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hope they don't pick Giles AND Panesar. Can't see the point of them both going.

why? there'll need two spinners at sydney and quite possibly at perth too. so would you take instead of giles?

one aggressive spinner and one defensive sounds perfect for sydney

my point is that they're two left arm spinners and there's no point ever playing them both. I'd pick Dalrymple as the second spinner, to enforce the batting lineup and to offer a different problem for the Aussie batsmen

is giles going to be fit though?

australia will bowl warne and macgill two leg-spinners...

although i wouldn't have any problems with dalrymple going ahead of giles

It's a shame that MacGill is Australian really. He's a wonderful bowler yet never gets to play because of Warne.

Can't believe they're considering taking james anderson on yet another tour - give Jon Lewis or Stuart Broad the nod. It's inevitable they're going to give 'Extras' mahmood a place too, but I reckon he might turn out akright one day....even harmison was wayward at the start

don't have a problem with being one of the eight players working with paul terry in perth and playing grade cricket.

remind me how he did on his last tour - to india, the swing bowler's graveyard, rather well wasn't it?

I hope Jimmy does go,it was a massive shame he got injured when he did,he played so well in India,also he was a revelation the last time he was Down Under.Mahmood will go too,no problems with that considering his form in the last couple of tests.

Good news,the BBC have won the rights to show highlights of the Ashes.Just hope there're on at a better time than the last Ashes series,Channel Fours' coverage of the last series was bad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/5338396.stm

Thank god for that. bbc have rights for highlights for the world cup as well.

England squad for Ashes tour: A Flintoff (captain, Lancashire, 62 Tests), A Strauss (Middlesex, 31 Tests), M Trescothick (Somerset, 76 Tests), A Cook (Essex, 9 Tests), K Pietersen (Hampshire, 18 Tests), I Bell (Warwickshire, 18 Tests), P Collingwood (Durham, 15 Tests), C Read (Nottinghamshire, 13 Tests), S Mahmood (Lancashire, 5 Tests), S Harmison (Durham, 45 Tests), M Hoggard (Yorkshire, 58 Tests), M Panesar (Northants, 10 Tests), G Jones (Kent, 31 Tests), A Giles (Warwickshire, 52 Tests), J Anderson (Lancashire, 13 Tests), L Plunkett (Durham, 6 Tests).

England squad for Champions Trophy: A Flintoff (captain, Lancashire), J Anderson (Lancashire), I Bell (Warwickshire), R Clarke (Surrey), P Collingwood (Durham), J Dalrymple (Middlesex), S Harmison (Durham), E Joyce (Middlesex), S Mahmood (Lancashire), J Lewis (Gloucestershire), K Pietersen (Hampshire), C Read (Nottinghamshire), A Strauss (Middlesex), M Yardy (Sussex).

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said it above, but gutted about Anderson - I'd loved top be proved wrong but I just don't think he adds anything - he doesn't offer anything different, so won't be picked unless the others are unfit, and even then, I;d rather have Broad, Lewis, Tremlett....even Andy bloody Caddick!

From the academy squad it looks like it'll be Shah or Key to come in should there be any batting injuries - Ramprakash was mooted in some circles or even Crawley, both had brilliant county seasons - hardly forward thinking, but woul;d've been interesting! Not as if you can put them in an 'academy' squad though!

Prior or Foster should've gone instead of Jones.

why no stuart broad? hes been our best bowler in this series against pakistan.

err... swing?

id say fourth best behind lewis, dalrymple and yardy, and that's not much of a claim when you are competing with slick rick and saj. especially with harmison and anderson back, there's just no place for broad.

Has he?, have you been watching the same series against Pakistan that i watched?.

Lewis was our best bowler followed by Dalrymple & Yardy.

I think lewis should have got in the champions trophy squad...bit odd not to put him in.

Also going to go back to blackwell, why isn't he even in the other squad for the other lot, forgotten what the name of it is. Surely he is good enough for that, its stupid. He is injured for 2 or 3 months and forgotten completely, after everyone was signing his praises in pakistan or india...can't remember where we toured for one dayers where he played. Giles injured since last years ashes and just staright in when he still hasn't played a game of cricket, its stupid. Dalymprle should be ahead of giles.

Freddie as captain i dont agree with myself, should be left to be freddie, not statistical tactical freddie, not his thing i dont think. hope im wrong.

Mahmood....hopefully he will be effective australia with pace and bounce...if he bowls a good bowl that is.

oh yeh and rikki clarke? your joking right.

he is in


if youre taking about the Acad then its because england don't see him as a test match spinner and rightly so, and if youre talking about the icc trophy i guess its because theyve already got two spinners who have done a very good job

clarke's quality - its not his fault fletcher misuses him. he is very similar to collingwood should bat at 5 and bowl a few overs. he can never be expected to bowl 10 overs or bat down at 7. he is a batsman that bowls now and again. if colly gets injured then he is the ideal replacement

Personally i'm not really bothered about the ICC Chapmpions thing,don't think we stand much chance who ever we take.Instead of this pointless ODI compeition there should be a 20/20 tournament.

sorry didn't see lewis name orginally....

no, in my opinion blackwell definitely isn't a test match spinner! i think he is though defintely a one day spinner.

back to the andersen/swing thing...

His problem is he never knows how much he's swinging it and struggles to control it. He has the ability to swing a ball from middle and leg to miss off - huge huge swing, but then he has a natural tendency to then bowl one on leg hoping to bring it back to off/middle and off....and it just doesn't work like that.

Ask any fast bowler - your talking a matter of centimetres between the ball that swings from middle and leg and the one just a fraction closer to leg that won't swing at all.

Factor into that the fact that the Kookabura ball won't swing in the same way that a Dukes will over here, and also, like Mahmood, Anderson's isn't quite strong enough yet in the wrist to bowl a consistent line....thats where the technical mumbo-jumbo goes out of the window though, because training that part of your anatomy is more fun than any other!!

did you see him in india???