ODI Squad for Pakistan and Sri Lanka
The one day squads for this winter are where it becomes
considerably trickier given England’s inconsistent form in the shorter formats
of the game and the trashing they took in India. With conditions likely to be
similar in UAE and Sri Lanka the selectors possibly need to look at mixing up
the squad and looking at other options.
Alastair Cook
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Eoin Morgan
Samit Patel
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Steven Finn
And this is where the definites in my mind end. I’d
expect all of these to be selected if they are fit. Tim Bresnan is probably the
biggest name who I haven’t selected. Bresnan has been a regular in the ODI team
for a while now and his combative batting at no.8 is very useful. But his
bowling on the whole in ODI cricket has been poor. He currently averages 37.51 which for an
opening bowler by any accounts is terrible. He should be along with Stuart
Broad the pivot around who the team is built. Both bowl reasonably quick and
should contribute key runs from 7-9 at a quick rate. The problem is at present
he doesn’t take any wickets – you need your opening bowlers to take wickets.
I’d be much happier if he was a first or second change bowler. The fact is he’s
been poor his whole ODI career, so I think he needs a break from the team to
think about how he’s going to adopt and get better as an ODI player- because as
I say he should eventually return to the team and become a key component of the
team.
Jade Dernbach
Stuart Meaker
James Harris/ Chris Woakes
Jade Dernbach probably deserves another chance and
his variation is definitely something England can do with in ODI cricket. Jimmy
Anderson is a poor bowler in ODI cricket, especially in Asia where there isn’t
much on offer for him early in the innings; he should be left at home to
concentrate on test cricket. If Bresnan is left at home there may be a need for
Anderson’s added experience. Stuart Meaker did OK in India and as a skiddy
bowler should perform well in the subcontinent and due to the lack of other
options should get another opportunity. There’s possibly one more spot for a
bowler who can bat a bit. The two choices for me are either Chris Woakes or
James Harris from Glamorgan. Harris has progressed as a batsman moving as high
as 8 this season and averaged 28.78 and had more opportunities in the One Day
game when previously Glamorgan had opted to rest him. Woakes is still the
better batsmen though and I would say that they’re relatively similar in their bowling
although Woakes is clearly a considerably better 4 day bowler than one day
where he is expensive; it’s maybe time to give Harris the chance to impress.
Craig Kieswetter
Jonny Bairstow
The wicketkeeping spot is still up for debate after
Craig Kieswetter’s inconsistent batting and wicketkeeping in recent times. I
still see loads of talent there with the bat and if he eventually gets it right
I can see him being a key player in the England ODI setup. His hard hitting
ability from the top of the order is something England lack and there is a need
to persevere with him. One only has to remember the terrible time Matt Prior
had in Sri Lanka behind the stumps to see that if there is enough talent there
eventually the star quality should add – Kieswetter definitely to my mind has
the talent with the bat. Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are both options in the
lower middle order if England wanted to go that way with their wicketkeepers
but both are still worse keepers than Kieswetter. Bairstow probably gets the nod as a batsman
alone on the fact that he can do the wicketkeeping if there is an injury to
Kieswetter.
James Taylor
Moeen Ali/ Stuart Borthwick
I have dropped both Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara from
the previous India tour. Bell may well make his way back into the ODI team,
although it’s hard to see how there is space for him with Cook as captain and
Trott in the top 3. Bell needs to bat in the top 3 in ODI cricket because he
doesn’t have the game to come in during the middle overs and accelerate.
England and Bell would be better served by resting him from the series –
there’s no point taking him as a backup batsman when he is so vital to the test
team. Bopara similarly to the tests is wearing my patience – a strike rate of
74 in the modern game is just not good enough.
With Bell and Bopara dropping out there is an
additional spot for another batsmen and it should be time to have a look at
James Taylor. He has proved adaptable in ODI cricket and with Eoin Morgan and
Kevin Pietersen back in the team there should be less pressure on his shoulders
if he gets a chance.
Which leaves the final spinners spot. Danny Briggs
may well have got a tour this winter were it not for the injuries that cut
short his season. Keedy and Kerrigan are primarily four day bowlers who aren’t
the best fielders or batsmen. Scott Borthwick is an excellent fielder and will
pass as an ok batsman even if his batting is more suited to the four day game.
The problem comes with his bowling which is still pretty raw. In all honesty I
don’t he shouldn’t have gone to India as he is yet to do enough in the one day
game to warrant selection and India must be the toughest place to go for a
rookie spinner. But as he did go he may as well go to Pakistan and Sri Lanka
also. I would like Moeen Ali to go as well. Moeen had a brilliant season in one
day cricket striking 612 runs at an average of 51 and a strike rate of 122.64.
Moeen also got through a fair amount of overs in domestic cricket last season –
in fact bowling a similar amount as Borthwick in the County
Championship(267-273) but significantly more in one day (81-44) and Twenty20
(36-11) although Borthwick picked up more wickets. Ali would be a decent
alternative at the top of the order and could provide another option with the
ball.
Cook(C)
Ali
Trott
Pietersen
Morgan
Patel
Bairstow(WK)
Broad
Swann
Dernbach
Finn
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Kieswetter
J Taylor
Meaker
Harris
Borthwick
I'd
like England to look at a team of similar compilation of the one above.
It's probably tough on Kieswetter but I can't drop Cook from opening
and Bairstow is more used to batting in the middle order in one day
cricket. I feel the batting is really strong with Cook and Trott being
solid but the rest can be exciting and add firepower to the base that
Cook and Trott build. Morgan coming back in is really helpful as he is
equally adept at rebuilding an innings or accelerating an innings
towards the end; he also will take the pressure of Pietersen who
struggled in India with the responsibility of being the chief
accelerator. The bowling is varied with Finn and Dernbach to take the new ball and plenty of spin options for the middle overs. The makeup of the team means there may be a need for more use of spin in the powerplay overs which maybe a nice change given the pasting the seamers normally take in the batting powerplays.
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