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[ppccopener]

I reckon myself although let's be honest most of us are having a right guess(and that's what the selectors are doing as well!)

2 and 3 above....yes possibly but I don't think so.If Butler finds form in the one dayers maybe he comes back in but right at this moment JB is the better bat and JButler the better keeper.I think JB will be better on quick tracks and could well get runs in SA.

It's not actually a new problem....look back at some point Prior's keeping was village but his batting was pretty consistent.He was eventually one of our best bats in the end IMO, such a valuable player for us  and his keeping improved all the way-Bruch French seemed to help a huge amount.

Just my gut feeling long term is Butler has better hands and Bairstow is a tall lad for a keeper. Butler I think is more natural.

They will prob both go to South Africa and we could well be in the same position in six months time!

That's what being an England fan is all about!   

[TangoWhiskey]

Sorry - this is tosh, Cook has responsibility for some of the atrocious selections, allowing Moeen to open the batting with him etc. if he had scored at .2 of a run per over faster we would have won the first test. Etc
Sorry as Captain he is responsible.

I could rant at this further - he claimed England were still in "transition" well they have been in transition for the whole of his captaincy, which has been lousy.

How much of a say does he get on selection? He's so reluctant to bowl his spinners I'd suggest he doesn't get much of a say so. Your 0.2 of a run argument is utterly ridiculous, he single handedly took us past the 550 odd runs to put us into the position of winning the game. If we had a spinner that could hold up an end we would have won the game and probably the whole series. Runs just were not the issue, so you could say that by having Moeen to open he increased his bowling options, wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference if Hales or whoever had opened with him.

Under his captaincy, England have won two Ashes series and an away series in India, something which the number one ranked side in the world is making look very difficult currently. This team will remain in transition until we find a spinner and an opener good enough for Test cricket. He can hardly be blamed for the lack of talent English cricket is producing!

[brokenbat]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/nov/06/pakistan-series-win-good-thing-england

[Aussie In England]

How much of a say does he get on selection? He's so reluctant to bowl his spinners I'd suggest he doesn't get much of a say so. Your 0.2 of a run argument is utterly ridiculous, he single handedly took us past the 550 odd runs to put us into the position of winning the game. If we had a spinner that could hold up an end we would have won the game and probably the whole series. Runs just were not the issue, so you could say that by having Moeen to open he increased his bowling options, wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference if Hales or whoever had opened with him.

Under his captaincy, England have won two Ashes series and an away series in India, something which the number one ranked side in the world is making look very difficult currently. This team will remain in transition until we find a spinner and an opener good enough for Test cricket. He can hardly be blamed for the lack of talent English cricket is producing!

Said number 1 ranked side are currently only 2 days into a 4 Test series, so it isn't all doom and gloom...

[smilley792]

England warm up vs Hong Kong this morning.


342 for 8 of 50

Hales 64
Roy 40
Root 39
Morgan 19
Taylor 20
Buttler 38
Ali 71

[ppccopener]

Fancy us to do well in the one day matches and the coAch did say there were places up for grabs in the test team
Hardly gets mentioned anymore but wonder if Morgan will only ever be a one day player and never add to his test caps?

[WalkingWicket37]

Morgans issue with the short ball will stop him adding to his test caps.
And he hasn't been banging the door down with weight of championship runs either. He's a very good one day player, but I don't think he has the temprement for the longer form of the game.

[Buzz]

Pretty sure his temperament is fine. But, as you pointed out his technique isn't up to it.
Shame as I felt he should have been a success. Another fail from the ecb batting coaches.

[WalkingWicket37]

Maybe temprament wasn't the right word.

Morgan took a break from championship cricket to prepare for an ODI series. Admitedly it worked, but to me that said he has given up on making the Test side. With spots up for grabs on the UAE tour O would have thought those wanting a place would've got as muxh crixjet under their belts as possible.

Whatever the reason it's a shame, I like Morgan as a player, and he is maybe the closest we have that matches 'you know who' in terms of flare.
Wait, that could be it! People might actually pay to see him bat, the ECB wouldn't want that now, would they...

[ppccopener]

Quite right Morgs took a break from a poor domestic season but then came back into the internationals and played quite brilliantly...
This guy has serious talent and def agree he has the x factor,not a great deal of these players around for us
I think its a real shame his test career has stopped.
He could have been,maybe still could be,a perfect number 6.

[ProCricketer1982]

Morgan is a 2020/odi player, simply not up to test match cricket. However, given the way pitches and bowling is going there is no reason he can't as there are a fair few (moeen/buttler) innthenworl who aren't test players and at least Morgan has shown more mental ability.

[smilley792]

Warm up more or less over. Hk 179 for 9, Wiley four and Rashid/root two each with the wickets.


Big win for abit of confidence. Nice to see us destroy a minnow, unlike the odi side we sent to the wc

[rickjames]

I quite liked it when he was 5.

[smilley792]

Reckon that new ballance will release a root66 or r66 range in 2017 too.


Not that root is there biggest player(he and smith near the top) but having only two ranges is limiting, they need a few more out there.

[rickjames]

Reckon that new ballance will release a root66 or r66 range in 2017 too.


Not that root is there biggest player(he and smith near the top) but having only two ranges is limiting, they need a few more out there.

Just wait till the range is released here in December, I envisage junior bats flying out of the shop and it all starts to kick off