What should be England's batting line-up for Ashes
The Ashes is less than four months away and the press and the fans cannot help but talk about it. There is a buzz in the air and the former cricketers have already started giving their opinion, and calling their favourites.
According to Steve Waugh, the team that won the last ODI of the series between the two sides (a week or so ago) would have gone into the series with an edge. Shane Warne, himself a great believer in the mental battles and warfare, has called it a tight series and a difficult one to decipher.
This piece analyses what the English selectors need to do with the English batting and the line-up for the five Test matches in order to ensure that they go into the series with the confidence to retain the urn.
Andrew Strauss will know that despite what happens between now and the start of the Ashes, this could just be the best chance that the English side have of winning the Ashes on Australian soil. And this is despite the Australian summer that saw them win seven out of the eight Test matches and draw the other.
Strauss’ batting form at the start of the season for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Middlesex-c817 was hardly encouraging but he has done enough to prove his credentials as a batsman. More importantly, his good form would mean that he can now concentrate on his captaincy without worrying too much about that oft-repeated phrase, ‘leading from the front’.
At the other end, there are not too many options for England, as Alastair Cook should occupy that place without too many issues. His record in this format of the game in recent times has been excellent, and the three centuries he has hit in the seven games will augur rather well for him.
Jonathon Trott is a prospect as well, but expecting the English management to break the opening combination is difficult. Instead, he will fight for the number three slot with two other batsmen, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara.
The Aussies had had the better of Bopara throughout the previous edition of the Ashes and there is a good chance that in the Australian conditions, the Aussie bowlers will make things difficult for him. Ian Bell had had a good chance, one thought, but the foot injury means that the progress he had made in the time he was out of the squad has been set back. He will not be a part of the side for the Tests against Pakistan, and that does not leave him with too many games to prepare.
This should mean that if Trott has a good series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, he should be a shoo-in to the playing eleven. Kevin Pietersen should occupy the number four position unless his injury does not heal quickly enough, while Paul Collingwood could come in at five.
The number six position is interesting in the sense that under normal circumstances, Bell could have been slotted here. But his injury combined with the discovery of Eoin Morgan could spell trouble for him.
To me, it will make more sense to get in Matt Prior as the wicket-keeper, but one gets the sense that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708 is only one big innings away from selection in the Tests as well.
My Batting Line-up:
Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook select themselves, unless Cook messes up big time in the lead-up to the series. So does Paul Collingwood, and there is a good chance that if Eoin Morgan does well, he will be in the playing eleven as well. If Kevin Pietersen is fit, he will be in my eleven – and in every other fan’s 11 – which leaves us with one batting position. My wicket-keeper will be Matt Prior, while that extra batting position will go to Trott.
Tags: