Thetownend.com

Its a 16 man squad,so we've got 11 straight away,the mighty ashes winners :),its just the rest.
Colly will go,its between jimmy and tremlett for the fast bowlers,has to be jimmy.Chris Read to go because  he is a wicket keeper that can  keep wicket :shock:.Not sure about batsmen,but one out of Key and Shah are the favourites to go.Then the spinners, Batty is the man in posession of the sub- spinner spot[unlucky sod],but others who have been mentioned are louden and swann.I'd like louden to go,not that i know anything about it  :) ,but beefy said on sky that he was good and that is good enough for me.

 Loudon is a toff....Old Etonian type.....apparently he can bowl a doosra.

 Swann is talented, but doen't like hard work.

  Smeeton had 3-16 yesterday.....bowling off breaks, and could come into the frame.

Squad id pick
Vaughan (capt)
Trescothick
Strauss
Pietersen
Bell
Flintoff
G Jones
S Jones
Giles
Harmison
Hoggard
Anderson
Collingwood
Batty
Prior
Solanki? (hes my wildcard as he can bat a bit, good fielder and spinner too)

Hopefully me and me cuz (lives in Brizzol but she is a town fan) will be getting out to Pakistan land, to join up with the Barmy Army, thats if we can get some tickets sorted........   :beers:  :beers:  :beers:

 Not sure you'll do much  :beers: , in the Islamic paradise that is Pakistan...now the  :doobie: should be good.

Its not to bad in the hotels, as they seem to cater for foreigners, and laws seem more relaxed, but we will just have to hope we can get beered up  :beers:  England till i die!  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/compo71/IMG_0411.jpg

bet he can't, but he'd still probably be my spin choice after gilo

Loudon can bowl a doosra of sorts. It's not that impressive but at least he doesn't chuck like almost every other player who bowls one does. Loudon's a quality bat but his bowling is not up to standard yet.

I can't really understand the selection of Udal. I know he's had an excellent year but I'm not convinced he's anywhere near international quality.

Looking forward to seeing Liam Plunkett in the one-dayers.

Weve been going forward for years so why bring in 36 year old Udal?. I hope he proves me wrong. 8)

 :) With the selection of the 36year old udal,that isn't such a crazy idea :) .Fair enough he's had a great summer,but he's too old,it seems a bit pointless.

 I think its fair enough to take Udal, as he's probably the best we've got at the moment and Loudon is there to learn...after all with slow bowling, along with more stiffness than Sussex red on a Brighton nudist beach, advancing years brings guile and craft.

 :D

Is Loudon a spinner then people?. :-))(

He's a batting all-rounder who bowls off-spin

Yeah he is,i only found this out the other day when i watched a one day game and beefy was going on about him,otherwise i'd know nothing about the bloke :oops: .The county game just passes me by,i'm sad to say.

Its a shame that no place could be found in the squads for Gary Pratt o.b.e as well :)  :( ,he'd be class against the mighty  inzamam,who can bat like a god but runs like a constipated snail :) .I love the old potato head,its going to be a great series[hopefully,if we win :) ].

Sounds like a good option to me, what's his batting like?

I quite like Key but mainly because he looks like one of the kids from those Vauxhall ads.

"Constipated snail" :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

 :)  Have to say the reason i like Key is because of the same non-sporting reasons,i mean he looks like a cricketer,just put a big beard on him and he is the Dr W.G Grace.

Very classy and he will be an international quality player... in a couple of years. The selection is too early and he should be in the Academy squad where he'd actually get a game this winter. Still he isn't a bad choice, just that I don't think he'll play and it would have done him better in the Acad.

why is shaun udal in the team? why.... :-))(

 Because he's the best of spinner in the country at the moment....good experienced cricketer.....Fred Titmus was still bowling for England well inot his 40's

You mean the best spinner in the country who can also hold a bat and can field. I reckon Monty Panesar is a better spinner but he's like Phil Tufnell when it comes to batting and fielding and therefore doesn't fit into the ethos of this England side, particularly when the chances of the 2nd spinner getting a game is slim.

Panesar is slow left arm though...and we've already got in the King of Spain the global market leader in the art.

Jones and Hoggard are both right arm swing bowlers. Should we drop one of them? If they're good enough then it doesn't matter if they move the ball the same way as someone else in the side. However, I think this tour is too early for Panesar although I'd have liked him to be in the academy.

talking about the academy, quite annoyed not too see a certain J.Hildreth of somerset be selected? will be an england international.

Hildreth is obviously a talented player but he didn't have a particularly great season especially for someone who plays at the batsman's heaven that is Taunton. He doesn't deserve a spot this year ahead of any of the other batsmen that have been picked

prior in, wright and yardy in the academy, sussex whhoooah sussex whoooah

Yardy's technique's fucked though isn't it. It would never stand up at the top level

he has improved this season tenfold, he is now pretty awesome, plus when the academy gets there hands on him and he keeps improving he WILL become an england regular, plus his bowling has been monumentous this season he has been a match winner on 3 or 4 occasions. watch him grow into a top class test all rounder.

mex i usually regard your opinion on cricket pretty highly but that is one hundred and ten percent absolute bollocks

he could become a good batsman but as i said i'm not at all convinced that huge trigger movement will stand up at the top level. i think he'd be fucked up against express pace

as for his spin, it's come on well this summer and done a job at county level but lets be honest it's complete pies. it would get destroyed by any international player

yardys stats this season
batting average 54.69 he has hit 5 centuries and 5 50's

bowling average 25.55

not bad i would say

every single county pro has had an amazing season, it's backing it up that counts

this is the first year he's bowled his spin (rather than seam) and there's always a case of doing better when something's new. next year his spin will struggle as player's will be used to it

as for his batting, it's not in the same class as Ed Joyce or Owais Shah and the stats prove it - look them up

i'd love it if in a couple of years yardy is playing for england and you can say look who was right boeta you fucking cunt. but it ain't gonna happen

as i said he is improving hence a place in the academy, with a higher level of coaching which he will recieve he will surely step up to the task ahead, he is young hungry naturally gifted and english, lets encourage him not knock him.

by the way mushtaq ahmed hit 90 not out today it was fuckin ace was smacking it everywhere, we were 192-8 finished on 348 all out :D

also don't build him up out of sight so he's only got one way to go, ie. down

there is a difference between building up a player and showing confidence in him. the whole ethos of sussex ccc, is based on confidence, i think you will find but i could be wrong! that sussex have the youngest squad in county cricket, with players like prior, wright and yardy breaking through into the england set up it sets  a precedent for the rest of the youngsters in the squad, hopkinson, ambrose (who is a better keeper than prior) nash, and the likes of ian ward and jason lewry if they can stay injury free. the centre of the team is based on spirit and a us against them mentality, sussex and there players dont in their opinion get the recognition they have deserved over the last couple of years, this in their eyes is a start and the tip of the iceberg. watch us fly next season as a team they will get better and better espesially if they can resign rana naved

so you think saying yardy WILL become an England regular isn't heaping pressure on a player who's had one good season (good but not as good as others)?

Am I alone in thinking we shouldn't be touring Pakistan.....we had a long break after the Gatting Shakoor Rana incident 14 years I believe.....as it was obvious that cheating was afoot, which finally was revealed by the Salim Malik...Ata-ur Rehman conspiracy.

 Did anybody miss it?

  Further Pakistan is a hotbed of Islamic terrorism.....explosions in Lahore yesterday. Recently the Kiwis abandoned their tour due to esplosions at their hotel.

 It seems that our boys, are being used as political pawns, in that the Government wants to be seen to back up the government of Gen Musharraf as much as possible to suggest normal relations, every bit as cynically as a Mugabe.

 Maybe time for a rethink.

'Recently' well if May 2002 is recent then you're right, but the word 'recently'suggests this year. In fact in late 2003 New Zealand happily went back to Pakistan to play a five match ODI series.

If we're going to call Test series off because of the possibility of bomb blasts, England should never have international cricket here again and the Ashes should have been called off at 1-0 to Australia.

Don't be so melodramatic, the England players will be under top security and nothing will happen.

I love it when Boeta talks cricket.  he turns in to such an onnoying little twat it makes me laugh. :D

Going back to Yardy, his stats he been boosted beyond belief because of the game against Bangladesh 'A' who would struggle to beat a lot of top club sides

In the County Championship Yardy averages 46 with the bat and 36 with the ball. Good but not great

TBH i dont really know who Yardy is! so i wouldn't pick him. On the batting front i think it was a bit dissapointing that either Joyce, Key or Shah were not selected and Shaun Udal was a bit strange. i think the squad is as good as it can be though with the exception of the extra batsman.

yardy is not in the squad  he is in the academy where they train up players of the future, he is not up to test cricket by a long way however his improvements over the last couple of years have been substantial and if he keeps going at this rate he will be knocking on the test door in a couple of years.