5th ODI

[Hatch]

ENgland scored 270.

KP got a 100+ not out.

 

I think my gran is bowling though.

India racing to the total without losing a wicket so far.

[JustMike]

156 - 2 now

[stevegrant]

159/3, Sehwag out for 91 to an apparently abysmal LBW decision. Oh well

[keithd]

s'ok. india back on track

[AndyNorthernSaints]

Why are England only selecting 4 front line bowlers?

Why select the inform Shah down at 6 ?

Why can't England batsmen score runs in power players? 13 runs only in power play!!!!!!

[Nellie]

Why are England only selecting 4 front line bowlers?

Because Moores is a tit. The senior batsmen are so suspect, we are playing players who can bat as well as bowl, rather than bowlers per se. There is no need, not with Broad and Flintoff in the side. He selects players who are massively out of form, Anderson, Collingwood, Prior to name but a few and then compounds it by selecting too many players who do a bit of everything, yet still not taking Mascarenhas. Dimi's subtle changes of pace would have been very effective on the subcontinent, especially with him having already sampled the conditions.

 

Collingwood isn't bowling, so is in as a specialist batsman. Currently he isn't good enough to warrant it. Prior hasn't scored runs for ages, so he is in as a specialist keeper. He isn't good enough, we may as well try Mustard or go back to Read/Foster. Anderson has one good ODI game in about ten. Samit Patel, is he an average batsman who can bowl a bit, or an average bowler who can bat a bit?

 

You are right, we have no players who can capitalise on the opening powerplay. I would play Mustard to open the batting with Bell. Bell is a very orthodox batsman, while Mustard is a bit of a flailer. It's a combination that seems to work for other teams. With Pietersen in at three, there should be someone capable of taking advantage of the powerplays.

 

At least we can't lose the series 7-0

[stevegrant]

I really didn't understand the logic in dropping Bell to bring in the most non-one-day player England has available at the moment in Alastair Cook. Cook is a fine Test batsman, but that is down to his fantastic temperament and concentration, two qualities that aren't quite so important in the shorter form of the game.

 

I've got no problem with Shah batting down the order - he's made his runs in this series from that position. He might not be so effective at 3 or 4.

 

I'd like to see us *really* take advantage of the powerplay overs by putting KP and perhaps Bopara, if you're going to select him, at the top of the innings with Bell, Flintoff, Shah, Swann, whoever they select as keeper and Broad making up the top 8. The other three should be bona fide front-line bowlers. I thought Harmison bowled reasonably well yesterday, Flintoff's an all-rounder and I genuinely believe Stuart Broad should be classified as one as well. That leaves two bowling spots, but who to choose is a bit of a lottery. With the exception of Flintoff (and Broad to a lesser extent), we don't have anyone who is a genuinely world-class ODI bowler. We have plenty of fantastic Test bowlers, but it's a completely different environment in ODIs.

 

I'm not sure whether Collingwood should be picked solely on the strength of his ability at backward point either, I'd like to think we have other players who are good enough fielders to fill that gap.