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[rickjames]

Rockkkkkkyyyyyyyyyyy

[ppccopener]

Rockkkkkkyyyyyyyyyyy

Haha!

Guardian says ballance only has a slight fracture, and is ready to play....

I guess this is the last chance, if he is out someone else gets a chance and then you never know.

Who would of thought after watching Hameed in India he would have such a poor run they cannot pick him(at the moment).

Bayliss needs to wake up and smell the linseed oil a bit, some of the quotes and interviews lately have been very odd.

Someone has to convince Ali he is the best we got so he is the main spinner, bairstow as good as he is cannot bat higher than 7 because we ain't that good and need an extra batsman. And skipper or not skipper Root has to bat 3-and be told to.

Jeez.....so much to sort out!.  Maybe grumpy @Alvaro was right after all....we really are not that good....

[northernboy1987]

BBC saying he's deffo missing the Oval test but could be ok for Old Trafford.

I'm with you Carlo, I'd like Bairstow back at 7 and Mo at 8 and a batter in at 5, makes us look a lot more solid imo, must affect other teams too knowing that we have such capable batsmen coming in at 7 & 8

[SOULMAN1012]

going to throw Jo Denley in the mix, played international cricket before has no doubt matured a bit and like stonemam and many others in the form of his life, plus he is a Kent player.

[iand123]

going to throw Jo Denley in the mix, played international cricket before has no doubt matured a bit and like stonemam and many others in the form of his life, plus he is a Kent player.

You are almost as deluded as the kent fans on the official facebook group mate. Although you are not the first person to suggest this to me the last week

[Vitas Cricket]

Who would of thought after watching Hameed in India he would have such a poor run they cannot pick him(at the moment).

He played a red ball 2nd team game yesterday and got 100. OK its only a 2s game but the only other batsman to get runs was Shiv.

[petehosk]

I hope that Stoneman can be given a decent run if he opens. And this would allow Jennings to drop to 3 where I think he would look better.
Still Root at 4 and would be nice to give Ballance a decent run batting at 5. Stokes is always at 6 and Bairstow and Ali at 7 and 8 . When Woakes comes back he will be 9 and Broad at 10, with the master blocker Anderson at 11.
Shame Hameed is not on form this season - but he is very young and I suspect he will have a mountain of chances to bat at 2 for England soon enough.

So with Woakes out for a while longer then sounds like Ball (isn't Wood possibly injured too) will get to bowl. And if Ballance has his poorly finger then as everyone has stated, we need someone to bat at 5! I am sure that Bairstow or Ali would jump at the chance but if keeping and batting at 7 is good enough for de Kock and indeed the God that is Gilchrist, then it's good enough for Bairstow! And like Ali at 8 as he adds some real solidity to batting down there!

So who at 5 then? I don't suppose that Sangakkara has qualified to play for England yet? 
Personally I would like to see someone who has good enough technique to open the batting in the future or if one of the openers got injured! Also would need to be young! Anyone below 40 seems young to me! But I guess someone in their mid twenties would hopefully be mature enough to step up but young enough to be around this level for 10 years if they do well! Also needs to be on good current form (otherwise Hameed would have been brought in already!) and preferably play in Div 1 rather than Div 2. Also needs to have the endless patience and discipline to leave decent ball after decent ball and yet score runs quite consistently!
I know that Robson has been mentioned as a possible.

But does anyone else think that Rory Burns may be a decent option to bring in at 5? Or is it just me?

[LcWoodward]

Agreed that if they pick Stoneman they've got to give him a prolonged go and not just bin him like they have done with the likes of Lyth.
I would still like to see one of the Currans to be given a go instead of Jake Ball.

[Manormanic]

Its a balancing act isn't it - at the moment we all seem to feel that we are a bowler heavy - especially if they are going for an extra containing options, Dawson, instead of an attacking one such as Rashid, Crane, Plunkett or even Sam Curran for a change of angle. 

If we drop Ballance (who, for the record, has not actually batted badly thus far - his dismissals have been balls that did a bit apart from that first one) and Jennings now, we just got he the start of the same long road without ever really coming to a point where we understand whether they are good enough or not.  So, the ideal solution is an opener in, Jennings at 3, Ballance 5, Bairstow 6, Stokes 7.

[ppccopener]

Ballance is out injured Manor so seems a dead cert Stoneman  will come in for the Oval. Gary should be ok for the test after thou.

Whether they pick GB for the last test I suppose is not certain at all. I would and have him at 5 because he is not a 3 and needs to bat lower down.

If we have cook , Stoneman and Jennings we at actually going back to having 3 openers like we used to way back when. I don't think it's a bad policy at all. that means Root stays 4 and 4 left handers in the top 5).

We have to pick the best top 5 whether they are right or left handed I reckon.

Tom westley being touted around a lot in the papers as a possible.....

[smilley792]

Buttler played as a batsman in india

That ship sailed? He out of sorts? Or was he just lucky they had sod all batsman in India to get the gigg?




Also no one's mentioned KP yet.......... Got runs for Surrey tonight. Lol

[Calzehbhoy]

Also no one's mentioned KP yet.......... Got runs for Surrey tonight. Lol

Absolutely not advocating his return in anyway now but can't help but feel this England side would have been a lot more successful with Root & Pieterson between 3-5 the last few years.

[petehosk]

Doubt Stokes will move from 6! And I agree that Ballance hasn't been bad but feel that he could be excellent batting at 5!
It'll be interesting to see if they only swap Ballance with his broken finger out for Stoneman, or whether they decide that we don't need as many bowlers! In England I personally think that Dawson, Ali and Root is one too many spinners. I would love to see...

Cook
Stoneman
Jennings
Root
Robson/Westley/Burns
Stokes
Bairstow
Ali
Broad
Ball
Anderson

[Sam]

Dawson isn't in the Hampshire t20 squad for tomorrow or Friday. Suggests he's at least retaining a place in the test squad.

[ppccopener]

Yes Dawson looks set to remain and one change in the batting. England don't tend to make too many changes.

I really really don't want to write this but I think we are going to lose at the Oval and the new dawn is not going to be a dawn at all. Can't believe I wrote that I'm a die hard optimistic supporter normally.