England Lions squads

First topic message reminder :

For matches against Sri Lanka 'A':
Four-day squad James Taylor (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Jack Brooks, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, James Harris, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root.

One-day squad James Taylor (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Danny Briggs, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, James Harris, Stuart Meaker, Chris Nash, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.


Some interesting and, IMO, puzzling selections.
Taylor as Captain shows how much the selectors rate him, and rightly so.
Has Borthwick moved ahead of Rashid in the leg-spinner stakes?
Jack Brooks' inclusion.
Steve Finn and Chris Woakes in the one-day squad, Jade Dernbach in the four-day?
Good to see Hales and Stokes called up.

James Taylor wont captain england, and like i said i dont think he should be captain of the lions.

i would like to have seen briggs in 4 day squad

How can you say he won't captain England? He is, in my opinion, the most talented player/batsmen of the "next generation" who are yet to win an England cap so is likely, at this moment in time, to have a long England career so he is more likely than anyone else in that squad to captain England in my opinion.

It's not really a big issue, it is good experience for him to captain the Lions and hopefully he'll get some runs. I can't wait to see him in an England shirt, hopefully in the ODI series but probably not until next year now, very talented player.

i just dont think he should be burdened with the captaincy at the moment, when he is trying to prove his batting credentials

CF
Captaining a Lions team in 3 one day matches and 1 four day match is hardly a burden.In fact its an oppurtunity to boost your credentials.If he can bat well whilst being captain it will only add to his credentials.Captaining the Lions is not something which you should refuse.Even if you dont captain the Lions side well but still score some runs the selectors wont ignore you as a batsman just bcoz you failed as a captain.Whilst if you impress in both the departments it will only impress the selectors even more IMO.

Agree re: Taylor.

Bound to say that being a Foxes fan, but he is a very talented player and is a nailed on future test player, he's already proved his maturity in some of his innings and has opened for the Lions. Therefore, captaining them is merely the next step on the ladder so to speak. Best of luck to him I say

im sorry but im just saying my opinon lol.....

thats the point of debate you dont have to agree

Fully aware how to debate mate, I was stating my opinion, which as you rightly said, disagreed with yours.

You don't have to be so defensive.

i wasnt talking about you actually!!!!!

i meant in general!

Sorry, just seems as if you don't like it when people disagree with you.

Looking at the squad though, Taylor seems the most plausible candidate for captain.

no i dont mind it when people disagree, cos most of the time i can back it up, i look at stats a lot lol

i wonder which of the lions will get the nod if trott isnt fit..

i expect it will be bopara... it shouldnt be but i think the selectors might go for him again

Bopara out for 19, Taylor currently on 60*....

Shock horror! Ravi doesn't make runs when the pressure is on.

taylor might get into the side and bat 6, with belly going up to 3

That would be my preference, although obviously only if Trott is injured and I have a feeling he may have recovered by next week.

especially if its at trott's home ground which it is lol.

looks like taylor has overtaken hildreth in the pecking order....

Taylor out for 76, Patel got a quick 50 as well.

I don't think 76 is a big enough score to force the selectors to take Taylor over Bopara. He will have to get huge runs in the second innings to force his way in.

If they pick bopara then they truly are thick.

Should be Taylor or hildreth

i think samit patel will get the nod.

the pitch usually turns at egbaston, but not so much that u need two specalist spinners, he could play instead of trott and bat at 6 or 7.

Reckon if Trott is injured we should pick Taylor.
But I'd also go for Patel instead of Swann and Woakes instead of Anderson and simply bat India out of the match.

i would keep swann in the side defo...

just saying that patel could play as a batsman, who can bowl spin....... and he would bat 6 or 7......,

i wouldnt have him in there for swann

I was only joking cf90

we could get away with only 6 batsman including prior against india, because their bowling attack is useless

Yeah, but imagine how demoralising it would be for India's bowlers to face an English batting line-up of;

Cook
Strauss
Trott/Taylor
KP
Bell
Morgan
Prior
Patel
Bresnan
Broad
Woakes

win the toss, bat first, job done

no swanny has to play lol

I hope Patel doesn't play, I'm sure he wouldn't be ahead of the other two anyway but I really don't rate him that highly, I've never really seen him look anything other than a decent county player who doesn't seem to put much effort in.

he would be good enough to play against this bowling attack as a batsman, and could bowl useful left arm spin at edgbaston

The Surrey boys both have a wicket this morning which is good to see, Meaker has bowled 7 overs 1-7 which is by far and away the most economical he's ever been!

very good figures for meaker but it will be a very long time before he has a chance of getting in the test team

CF
He might be in with a shout for the T20 side though coz he bowls very good yorkers at the death.

Hmm wouldn't have thought so, I've seen potential in him to bowl well at the death but in general he gets thumped around the park in one day and T20 stuff. Interesting that he has bowled just the 7 overs still despite having the best figures, Harris has just finished his 16th and Borthwick into his 9th.

i doubt meaker would get into t20 side i agree with carrotdude..

What would be your T20 side CF?

what for the full england side?

Yes

with the t20 side i would completely start again with a whole new side...

1)Joe Denly
2)Moeen Ali
3)Kevin Piertsen
4)Luke Wright
5)Eoin Morgan
6)Samit Patel
7)Steve Davies (WK)
8)Adil Rashid
9)Liam Plunkett
10)Ajmal Shahzad
11)Stuart Broad (C)

i no its not the most strongest of teams, but i believe that international t20 sides, should be full of youngesters and also i feel that england should start again with their t20 side

Why no Kieswetter?He is actually younger than Davies and has done well for us in ODIs and WT20.And if you are talking about youngsters then surely James Taylor and Alex Hales are better than Joe Denly and Moeen Ali.

you asked what would be my side and i told ya lol, i didnt have to as this topic dosent call for it but i have

cricketfan90 wrote:you asked what would be my side and i told ya lol, i didnt have to as this topic dosent call for it but i have

No need to get angry.I was just asking you to the reasoning behind a couple of selections.thats all.

I wouldn't base too much on the Lions squads. On who was in the squad and who wasn't, Ashley Giles said in an interview that the selectors wanted to have a look at different players. That's why Woakes was playing for Warwickshire instead of the Lions, to give other bowlers a chance. Possibly that's the same reason why Hildreth, Gale and Rashid have been "dropped".

I have to say that I agree - the selectors have been watching Rashid and Hildreth for years, and surely know what they can do.

Makrish wrote:I wouldn't base too much on the Lions squads. On who was in the squad and who wasn't, Ashley Giles said in an interview that the selectors wanted to have a look at different players. That's why Woakes was playing for Warwickshire instead of the Lions, to give other bowlers a chance. Possibly that's the same reason why Hildreth, Gale and Rashid have been "dropped".

I have to say that I agree - the selectors have been watching Rashid and Hildreth for years, and surely know what they can do.

Then why was Bopara picked?

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:

cricketfan90 wrote:you asked what would be my side and i told ya lol, i didnt have to as this topic dosent call for it but i have

No need to get angry.I was just asking you to the reasoning behind a couple of selections.thats all.

not getting angry just saying....

cricketfan90 wrote:with the t20 side i would completely start again with a whole new side...

1)Joe Denly
2)Moeen Ali
3)Kevin Piertsen
4)Luke Wright
5)Eoin Morgan
6)Samit Patel
7)Steve Davies (WK)
8)Adil Rashid
9)Liam Plunkett
10)Ajmal Shahzad
11)Stuart Broad (C)

i no its not the most strongest of teams, but i believe that international t20 sides, should be full of youngesters and also i feel that england should start again with their t20 side

Few things that stand out from that :

Why would the worrld champions want to start again with their side? Theres some need for change but not complete revolution.
Having said that ...Luke Wright?
Adil Rashid is a better 4 day layer than he is a limited overs player. I honestly think it will do his international future more harm thatn good to trying and blood him in shorter forms then devleoped him into a test player.
Which leads to another point, limited overs internationals shouldnt be used as a breeding ground for test players and extended Lions squad. England should be picking the sides in the same way they do the test sides, ie developing and retaining players for that specific format.

Id see a T20 side based around KP, Morgan, Broad, Bresnan and Swann. The rest is open.

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:

Then why was Bopara picked?

Dunno. Maybe because he's scored runs recently, and had some basis for the selectors to pick him?

if ravi is scoring runs he plays, if he isnt then taylor plays

I think if we need a second spinner in ODIs and T20Is then Briggs is a better option than Rashid.
Rashid is a better f/c player though