Right then. So Freddie & Virgil are bouncing back in time for Leeds on Friday. I'm a little concerned about Freddie I must confess. I suspect that he will be a straight replacement for Hoggard now and that Ian Bell is saved, at least for the moment, from the unfair deselection that hangs above his head like the proverbial Sword of Damocles. Virgil will push Shah out of the side, who hasn't really done anything to merit any re-inclusion in the future.
Time to get serious now. This is a must win Test. We simply must win. Our batting is looking really strong but our bowlers (Monty excepted) are just not fit for the task. I see that Peter Moores is defending Harmy and saying he will come good. But what we need isn't a come-good Harmy but a consistent stock bowler like Fraser & Caddick once provided. We don't need Harmison to have a devastating spell in which he picks up 3 wickets and then fails to knock the tail over. We need a steady Harmison who can control the game and run rate with accuracy of Glenn McGrath & the ferocity of Alan Donald. Whilst I am convinced that the Northern lad can provide such performances, I feel that he needs control. Back to basics time; figure out what the problems are with the line he bowls. Take the pace off his run until he gets some consistency. With that in mind, I would drop him now until he gets it right and bring in either Broad or Mahmood. This is a relatively unimportant series (important for Moores and team morale) so we can afford to draft in the stars of the future.
With Flintoff back on Friday (and I am assuming that he is actually fit enough to bowl - if he's not then don't pick him) we will have a strong attack (on paper) for a Leeds ground that traditionally favours those who can swing the ball. There is a some possibility that Moores will put Jimmy Boy Anderson on notice in case Freddie is not fit because the one thing that Jimmy can do is swing the ball. But my preference would be for Mahmood who has done well at this ground at county level. If it is overcast on Friday morning England will look to win the toss and field. This is Virgil's home ground and no one in the side will have more local knowledge than him.
And so my final message to Team England is this:
Batters - hey, great job lads, you have put the bowlers to shame.
Bowlers - (Monty excepted) Pull your finger out. Bowl to your field. Bowl wicket to wicket. Bowl on a length and find that rhythm early on.
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Incidently, Mahmood has played a single Test at Leeds in which he took 6 wickets for an average of 21. Good lad. Call him up now.
Lets burst this Flintoff bubble once and for all shall we.
Flintoff is a bowler who sometimes gets lucky with the bat, and here's how we know...
Since May 2005, supposedly the golden age of Flintoff the Great, in 34 innings, Flintoff has managed:
1 Century (104 vs. Aus 2005)
10 Half Centuries
13 Scores in single figures
Total of 1092 runs at an average of 33.
In comparison, Bell, over whom hangs the said sword of damocles, has managed in 41 innings:
6 Centuries
10 Half Centuries
20 Scores in single figures
Total of 1660 runs at an average of 45
Figure it out for yourself. Bell is a batsman, Flintoff is a bowler. To play Flintoff you must replace a bowler not Bell.
He should bat at Number 8, with Prior. Imagine the fireworks they COULD create together.
I'm really loving the India v. Bangladesh revenge tour. I was looking for a place to watch it online (I live in the US, no cricket on TV here) and I found this great website. Not only live streamed cricket, but chat and stats too. Take a look:
India v. Bangladesh Tour is available as LIVE Video and Video On Demand on broadband at MediaZone Cricket: http://cricket.mediazone.com MediaZone Cricket is a new broadband service with LIVE cricket, chat and news. Check it out!
I am sorry that Frankie thinks it is ok to use this blog as free advertising space and not for talking about cricket. He is obviously a very small minded and selfish person that has no respect for others. Sadly his profile is set to private otherwise I might have got in touch with the small brained guy myself. This is the kind of thing that I dislike and is ruining decent use of the internet for everyone. It is a waste of his time and everyone else's who stops to read his comment. And truth be known, I doubt very much that anyone will look at his site. If you are thinking of looking at it please don't encourage the brainless fool.
Oh. I just did!!
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