Bevab
Staff Member
Booooo.
World Greats Test Championship - TIME TO ANNOUNCE SQUADS FOR SERIES 2 - FREDDIE, DRAVID & INZY injured!! PLUS Pakistan v India!!
- Thread starter Welwyn
- Start date
Booooo.
ahmedleo414
The Butcher
This was the hardest thing I've ever done, so many greats I left out
OLD GUARD ANGRY WITH INDIAN SQUAD SELECTION
Ravi Ashwin is the shock choice of captain
Older statesman, both at the BCCI and across the country, are up in arms at a selection policy from PillowProcter that has eschewed some of the historic Indian greats for their modern day equivalents.
While there was never any shock that the modern battery of pace bowlers would be in over their older equivalents, the oldest specialist seamer being Javagal Srinath, it is the wicket-keeping area where there is the most consternation among the old guard in the country with the picking of Rishabh Pant alongside MS Dhoni as the only two specialist keepers. Harsha Bhogle has been calling for Farokh Engineer while Sanjay Manjrekar has been very vocal about the omission of Syed Kimani (while also being rather vocal about is own exclusion!)
However, the biggest shock may well be with giving the captaincy to Ravi Ashwin ahead of the likes of very successful captains in the likes of Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni. Sources close to Sunil Gavaskar also suggest he is reported 'shocked and slighted' by the fact he was not considered. The awarding of the vice captaincy to 1983 World Cup winning skipper, Kapil Dev, is being seen as a move made to placate the dissenting voices both inside and outside the camp, but it remains to be seen if it will work. Needless to say that a poor start may see pressure come on Ashwin's role as captain.
FULL SQUAD:
Opener
Sunil Gavaskar
Virinder Sehwag
Vijay Merchant
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Middle Order
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Vijay Hazare
Mohammed Azharuddin
VVS Laxman
Virat Kohli
Sourav Ganguly
Chesteshwar Pujara
All-Rounder
Kapil Dev v\
Vinoo Mankad
Ravi Shastri
Ravi Ashwin
Ravinder Jadeja
Keeper
Rishabh Pant
MS Dhoni
Pace
Javagal Srinath
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Shardul Thakur
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Shami
Spin
Bishan Bedi
Harbhajan Singh
Anil Kumble
B Chandrasekhar
Ravi Ashwin is the shock choice of captain
Older statesman, both at the BCCI and across the country, are up in arms at a selection policy from PillowProcter that has eschewed some of the historic Indian greats for their modern day equivalents.
While there was never any shock that the modern battery of pace bowlers would be in over their older equivalents, the oldest specialist seamer being Javagal Srinath, it is the wicket-keeping area where there is the most consternation among the old guard in the country with the picking of Rishabh Pant alongside MS Dhoni as the only two specialist keepers. Harsha Bhogle has been calling for Farokh Engineer while Sanjay Manjrekar has been very vocal about the omission of Syed Kimani (while also being rather vocal about is own exclusion!)
However, the biggest shock may well be with giving the captaincy to Ravi Ashwin ahead of the likes of very successful captains in the likes of Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni. Sources close to Sunil Gavaskar also suggest he is reported 'shocked and slighted' by the fact he was not considered. The awarding of the vice captaincy to 1983 World Cup winning skipper, Kapil Dev, is being seen as a move made to placate the dissenting voices both inside and outside the camp, but it remains to be seen if it will work. Needless to say that a poor start may see pressure come on Ashwin's role as captain.
FULL SQUAD:
Opener
Sunil Gavaskar
Virinder Sehwag
Vijay Merchant
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Middle Order
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Vijay Hazare
Mohammed Azharuddin
VVS Laxman
Virat Kohli
Sourav Ganguly
Chesteshwar Pujara
All-Rounder
Kapil Dev v\
Vinoo Mankad
Ravi Shastri
Ravi Ashwin
Ravinder Jadeja
Keeper
Rishabh Pant
MS Dhoni
Pace
Javagal Srinath
Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Shardul Thakur
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Shami
Spin
Bishan Bedi
Harbhajan Singh
Anil Kumble
B Chandrasekhar
pillowprocter
Panel of Selectors
Sorry Harsha, would have selected you if you were eligible
Till Valhalla
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2011
- Profile Flag
- Papua New Guinea
He is talking about Manjrekar
pillowprocter
Panel of Selectors
I know, but I also know Harsha is only criticizing me because deep down he wants to be an India great
Mahela leads for Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan selector Viper had one big decision to make when it came to the Sri Lankan squad, whilst there is pretty much no question that the greatest captain in Sri Lankan history is the talismanic Arjuna Ranatunga, it would be doubtful if his pure cricketing abilities would get him into the outsiders starting XI.
Viper has come down on the side of giving the captaincy and vice-captaincy to two of their three great middle-order batsman with Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara getting the two jobs respectively. Ranatunga has managed to grab a spot in the 30-man squad however so it'll be interesting to see how Ranatunga copes 'in the ranks', if and when called upon.
The really interesting thing from the squad is that there are five keepers named in the 30, suggesting that plan A may well be to free Sangakkara from the responsibility of the gloves. There are also only three specialist openers in Jayasuriya, Attapattu and Karunaratne, so it will be interesting to see what they would do if form and injuries need them to look elsewhere in the squad.
Sources close to the selector suggested that the biggest question mark was between Ajentha Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya, with discussion between Viper and Mahela Jayawardene continuing long into the night. It is rumoured that the deciding factor was having the extra left-armer, given that both Murali and Dilruwan Perera are ahead on Mendis as off-break bowlers, as well as both spinning all-rounders in Dilshan and Dhananjaya being offies as well. Whereas, the only other left-armer than Rangana Herath was Sanith Jayasuriya, whom given the lack of openers, may well need to concentrate of his batting.
FULL SQUAD:
Openers
Sanath Jayasuriya
Marvin Attapattu
Dimuth Karunaratne
Middle Order
Mahela Jayawardene
Aravinda da Silva
Roy Dias
Arjuna Ranatunga
Thilan Samaraweera
Hashan Tillakaratne
Kusal Mendis
All-Rounder
Angelo Mathews
Tillkaratne Dilshan
Dhananjaya de Silva
Charminda Vaas
Keeper
Kumar Sangakkara
Romesh Kaluwitharana
Dinesh Chandimal
Prasanna Jayawardene
Niroshan Dickwella
Pace
Ashantha de Mel
Rumesh Ratnayake
Lasith Malinga
Suranga Lakmal
Dilhara Fernando
Dammika Prasad
Spin
Muttiah Muralitharan
Rangana Herath
Dilruwan Perera
Lasith Embuldeniya
Somachandra de Silva
Sri Lankan selector Viper had one big decision to make when it came to the Sri Lankan squad, whilst there is pretty much no question that the greatest captain in Sri Lankan history is the talismanic Arjuna Ranatunga, it would be doubtful if his pure cricketing abilities would get him into the outsiders starting XI.
Viper has come down on the side of giving the captaincy and vice-captaincy to two of their three great middle-order batsman with Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara getting the two jobs respectively. Ranatunga has managed to grab a spot in the 30-man squad however so it'll be interesting to see how Ranatunga copes 'in the ranks', if and when called upon.
The really interesting thing from the squad is that there are five keepers named in the 30, suggesting that plan A may well be to free Sangakkara from the responsibility of the gloves. There are also only three specialist openers in Jayasuriya, Attapattu and Karunaratne, so it will be interesting to see what they would do if form and injuries need them to look elsewhere in the squad.
Sources close to the selector suggested that the biggest question mark was between Ajentha Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya, with discussion between Viper and Mahela Jayawardene continuing long into the night. It is rumoured that the deciding factor was having the extra left-armer, given that both Murali and Dilruwan Perera are ahead on Mendis as off-break bowlers, as well as both spinning all-rounders in Dilshan and Dhananjaya being offies as well. Whereas, the only other left-armer than Rangana Herath was Sanith Jayasuriya, whom given the lack of openers, may well need to concentrate of his batting.
FULL SQUAD:
Openers
Sanath Jayasuriya
Marvin Attapattu
Dimuth Karunaratne
Middle Order
Mahela Jayawardene
Aravinda da Silva
Roy Dias
Arjuna Ranatunga
Thilan Samaraweera
Hashan Tillakaratne
Kusal Mendis
All-Rounder
Angelo Mathews
Tillkaratne Dilshan
Dhananjaya de Silva
Charminda Vaas
Keeper
Kumar Sangakkara
Romesh Kaluwitharana
Dinesh Chandimal
Prasanna Jayawardene
Niroshan Dickwella
Pace
Ashantha de Mel
Rumesh Ratnayake
Lasith Malinga
Suranga Lakmal
Dilhara Fernando
Dammika Prasad
Spin
Muttiah Muralitharan
Rangana Herath
Dilruwan Perera
Lasith Embuldeniya
Somachandra de Silva
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Guesty98
Club Captain
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2014
- Profile Flag
- Australia
Australian selectors have named their 30-man squad for the upcoming World Greats Test Championship to be staged throughout the cricketing world.
There were few surprises with the squad, though the omission of former captain Mark Taylor (in place of Justin Langer) & inclusion of David Boon, picked for his ability to bat anywhere from 1-6, may raise a few eyebrows.
Whispers that there would be a late call-up from outside the initial 40-man list from which selectors had to choose were loud, with names such as Doug Walters; Clarrie Grimmett; Victor Trumper & Ryan Harris tossed around; but in the end, the selectors were not swayed.
“We are very happy with the squad selected” said chairman of selectors John Benaud, “It is a well-balanced team that we feel will give us the best chance to win the championship.”
No captain has yet been announced, though Don Bradman is strongly tipped to take the honours with Adam Gilchrist looming as his preferred deputy.
Though disappointed not to be selected, Merv Hughes has wasted no time in preparing travel plans, pending the release of fixtures.
Australian Squad
Openers
Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Bob Simpson
Arthur Morris
Middle Order
Don Bradman
Ricky Ponting
Greg Chappell
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Steve Smith
Neil Harvey
Michael Clarke
David Boon
All-Rounders
Keith Miller
Ray Lindwall
Alan Davidson
Richie Benaud
Wicketkeepers
Adam Gilchrist
Ian Healy
Quicks
Glenn McGrath
Dennis Lillee
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Johnson
Terry Alderman
Jeff Thomson
Brett Lee
Jason Gillespie
Spinners
Shane Warne
Bill O’Reilly
Nathan Lyon
There were few surprises with the squad, though the omission of former captain Mark Taylor (in place of Justin Langer) & inclusion of David Boon, picked for his ability to bat anywhere from 1-6, may raise a few eyebrows.
Whispers that there would be a late call-up from outside the initial 40-man list from which selectors had to choose were loud, with names such as Doug Walters; Clarrie Grimmett; Victor Trumper & Ryan Harris tossed around; but in the end, the selectors were not swayed.
“We are very happy with the squad selected” said chairman of selectors John Benaud, “It is a well-balanced team that we feel will give us the best chance to win the championship.”
No captain has yet been announced, though Don Bradman is strongly tipped to take the honours with Adam Gilchrist looming as his preferred deputy.
Though disappointed not to be selected, Merv Hughes has wasted no time in preparing travel plans, pending the release of fixtures.
Australian Squad
Openers
Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Bob Simpson
Arthur Morris
Middle Order
Don Bradman
Ricky Ponting
Greg Chappell
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Steve Smith
Neil Harvey
Michael Clarke
David Boon
All-Rounders
Keith Miller
Ray Lindwall
Alan Davidson
Richie Benaud
Wicketkeepers
Adam Gilchrist
Ian Healy
Quicks
Glenn McGrath
Dennis Lillee
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Johnson
Terry Alderman
Jeff Thomson
Brett Lee
Jason Gillespie
Spinners
Shane Warne
Bill O’Reilly
Nathan Lyon
Given my top post stated post-WW2, not sure exhuming Trumper and a 55-year old Grimmett would be a good move
. Don't worry, you weren't the only one to make that mistake.
Bevab
Staff Member
The only Manjrekar that deserves selection in any Indian ATG side is Vijay Manjrekar.
Bevab
Staff Member
Mahela leads for Sri Lanka
View attachment 280961
Sri Lankan selector Viper had one big decision to make when it came to the Sri Lankan squad, whilst there is pretty much no question that the greatest captain in Sri Lankan history is the talismanic Arjuna Ranatunga, it would be doubtful if his pure cricketing abilities would get him into the outsiders starting XI.
Viper has come down on the side of giving the captaincy and vice-captaincy to two of their three great middle-order batsman with Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara getting the two jobs respectively. Ranatunga has managed to grab a spot in the 30-man squad however so it'll be interesting to see how Ranatunga copes 'in the ranks', if and when called upon.
The really interesting thing from the squad is that there are five keepers named in the 30, suggesting that plan A may well be to free Sangakkara from the responsibility of the gloves. There are also only three specialist openers in Jayasuriya, Attapattu and Karunaratne, so it will be interesting to see what they would do if form and injuries need them to look elsewhere in the squad.
Sources close to the selector suggested that the biggest question mark was between Ajentha Mendis and Lasith Embuldeniya, with discussion between Viper and Mahela Jayawardene continuing long into the night. It is rumoured that the deciding factor was having the extra left-armer, given that both Murali and Dilruwan Perera are ahead on Mendis as off-break bowlers, as well as both spinning all-rounders in Dilshan and Dhananjaya being offies as well. Whereas, the only other left-armer than Rangana Herath was Sanith Jayasuriya, whom given the lack of openers, may well need to concentrate of his batting.
FULL SQUAD:
Openers
Sanath Jayasuriya
Marvin Attapattu
Dimuth Karunaratne
Middle Order
Mahela Jayawardene
Aravinda da Silva
Roy Dias
Arjuna Ranatunga
Thilan Samaraweera
Hashan Tillakaratne
Kusal Mendis
All-Rounder
Angelo Mathews
Tillkaratne Dilshan
Dhananjaya de Silva
Charminda Vaas
Keeper
Kumar Sangakkara
Romesh Kaluwitharana
Dinesh Chandimal
Prasanna Jayawardene
Niroshan Dickwella
Pace
Ashantha de Mel
Rumesh Ratnayake
Lasith Malinga
Suranga Lakmal
Dilhara Fernando
Dammika Prasad
Spin
Muttiah Muralitharan
Rangana Herath
Dilruwan Perera
Lasith Embuldeniya
Somachandra de Silva
Embuldeniya doesn’t even get into the current SL XI…
Richardson disappointment as Kiwi's pick four keepers
Richardson was angry at being left out.
New Zealand announced their squad to very few surprises, other than at the top end of the order. Head-selector Disharies has not only selected more wicket-keepers than openers, but neither of Devon Conway or Mark Richardson, New Zealand's two highest averaging post-war openers, have been selected. Whilst South-African born Conway was apparently philosophical about the decision as someone with very few test matches under his belt; Richardson is rumoured to be angry and disappointed with his exclusion, making comments about 'woke' and 'baz-ball' selection decisions. The lack of openers also raises questions about whether there is the possibility of one of the Kiwi middle order players, including vice-captain Stephen Fleming, playing as an emergency opener.
The only minor surprise among the bowling selections is that Kyle Jamieson, who has the lowest average of any blackcaps bowler ever, was left out despite having already played almost the same amount of tests as Shane Bond.
Openers
Glenn Turner
Bert Sutcliffe
Tom Latham
Middle Order
Martin Crowe
Andrew Jones
Stephen Fleming V/
Ross Taylor
Kane Williamson
Martin Donnelly
All-Rounder
Richard Hadlee
Chris Cairns
Lance Cairns
Daryl Mitchell
Colin de Grandhomme
Keeper
John Reid
Brendon McCullum
Ian Smith
Tom Blundell
Pace
Richard Motz
Bruce Taylor
Danny Morrison
Bob Collinge
Chris Martin
Shane Bond
Trent Boult
Tim Southee
Neil Wagner
Spin
Daniel Vettori
John Bracewell
Hedley Howarth
Richardson was angry at being left out.
New Zealand announced their squad to very few surprises, other than at the top end of the order. Head-selector Disharies has not only selected more wicket-keepers than openers, but neither of Devon Conway or Mark Richardson, New Zealand's two highest averaging post-war openers, have been selected. Whilst South-African born Conway was apparently philosophical about the decision as someone with very few test matches under his belt; Richardson is rumoured to be angry and disappointed with his exclusion, making comments about 'woke' and 'baz-ball' selection decisions. The lack of openers also raises questions about whether there is the possibility of one of the Kiwi middle order players, including vice-captain Stephen Fleming, playing as an emergency opener.
The only minor surprise among the bowling selections is that Kyle Jamieson, who has the lowest average of any blackcaps bowler ever, was left out despite having already played almost the same amount of tests as Shane Bond.
Openers
Glenn Turner
Bert Sutcliffe
Tom Latham
Middle Order
Martin Crowe
Andrew Jones
Stephen Fleming V/
Ross Taylor
Kane Williamson
Martin Donnelly
All-Rounder
Richard Hadlee
Chris Cairns
Lance Cairns
Daryl Mitchell
Colin de Grandhomme
Keeper
John Reid
Brendon McCullum
Ian Smith
Tom Blundell
Pace
Richard Motz
Bruce Taylor
Danny Morrison
Bob Collinge
Chris Martin
Shane Bond
Trent Boult
Tim Southee
Neil Wagner
Spin
Daniel Vettori
John Bracewell
Hedley Howarth
Isolation Era players the big losers in Proteas Squad
Clive Rice headlines those who miss out.
Players who lost the majority of their careers to the Apartheid isolation were the big losers when selector Rudi and captain Graeme Smith announced their 30-man squad for the ATG Test Championship. Although the likes of Barry Richards, Mike Proctor and Graeme Pollock (the latter as vice-captain) have made it, exceptional all-rounder Clive Rice headlines those who have suffered for missing out on playing test cricket at the height of their powers. Without the ban Rice, who averaged 40 with the bat and 22 with the ball in first-class cricket, would have a reasonable case to be the South African captain having won two county championships in charge at Notts. Despite being 41, Rice even got the job as South Africa's first ODI skipper in 1991.
Others who have unquestionably suffered from missing out on test cricket include fast bowlers Vintcent van der Bijl (who average 16.54 with the ball in first-class games) and Garth Le Roux (who averaged 15.88 in Kerry Packer Supertests), as well as top-order batsman Jimmy Cook (who averaged over 50 for Somerset despite being 38 when joining) and Peter Kirsten (who top-scored for SA at the 1992 World Cup despite being 36), who both played all 19 Rebel Tests. Kepler Wessels also misses out despite moving to Australia to avoid the ban, before returning upon re-entry.
Reports out of Zimbabwe, who were considering joining the tournament, that they were joined by members of the SA board in lobbying to change the rules to allow countries to pick anyone born in that country, in order so they could be allowed to pick others who like Wessels moved to avoid the ban (the likes of Robin Smith and Allan Lamb), have been strongly refuted.
Full Squad:
Openers
Barry Richards
Eddie Barlow
Gary Kirsten
Graeme Smith
Bruce Mitchell
Middle Order
Graeme Pollock V/
Dudley Nourse
Colin Bland
Hashim Amla
Daryll Cullinan
Faf du Plessis
All-Rounder
Michael Proctor
Jacques Kallis
Shaun Pollock
Brian McMillian
Trevor Goddard
Keepers
Quinten De Kock
Mark Boucher
AB de Villiers
Pace
Neil Adcock
Peter Heine
Franie De Villiers
Allan Donald
Makhaya Ntini
Dale Steyn
Vernon Philander
Kagiso Rabada
Spin
Hugh Tayfield
Imran Tahir
Keshav Maharaj
Clive Rice headlines those who miss out.
Players who lost the majority of their careers to the Apartheid isolation were the big losers when selector Rudi and captain Graeme Smith announced their 30-man squad for the ATG Test Championship. Although the likes of Barry Richards, Mike Proctor and Graeme Pollock (the latter as vice-captain) have made it, exceptional all-rounder Clive Rice headlines those who have suffered for missing out on playing test cricket at the height of their powers. Without the ban Rice, who averaged 40 with the bat and 22 with the ball in first-class cricket, would have a reasonable case to be the South African captain having won two county championships in charge at Notts. Despite being 41, Rice even got the job as South Africa's first ODI skipper in 1991.
Others who have unquestionably suffered from missing out on test cricket include fast bowlers Vintcent van der Bijl (who average 16.54 with the ball in first-class games) and Garth Le Roux (who averaged 15.88 in Kerry Packer Supertests), as well as top-order batsman Jimmy Cook (who averaged over 50 for Somerset despite being 38 when joining) and Peter Kirsten (who top-scored for SA at the 1992 World Cup despite being 36), who both played all 19 Rebel Tests. Kepler Wessels also misses out despite moving to Australia to avoid the ban, before returning upon re-entry.
Reports out of Zimbabwe, who were considering joining the tournament, that they were joined by members of the SA board in lobbying to change the rules to allow countries to pick anyone born in that country, in order so they could be allowed to pick others who like Wessels moved to avoid the ban (the likes of Robin Smith and Allan Lamb), have been strongly refuted.
Full Squad:
Openers
Barry Richards
Eddie Barlow
Gary Kirsten
Graeme Smith
Bruce Mitchell
Middle Order
Graeme Pollock V/
Dudley Nourse
Colin Bland
Hashim Amla
Daryll Cullinan
Faf du Plessis
All-Rounder
Michael Proctor
Jacques Kallis
Shaun Pollock
Brian McMillian
Trevor Goddard
Keepers
Quinten De Kock
Mark Boucher
AB de Villiers
Pace
Neil Adcock
Peter Heine
Franie De Villiers
Allan Donald
Makhaya Ntini
Dale Steyn
Vernon Philander
Kagiso Rabada
Spin
Hugh Tayfield
Imran Tahir
Keshav Maharaj
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Very few shocks in the Pakistan Squad
The shock in the Pakistan squad is that there are no shocks. Imran Khan was named skipper with the enigmatic Misbah-ul-Haq his deputy. Where there was always going to be a question mark was in the stacked spin bowling department, Danish Kaneria, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Ajmal have missed out in favour of the four selected. However, leading commentator Ramiz Raja has somewhat surprisingly called the omission of Mohammed Hafeez into question due to his flexibility stating:
"A 30-man squad for 14 Test series isn't actually that many. Hafeez can dig in, he can be explosive. Over the course of a series, he can be used as an off-spinner, an all-rounder. Even as an emergency opener. I just think missing that flexibility might come to hurt us."
Openers
Hanif Mohammed
Saeed Anwar
Mudassar Nazar
Shaoib Mohammed
Middle Order
Azhar Ali
Javed Miandad
Inzaman ul-Haq
Mohammed Yousuf
Zaheer Abbas
Younis Khan
Misbah-ul-Haq V/
Babar Asam
Saleem Malik
All-Rounder
Imran Khan
Shahid Afridi
Wasim Akram
Mushtaq Mohammed
Keepers
Imtiaz Ahmed
Sarfraz Ahmed
Mohammed Rizwan
Pace
Fazal Mahmood
Waqar Younis
Shoaib Akhtar
Sarfraz Nawaz
Mohammed Amir
Shaheen Afridi
Spin
Abdul Qadir
Iqbal Qasim
Saqlain Mushtaq
Yasir Shah
The shock in the Pakistan squad is that there are no shocks. Imran Khan was named skipper with the enigmatic Misbah-ul-Haq his deputy. Where there was always going to be a question mark was in the stacked spin bowling department, Danish Kaneria, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saeed Ajmal have missed out in favour of the four selected. However, leading commentator Ramiz Raja has somewhat surprisingly called the omission of Mohammed Hafeez into question due to his flexibility stating:
"A 30-man squad for 14 Test series isn't actually that many. Hafeez can dig in, he can be explosive. Over the course of a series, he can be used as an off-spinner, an all-rounder. Even as an emergency opener. I just think missing that flexibility might come to hurt us."
Openers
Hanif Mohammed
Saeed Anwar
Mudassar Nazar
Shaoib Mohammed
Middle Order
Azhar Ali
Javed Miandad
Inzaman ul-Haq
Mohammed Yousuf
Zaheer Abbas
Younis Khan
Misbah-ul-Haq V/
Babar Asam
Saleem Malik
All-Rounder
Imran Khan
Shahid Afridi
Wasim Akram
Mushtaq Mohammed
Keepers
Imtiaz Ahmed
Sarfraz Ahmed
Mohammed Rizwan
Pace
Fazal Mahmood
Waqar Younis
Shoaib Akhtar
Sarfraz Nawaz
Mohammed Amir
Shaheen Afridi
Spin
Abdul Qadir
Iqbal Qasim
Saqlain Mushtaq
Yasir Shah
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD:
Openers
Len Hutton
Alistair Cook
Graham Gooch
Geoffrey Boycott
Michael Atherton
Middle Order
Denis Compton
Ken Barrington
Colin Cowdrey
Ted Dexter
Nasser Hussain
Graham Thorpe
Kevin Pietersen
Joe Root
All-Rounders
Ian Botham
Andrew Flintoff
Ben Stokes V/
Ray Illingworth
Keepers
Alan Knott
Jack Russell
Matt Prior
Pace
Fred Trueman
Frank Tyson
Jimmy Anderson
Stuart Broad
Alec Bedser
Spin
Jim Laker
Derek Underwood
Graham Swann
Johnny Wardle
Bob Appleyard
Charles Colvile (CC): So guys, the squad has been announced, neither of you guys are in it. Thoughts Bob?
Bob Willis (BW): Well Charles, I will leave my personal omission to one side to address a wider point. What bird-brain involved in the selection process thinks that with all the fast bowling stock to choose from that you can get away just five specialist quicks, for what is 53 intense Test Matches, without ending up short through injury at some point?
CC: So you think you should be in there?
BW: I already said I wasn't talking about me Charles. I certainly believe I should have been in the conversation but there is no Harmison or Hoggard; no John Snow or Brian Statham. I can understand missing out to those but without non of us, we are bound to end up unbelievably short.
CC: Do you agree David?
David Gower (DG): To be fair, I do see where Bob is coming from. Five specialist spinners does seem a bit like overkill, especially with Ray Illingworth too, but Bob Appleyard can bowl a bit of seam up which might be useful to use him in the sub-continent as almost two players in one and we do at least have some world-class pace bowling all-rounders in the Beef, Freddie and Ben Stokes...
BW: I'm sorry David but I'll be shocked if Ben was still fit to bowl by the end of this program, which proves my point. As for my namesake, if you want someone to do a bit of both seam up and bowl some offies, pick Tony Greig, who can average 40 with the bat to boot!! Even beyond that, you want more space for seamers, pick Alec Stewart as one of your three keepers. That way you get a keeper, opening bat and middle-order player all in one.
CC: Well, as you brought it up, let's talk about the batting. Your thoughts David?
DG: Obviously I am bitterly disappointed to miss out personally but the fact I am in the same boat as the likes of Peter May, Mike Gatting, Dennis Amiss, Robin Smith and Michael Vaughan put me in pretty good company.
BW: Sorry to interrupt you again David, but there are players in this squad who shouldn't be. Squarely Nasser Hussain. Now I like Nasser personally but he is not good enough to be at this level and to make him CAPTAIN! We all remember Brisbane 2002. After making that decision to bowl first, they shouldn't have allowed him to fly home business class, they should have strapped him to the wing Charles.
CC: Bob may be making in it in his own inimitable way but he does make a point David. No-one going into this tournament would have called Nasser a guaranteed starter in the eleven. That puts a lot of pressure on him to get runs to ensure his status in the side, as well as make good captaincy decisions.
DG: There is always a pressure on any captain to be worth his place in the side with both disciplines. I should know as much as anyone. However there will undoubtedly be a lot more pressure just because of those around him. It says something that every single batsman and all-rounder in that squad have been England captain, except Boycs and Graham Thorpe. It means there are almost as many alternative options as when I was doing the job in the 80's! Every single player in this competition is world-class, so very few players are guaranteed to be in any side. That makes picking a captain hard, Sri Lanka's greatest ever captain is, without a doubt, Ranatunga. However, they haven't given him the captaincy. Why? Because he probably doesn't get in the side. Look at Australia, the great captains like Waugh and Border. However, there is only one reason for me that the rumours are that the Don will get the job. Because he is probably the only player in this entire competition who has a nailed down spot in the side.
BW: Charles, I don't want it to seem like I am just picking on Nasser, I'm not. He will unquestionably give his best, as you expect of all the England players. Speaking of which, given the rumours, I am shocked to see Kevin Pietersen in the squad. If there was one man out there who would be desperate for South Africa to be able to pick anyone born there, it is him. They are 'his mates' after all...I'd be darn sure, they wouldn't have sniffed at picking Tony Greig either.
Openers
Len Hutton
Alistair Cook
Graham Gooch
Geoffrey Boycott
Michael Atherton
Middle Order
Denis Compton
Ken Barrington
Colin Cowdrey
Ted Dexter
Nasser Hussain
Graham Thorpe
Kevin Pietersen
Joe Root
All-Rounders
Ian Botham
Andrew Flintoff
Ben Stokes V/
Ray Illingworth
Keepers
Alan Knott
Jack Russell
Matt Prior
Pace
Fred Trueman
Frank Tyson
Jimmy Anderson
Stuart Broad
Alec Bedser
Spin
Jim Laker
Derek Underwood
Graham Swann
Johnny Wardle
Bob Appleyard
THE VERDICT
Charles Colvile (CC): So guys, the squad has been announced, neither of you guys are in it. Thoughts Bob?
Bob Willis (BW): Well Charles, I will leave my personal omission to one side to address a wider point. What bird-brain involved in the selection process thinks that with all the fast bowling stock to choose from that you can get away just five specialist quicks, for what is 53 intense Test Matches, without ending up short through injury at some point?
CC: So you think you should be in there?
BW: I already said I wasn't talking about me Charles. I certainly believe I should have been in the conversation but there is no Harmison or Hoggard; no John Snow or Brian Statham. I can understand missing out to those but without non of us, we are bound to end up unbelievably short.
CC: Do you agree David?
David Gower (DG): To be fair, I do see where Bob is coming from. Five specialist spinners does seem a bit like overkill, especially with Ray Illingworth too, but Bob Appleyard can bowl a bit of seam up which might be useful to use him in the sub-continent as almost two players in one and we do at least have some world-class pace bowling all-rounders in the Beef, Freddie and Ben Stokes...
BW: I'm sorry David but I'll be shocked if Ben was still fit to bowl by the end of this program, which proves my point. As for my namesake, if you want someone to do a bit of both seam up and bowl some offies, pick Tony Greig, who can average 40 with the bat to boot!! Even beyond that, you want more space for seamers, pick Alec Stewart as one of your three keepers. That way you get a keeper, opening bat and middle-order player all in one.
CC: Well, as you brought it up, let's talk about the batting. Your thoughts David?
DG: Obviously I am bitterly disappointed to miss out personally but the fact I am in the same boat as the likes of Peter May, Mike Gatting, Dennis Amiss, Robin Smith and Michael Vaughan put me in pretty good company.
BW: Sorry to interrupt you again David, but there are players in this squad who shouldn't be. Squarely Nasser Hussain. Now I like Nasser personally but he is not good enough to be at this level and to make him CAPTAIN! We all remember Brisbane 2002. After making that decision to bowl first, they shouldn't have allowed him to fly home business class, they should have strapped him to the wing Charles.
CC: Bob may be making in it in his own inimitable way but he does make a point David. No-one going into this tournament would have called Nasser a guaranteed starter in the eleven. That puts a lot of pressure on him to get runs to ensure his status in the side, as well as make good captaincy decisions.
DG: There is always a pressure on any captain to be worth his place in the side with both disciplines. I should know as much as anyone. However there will undoubtedly be a lot more pressure just because of those around him. It says something that every single batsman and all-rounder in that squad have been England captain, except Boycs and Graham Thorpe. It means there are almost as many alternative options as when I was doing the job in the 80's! Every single player in this competition is world-class, so very few players are guaranteed to be in any side. That makes picking a captain hard, Sri Lanka's greatest ever captain is, without a doubt, Ranatunga. However, they haven't given him the captaincy. Why? Because he probably doesn't get in the side. Look at Australia, the great captains like Waugh and Border. However, there is only one reason for me that the rumours are that the Don will get the job. Because he is probably the only player in this entire competition who has a nailed down spot in the side.
BW: Charles, I don't want it to seem like I am just picking on Nasser, I'm not. He will unquestionably give his best, as you expect of all the England players. Speaking of which, given the rumours, I am shocked to see Kevin Pietersen in the squad. If there was one man out there who would be desperate for South Africa to be able to pick anyone born there, it is him. They are 'his mates' after all...I'd be darn sure, they wouldn't have sniffed at picking Tony Greig either.
