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[mo_town]

I don't understand why they don't get Tymal Mills in the XI. Clearly their attack is very one-dimensional in Aus where the ball doesn't swing like a banana. A left arm quick would definitely be a good addition to add some variety to the attack.

[joeljonno]

Because he is not in the squad.

He is there as a net bowler.

[ppccopener]

yes he's just there as left arm over practice(you could say that aint worked)

Flower has already said there will be changes, I think myself we need Bres in 100 per cent and either Finn or tremlett,neither have bowled great in the last 12 months thou so England are in a quandry.
Perth is a bad ground for us too so it's all going the Aussies way,and to be fair, they have played better cricket to go 2-0.

swann will be left out I think,if we play a spinner it should be Monty, I would keep stokes in too

England might deceide that to get bres and Finn/tremlett/Rankin in we have no spinners apart from kp and root.

Personally I think we should have Monty and make the bold decision of leaving out Swann and Anderson

that's my two pennys worth

end of the day we have to put runs on the board, Bres and Stokes in means our batting is deeper

we simply have to put a score on the board

[123*]

Hope the pitch is rapid and we see some quick bowling!

[joeljonno]

So definites are,

1 Cook (because he is skipper),
2 Carbs,
3 Root,
4 KP,
5 Bell (all had a score in last test)
6 ?
7 Prior (had a score, kept ok, no real replacement)
8 Broad (has bowled alright)
9 ?
10 - Anderson (bowled ok, fairly consistent)
11 - ?

So Stokes, Swann and Panesar are questionable.

Bresnan in for Monty looks likely. Stokes, Tremlitt, Finn or Rankin to take one spot.  They may go with Stokes and Bresnan to lengthen the lower-middle order.

Swann or a batsman?

Cook, Carbs, Root, KP, Bell, Stokes, Prior, Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson

Seems to look better in the batting department. Could maybe do with a real quicky like Finn and I would drop Anderson or Swann for him.

[400notout]

Mills took 6 wickets in FC games @ 66 in Div 2 last season, calm down. If England were stupid enough to rally the idea about, Topley took 48 @ 22.

Stokes had to play as the second spinner came in, that meant they were a seamer short. I'd like to see Bresnan back in, I think Eng really do miss him. Ballance or Bairstow to 6, ideally Ballance, not a fan of Bairstow at all.

Despite being loose at times, no one can argue the fact that Finn has taken his 90 test wickets at less than 30, far better than many other quality players (Anderson, dare I say) and they come at a strike rate of less than every 50 balls (Again, better than "all conquering" Anderson).
Cant really do any worse than the others at the moment...

[Buzz]

I think out bowling unit of Bresnan, Broad, Anderson and Swann will be just fine and more than good enough.

if they have 450+ to defend not 150+ as has been the norm. Tinkering with overworked bowlers means you could end up looking too hard at the wrong problem. It would be great if Finn could be in form and playing, but he isn't and won't. Tremlett is finished and Rankin isn't ready. Mills is Daily Mail journalism so should be totally ignored.

The question is who should take the number 6 slot. Stokes, Ballance or Bairstow.

[MD2812]

I would go for:

Cook
Carberry
Root
KP
Bell
Taylor (big gamble - not played out there this winter)
Prior
Broad
Finn
Mills (don't know what his batting is like, so could be #11)
Anderson

Big gamble, but desperate times desperate measures maybe.

[joeljonno]

I think out bowling unit of Bresnan, Broad, Anderson and Swann will be just fine and more than good enough.

if they have 450+ to defend not 150+ as has been the norm. Tinkering with overworked bowlers means you could end up looking too hard at the wrong problem. It would be great if Finn could be in form and playing, but he isn't and won't. Tremlett is finished and Rankin isn't ready. Mills is Daily Mail journalism so should be totally ignored.

The question is who should take the number 6 slot. Stokes, Ballance or Bairstow.

3 seamers and a spinner in Perth?  I'd suggest Stokes would get the nod.  Played ok in the last test, had some fight about him.  Gives that extra dimension.

Ballance and Bairstow hasn't really gone big in Aussie warm up games so much.

[Red Ink Cricket]

I would go for:

Cook
Carberry
Root
KP
Bell
Taylor (big gamble - not played out there this winter)
Prior
Broad
Finn
Mills (don't know what his batting is like, so could be #11)
Anderson

Big gamble, but desperate times desperate measures maybe.

i would change mills for Bresnan ( obviously move him up the order) and Ballance in for taylor. Plenty of pace available. Root to provide the spinners option with KP as back up if needed. that would mean broad at 9 which gives us a reasonable long batting line up if they actually apply themselves and also a bowling attack where there isnt too much pressure on the quicks. if one has a bad game it doesnt leave 3 to cover and end up overworked.

[mk_chappo]

For me its

Cook
Carberry
Root
KP
Bell
Stokes
Prior
Broad
Rankin
Anderson
Monty

I like to see Rankin have a go and told to see if he can get it down quicker than Mitch. Must have a spinner (bounce helps - ask any spinner) - and Monty is out bowling Swanny at the minute.

[Manormanic]

The only thing in favour of playing Mills would be if they were to go with a five man attack (to cover his lack of experience) and to use him purely as a statement of intent, a battering ram.  He might cause Clarke issues if nothing else, and Warner looks shaky against the lefties.

But it wouldn't be a great idea - better to bring Bresnan and Rankin in for the two spinners and Bairstow for Stokes.  Or alternately keep Stokes and one spinner and drop Anderson, who is the wrong type of bowler for Perth.

[mo_town]

Bresnan surely doesnt make it to the XI as there should ideally be only one bowler who can bat a bit and thats Broad. Eng need to unleash their 'big guns'. Get Finn and Rankins in for Anderson and Swann. Not many options available in the batting department for Eng.

[uknsaunders]

Since it won't get to Day 4 we might as well pick 4 seamers. Anderson, Broad, Bresnan, Finn. Could pick Stokes but you might as well have a specialist seamer if you go with 4 seamers. Pick either Ballance or Bairstow for number 6 and get on with losing it 

I think Bairstow has been hard done by. He wasn't a massive success during the summer but still got some decent scores.

[ppccopener]

if we do go in with 4 seamers and no spinner at least it's the best possible batting side we can put out....

Bres will be number 10 or something

packing the side with batting is no guarantee of course we wont get rolled over again...

oddly enough we have the same discussions about batting/bowling balance down our club

quite often those at number 7 8 and 9 say they are batting so low they are just going to 'have a slog'