Germany at football - and anything else for that matter. Start slowly, look dodgy, and then rev up the gears.

Excellent from England

Really pleased

Lots of credit to the selectors for picking the right players as Athers just mentioned

Most of these were around 12 months ago when we had the poor performance in the 50 over comp

Think WI got lucky that SA were poor in the group stage.
WI team isn't really champions material.
batting looks fragile plus weak and bowling looks ok.

But saying that WI are a dangerous side.

Plenty of sport on tv on Sunday

Cricket finals
Two PL matches
Johnstone Paint Trophy Final
Bahrain GP
World Ice Skating gubbins
BTCC
Etc

They could have me , you, Darren, Dtc,Mimi and even Sulla in their side

If Chris Gayle bats 20 overs, they more than likely win

How many of the team who played today will be in the XI for the First Test which isn't that far away? Thinking they're in form, full of beans and confidence, can good 20/20 players really not hack it at Test level?
Root/Stokes/Ali guaranteed of course, Buttler's out of the squad and in the IPL which is massively disapponting for England/Lancashire fans, who else should be given a go?

true but it depends on which gayle turns up.

plunkett and jordan will probably be in the frame for the 3rd seamer spot

hales might still be in the frame for the opener spot

thats about it i think

Would love us to play India in the final for the atmosphere alone.

David Willey seems like he has the temperament to play Test cricket

If either Anderson or Broad were unfit then I would go with Willey, Stokes is in there as seamer too so the option from the final Test v SA would be to replace Woakes with Willey. Would arguably deepen the batting but Woakes has a good batting average from his few Tests, far better than his bowling it looks!

Hales opened in that Test so he should keep his place, so Roy for Compton at 3??

we are not going to start picking guys for tests based on t20 form

True, but with more 20/20 and less 1st class cricket, a really good prospect could be hidden for some time. That's my worry, there simply aren't enough 1st class games for a batsman to have a good run and get the centuries that ensure selection, and maybe we should to look at 20/20 form. If a batsman's got a good eye, then it should be just as good in tests!

Boult, as you rightly say, is a top quality cricketer. When we were in NZ 2 or 3 years ago i remember him opening T20 bowling, left arm over where some swung in, some didnt and it flew through at 90mph+. Unfortunately Boult injured his back in England last summer and has never been the same since, presumably where not 100% fit. I saw him on tv in the recent Aus vs NZ test series, the odd good spell but in the main very up and down at just 80mph offering no threat at all.

http://www.india.com/sports/injured-...t-test-728595/

No, thank goodness! Roy is becoming a abs top quality T20 bat. But his (lack of) technique would suffer worse consequences at test level than Morgan, (Nick) Knight and more recently Buttler.

i knew he had been injured , wasn't aware it had limited quite him so much

i would say temperament and patience are far more important factors in tests than just having a good eye, and thats before we think of anything to do with technical weaknesses

That's why we need to keep the County Championship as strong as possible, giving players the time to get that temperament and patience, and by knocking another two games off the 1st division calendar we are reducing the amount of quality time they get at the crease.

We haven't got a long enough summer to fit in all the games of limited overs and enough 1st class to cover all bases. The 50-overs would have to go to make the space for more 1st class - or even returning to 3-day games with longer hours I suppose.

If Root and Hales or Compton get injured or lose form horrendously, who's next on the list?

Lyth.

I'd still have Lyth ahead of Hales in terms of the Test team

Watching the highlights, some cracking fielding from England today. I suppose it didn't really matter in the end given the margin of victory but they saved a fair few runs with boundary stops and good catches.

Where's Ballance in the pecking order?

We have slowly got better as the tournament progressed So im not bothered about who we face in the final

Didn't really notice at the time...but what rubbish direction from the TV crew. Twice they completely missed run-out chances (the final ball was run out) because the cameras are in close up on the batsman or fielder and they're not covering what's really going on.

Pull the camera back so we can see everything! For once Sky can't be blamed, it's the home production so their fault. Also high six attempts, if they close-up on the ball that doesn't show us if it's falling short and there's a fielder underneath, and fours towards the boundary, how close is a fielder...will he cut it off? We don't know because they're zooming in on the ball

But missing the possible run-out is inexcusable.

My Test XI

Cook
Lyth
Compton
Root
Taylor
Bairstow
Stokes
Ali
Broad
Willey
Anderson