Olympics.... Australia KO1 England

Gavin has mentioned he is willing to stay amature until 2012 which for me would be a waste. I hope he does well at the Olympics then goes pro. I think he is 23 so it would be a long wait until the London Olympics.

 

Hope for is pro career he doesn't sign with warren because he'l be fighting superfeatherweights with no pop just like another lightweight who turned pro after the olympics.

 

Don't get me going on this...the whole thing is a complete **** up. How the **** can you have some South African mercenary captaining the England cricket team? Besides that, the man is a self interested ****wit, hardly the material of a great captain :-(

 

I am just glad they did not go for some scum sucking Lancashire *******. Scum.

 

Now their is no need for that as lancastrains sing I would rather be a ******* than a yorkshireman LOL. Only a bit of banter.

 

cricketbigger han football :roll:

 

It was in 2005 as was the rugby in 2003. How about that beating the aussies twice in successive rugby world cup even in 2007 when our team was shite.

 

well at least he's half english.

 

I think he would do a better job than Flintoff, who seems to be on borrowed time, not to mention the fact that he is a walking wicket at the moment.....

Strauss would have been my man, but as he isn't in the ODI team it probably counts against him.

My side....

Strauss
Cook
Pietersen (c)
Shah
Bell
Flintoff
Foster (wk)
Rashid
Broad
Sidebottom
Anderson

Rashid in for Panesar because Monty has turned into a clown - Adil is also a far better batsman and fielder. Broad would come back in provided he can become more of a wicket-taker.

Foster would be the keeper because he is good in both departments, you need a balance between keeping and batting. Trying to find a Gilchrist or Sangakkara is a futile operation :deal

 

rashid :rofl

broad :rofl

not trying to take the **** mate but how do you plan on bowling sides out? you've basically picked a team with three bowlers and five batsman.

 

Point taken.....

I just don't like Harmison or Panesar

The lack of quality fast bowlers is staggering - Rashid has plenty of potential, but on reflection, he has been working too much on his batting rather than the bowling.

 

monty's no english answer to murali but he is lightyears ahead of anyone else in the rest of the country. being a fingerspinner you cannot expect him to rip through teams on pitches that don't suit him. but he will and has caused trouble on turners. his test record is very impressive for a fingerspinner at his age.

rashid may be a talent but the international arena is no place to learn your game and his bowling suit is the most difficult skill to master in the game. wrist spin is an exceptional talent when done right but god awful when done wrong.

agreed on harmison though, there's no hidden talent or massive potential there, he's just shite.

 

I don't think Harmison is shite, I just feel he lacks mental fortitude, ticker, guts, whatever you want to call it.

He is also like a fish out of water when asked to tour, and his shameless, pathetic retirement from one day cricket just summed him up, as did his interview with Athers during the fifth test in Sydney last year. 'Yeah I wouldn't mind getting home' and 'I will ask the coach about what he wants me to do' simply aren't good enough.

The constant bleating on about being out of form pissed me off, as an excuse why he was miserable. Brett Lee was out of form for the first three tests, but still charged in for all he was worth and contributed both with bat and in the field, and played with a smile on his face.

There is the difference :deal

International cricket is no place to be learning - Plunkett and Mahmood found out the hard way. It is difficult to see either of those (espec Saj - hopefully anyway) coming back.

On Panesar, I find all the circus act thing terribly irritating - jumping up all over the place and constant appealing puts Shane Warne into the 'quiet ones' league - and his fielding is a disgrace. Stop eating pies and get on the treadmill methinks :deal

 

Rashid is nowhere near good enough for Test cricket yet. His bowling is developing very gradually though his batting has improved at a faster rate. I still believe Hoggard is one of the best fast bowlers in England at the moment. He is much better(and way more consistent) than the lanky shite that is Harmison.

Also, what have the selectors got against Owais Shah? The guy has consistently performed for his county plus whenever he has played for the ODI side yet he doesn't get a look in on the test side. They go for Bopara instead who may be having a decent season but has looked below par when he has played in the ODI's and we don't know whether he can consistently perform season in season out yet.

What do you guys make of the new TV deal. Sky have picked up the righs again and the BBC didn't bother to bid. The ECB chief is pretty pissed of at the beeb though I'm sure part of this is the ECB's fault as well.

 

Bopara lacks the technique to succeed at Test level. He may go well in ODI's - add his bowling and fielding and you have a decent cricketer. I also don't understand the obsession with Luke Wright :deal