Will Kevin Pieteresen be a good captain?

[Cerberus]

Media hints of discord within the England camp - centering on Moores - refuse to go away. He'll be the first casualty if/when results dont go our way.

KP - I'm not hopeful. Putting aside the fact that he's not got a great rep with fellow pro's ,the tried and tested tactic of targetting the captain of the opposition may be too much for him (for anyone?).

Despite Englands poor form of late I was confident that Vaughan would lead the side until after the ashes and young Cook would take up the mantle....

It would appear it was probably too soon form AC....

Oh well.....good luck KP, you'll need it.

Test side just announced - Broad and Harmy back. 5 bowlers but the batting looks weak....

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Dunno why they bothered calling bopara up if they aren't gonna select him...

 

[Flashman]

Broad's a better bet to score runs than Ravi

As for KP being targeted as the new skip, when wasn't he targeted anyway?

And he loves it.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he rises to the challenge and scores more runs.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Broad's a better bet to score runs than Ravi

All he's done so far is hit useful half-centuries. I think talk of Broad the batting all-rounder is a little premature.

 

[Flashman]

Yes, he can't bowl yet.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Yes, he can't bowl yet.

Or bat properly. 1st-class average of 25 in 45 matches, not yet scored a 1st-class 100. He is nothing more than promising and should not be in the test side for at least another year.

 

[tangerinedream]

Whereas Ravi has an Average of 60+ with the bat and about 25 with the ball this season and should be given a chance imo. I know he played poorly in SRi Lanka but Gooch got a terrible start in test cricket for one...

 

[Flashman]

But Owais has been very good for about 6 years and was next in line, also played a very good knock in India. Ravi looked shite for England, has one very good season and jumps the queue.

And yes I was just messing about Broad, I just don't rate his bowling he never looks like taking a wicket, whereas his batting looks promising. Shouldn't be anywhere near the side of course, like Harmi.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I would also have gone with Shah. Given the chance (which it appears he never will be), he could be a top-quality test batsman.

 

[tangerinedream]

But Owais has been very good for about 6 years and was next in line, also played a very good knock in India. Ravi looked shite for England, has one very good season and jumps the queue.

And yes I was just messing about Broad, I just don't rate his bowling he never looks like taking a wicket, whereas his batting looks promising. Shouldn't be anywhere near the side of course, like Harmi.

But shah wasn't in the squad so I couldn't argue that he should be picked from the 13. I agree, it's a mystery why he doesn't get a chance.

 

[Santino]

With just 5 specialist batsmen, they will all be under pressure to score runs, which could be a useful way of dropping one of two for the winter series. Good way to shake up the team. Possibly.

 

[tangerinedream]

With just 5 specialist batsmen, they will all be under pressure to score runs, which could be a useful way of dropping one of two for the winter series. Good way to shake up the team. Possibly.

I thought that too - It's hopefully a way of saying 'look - you've got your chance here, take it and you'll be rewarded, if you carry on failing then we'll have to look at someone else this winter' - I can't help thinking we should have used the two New Zealand series to experiment as opposed to this winter which is going to be tougher.

I'm happy Bell is at 3 - I thought he and Vaughan should have swapped a while back. I'm also happy we have 5 bowlers though not really who they are.