England V India Series Ratings

So the whitewash is over with a spectacular unraveling of the Indian batting lineup from 262-3 to 283 allout.
Here are my ratings for the series.

England.
Andrew Strauss 5(The England captain has had a series that he would cherish, as under his leadership, England climbed to the top of the test rankings, and inflicted a complete thrashing on India with a whitewash. But the captain couldn't keep his high standards up with the bat. got a few starts but never really converted any of those into a big hundred. Also put down a couple of chances in the slips).
Alastair Cook 7(Cook struggled in the early parts of the series like his captain, but played a monumental innings in the 3rd match and got a few starts as well. One big knock in a 4 match series shouldn't give you a 7, but it really was a massive one).
Jonathan Trott 4(Trott got injured midway during the series, and apart from a fine hand in the first innings at Lord's he didn't post a big one).
Kevin Pietersen 9(The most consistent England batsman for England. when the big stage came, Pietersen showed his class. 2 hundreds, both biggies, one a trend setting double in asituation when England otherwise struggled a bit against the Indian bowling. 2 more 50 + scores in the other 2 matches, and some fill up overs to help the bowling unit and a few catches in the field).
Ian Bell 8(Like Pietersen, Bell also scored 2 hundreds in the series and continues to show his class. wasted a few starts, and of course was involved in that silly runout drama).
Eoin Morgan 6(scored a hundred and a quick 70 in the series, but Morgan needs to work on his technique and achiev greater consistency. Questions on his test match abilities haven't quite gone away, but Morgan showed enough to give him more chances, particularly in spin friendly conditions).
Matt Prior 8(showed with the bat in the early parts of the series at crucial moments, and was mostly tidy behind the wickets. had a bit of a trouble keeping to Swann on a turning pitch in the last match).
Stuart Broad 9(What a fine series he had. Lot of us wouldn't have had him in the side at the beginning of the series. But Broad showed with both bat and ball throughout the series. Without him the Trent Bridge turn around would not have been possible, and even in the first match, he was the difference between the 2 teams. Broad managed to keep the level of intensity up throughout the series, and very importantly, just like his fuller length, he was mostly well behaved!!).
Graeme Swann 7(Swann came into his real self in the last match picking up 9 wickets. He may not have picked many wickets otherwise, but other than in Trent Bridge, he bowled with decent control, and chipped in with a wicket or 2 while the seamers were inflicting most of the damage. More importantly, in the first match, along with KP he changed a good team total into a fine one, and his partnership with Broad was crucial in turning the Trent Bridge crisis around).
Chris Tremlett 5(Lot of people expected Tremlett to be the main threat in the England attack. He did no harm for that reputation in the only match he played by troubling each of India's top order batter. He didn't have many wickets to show for all that though, and then his participation in the rest of the series was limited by an injury).
James Anderson 8(Jimmy show why he's the leadder of the attack with a consistent display throughout the series. when the ball swung he was nearly unplayable, and even when it didn't he proved to be a real impact bowler. He really made some early strikes that put the Indian batting under pressure from the outset).
Tim Bresnan 8(Stormed into the team when Chris Tremlett got injured, and has made a strong claim to retain him even when Tremlett will be available. a fine all-round performace from the big man.
Ravi Bopara 4(Bopara had a tough time. Came into a situation where he couldn't have succeeded and failed, and although looked in decent touch in the last match, didn't have the time to go on to a big one. His bowling didn't prove no more threatening than that of Pietersen or Trott).

India.
Gautam Gambhir 4(A series of injuries and unconverted starts for Gambhir).
Abhinav Mukund 2(is a future prospect, but not quite ready for international cricket as yet).
Rahul Dravid 9(was outstanding throughout the series, the only one who really stood up when everyone else around him were busy going down. 3 hundreds in the series, and no other Indian scored another one. His reflexes in the field may have slowed a littl but a real class act from the wall.
Sachin Tendulkar 5(2 50s and no ton of tons for Tendulkar. got a few starts, but never played a Tendulkar innings).
VVS Laxman 5(Laxman sparkled briefly, but no big scores from India's crisis man in a series where they moved from one crisis to another).
Suresh Raina 3(played 1 good innings otherwise looked like a walking wicket).
Mahendra Singh Dhoni 5(A series the Indian captain would love to forget as soon as possible. showed some fight in the 3rd test, otherwise not much of a show with the bat, and had a poor series with the gloves).
Harbhajan Singh 1(was a liability with the ball in the 2 matches he played, and even the timely runs didn't come although he scored a 46 when all was lost in the 2nd game. Got injured and missed the rest of the series). Praveen Kumar 8(The only Indian bowler who looked like picking up a wicket. Praveen surpassed expectations. Swung the ball and showed great control although bowled with no great pace. His lower order hitting was wonderful entertainment. unfortunately missed out on the last match).
Zaheer Khan 5(He was on the field for a session and a half, and in that time Zaheer made the Indian bowling unit look much better than it actually is. But he was not fit enough and India really missed him).
Ishant Sharma 5(Ishant bowled well in patches, but was never consistent enough).
S Sreesanth 4(like Sharma Sreesanth also bowled a few good spels and overs, but lacked any consistency).
Yuvraj Singh 5(What an unfortunate series for Yuvraj. Got an infection after his steller performance in the WC and missed the WI tour, Didn't get selected for the first test, when he got his chance in place of the injured Gambhir, Yuvraj fought it out with a 50 in one of those rare passages India won in the series. Bowled way better than India's main spinners and then again got injured. Questions about his test technique and temprament are very much there, but Yuvraj didn't even get a propper chance to suggest anything).
Amit Mishra 6(like Harbhajan was found wanting with the ball, but contributed runs that enabled India to put up some fight in the last match. In fact looked a better batter than a bowler. Bowls a hell lot of no balls for a spinner).
Virender Sehwag 2(was brought back, as is been made clear now without being fully fit, and that showed in his performance. a total of 41 runs in 4 innings).
RP Singh 1(never deserved to be here, and proved it with his dreadful bowling. bashed a few with the bat to get India to 300 for the first time in the series).

All about right except for KP

He was a 7 or 8 at highest

KP was Englands leading run-scorer Gregers..

Gregers wrote:All about right except for KP

He was a 7 or 8 at highest

He always has had different standards hasn't he?
You giving him a 7 means 9 otherwise. Your expectations of the man are too high!.

Excellent ratings msp83.

I know, as an Indian fan, it was a difficult series for you to follow but not once did you hang your head and were there behind your team from start until finish.

I really hope that this wont affect India's ODI side too much and we see them being very competitive.

I just want to see Sachin get his ton of tons here.

eirebilly wrote:Excellent ratings msp83.

I know, as an Indian fan, it was a difficult series for you to follow but not once did you hang your head and were there behind your team from start until finish.

I really hope that this wont affect India's ODI side too much and we see them being very competitive.

I just want to see Sachin get his ton of tons here.

Of course it was tough Billy. But one thing in my favor was that it was England and not any other team that was inflicting all these shame on the Indian team. England is, alongside India my favorit side. But even then, this really was tough.
Anyways, the ODIs are a different thing all together, and I do hope the Indians will make a comeback.
But already there are issues, Sehwag and Ishant Sharma won't be available. But 2 really exciting prospects, Varun Aaron who bowls FAST and Ajinkya Rahane who averages in the late 60s in FC cricket are getting their first squad opportunity. I hope Aaron gets the entire series, and Rahane a few games at least. In fact I would have him in place of Raina, but think Raina's previous good showing in ODIs would give him a few more games.

England

Strauss- 7, a couple of good knocks and some inspiring captaincy
Cook-8, apart from the 294 didnt have too many other decent knocks
Trott-4
KP-9
Bell-9
Morgan-9
Prior-8
Swann-5, apart from oval test, didnt do much with bat or ball.
Bresnan-8
Broad-9, man of the series for me, very good with bat and ball.
Anderson-8
Tremlett-5
Bopara-7

India
Mukund-2
Gambhir-5
Dravid-8
Tendulkar-5
Laxman-6
Raina-1
Dhoni-5
Harbajhan-4
Ishant-6
Sreesanth-4
Zaheer-4
RP swing-4
Mishra-6
Sehwag-1

England

Strauss 4

Captained well but never really got going with the bat.

Cook 6

One big score and quite a few failures. Missed out at the Oval.

Jonathon Trott 5

Just the 1 innings of note before injury in the 2nd test.

Kevin Pieterson 9

Averaged over 100 with the bat, 1 double 100, close to another. Destructive when in the mood.

Ian Bell 9

Put to rest his demons over batting #3. 2 very important innings helped shape this series.

Eoin Morgan 7

Made some big scores and some failures. Secured his place for the winter, but doubts persist about his long term test place.

Matt Prior 9

The world's premier wicketkeeper batsman. Could get into this side as a specialist keeper or batsman on current form.

Stuart Broad 10

After narrowing avoiding being dropped, Broad had a world class string of performances in the series. Might well have saved the 2nd test for England with bat and ball.

Graeme Swann 7

Devastating when conditions suited him, expensive when not.

James Anderson 8

Often set the tone early for England in the field

Chris Tremlett 4

Missed out through injury after the 1st test

Ravi Bopara 5

Can consider himself unlucky, came into a lose-lose situation in the 3rd test on the back of a big partnership, and England declare due to rain when he gets going in the 4th.

Tim Bresnan 8

Delivered a series of performances most didn't think he had in him.

India
Gautam Gambhir 4

Injured a couple of times, never got going with the bat. Sky not too impressed with his attitude.

Virinder Sehwag 1

Why he bothered getting on a plane in the first place is beyond me.

Rahul Dravid 9

Different class to all other Indian batsman

Sachin Tendulkar 5

All hype, no substance on this tour.

VVS Laxman 6

Had an underrated series for me, was unlucky to get a few great deliveries.

Suresh Raina 5

One innings of note, he better be ready for some chin music outside the sub continent.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni 4

He got to throw the bat around when the game was lost in Birmingham, under par in every other regard though.

Harbajan Singh 1

I can't remember him doing anything.

Zaheer Khan 6

Looked unplayable until injury.

Ishant Sharma 4

Aside from a couple of good spells, largely anomynous.

Praveen Kumar 8

Worked hard for his wickets. Probably needs another yard of pace to be truly threatening.

Abhinav Mukund 3

Made 64 runs overall, 49 of them in one innings.

Sreesanth 4

Had his moments at TB in the first innings.

Amit Mishra 6

Instantly better than Harbajan.

RP Singh 1

I fear for Indian cricket.

cricketfan90 wrote:Bopara-7

cricketfan90 wrote:
Morgan-9

Dravid-8

msp is pretty on the money, for me.

Bopara averaged 51

Good ratings MSP, I pretty much agree with them.

As someone said above, I'd like to thank you for your contributions in what has been a very difficult series for India and their fans - you have conducted yourself very well at all times, and therefore allowed there to be some great discussion between opposing fans.

After the offerings of some on here in the past months, it was a breath of fresh air to discuss the series with an Indian fan that was wholly unbiased and never intent upon winding others up.

Hats off to you, and I daresay you will be able to give us some stick back during the one dayers

Good ratings MSP.

Strauss - 7 Couple of decent knocks, captained well.
Cook - 8 One awesome innings worthy of 8 on its own.
Trott - 5 Decent at lords then got injured.
Pietersen - 9.5 Englands best batsman .
Bell - 9 Incredibly good, but not quite as good as KP.
Morgan - 6 Averaged in mid 30's in a series where the England batsmen dominated.
Bopara - 5 One decent innings, one poor one
Prior - 8 Good behing the stumps and with the bat.
Bresnan - 10 Awesome with bat and ball.
Broad - 10 Same as above
Swann - 6 Would've been lower had it not been for this test
Anderson - 8 Bowled well but not as good as Broad or Bresnan
Tremlett - 6 Decent in 1st test then got injured



Sehwag - 1 Averaged 10, didn't look fit.
Gambhir - 3 Didnt make one fifty.
Mukund - 3 Never looked completely comfortable while batting.
Dravid - 9 Only India batsmen to emerge with any credit. Superb effort.
Tendulkar - 4 So much expectation, sub 40 average.
Laxman - 3 Averaged below 30, looked clueless vs swing.
Raina - 2 Would've been 1 had it not been for his bowling.
Yuvraj - 5 Ok effort in the only test he played.
Dhoni 4 - Some decent innings with the bat but his captaincy and keeping was poor.
Harbhajan - 1 Very poor. I expected better of India's senior spinner.
Mishra - 4 0 points for bowling but he was ok with the bat.
Praveen - 6 Only Indian bowler that looked average.
Sreesanth - 2 Inconsistent
Sharma - 4 A few decent spells but nothing more
RP Singh - 0 What was he even doing in the squad?
Zaheer - 3 Looked unfit. Never looked like lasting the whole series and guess what? he didn't

England

Strauss - 7 6 for his batting, where he got a few starts but didn't manage to go on and get a big score, and an extra point for his captaincy.
Cook - 7 A fantastic innings at Edgbaston, but overall a poor series with the bat by his recent standards, and a dropped catch or two.
Trott - 5 Injured at Lord's where he had looked in good touch in the first innings before bravely battling away with an injury in the second.
Pietersen - 10 I don't usually like to award a 10, but KP was England's best batsman in this series, scoring stacks of runs with two big'uns. Looked back to his imperious best.
Bell - 9 In any other series he would have been the star batsman with some outstanding performances, but was slightly overshadowed by the man above him. Beautiful to watch, and has really arrived as a world class Test batsman.
Morgan - 6 A good, if slightly fortuitous century at Edgbaston, but averaged in the mid 30's overall when all of his contemporaries shone.
Bopara - 5 Poor innings at Edgbaston, but on a hiding to nothing we must remember, and a decent knock at the Oval.
Prior - 8 Solid wicketkeeping, as we have come to expect from Prior, and some cracking contributions with the bat. Played selflessly.
Bresnan - 9 Very good with the ball, improving his already impressive bowling average. A model of consistency. Also, looks to be really developing as a batsman, some big contributions with proper cricket shots.
Broad - 10 Another that provided high quality all-round contributions. An awesome average with the ball, and some great batting, too. Came into this series under huge pressure, and has proved all of the doubters to have been horribly wrong.
Swann - 6 Didn't have much to do in the first three Tests as England's seamers did the damage. India almost saw Swann as a brief respite and attacked him. Fantastic 2nd innings bowling at the Oval.
Anderson - 8 Yet again showed tremendous skill and control with the swinging ball, bowling some absolute jaffa's at VVS Laxman and Tendulkar in particular. Leader of the attack and lived up to that billing.
Tremlett - 6 A decent first Test before getting injured. May struggle to regain his place now.

India

Sehwag - 1 King pair at Edgbaston and nothing to write home about at the Oval. Looked out of shape.
Gambhir - 2 Poor series without managing a single 50.
Mukund - 3 Decent innings first up at Lords but his inexperience showed and struggled with the swinging new ball.
Dravid - 9 Fantastic batting, and a perfect display of technique and concentration. India's only century maker. Still well and truly 'The Wall'.
Tendulkar - 5 Got a couple of good scores, and looked very well set at Edgbaston until that very unlucky run out. So much expectation, but just wasn't his series.
Laxman - 2 Poor average and looked to struggle with the swing of Anderson in particular. Maybe the 1st of the big three to be replaced?
Raina - 1 Atrocious batting, clueless against the short ball. Buffet bowling, but did chip in with a couple of wickets.
Yuvraj - 4 Not a bad effort first up in the only Test that he played in, but not sure he quite cuts it at this level.
Dhoni 3 - Poor keeping throughout, and some poor batting until he played in true Dhoni style in the Edgbaston Test.
Harbhajan - 1 Harmless bowling, and not the Harbhajan of old. Past his best?
Mishra - 4 Very poor bowling, but some valuable contributions with the bat.
Kumar - 8 India's most consistent bowler, bowled some great areas with decent swing. Very economical, and some cavalier performances with the bat. Would be a great signing for an English County next season.
Sreesanth - 2 Inconsistent but entertaining, as always.
Sharma - 4 Some very threatening and destructive spells but they were all too rare.
RP Singh - 1 Didn't look fit, or a shade of the bowler that we saw over here last time round. Have to question why he was selected without any prior preparation.
Zaheer - 3 Looked out of shape. Could have been India's one opportunity to make early inroads into the England batting lineup but was injured. Fast bowlers cannot operate without being fit and in shape.

People are a bit hard on Bhaji, bear in mind how Swann and all the part time spinner go ton on the same wickets. If he'd been bowling at the oval he might have actually had a chance. Its not like Mishra came in and bamboozled people with his trickery.
Swann had possibly his worst game in an England shirt in the first test and was averaging over 100 per wicket for most of the series.
Some of the ratings of Boapra are tough too, he was in a no win situation 3rd test and did everything he could in the 4th, Id give him a 6. In any other series an average of 50+ would get a batsman a decent rating. Especially when Morgans getting higher ratings despite several faliures.


England should be at leats 3 rating points a man higher than India on average, only Dravid and Kumar did theirjob..no one esle should be getting above 5 form India.

Here are mine:

England

Strauss: 5 - Got a few starts and didnt convert, still unconvinced by his captaincy and dropped a few absolute sitters
Cook: 7 - One great game but not up to the high standards he's set himself this year
Trott: 5 - Didn't really do much before his injury
Pietersen: N/A - I'm not giving KP a rating as no matter what I give him people will complain. He was nowhere near a 10 tho.
Bell: 9 - England's Batsmen of the series. He is glorious to watch (unlike the man above) and held together two brilliant batting performances by England. His catching was sensational as well.
Morgan: 5 - Shown up again when the pressure was on, scored a hundred when it wasnt... Still not convinced he's a test bastmen
Bopara: 4 - Poor Bopara, he couldn't do anything right given the time of his call up. Should be his final appearance at test level though.
Prior: 9 - The best I've ever seen him keep and showed why he is such a dangerous batsmen as well. Best Wicketkeeper/Batsmen in the world? Probably.
Bresnan: 9 - Very close to a perfect 10 but as he only played 3 tests he cannot be awarded that. Bowled brilliantly, batted even better. Englands lucky charm as we've only ever won with him in the side!
Broad: 10 - Man of the Series undoubtably. Sensational with both bat and ball, a true all rounder on this series performance.
Swann: 5 - Not the best of series on wickets that wern't conducive to him, brilliant in the final day of the series though.
Anderson: 8 - Often overshadowed by the brilliance of Bresnan and Broad but was consistently good. Had Laxman, Sehwag and Tendulkar in his pocket for most of the series.
Tremlett: 5 - Very unlucky with the injury and must now be behind Bresnan and Finn in the pecking order. He will be back though.

India

Sehwag: 2 - King pair in his first game but a well fought 30-odd in the last innings. Probably still injured and was forced back too early.
Gambhir: 2 - Didn't do anything inparticular. Got two bad injuries but never stood up.
Mukund: 3 - A definite talent for the future but against the swing of Broad and Anderson he was clueless at times.
Dravid: 9.5 - India's man of the series. At times it was Dravid vs England and he proved why he is the wall.
Tendulkar: 6 - Very unlucky whenever he got going and should have got his hundredth hundred on the last day. Not his series though.
Laxman: 3 - I was very disappointed by VVS. One decent score which he threw away and looked disinterested.
Raina: 4 - Everyone seems to have forgotten his great innings in the first test! And he chipped in with wickets and fielded well. He is one for the future as well.
Yuvraj: 4 - Played well in the one test he played in but his technique is still questionable at test level
Dhoni: 3 - Rubbish with the gloves, rubbish with the captaincy and rubbish (until Edgbaston) with the bat. However he bowled well in the first test.
Harbhajan: 1 - Gets a point for turning up. He was so bad it was an embarrassment.
Mishra: 5- Didnt do much with the ball but batted brilliantly in the last test when almost all of the "batsmen" were losing their heads and their wickets
Kumar: 9 - I thought he was brilliant. Bowled his heart out for three tests and chipped in with cavalier-esque batting more times than not. He was always smiling and can hold his head very high from this series.
Sreesanth: 2 - Entertaining but fairly untreatening.
Sharma: 4 - At his best he was unstoppable, at his worst he was easy pickings. Bit of an Enigma for large portions of the series.
RP Singh: 1 - Not played since January and really looked like it. Being picked for the last test ahead of Munaf Patel was ridiculous.
Zaheer: 3 - Looked dangerous on day one of the series then got injured and that was that.

Thoughts all?

An average of 50+ cannot count surely with regard to ratings when it was only over two innings and one of them was a not out... Around 4/5 is fair.

Gregers - to say KP was nowhere near a 10 is, quite simply, ludicrous. Our best batsman averaging over 100, and had no not outs to boost it, it was a truly emphatic series from him.

A ten is reserved for the man of the series. That was Broad.

Hence KP already cannot get a 10.

Bresnan gets a 9 as he was very close to MOTS.
Dravid gets 9.5 as we was the second best player.
Bell get a 9 as I'm a huge fan of his and love watching him.

KP (If I had rated him) would have been an 8.5 at highest

So despite averaging more and scoring more than Bell, he gets rated less? Very logical. You're supposed to take bias out of the equation when handing out ratings.

He also dropped a couple of catches. Does that not come into the equation?

Plus Bell took that stunner of a catch to remove Mishra in the first innings, thats worth at least a point in itself.

Bell also got himself run out, he should lose a point.

Agree with Fists, Gregers. Ratings should be given without the influence of bias. I'm not KP's biggest fan. For a long time i've felt his ego has stopped him becoming an all time great, but at times in this series he was sensational.

I think alot of good came from him playing with Bell rather than Trott. He didn't seem to have that pressure to score at a high pace to compensate for Trott's defensiveness.

That is an interesting last point you make, KB. KP and Bell have formed some good partnerships, and out of all the potential partnerships in this England lineup that one is most certainly my favourite to watch.

Pure class and timing combined with sheer power and arrogance. Two very fine players, and very enjoyable to watch for contrasting reasons.

I was discussing it last night, i can't see where you fit Trott into the side now? England seemed to have a lot more rhythm throughout the team when Trott wasn't there. He's not going to come in at 5 or 6 and i think it would be unfair on Bell to move him from 3 after such an influential series.

It is a tough one, and a 'mini dilemma', so to speak.

Realistically I think Trott has to return to 3, based on his pure numbers since his introduction to that spot, and Bell will reluctantly return to 5. I do prefer Bell at 3 to 5 though, gives him that bit more time batting with the top order, and since overcoming his early career mental fratilties has now matured into one of England's finest batsmen for a long long time. Also, his technique is almost flawless, making him the perfect number 3 in all conditions.

Agree on Bell. He has to play at 3 now.

Strauss/Taylor
Cook
Bell
KP
Morgan/Taylor
Hildreth

Fists of Fury wrote:An average of 50+ cannot count surely with regard to ratings when it was only over two innings and one of them was a not out... Around 4/5 is fair.

Well it depends if you are rating on contribution to the series or how the individual performed in the chances given.
If a player came in for one test of a 5 match series and got a double hundred in the one innings they had a bat in would you give them a 5?Bopara had one faliure one success ... thats an average performance, so should get an average score of 5/6. He didnt disgrace himself with the ball or in the field by any means, and the faliure innings came at a no hope moment so id lean toward 6. If you are rating purely on overall contribution gfair enough, but Collingwood got an MBE for a hell of a lot less. In the context of that a 4 seems a bit mean....and Id say that if he was a 4 then Morgan must be a 3...where that leaves the Indian batsmen I dont know.
He didnt play badly, he just didnt get a chance to contribute much.

Agree on KP, he couldnt have done much more over a series. Everyone was wetting themselves over Trott and Cook in the Ashes, surely its his turn now?

Gregers, I don't understand your thought process at times, why would you tinker with such a settled and effective batting lineup?

Trott will return at 3, have no doubts about that, and Bell will return to 5. The fact that you are suggesting the possible replacement of Strauss, a very good batsman and very good captain with an outstanding recent success rate is beyond me.

Morgan is the only one that is under any sort of pressure.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Fists of Fury wrote:An average of 50+ cannot count surely with regard to ratings when it was only over two innings and one of them was a not out... Around 4/5 is fair.

Well it depends if you are rating on contribution to the series or how the individual performed in the chances given.
If a player came in for one test of a 5 match series and got a double hundred in the one innings they had a bat in would you give them a 5?Bopara had one faliure one success ... thats an average performance, so should get an average score of 5/6. He didnt disgrace himself with the ball or in the field by any means, and the faliure innings came at a no hope moment so id lean toward 6. If you are rating purely on overall contribution gfair enough, but Collingwood got an MBE for a hell of a lot less. In the context of that a 4 seems a bit mean....and Id say that if he was a 4 then Morgan must be a 3...where that leaves the Indian batsmen I dont know.
He didnt play badly, he just didnt get a chance to contribute much.

Agree on KP, he couldnt have done much more over a series. Everyone was wetting themselves over Trott and Cook in the Ashes, surely its his turn now?

I gave him a 5, which I felt was about right given the circumstances and the fact that he had one failure and one moderate success, as you say.

Can't see why Strauss would be under threat, or what this sudden love in with Taylor is all about. He's completely unproven at Test level. He should go with the development sqaud to Sri Lanka and then if he performs well maybe blood him into the side.

As for Bopara, the guy is a joke. His attitude is awful and he thinks he's alot better than he is. I sincerely hope he doesn't grace a test side again.

Personally I think he might well have retired from test cricket come the next series, what more can he achieve? He's a double ashes winning captain and taken us to number one in the test rankings. The fact that you can't see that is beyond me.

Morgan shouldn't be in the test side.

Trott should have to fight to reclaim his place, after Bell's performances the fact that you seam to think that Trott should just go straight back to three is laughable. Belly at three seams a much stronger option, unfortunately for Trott time is against him and he had the place snatched away from him by two brilliant innings.

Retire? Why?

He's only 34 and he's just got them to the #1 side in the world. Providing his form doesn't dip you can guarantee that he'll be going for a hat-trick of Ashes wins.

No no no, you've got this completely wrong.

Trott hasn't 'lost' his place, he simply got injured. Had Trott been performing poorly then yes, maybe he would have to fight for it, but given the fact the since coming into this side he has averaged in excess of 55 and has continued that form in each and every series he has played, his place is not under threat.

We were successful with Trott at 3 and Bell at 5, and that is what the selectors will revert to.

With regard to Strauss, there is no way he will be retiring any time soon. He has the opportunity to go on and become one of England all time great captains, and he is very important to this team in terms of his leadership from the front, calm persona and measured captaincy style. He can achieve more by keeping us at number 1, winning in the sub continent, beating South Afica - there are plenty more accolades to gain.

There may be an opportunity to rest./.rotate peopel for the Pakistan and Sri Lanka tours in the winter but I cant see them ditching Trott all of a sudden when he is the one with the highest batting average in the side and only a few months ago was the god of English (well english qualified) cricket...especialy when you have guys like Morgan struggling down the order.
Hes also the nearest thing to a reserve opener England have.

On trickier pitches against better bowling Trotts concentration and solidity will be vital at 3.

I think Strauss will stay for at least the India tour, and will probably want to do the Australia home series in 2013...but the away tour may be a step too far. Hes one of the weaker links in the side (which says a more about the quality of our batting than him being bad) having been on a run of medicore form for a couple of years now...theres just no challenge to him as an opener and his captaincy is unsinkable

KB
Trott will come back into the side at 3 and Bell revert to 5 once fit, although it is good to see that, ate least agaisnt this abject Indian bowling attack, Bell can fill in at 3 if required.

The only real question for this winter is whether Morgan retains his place at 6, or whether we either bring in Samit Patel as a batsman / spinner all-rounder or whether we push the lower middle order up one spot each and bring in Panesar (or A N Other) as a second front line spinner.

For those considering their ratings for England, here are a few averages and comments:

Strauss - 228 runs @ 38. Got to double figures all 6 innings but failed to go on
Cook - 348 @ 58. Obviously the 294 is the bulk of these, otherwise disappointing
Trott - 98 @ 24.5. Compromised by injury in the 2nd test
Pieterson - 533 @106.6. Double hundred, big hundred, 2 fifties, one start and one failure
Bell - 504 @ 84. Double hundred, big hundred, 3 starts and one failure
Morgan - 194 @ 32.3. One hundred, one fifty, one start and 3 failures
Bopara - One failure, one reasonable not out
Prior - 271 @ 67.8. One century, two fifties, one start (not out) and two failures (slogging once)
Bresnan - 154 runs @ 77 (2 fifities in 3 attempts) and 16 wickets @ 16.3
Broad - 182 runs @ 60.7 ( 2 fifties and a 40 plus one failure) and 25 wickets at 13.8
Swann - 55 runs @ 18.3 and 13 wickets @ 40.7
Tremlett - 4 wickets @ 31 in his one match
Anderson - 21 wickets at 25.7.

Shows that just about everyone contributed at one point or another - not Swann's finest series, but he did his stuff in the last innings. Broad and Bresnan are unlikely ever to have better series. Great efforts from Bell and Pieterson.
Cook, bar one innings, and Strauss will consider this a missed opportunity from a personal level.

How can you say that Trott can just waltz back into bat at three after the series that Bell had.

How about:

Cook
Trott
Bell
KP
Strauss (c)
Patel

Then Trott can play his game at the top of the order, this frees up strauss down the order where his slow dip in batting form wont matter as much. Plus he cant do any worse than Morgan/Bopara have

Panesar will go on the tour, he's got 60 odd wickets this season i believe?

Gregers,

Strauss won't step down from the top of the order. On his day he's one of the best openers in the world. 9 months ago him and Cook were taking apart the Aussies in there own back yard and now your calling for him to be dropped down the order?

The Trott situation is a headache, albeit a good one. But logically, with nobody to fill in at 5, it makes no sense to remove Trott.

Again, no. Strauss is an opener with a very good understanding with Cook, and an extremely healthy opening wicket average between them.

Strauss
Cook
Trott
KP
Bell

That is how our top 5 will look, rest assured.

The only issue is the number 6 slot. In the subcontinent we may go with 2 spinners (hopefully Panesar as opposed to Patel if we do), and as such Prior (who is certainly good enough) may slide up to 6.

Fists of Fury wrote:
The only issue is the number 6 slot. In the subcontinent we may go with 2 spinners (hopefully Panesar as opposed to Patel if we do), and as such Prior (who is certainly good enough) may slide up to 6.

Remembering as well that Broad and Bresnan are both handy with the bat, you can afford to move them up and Swann can get a few runs when required.

Panesar has been a revelation for us this year so if he doesn't go then I'll eat my hat.

KB: Strauss was one of the best openers in the world, recently (SL and India) he's looked fairly average. Luckily there is a large gap for him to get his form back. Dropping him down the innings could work well. Bell should be three tho, that much is clear. Trott at 4 if we lose two early wickets. KP at four if we don't?

Yeah, depth of batting is of no issue to this current England side, hence why I think Panesar should be chosen.

He has had a very good season at Sussex, and I'd much prefer a proper spinner as opposed to someone who can bat and bowl a bit like Patel - I really wouldn't see him causing some of the better Sri Lanka players too many problems.

Gregers wrote:
KB: Strauss was one of the best openers in the world, recently (SL and India) he's looked fairly average. Luckily there is a large gap for him to get his form back. Dropping him down the innings could work well. Bell should be three tho, that much is clear. Trott at 4 if we lose two early wickets. KP at four if we don't?

Two words...

Alastair Cook.

Gregers wrote:Panesar has been a revelation for us this year so if he doesn't go then I'll eat my hat.

KB: Strauss was one of the best openers in the world, recently (SL and India) he's looked fairly average. Luckily there is a large gap for him to get his form back. Dropping him down the innings could work well. Bell should be three tho, that much is clear. Trott at 4 if we lose two early wickets. KP at four if we don't?

Again, no! I really don't see why you feel it necessary to tinker with what has been the most successful batting lineup in the world in recent times.

One hallmark of this England side is consistency. As such, you can be sure that they won't have some sort of flexible batting order system, and it wouldn't make sense to anyway after the success of the individuals at their respective positions.

Cook was much younger than Strauss is now tho.

And we could use the series against Pakistan (who shouldn't cause us too many problems) to either alter the side slightly or bleed in some youngsters. Otherwise we will end up like Australia are now, having to alter the entire side as the old guard moves on

Fists are you actually Andy Flower in disguise?

Ha, no mate, but I fully agree with his cricketing philosophies, and think that by following these he has done a tremendous job and forged a fantastically settled team. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Do you think it would be a good bet on James Hidreth never playing for England?

Most likely, yes. How old is Hildreth now?

Shame really as he is a very good player, though I guess he has just been a victim of the times in that several other high class English batsman have shared his era.

Gregers wrote:How can you say that Trott can just waltz back into bat at three after the series that Bell had.

How about:

Cook
Trott
Bell
KP
Strauss (c)
Patel

Then Trott can play his game at the top of the order, this frees up strauss down the order where his slow dip in batting form wont matter as much. Plus he cant do any worse than Morgan/Bopara have

Strauss has opened all his life and he will continue to open.

Gregers wrote:Cook was much younger than Strauss is now tho.

And we could use the series against Pakistan (who shouldn't cause us too many problems) to either alter the side slightly or bleed in some youngsters. Otherwise we will end up like Australia are now, having to alter the entire side as the old guard moves on

Fists are you actually Andy Flower in disguise?

Doesn't matter, the principle is the same. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Strauss isn't stupid, he'll know from watching Vaughan step down that you go when there is no way back. At the moment he shouldn't even consider going.

We're not the old guard. There is a reason we haven't handed a new cap to anyone in over a year. When the time is right, new players will be brought in, but right now, this is the best 'squad' in years and should be kept together. If guys like Taylor are the real deal, then they should have no problem settling in, just like Bresnan, Finn etc have no problem coming in.

Hildreth is 25ish isn't he?

Should be in the side over Morgan