prior out, ambrose in

[sonic youth]

strauss is back as well. bopar(d)a has been dropped too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7169517.stm

[Bogus Dave]

i think chopping and changing wicket keepers every series is going to sort out our problems. well done ecb

[DMR]

We don't really have much choice Dave seeing as everyone whose been tried since Alec Stewart is either a) a shit keeper, b) dross with the bat or c) both. Brave call on Prior, good to see Moores can accept he's got it wrong which Fletcher rarely did. Should be Jim Foster though.

Rav the chav was obviously out of his depth, stick him in the A's and ODIs for another year and let him work his way back in because he will be class.

[Boeta]

The recall of Strauss was perhaps inevitable but it certainly isn't logical.

First-class runs since he was dropped: 0

Yeah he's really gone away and improved himself.

Apparently he may bat at 3 because him and Cook can't seem to play together. If he does that's an absolute outrage. Owais Shah has made a career of scoring mountains of runs at 3 and deserves a run in the side well ahead of Strauss. Not to mention if Vaughan nicks off early, he'll have to bat with Cook anyway!

However, the selectors did make a couple of good calls.

Matt Prior is the best first-class batsman of all the keepers, but his keeping is up and down and his one-day batting is limited. Phil Mustard is a very good one-day opener and a decent keeper but hasn't quite put together the consistency with the bat in the longer-form.

Tim Ambrose is by far the best all-round option. Last night I was reading reports that James Foster was going to be picked and was staggered how he could be picked ahead of Ambrose. Thankfully I think they've got that one right.

As a keeper, first-class bat and one-day bat (Mark Greatbatch called him the best one-day batsman in England last summer) package he's got it all. He's much more reminiscent of someone in the Mark Boucher mould than the Adam Gilchrist clone we've been hopelessly searching for over the last 3/4 years.

The other selection I'm pleased with is James Tredwell. When I saw him bowling in one-dayers at the back end of the 2007 season I was very impressed. In the Daniel Vettori mould with exceptional changes of flight.

[sonic youth]

i didn't realise strauss hadn't played any cricket in NZ, that was a pointless exercise...nice holiday i suppose. i agree about shah, he's looked class whenever i've seen him play and offers something different to everyone else in some aspects. not sure why he hasn't been given a chance, especially ahead of bopara.

who is the best keeper of the lot though? of those i've seen play for england, read has probably been the most reliable...would be interesting to see stats in terms of dismissals since stewart's retirement. i'll have a look on cricinfo.

[lebowski]

ambrose has scored big runs in first class cricket. BIG RUNS.

i think shah is pure class. he should be at #3 in tests and should open in the one dayers. his power hitting is massively under-rated, he can hit it anywhere.

[sonic youth]

in test cricket read and jones average 2.047 and 2.015 dismissals per innings respectively compared to prior's 1.555. fascinating! prior has had nearly as many innings as read as well. shame he can't bat...

ergo, you can prove anything with stats

[Reg Smeeton]

The other selection I'm pleased with is James Tredwell. When I saw him bowling in one-dayers at the back end of the 2007 season I was very impressed. In the Daniel Vettori mould with exceptional changes of flight.

 I thought Tredwell was a right arm bowler....a sort of poor man's Romesh Powar.

[Boeta]

i didn't realise strauss hadn't played any cricket in NZ, that was a pointless exercise...nice holiday i suppose. i agree about shah, he's looked class whenever i've seen him play and offers something different to everyone else in some aspects. not sure why he hasn't been given a chance, especially ahead of bopara.

who is the best keeper of the lot though? of those i've seen play for england, read has probably been the most reliable...would be interesting to see stats in terms of dismissals since stewart's retirement. i'll have a look on cricinfo.

strauss always planned to play the second half of the nz season and will still do. think he'll be off there soon. so he'll be playing there when england are playing the one-dayers

read is probably the best keeper of the lot but can't bat. foster isn't far off him but is only a marginally better bet. mustard and ambrose are both very good keepers though.

stats don't really prove a good keeper though. it's the number you drop rather than the number you take which would be a more revealing stat.

The other selection I'm pleased with is James Tredwell. When I saw him bowling in one-dayers at the back end of the 2007 season I was very impressed. In the Daniel Vettori mould with exceptional changes of flight.

 I thought Tredwell was a right arm bowler....a sort of poor man's Romesh Powar.

yep tredwell's right-arm. comparing him to powar is not a bad call either, both can bat a bit, have excellent variation in flight - tredwell can field and run though!

[sonic youth]

i'd wager that prior has dropped as many as he's caught. no stumpings either.

stats rule

[lebowski]

there were some big drops there as well.

on another note, it will be interesting to see how adil rashid develops this coming year.

if he continues his progress then monty may only have one more season as a test player.

[Reg Smeeton]

there were some big drops there as well.

on another note, it will be interesting to see how adil rashid develops this coming year.

if he continues his progress then monty may only have one more season as a test player.

   I'll be very surprised if Rashid makes it as a bowler....probably something to do with conditions, but we just don't seem to develop leg spinners here.

  I saw a bit of Rashid on nthe box last year, and he's nowhere near as good as someone like Chowla of India who's not much older.

  Perhaps Rashid could develop as a batsman who bowls a bit.

[Boeta]

rashid has always been a quality batsman who bowls! don't believe the media hype.

rashid will play plenty of tests for england but alongside, not instead of panesar


edit - remember when he made his debut for yorkshire he was picked as a direct replacement for darren lehmann.

edit 2 - although it should be remember leggies develop later than others because it is the hardest facet of the game. most don't start shaping up properly until they are 26/27/28, so rashid's well ahead of the game.

look at bryce mcgain in australia, who's playing his debut professional season for victoria aged 35 but only just missed out to hogg for a place in the aus test side

[mexico red]

ambrose sussex reject- fact

[cib]

read is probably the best keeper of the lot but can't bat. foster isn't far off him but is only a marginally better bet. mustard and ambrose are both very good keepers though.

stats don't really prove a good keeper though. it's the number you drop rather than the number you take which would be a more revealing stat.

Read is the better keeper out the lot, but although he's got runs in the championship over past years, he's still more of a one-day player. Also he's skipper at Notts so doubt he really cares anymore.

Ambrose is a good player, surprised Mustard is still in there, but cant complain about Prior being dropped