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[Jimbo]

I'd go Bess, Stone and Virdi for Broad Archer and Anderson myself.

Pretty tough game to throw Virdi into as a debut. Would like to see Stone given another game though and Bess surely has to play after the last test.

[ppccopener]

Root has virtually said Bess is playing in interview, giving the slightly strange analogy that he has become a better player for missing two test matches.....which strikes me as odd, I know they all work on their game in the nets but being a bit of a gossip myself I reckon Bess, who we know is a very confident character, got a bit too cocky and England left him out for that reason.

A similar thing happened to Root on a tour of Australia allegedly.

I'd have Stone in for Archer and Bess for Broad. We are now seeing why the Moeen situation was so badly handled, whether anyone thinks he is any good or not he would be playing this test match-that gives the 3 spinners and then Anderson probably would be left out.

Instead the only option for the 3rd spinner is someone on debut.

It's hard to imagine this last wicket for the series will be anything different from the third test and spin and break up very quickly.

We(I) could be wrong but I just can't see it, India will want us out of this game quickly and it might even break up quicker than the last one.

[Manormanic]

Pretty tough game to throw Virdi into as a debut. Would like to see Stone given another game though and Bess surely has to play after the last test.

I sort of disagree.

He might as well play in conditions that suit him, and he has to start somewhere.  Plus almost noone thinks England have a snowballs chance.

Oh, and I may have mentioned, I happen to think he's a superb bowler to boot.

[Jimbo]

I sort of disagree.

He might as well play in conditions that suit him, and he has to start somewhere.  Plus almost noone thinks England have a snowballs chance.

Oh, and I may have mentioned, I happen to think he's a superb bowler to boot.

Think the worry would be his inexperience. Suppose the sink or swim approach has worked before though!

[stamper]

Root has virtually said Bess is playing in interview, giving the slightly strange analogy that he has become a better player for missing two test matches.....which strikes me as odd, I know they all work on their game in the nets but being a bit of a gossip myself I reckon Bess, who we know is a very confident character, got a bit too cocky and England left him out for that reason.

A similar thing happened to Root on a tour of Australia allegedly.

I'd have Stone in for Archer and Bess for Broad. We are now seeing why the Moeen situation was so badly handled, whether anyone thinks he is any good or not he would be playing this test match-that gives the 3 spinners and then Anderson probably would be left out.

Instead the only option for the 3rd spinner is someone on debut.

It's hard to imagine this last wicket for the series will be anything different from the third test and spin and break up very quickly.

We(I) could be wrong but I just can't see it, India will want us out of this game quickly and it might even break up quicker than the last one.

Hard to disagree with any of this.  There was definitely something major behind the scenes with Bess. Particularly for Root to say what he said and it not be "corrected" as with Mo.

[stamper]

Think the worry would be his inexperience. Suppose the sink or swim approach has worked before though!

I would consider giving a debut to one of the spinners in the party. The pitch is bound to be a turner. I would just like whoever was chosen to be fully supported by the setup afterward , regardless of their performance.  Unlike Crane's experience after Australia.

[SD]

Difficult to throw a guy into a game like this on debut unless you are confident they have the character to stand up to it (which, given we opted to play an extra seamer in the third test, suggests there isn't that confidence).  It seems to me that Virdi is there for experience and to see what he is like in that environment rather than as a genuine selection option.  When you see what happened to Crane and Kerrigan,  I would be reluctant to toss in a guy who looks like a genuine prospect unless they are sure he is ready for it

[SD]

They won't do but I would like to see an extra batter, I really don't see the need for 2 seamers and Stokes if we are going to get another pitch like we have had.

Either Stokes isn't fit to bowl or he isn't judged to be worth using in these conditions so I would consider him a batsman only at this stage.

After that it is a question of whether an extra batsman would be more likely to win you the game than what either Anderson or Archer could manage with either the new ball or if it stats reversing.  Personally I would take the bowler over an extra batsman that would leave Foakes batting at 8 with the tail

[rickjames]

Thats, err, a lot more batting than I thought there'd be!

[adb club cricketer]

I think Eng can win this one if they bat decently in 1st innings. They did first step winning the toss. Bess and Leach to watch out for, my sixth sense says Bess will get another 5 wicket haul, Leach good as usual 

[billyb]

Team is an interesting one. I'm not sure they will take 20 wickets, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. More importantly, we won the toss. Hope it is a better game than the last two!

England: Zak Crawley, Dom Sibley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root (capt), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Ben Foakes (wk), Dom Bess, Jack Leach, James Anderson.

[shadowlight]

Is audio only available over Internet?  I am already tired of Swann on Hotstar.  Want to mute the tv and listen to the radio.

[billyb]

URGH.

[rickjames]

Sigh

[billyb]

Can we borrow Kieron Pollard to smash Axar Patel?