Bowlers
I feel a bit sorry for the poor man. He was thrown in at the proverbial deep end and he barely managed a paddle.
There's no doubt, once Sidebottom is declared fit, Pattinson will be back playing for Nottinghamshire and probably get lots of wickets which I'm sure his PR people will say justifies his initial selection.
But the return of Sidebottom won't improve England's bowling that much. Broad still bowls too short and Monty too fast. These two need to improve quickly or England's balance deteriorates even further. A very short term move would be to bring back an in-form (and hungry?) Harmison for Broad and give the bowling more bite, but weaken an already brittle batting line up.
But do the selectors trust Harmison?
3 comments:
Personally I'd like to see Harmison continue his form over a season, go on an A tour, perform well there, and then if he does those be considered at the start of next season. He's got a history of being flakey so I think it's important that they make sure his heart is in it and he does it on tour as well as at home in the relative comfort of county cricket.
Flintoff is either fit or he isn't. As he is, and as England are using a wicket-keeper who can't bat in the top 6 (or even top 7) on merit, they really have to reconsider their 5 bowlers strategy. I don't advocate the use of Prior, but if they are going to play 5 bowlers that's the way they have to go as Flintoff is no number 6.
I'd like to see Collingwood back and for him to do some bowling - in effect we have 4.5 bowlers if he's used properly. I've given up hope that Vaughan will ever bowl himself again, but he is another decent alternative......far better than Pietersen.
That leaves Flintoff at 7 and Ambrose at 8 with Sidebottom, Anderson and Panesar. Panesar has his limitations but he's still the best we've got by far so let's not give him too much grief because he bowls too quickly - everyone has their own style and bowling flat seems to work for Anil Kumble!
I agree and disagree. I certainly am not getting on the back of Monty as I think he gets shabby treatment by the likes of Vaughan and Flintoff. But I do think Kumble is a unique bowler.
Whilst Warne and Muralitharan have big turners, Kumble relies on little amounts of spin and pace, which I think is a more deadly combination then a raging turner. I will have to look it up, but I think Kumble got a lot wickets lbw'ed. Monty won't get as many as he turns it too much!
I just think he needs a bit more guile. Maybe he needs a specialist coach to teach him patience and cunning. John Emburey perhaps?
Well perhaps - I only saw the end of Emburey's career and would take Panesar over Emburey every time, but maybe he could impart a bit of knowledge.
We have the answer to your original post now - the selectors do trust Harmison....
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