

I did notice that Selvey was already flogging the horse on Ball before the Yorkshire game. Gave a lengthy article about how he just looked brilliant, about how his body position and action just screamed of test cricket. It felt like a typical piece being sent down by the ECB to a jounro who literally had never seen him play, and who's only points were those generic ones that people make. He had a mission to promote Ball, so I should have guessed the selectors had already penciled him in even late April.

It reminded me of Alan Brazil when he used to do lower league football on Sky, and he was obviously clueless what to say on players he had never seen....so reverted to helpful statements like "This guy is just honest and brave", or "this guy just has an aura of quality"......

[Dr Cricket]

Berry not happy with the squad.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Selvey was promoting Ball instead of reporting on the game he was covering.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Berry not happy with the squad.

Maybe because he had to wait for it to be announced to find out who as in it.

[Dr Cricket]

Berry not happy with the squad.

Maybe because he had to wait for it to be announced to find out who as in it.

Nah he wanted Hales, Compton dropped and Lees/bell Drummond and someone young and out of the box to be picked.
He already started his Ashes 2017/18 articles.

Anyway hope Berry is ok after surgery.

Basically he thinks come 2017/18 england top 6 will be all different and want the future players to get easy runs before they play the ashes.