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    England not in a spin

    Beaten- pulverised, really- by 150 in Gujarat. India smashed their way to 385 as Pietersen and Moores decided not to play Swann. When the hapless visitors batted, Pietersen sounded in decent nick until he was run out, Bopara got a quick 50 and Draco some boundaries at the end. I'll draw a discreet veil over the top order.

    Anyone seen Monty?

    #2
    England not in a spin

    Magnificent stuff from Yuvraj - you've got to applaud India's cricket at the moment.

    Still, that batting order was an absolute fucking shambles. Ravi Bopara is not a dibbly-dobbly No8 all-rounder. He's a batsman who can turn his arm over if needed. If you're gonna pick him, have him in at 4 or 5 - that 50 he got today was a complete waste. I'm wondering whether he's ever batted at No8 in any form of cricket in his life. Bell and Prior as an opening pair is also never going to put the fear of God into any opposition.

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      #3
      England not in a spin

      Aye, I haven't really given Yuvraj and the India openers credit for some great hitting there.

      Who do the panel think should open?

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        #4
        England not in a spin

        The problem is, who do we have to open? Bell I can put up with as he can build a decent innings, but Prior is another in the long line of wicketkeeping-opener-batsmen-wish-he-was-Gilchrist-but-he's-not that England have tried. Stick him back down the order where he belongs to have a blaze at the close. We need someone in the mould of Trescothick, a proper attacking opening batsman who can get things moving at the start of the innings rather than grub around at 3 an over.

        The team is unbalanced. Collingwood is quite clearly fading badly and I think his days are numbered. His shoulder's an ongoing problem and his batting has been a series of failures with the odd good score thrown in.

        I think the next team should be along the lines of

        Bell
        Err... AND THIS IS THE PROBLEM
        Pietersen
        Shah
        Bopara
        Flintoff
        Broad
        Prior
        Swann/Patel
        Harmison/Patel
        Anderson

        Depending on the pitch. You bat a long way down but have a good spread of nurdlers and hitters, you don't need a full battery of pacemen, but again, it's that opening slot that's the problem.

        And having bowlers who can't bowl line and length with any consistency.

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          #5
          England not in a spin

          Patel is a batsman who bowls a little. Putting him in at 9 or 10 is as ludicrous as Bopara at 8.

          Bell
          Shah
          Bopara
          Pietersen
          Patel
          Flintoff
          Prior
          Swann
          Broad
          Harmison
          Anderson (or Sidebottom, if fit)

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            #6
            England not in a spin

            No Collingwood? He was targeted in this game but he's better than Patel. Indian wickets, as I see it, favour good spinners. You can't just put on a Dalrymple (who was better than Patel, so I'm unfairly picking on him) and expect him to look like Bedi. India don't overworry about spinners being able to bat. I think they'd indeed have Monty in if they were picking from England's players.

            Has Flintoff ever opened? The idea with his batting at the moment seems to be that he'll come in and get a quickfire 30. Why not do that at the top of the innings? He could plant his foot down and swing, with fewer fielders in the deep than later.

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              #7
              England not in a spin

              Dalrymple doesn't even get a bowl for Glamorgan.
              I don't think Collingwood is fully fit. If he was he'd be in my team. In fact, he could open instead of Bell.

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                #8
                England not in a spin

                Also, Flintoff isn't very good at quick 30s as he takes time to get his eye in. So it might make some sense to put him into open so he could settle in, but he can't place the ball so his only scoring shot would be to loft it.

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                  #9
                  England not in a spin

                  Don't you think a Flintoff 30 would still be quick fire, even allowing for getting his eye in?

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                    #10
                    England not in a spin

                    No. Flintoff takes about 7-8 overs minimum to get going, most of the time. If you think of almost all his famous innings they started pretty slowly.

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                      #11
                      England not in a spin

                      Lost by 50 this morning. Batting was OK- though Prior and Shah scored too slowly off the spinners early on. KP and Fred looked good even if the target was always 20-30 ahead of them. The bowlers lost it, really.

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                        #12
                        England not in a spin

                        Another century from Yuvraj.

                        They are playing six or seven of these, aren't they? What are the odds on a whitewash?

                        And why isn't Panesar there?

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                          #13
                          England not in a spin

                          Dazzler is upset at the selection policy...

                          http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7731961.stm

                          **

                          My eleven

                          Flintoff
                          Bell
                          Bopara
                          Pietersen
                          Shah
                          Napier
                          Mascherenas
                          Foster*
                          Broad
                          Patel
                          Anderson

                          All ten outfielders can bowl, and 10 from the 11 in this team can bat. Options, is what a captain needs.

                          *He can be in the side now that Vaughan has gone – unless he’s now bonking someone else’s wife.

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                            #14
                            England not in a spin

                            Not only a century but 4-28 off 10 overs from Yuvraj, too.

                            I'd be surprised if anyone could offer a better day's work by any player in ODI history.

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                              #15
                              England not in a spin

                              Yeah, I note Yuvraj has blown away my "India don't bother with part time spinners" theory. Sehwag looked OK as well.

                              On that showing we should be running around to see if Andy Needham is available to bowl for us.

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                                #16
                                England not in a spin

                                This is pretty poor stuff from England this morning.

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                                  #17
                                  England not in a spin

                                  It's no surprise that Swann got the two key wickets of Gambhir and Sehwag...Tendulkar's scalp doesn't count he is well past his one-day prime. Same old same old, but where is Monty? His fielding/batting won't jeapordise the team clearly...no-one can catch a six.

                                  Apart from the obvious financial reasons why are they playing 7 ODI's and only two tests? If england lose 7-0 (which is looking likely) it'll even out their 4-0 win in the summer against the Sifs. Only two tests then a tour of a revitalised West Indies is no preparation for the Ashes...

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                                    #18
                                    England not in a spin

                                    In the pub yesterday evening, the run-chase was far more entertaining that the Sunderland match. I actually thought we could do it for a few minutes...

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                                      #19
                                      England not in a spin

                                      I'm mildly amused that the response of the England squad en masse to their defeats here seems to be that they should all be allowed to take part in the IPL. It seems to be making a rather large assumption that many of them would get a game. Pietersen and Flintoff. Maybe Shah. Anyone else?

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                                        #20
                                        England not in a spin

                                        Macharenas? (I know he isn't there).

                                        270 looked like a useful score before India began to bat . . .

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                                          #21
                                          England not in a spin

                                          Mascheranas is the only England player that did get a contract out there last time isn't he?

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                                            #22
                                            England not in a spin

                                            I believe so.

                                            105/0 for after 15 overs. Swann managed to hold them to 21 runs in his first over.

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                                              #23
                                              England not in a spin

                                              Mascherenas got a contract, but hardly actually made it on to the field. He did OK when he did, but I doubt there'll be a queue to re-sign him.

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                                                #24
                                                England not in a spin

                                                I did word my Mascheranas comment carefully.

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                                                  #25
                                                  England not in a spin

                                                  Incidentally, why was Shah demoted below Collingwood, having consistently out-batted him so far?

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