The England squad for Stanford tournament has been announced and there are no real surprises. The 15 lucky boys are: Kevin Pietersen (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Samit Patel, Matt Prior (wk), Owais Shah, Graeme Swann, Ryan Sidebottom, Luke Wright.
The selectors appear to have decided to stick with the core of players that beat the South Africans pretty convincingly. While a logical thing to do it would have been nice to see a few fresh faces - Graham Napier being one of the most obvious choices and Rob Key and Joe Denly the others who may have been considered. Key and Denly have been a brilliant opening partnership for Kent and played a huge role in getting them to the Twenty20 cup final and almost winning it.
The problem with selecting "outsiders" is that the players who are currently in the team might throw a bit of a strop if denied the chance to win their $1 million. The rumours are already flying around that a promise of a place inthe squad was the reason for Harmison's sudden return to one-day cricket.
That's my main problem with this whole idea - money first, cricket second, which frankly is rubbish.
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4 comments:
Why is Cook there?? Denly would be a great option - he doesn't need to have any international experience as the Stanford matches are hardly going to be international standards in terms of opposition.
It could have been worse,
it could have been all staged like some wrestling they show on TV.
Money first >> cricket second
that is going to be 'cricket' for now atleast.
Think of it this way,
if you are a connoisseur
you have to dive deeper to get the genuine pearl.
t - I agree about Cook but I think it comes down to what I said at the end. They didn't want any of "Team England" to sulk about not getting their chance to win the money and so had to go with the players they already had. I think it would have been great for Denly - no real pressure in terms of career stats and a chance to get used to international cricket. I think he's got the potential to become a brilliant opener for England and will get his chance in the next couple of years.
Chinaman - it's disappointing isn't it. As I've said on The Popping Crease I'm a test cricket fan always. This feels like the support act before the main show.
Test cricket enthusiasts are on the verge of extinction :( - an endangered specie.
I read you love testmatch format, I'm glad you joined our forum and webring.
Twenty20 will always feel like 'buskers' to me. Upturned caps on the floor. Someday they will become the main act.
That's when I will hang up my slippers. For now they serve a good purpose - throwing at the TV screen in frustration - without causing any damage. :-D
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