England Test squad needs an Australia style purge

[Hasan123]

England need to pick bowlers on bowling merit before thinking about batting. There aren't loads of options in the batting department. I would like to see Hameed back in the team though.

 

[Bilal7]

I hope they play the same team they put out against New Zealand. Pakistan has a real chance of whitewashing them, InshAllah.

Best case scenario would be Pakistan thrashing England and forcing them to drop their dead-weight, bring back their quality players (Moeen, Hameed and Woakes) and then thrash the Indians in turn.

 

[HitWicket]

I hope they play the same team they put out against New Zealand. Pakistan has a real chance of whitewashing them, InshAllah.

Best case scenario would be Pakistan thrashing England and forcing them to drop their dead-weight, bring back their quality players (Moeen, Hameed and Woakes) and then thrash the Indians in turn.

I'd imagine Woakes will be back in the squad for the test series, Moeen was part of the dead-weight the entire winter, and Hameeds got an extremely poor county record since the start of last season.

 

[Xoib]

I hope they play the same team they put out against New Zealand. Pakistan has a real chance of whitewashing them, InshAllah.

Best case scenario would be Pakistan thrashing England and forcing them to drop their dead-weight, bring back their quality players (Moeen, Hameed and Woakes) and then thrash the Indians in turn.

sorry to break it to you Moin is part of the dead weight

 

[Xoib]

I can se ENgland beating Pakistan due to early summer condition and an inexperienced Pakistan side but I don't see them troubling India. If India can get through Anderson without much damage they will win the series easily.

 

[Robert]

Best case scenario would be Pakistan thrashing England and forcing them to drop their dead-weight, bring back their quality players (Moeen, Hameed and Woakes) and then thrash the Indians in turn.

England don’t know how to use Moeen. I think he should be in the side as a batter, with bowling as his second suit.

But he was so ineffective in Australia that they will look at other options. I would go with:

Hameed
Stoneman
Root
Malan
Bairstow
Stokes
Foakes (w)
TRJ
Broad
Anderson
Crane

I think Cook is finished. Maybe his eyes have gone, or the desire. Saw this with Gooch in his final year. A double century and otherwise a string of low scores.

 

[Markhor]

Bit shocked Ed Smith will be the new national selector.

He's a Moneyball enthusiast which may have helped his application, as well as being a former public schoolboy and mates at Middlesex with Andrew Strauss...

 

[Amjid Javed]

England don’t know how to use Moeen. I think he should be in the side as a batter, with bowling as his second suit.

But he was so ineffective in Australia that they will look at other options. I would go with:

Hameed
Stoneman
Root
Malan
Bairstow
Stokes
Foakes (w)
TRJ
Broad
Anderson
Crane

I think Cook is finished. Maybe his eyes have gone, or the desire. Saw this with Gooch in his final year. A double century and otherwise a string of low scores.

Intresting to see how such a batting line up like that would fair against pakistan/india bowling attacks this summer.

 

[Robert]

Intresting to see how such a batting line up like that would fair against pakistan/india bowling attacks this summer.

I think Pakistan and India will run rings round young Crane but we have to pick an attacking spin option and stick with him until he comes good.

 

[barah_admi]

What Australia style purge?

Anyway, English selectors have to be brave but their idiocy has already driven Plunkett and Rashid from the longer format of the game. Fast bowlers may be replaced, although the way Porter is being roundly ignored, Finn has been treated like trash for years, I don't have many hopes in that department.

Then we get to the batting where Cook's clout is such that he will likely play another season, Root can keep throwing unprepared pups into the lion's den at 3 and still be lauded and no true opener of world class quality has been found.

Having said that, in home conditions, they should still be good enough to beat this years tourists.

 

[Abid Z]

What should be England's test squad for the Pakistan series?

In early summer broad and Anderson backed by woakes and stokes are enough to run through this Pakistan batting line up.

Cook, root and bairstow are probably the ones to drop anchor and score big. Pakistan bowling will have to on top form to provide any challenges and make this a contest. I expect this to be a series where bowlers dictate the course of the match and series.