Looks pretty under whelming to me. Iād much rather be getting Hales in there than Jennings or Ballance - Hales is a special player still figuring out test cricket imo, Ballance has been found out by the short ball at test level far too often, and Jennings is, well, just not as good as Hales. Real shame about Hameedās appalling form. Itās him or Hales in the long term for me (with Hales down the order if he doesnāt open).
Same with Rashid over Dawson, not really sure what Dawson offers the team as a big positive, not keen on people who offer a bit with bat, ball and fielding, but donāt stand out in either of the first two. Better in my mind to have someone who has games where he canāt be relied upon, but when heās on it, heās a really good option.
Hopefully Wood will be one game in, one game out, or I think heāll break down. Love him when he plays though.
Maybe itās not so bad. Get Woakes in for Anderson long term, get a proper spinner in (maybe Crane, maybe Rashid - Woakes for Anderson really bolsters up the batting) for Dawson.
Weāve basically brought in another allrounder because no one wants to ask Moeen or Broad to bat at 8. Seems completely nuts to me. No idea what Dawson will contribute. Lordās tends to be flat as hell so Iād rather another seamer, especially one who knows the wicket and is happy sending down a bouncer or four. Or Stoneman, or Buttler, or Billings or any number of actual prospects.
Long term I think the next proper England spinner will be Leach, but that could still be a way off yet. Woakes is the nailed on number 8 when heās fit but Iām not sure heāll ever be an outright threat with the ball like Jimmy. I know Iām biased but I think Sam Curran and Craig Overton are the next serious English strike bowlers, though again thatās probably a few years off. In the meantime, when Jimmy retires I think we will have a much less interesting attack for at least a little while.
Agree with a lot of that. I more meant Woakes in for Anderson as Woakes is nailed on as a selection, and Anderson surely wonāt last much beyond this winter? Woakes has also started to impress me with his wicket taking ability. Iām always very reluctant to name anyone as a real strike threat at test level, itās such a step up, and itās hard to extrapolate whoāll do well and who wonāt. Such a shame Wood doesnāt seem to have the durability. Stokes is a good strike option at least. But yeah, when Anderson goes (and heās not all that at the moment anyway), thereās gonna be a real hole. I guess one thing I;m really annoyed about is not trying out a seam option instead of Dawson - letās see what weāve got, rather than hedge bets. Also why Iām not massively against the Jennings pick, even though I wouldnāt have gone that way.
Iād rather have seen Stoneman in for Ballance, or better, Buttler for Ballance, and push Bairstow up to 3 (assuming Root wants to stay at 4)
Iād go along with all of that. Wood is the kind of bowler we want and the the kind we need to replace Anderson but more and more weāre producing up-and-downers like Finn, Ball and Toblerone-Jones. Coad at Yorkshire sounds like he might be in the Wood mould. Not the extravagant swing of Jimmy but the wicket-to-wicket line of Wood with just enough movement to regularly find the edge. No idea how quick he is though or whether his early form will stick around. Youāre quite right that itās bloody difficult predicting who will become a seriously threatening bowler at test level though, which is one of the reasons itās great to have someone like Woakes who has built a career whilst confounding expectations. There certainly will always be a place for him in the side.
Iām intrigued to see what becomes of Broad too. At 31 and with increasing injury issues he wont have a whole lot longer in the England side either. The dream would be for him to channel and refine his legendary hot streaks some how so that he remains effective while necessarily bowling fewer overs, but thatās probably a fairy tale. His fifers thoughā¦
I donāt know what Woakes has to do to convince people he can take wickets. He has 48 at 29 runs apiece in 17 tests, Jimmy had 53 but at 36 at the same point and Broad 46 at 38. Iām not particularly aiming this at you, I used to argue with @magnificent_work about him on the old site, and it seems to be prevalent throughout the cricketing world. He averages 25 per wicket in all first class, pretty much exclusively in Div 1 and tests. In short, I Chris Woakes.
I still havenāt seem him bowl a ball yet, but his record last year was excellent. Hopefully youāre right, we could do without him going down the Kerrigan road and taking up the spinner place long term.
Dawson is a weird one. Bet he hasnāt batted at 8 since he was about 11 years old, and heās no frontline spinner. Kind of shows no faith in him having him at 8, and at the same time no faith in the top order as heās there as a safety net. Mmm, paradoxical.
Iāll also go with @kenako and say that Stoneman would have been a better bet than Jennings. I still think Jennings was a one-season wonder, but Stoneman being in would have screwed my fantasy team, so OK.
Dunno much about Leach at all yet, but Iāve been impressed with Crane over the last 12 months (county circuit, Australia, international debut). Open to trying a genuine spin option though, not a trundling wheelie bin.
Broadās interesting innit. Injuries allowing, he could well be test level for 2-3 years, but thatās a big disclaimer. When he was struggling to hit above mid 80s in terms of speed a year or two ago, he was a lot less threatening too, which I didnāt really expect, as heās never been searing pace. That doesnāt auger well.
I always hoped Barker would come through as a decent pace, left arm swing bowler, but heās a bit too feast or famine. Too old now as well.
You and your fantasy teams.
Side note - very much been enjoying the live streams of county games available for free on youtube. Top stuff.
Crane looks good, has rave reviews and seemingly everything going for him, but we are world leaders in hyping up spinners too early and basically killing them.
Currently in and out of the Kent second XI.
He can bowl a doosra! Get him in the squad! 2 years later he was working in the city.
And poor old Simon Kerrigan of course.
I hope they just leave him be for a few years, but if he gets half decent results, they wonāt, and the press/public will be clamouring for him anyway.
There is genuinely not a day goes by without me considering fantasy tactics in one sport or other. Restrained myself from entering the Tour de France one this year to keep myself relatively sane.
Broad and Jimmy both started playing test cricket at considerably younger ages that Woakes. Whilst the stats compare the same point in their careers it doesnāt reflect their growth. Woakes is a decent bowler and if he keeps improving, and surprising me, then that would be great. I love the guy to bits and Iām always happy to be wrong, I just donāt think heāll ever be a spearhead in the mold of Anderson or Broad.
'Course he did. Whilst weāre on the subject of spinners who bat a bit/a lot who quit the game early, can we just acknowledge what a decent bloke Zafar Ansari is:
Someone please tell me that the third coming of Gary Balance is just a sick prank heralding rootās new captaincy style as a joker? Heās going to head onto the field with a decent batting line up and go āahhhhh got you! Suckers! You really thought weād pick balance again!ā
It would actually be dead interesting to see how she got on. Think of the worldwide interest thereād be if sheās coming in at first drop. Itās a sponsorās dream, get it happening @ECB!