Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The balance of the England team


Andrew Flintoff's absence from the England team for the fourth Test in Barbados underlines how big a role he plays.
The tourists, already without their first-choice wicketkeeper, are now without Flintoff, so are thus deprived of their best bowler and a top-order batsman.
Essex batsman Ravi Bopara and Kent seamer Amjad Khan have been drafted in, but England are not allowed to field 12 players so how should the team shape up for Barbados?
Bearing in mind the need to take 20 wickets and level the series at 1-1 with one match to play, who should form the bowling attack?
Steve Harmison has been passed fit, but did not look at his lethal best having been reprieved in Antigua. Would you give him another chance, and hope he can regain the form he showed in the Caribbean on the previous tour, or is his inconsistency too much of a risk in a must-win match?
Should Ryan Sidebottom return to give some balance with his left-arm seamers or has he lost that crucial bit of zip that made him so dangerous against the Windies in the home series of 2007?
Perhaps Khan should be given a chance, having taken five wickets in the tour match preceding this Test, or is it too much of a risk to give him his debut?
There have been fitness doubts over spinner Graeme Swann so who should deputise if he does not make it? Monty Panesar or is it time to give 21-year-old Adil Rashid his debut, particularly in view of his highly-rated batting capabilities?
No discussion about England would be complete without some debate about the batting order, and sure enough the absence of Matt Prior and Flintoff has created some uncertainty.
With Tim Ambrose not likely to be risked above number seven, who comes in at six? Bopara, aged 23, is a hugely talented strokeplayer who could not have done much more than make an unbeaten 124 from 125 balls in the recent tour match.
He also bowls useful medium pacers so should he be first choice to improve a fledgling Test career that has comprised only three Tests, all of which were on a difficult tour of Sri Lanka, when he was dismissed for a duck on four occasions.
There were suggestions that Ian Bell would be handed a recall but would that be a backward step? and would he then have to bat at three, causing further disruption to Owais Shah's hopes of cementing the number three spot? Can Bopara bat at three or is his style of play more suited to the number six slot?
Should Kevin Pietersen move up to three? There are many issues to resolve so please send in your thoughts on the best England line-up for this important Test.

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