Harmison Dropped! [South Aus v England]

[Stumpy Tim]

Harmison Dropped!

A few weeks ago Fletcher said the team picked against South Australia would be the team playing the first Ashes test.... The team:

A J Strauss, A N Cook, I R Bell, P D Collingwood K P Pietersen, A Flintoff (Capt), G O Jones (Wkt), S I Mahmood M J Hoggard, J M Anderson, M S Panesar

No Harmison, no Giles


South Australia are 60-4 by the way

 

[beardy gull]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6156800.stm

precautionary

 

[Bozza]

167-4 at tea when they were 25-4 this morning...

 

[beardy gull]

230-7

 

[Seagull over NZ]

A pretty good day really, bar harmy being rested as a precaution. Hoggard amongst the wickets, Anderson looks like he bowled todily as did Panesar.

Lets not forget that the Aussie attitude to these warm up matches is bat for 2 days to wear the bolwers out and give the poms very little batting time. That has already been avoided. So lets make sure Cook, Bell, Colly and Jones get some runs tomorrow and then all our batters will have some form going into the test match.

Thankfully Fletcher has seen sense and picked Panesar. I was getting quite worried that this was not going to happen. Jimmy A looks as if he'll be the 4th seamer which is good. He has bowled well against the Aussies before albeit in one dayers.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Monty
Jones
AJ Strauss lbw b Tait 0 0 2 0 0 0.00
AN Cook not out 6 0 15 0 0 40.00
MJ Hoggard not out 10 0 21 2 0 47.61
Extras (lb 1, w 5, nb 2) 8

Total (1 wicket; 6 overs) 24
Hoggard in as night watchman
What's the f**king point, he's not even that good at doing it.

 

[Seagull over NZ]

Well, he has already done his job and if he can see out 5-10 overs tomorrow he'll have taken the shin eoff the new ball alas allowing the likes of Bell, KP and Collingwood to get some runs. However, it does seem odd to send a nightwatchman out after a wicket falls, why not straight away as they knew there would only be a handful of overs.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Interesting to see Hoggy with some nice early wickets with the Kookaburra ball. The bowling attack isn't looking too bad now, as long as Harmy can come back in for Mahmood. We've got 5 genuine wicket takers again including Anderson who can reverse swing the older ball.

Encouraging stuff.

 

[keaton]

I agreeif Harmison can get fit for the first test and we can lose Mahmood we've strong alround team

 

[Trigger]

167-4 at tea when they were 25-4 this morning...

Mahmood came on then?...

 

[sten_super]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6157384.stm

ffs

I don't see how putting bell/collingwood in for trescothick has particularly weakened the batting line-up, especially when you look at their averages this year!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Fletcher is a tosser.

 

[sten_super]

Fletcher is a tosser.

I agree. It's patently obvious that what he really wants is 11 batsmen, and hopefully one of them won't mind too much standing behind the stumps, and some of them can turn their arm over and bowls a few overs.

While I agree that Giles is a better batsman, it's never going to be the extra runs that he scores that makes the difference (certainly not when compared to the fewer wickets he's bound to take), what Fletcher likes is his ability to hang around. But Hoggard and Harmison (and to a degree, to be fair, Panesar) can all hang around (no idea about Jimmy), and besides, when England get down to the tail the remaining proper batsman tends to get over excited and get himself out attempting a big shot anyway.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Have they erected the burning cross on the boundary yet? Which obviously is NOT a racist thing to do?

 

[Gritt23]

Interesting to see Hoggy with some nice early wickets with the Kookaburra ball. The bowling attack isn't looking too bad now, as long as Harmy can come back in for Mahmood. We've got 5 genuine wicket takers again including Anderson who can reverse swing the older ball.

Encouraging stuff.

I agree, the worry is that Harmy should be feeling his side strain again, even if it is only "precautionary" I don't like the sound of it. We know he suffers from this injury from time to time, and the bowling attack is greatly weakened when Harmy is replaced with Mahmood.

 

[keaton]

I've read a couple of articles that when Monty break into the team suggesting that he could be quite a decent no 8 given the chance.
But regardless of that we've got a inform top four with Pietersen and Flintoff coming in at 5 and 6 facing an old ball and Jones who can potentially score big. With Hoggard at no 8 just trying to hang around that looks a pretty decent batting line-up

 

[CHAPPERS]

It's all about the batsmen performing innit, we shouldn't should be able bat down to 8. With Jones coming in a 7 there is NO need for Giles to be in the side for his ability to score 20/30 runs as they should have already been made.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Interesting Blog on the guardian site..

If, in the fullness of time, the historians wish to trace back the start of the descent from Olympus of the Australian cricket team, they might pinpoint the day that Mark Waugh retired. It was not the beautiful simple elegance of his batting that they missed most but, when the finest slip fielder the game has ever seen disappears, standards must drop. Try as they might, and there have been some good catchers around, he has never quite been replaced.

Now, with the return to England of Marcus Trescothick, a similar dilemma has raised its head. No one for England in recent times, and perhaps ever, has been as reliable as he has been standing at first slip to the pace bowlers. Add the Andrews, Flintoff and Strauss, at second and third slip and it is easy to see a reason for the improvement in performance. Chances are created and taken. It was not always the case.

Trescothick is a special fielder, standing tall, although he always struggled more to take the low chances off spinners. He was equally adept to right or left, to left-hander or right, and, because of the territory covered by the wicketkeeper, the majority of catches from a right-hand batsman are taken either straight or to the fielder's right, usually dominant, side. Mirror this and many fine catchers, Graeme Hick say, struggle with chances offered by left-handers going to the non-dominant side.

In a world where left-handed batsmen appear to be breeding like rabbits, that versatility is taking on increasing importance. Trescothick was implacable and unfussy. Not one of his catches was flung to the sky in celebration, the ball cradled to his chest instead - just to make sure it did not escape - as he ran grinning to greet the successful bowler.

There was also a special understanding with - or at least a tolerance of - Geraint Jones, England's wicketkeeper once more, to attempt to poach wide chances. To an extent the impact of a wicketkeeper moving into his eyeline is not as great as might be imagined because to all intent and purpose the fielder, mentally anyway, has closed his hands on the ball when it is still six to eight feet away.

Nonetheless the times Jones has plunged in front of Trescothick and the fielder has emerged calmly triumphant have been numerous.

Now the ecology of the slip cordon has been changed. Jones must get used to a new first slip and he to the wicketkeeper. Flintoff, when not bowling, must set his mark by another standing inside him. The bowlers, too, will recognise change at the other end, for they are used to turning and seeing the reassuring figure of Trescothick. They like to feel comfortable with what is at the other end.

England, of course, recognise that there is work to be done to sort this out properly and reliably before the first Test and they spent some time on it in practice at the Adelaide Oval yesterday.

To lookers-on it seemed the likelihood is that it will be another natural left-hander Strauss - witness his catch of all catches to dismiss Adam Gilchrist at Trent Bridge last year - who will go to first slip and, when Flintoff is engaged in pounding the ball into the deck from the other end, Paul Collingwood who will go to second slip - third if the situation demands it and the captain is on hand, too.

Collingwood is no slouch and would not have been up for consideration had Trescothick been here. In one-day cricket no finer, more spring-heeled fielder has stood and astounded at backward point since South Africa's Jonty Rhodes raised the bar to undreamed of heights. Collingwood is alert, agile and has good hands. "We've been talking about it," he confirmed yesterday after practice. "I've done first or second slip for Durham, so I know what it's about. It will probably be me at second or third and Strauss at first."

That means Strauss has very quickly to build up a relationship with Jones, an exercise that will include how wide he stands, how deep relative to the wicketkeeper and, if possible, an understanding of Jones' more enthusiastic excursions into his territory.

It might take some time: it could be costly even, given that there is no real option. But it has to be done. Trescothick in this regard is irreplaceable.

 

[Gritt23]

It's all about the batsmen performing innit, we shouldn't should be able bat down to 8. With Jones coming in a 7 there is NO need for Giles to be in the side for his ability to score 20/30 runs as they should have already been made.

On the form of last season, the tail STARTS with Jones coming in at 7!

But, NO, absolutely NOT, Giles should not play ahead of Monty simply because he may score a few more runs. How about the hundreds of runs Monty can save by getting their top order batsman out, as opposed to Giles who doesn't really trouble them.

It would be madness to pick Giles simply on a few more runs. It would like be selecting a goalkeeper on his kicking, or a wicket keeper who drops the ball, but scores a few more runs if he rediscovers his form. Oh, hang on .....

 

[Billy the Fish]

England 303/6 after the second day.
Good scores for Bell and Collingwood with 132 and 80 respectively.