Our best bowler is currently injured

If fit , he is a must

I give you.....Mark Wood

Everyone seems to forget him

That was very poor from England

Could be a very quick final Test as it looks like most of them want to be in Blighty

Hameed has been dropped?
I was picking Billings and Roy for a tour of the sub continent, Ballance has carried drinks for a month, Duckett's confidence was shot
Roy can play spin well, Billings can play spin well and spent time at the IPL last year
You need to pick squads to match the conditions get your best players of spin on tour not bunnies like Ballance

AB de Villiers has stepped down as South Africa's Test captain with immediate effect and has been ruled out of the three Tests against Sri Lanka as he continues to recover from elbow surgery. De Villiers endorsed his stand-in, Faf du Plessis, to take over permanently and the CSA board have confirmed du Plessis' appointment.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafr...y/1072230.html

Wonder if ABV will become a travelling ODI/T20 Specialist/Nomad ?

dont think he is giving up test cricket, just stepping down as captain

Ah, OK Didn't read it properly

Hameed has been dropped by you in your XI

And as pointed out to you, but you didn't reply, Billings did nothing in the IPL

How do you know that Roy can play spin well in India ? Interested to know or are you basing this on English pitches ?

Hammed is in my XI at the top with Cook

so you have

What about your comments on Roy and Billings ?

I stand by them, I think Roy and Billings are fine players one who'd make a huge difference to the test side

those ten overs billings faced in the IPL last year will really have prepared him for test cricket ...

buttler is a more talented batsman than either billings or roy and we have seen how he has struggles to adapt to tests

Dont you think we should have picked the best players that was avaliable. We managed to do it with Hameed. But how come Jennings was not considered. Why decide to pick Ballance again when he is not good enough to play for England

The England selectors got it totally wrong before the series started. And only got it right when we were two down in the series

We should have had Buttler and Jennings from the start

It's Moeen who's been dropped in that team.
I'd still have Moeen at #8.
He was doing just fine in that position.

Rashid... I'm not so sure about.
All his balls seem to be the same, with the only variation being where it pitches.
He needs more variation... googlies, doosras, flippers....
But hey, he's our leading wicket taker on the tour, so can't really be faulted....
but what the hell's happened to his batting? He's in the top order for Yorkshire, but was like a #11 rabbit for England. He's gifted his wicket...how many times in a row now...?. a catch straight to a fielder in the deep....

I'd definitely have Rashid in the ODI/T20 sides, but not sure about home Tests....

I really hope Hameed and Jennings are the men for the job,
and that they don't just turn into another Compton, Lyth, Balance, Vince, etc etc.
All started really well, then weaknesses were exposed, and that was the end of them.

What about Hales?
Also ODI & T20 only?

I think we've missed some experience in the middle order.
Someone who can stay there and hold things together. Not sure who though (i.e. I'm not suggesting Bell should be recalled or anything).

On paper though, and when everyone's fit, it's a very strong batting line-up....

Cook, Hameed, Jennings, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Moeen, Woakes, Rashid, Broad.

On the bowling front, we've definitely missed Broad.
Anderson was ineffective. Maybe Finn should play in the 5th Test (he can't do any worse).
We've missed someone like Finn or Plunkett who can hit 90mph and intimidate them a bit....

Woakes has had a pretty poor series, but I wouldn't drop him.
He's been hugely impressive over the past year or so up until this series.
As long as he doesn't return to the Woakes of 2 years ago, that's all

Ball? Hmm, no, not just yet... unless he's being lined up as the replacement for Anderson?
Jimmy's probably got a home season left in him, but not many fast bowlers carry on (at the top of their game) after hitting 35.
If both Stokes and Woakes are playing, then there's room for only 2 of Broad, Anderson, Finn, Wood, or Ball.

Confirmation of the Day/Night Test for the Ashes:

Disappointed about Perth though

Adelaide Oval will host the first-ever day/night Ashes Test next year, following the announcement of the 2017-18 Australian summer schedule.

However, the WACA ground in Perth could be set to miss out of hosting the third Test, in favour of the new purpose-built Perth Stadium, subject to ongoing discussions with the Western Australia government.

The series will begin, once again, at the Gabba in Brisbane, on November 23, and will conclude with back-to-back Tests at Melbourne and Sydney over the Christmas and New Year period. The fifth Test, at the SCG, begins slightly later than usual, on January 4.

Ashes itinerary 2017-18

1st Test, Gabba - Nov 23-27
2nd Test, Adelaide Oval (d/n) - Dec 2-6
3rd Test, Perth (venue TBC) - Dec 14-18
4th Test, MCG - Dec 26-30
5th Test, SCG - Jan 4-8



Limited-overs fixtures

1st ODI, MCG - Jan 14
2nd ODI, Gabba - Jan 19
3rd ODI, SCG - Jan 21
4th ODI, Adelaide Oval - Jan 26
5th ODI, Perth (venue TBC) - Jan 28

and a Tri-Series T20 comp

1st T20I, Australia v NZ, SCG - Feb 3
2nd T20I, Australia v England, Hobart - Feb 7
3rd T20I, Australia v England, MCG - Feb 10
4th T20I, NZ v England, Wellington Stadium - Feb 14
5th T20I, NZ v Australia, Eden Park - Feb 16
6th T20I, NZ v England, Seddon Park - Feb 18

Final, Eden Park - Feb 21




http://www.espncricinfo.com/australi...y/1072249.html

Ballance is not good enough to bat at 4 with an average of 39 but Ali is with an average of 34

Well obviously Mo isn't good enough to bat 4. But he's the best we've got out there right now when the options are Mo, Buttler, Duckett or Ballance. Since Ballance's return to Test cricket last summer he is averaging just 19. And his scores are getting rapidly lower. So using his overall avg of 39 is hardly relevant. Pick Boycott on that basis. In fact i'd happily wager that the 76 year old Boycott would get more runs than Ballance next Test.

Congrats to Mo for a great ton and for continuing to silence his critics, including those on DS :--)

He has his good knocks, usually in the first innings on good pitches.

Not sure if he should be number 4 (6 for me) but well done Moeen

1000+ runs and 35 wickets this year (although very expensive)

That's not too shabby

He has played a lot of test matches this year.

I think they said on TMS this morning that 4 English batsmen had scored 1000 runs plus this calendar year - Cook, Root, Bairstow and Ali and they had all played in all the 17 Tests held during the year !

Have Ishant Sharma and Zlatan Ibrahamovic ever been seen in the same room?

Not the start England wanted

Stokes and Buttler gone in the first half hour

300/6

England 404-7. Good partnership between Dawson and Rashid.