12 Good Men

I refer to an earlier posting that English cricketers appear to be made from some brittle material. And I'm right. Once again Vaughan finds himself sidelined with an injury and once again the debate about who will fill his shoes is raging. Well, this is a real no-brainer. No debate required. Give the job to Strauss who, despite a poor run of form with the bat, is really the only man in the squad with a decent cricket brain.

And so, with the forthcoming series against the Windies on the horizon, I thought I'd stop sulking about our dreadful showing of the recent winter and focus upon a game we can play: Test cricket on green top pitches. This is our game. This is what we are good at. And, in a funny sort of way, the future is very bright. We have a decent squad of players, although we are lacking a couple of in form quickies (but Harmy & Hoggy are doing well at the mo). There is some good batting going on in the counties - mainly due to an exceptionally dry April, with a swave of young batters looking to break through. There is a leadership contest running for head gloveman - I reckon that Peter Moores will tip his hat to Matt Prior over part-time club doorman Paul Nixon. Simon Jones is in decent shape and even the ultimate stonewall blocker Matthew Hoggard managed to score 61 the other day. Add into the pot the ingredients of an out of form and out of control West Indies side and we have a competitive series in prospect.

So, here they are, 12 Good Men:

1. Cook
2. Strauss
3. Bell
4. KP
5. Collingwood
6. Flintoff
7. Prior
8. Jones
9. Hoggard
10. Harmison
11. Monty
12. Plunkett

Watdayareckon?