Alistair Cook

[Dipper]

This bloke is my hero already, I said a while abck that I reckon he'll break Gooch's England Test run scoring record.

I just hope that the selector's don't lose their balls & put Trescothick straight back in & leave Cook 'for the future'.


Made a good start in the championship scoring 88 & an unbeaten ton & then in a one day game reduced to a 10 over slog he led Essex to a 10 wicket win with a breezy 40 odd n/o off 20 odd balls.

He's in the England A side to play sri Lanka so I'm hoping he scores well there.


We're gonna need this bloke for the Ashes.

 

[Cooldude]

Should be down under for the Ashes and in the side

If Michael Vaughan ain't captain, his ass would've been dropped for him.

Sounds like a funny and witty bloke as well, comes up with some corker one liners.

 

[Grimwood]

Cook at #1, Trescothick at #5?

 

[eddiesmith]

Strauss at 4

 

[Grimreepah]

This bloke is my hero already, I said a while abck that I reckon he'll break Gooch's England Test run scoring record.

Big call. He's got to beat Phil Tufnell's first.

 

[usalion]

Definitely one to watch....he's done some fine batting and could certainly prove a thorn in the side of the Aussies this coming summer...he's getting some good experience, and I'd expect him in the Test mix later in the summer...Question will be where he will bat best for the Poms....

Also illustrates the idiotic nature of our selection policy- refuse to give youngsters a go (unless they come from NSW) when they might be able to help the side. When are you going to get them the experience- when there is no other option and you are thrown into a tight series?

 

[Cap]

This bloke is my hero already, I said a while abck that I reckon he'll break Gooch's England Test run scoring record.

I just hope that the selector's don't lose their balls & put Trescothick straight back in & leave Cook 'for the future'.


Made a good start in the championship scoring 88 & an unbeaten ton & then in a one day game reduced to a 10 over slog he led Essex to a 10 wicket win with a breezy 40 odd n/o off 20 odd balls.

He's in the England A side to play sri Lanka so I'm hoping he scores well there.


We're gonna need this bloke for the Ashes.

Michael Clarke board ?

 

[The_Reaper]

There was talk of moving Tresco to the middle order.

If I were an English supporter, I would like to see Vaughn dropped and Strauss moved to 3 with Cook and Tresco opening.

 

[Browney]

I wouldnt be dropping Tresco down the order to quickly, Strauss should move to 3, if he has to, have Trescothick opening with Cook, and possibliy Vaughan/Bell/Collo in the 4th possie, Pieterson at 5, Flintoff 6, Jones/Read (If his batting continues to improve at 7, and then the bowlers, thats the way i would like to see the batting lineup.

 

[the_mighty_pies_3733]

Cant drop Vaughan, terrific captain, only player in the side who has played in Australia besides Tresco, and absolutely dominated. The pitches suit his game. Time to try Marcus in the middle order against Sri Lanka, or maybe even play Alastair or Straussy in the middle order. Good thing about England now is the depth in the batting with Collingwood, Bell, Shah and Ed Joyce there as ready made replacements.

 

[linda]

Cook will get his chance to shine when he plays for Eng A against Sl ,England have put out a pretty strong side.This game is a bit of a rareity England dont usually do this sort of thing especially when there is a county programme going on as well .I think its a good idea and hope it continues in the future .Also Read gets a game in front of Prior which must be of some sort of significance .Either the management have realised their error or they are giving Read the chance to fail in order to shut people up .My view is come on Read show them some class behind the stumps and even though you are batting 8 score some runs .People also need to watch out for Bopara and Joyce they can start pushing for selection
Key
Cook
Shah
Joyce
Bopara
Loudon
Clarke
Read

 

[linda]

sorry pressed the wrong button

Plunkett
Tremlett
Mahmood

Not a bad side that could give SL trouble especially early in the year

 

[Bennycoff]

haha some of the names here are funny. Plunkett has potential but is young, wouldn't trouble the Aussies, Mahmood and Tremlett the same.

Key is a spud, terrible batsman, not international standard. Cook will be a gun, as soon as Vaughan is gone the better.

 

[Browney]

haha some of the names here are funny. Plunkett has potential but is young, wouldn't trouble the Aussies, Mahmood and Tremlett the same.

Key is a spud, terrible batsman, not international standard. Cook will be a gun, as soon as Vaughan is gone the better.

Just because he is not international standard doesnt mean that he is a terrible batsmen. Tremlett has potential with the ball, but i would still pick Anderson ahead of him. Plunkett is on the come up though, will be good in the years to come. But atm i am very pleased with the depth in the England batting.

 

[F/D]

Cook, a young talented English batsman.


Not as good as AB though.

 

[Philhawk]

Just because he is not international standard doesnt mean that he is a terrible batsmen. Tremlett has potential with the ball, but i would still pick Anderson ahead of him. Plunkett is on the come up though, will be good in the years to come. But atm i am very pleased with the depth in the England batting.

If I were a pom fan i'd be stoked with the bowling reserves you guys have (pace). The batting, IMO, seems to be the main worry though. Players like Shah, Solanki and Bell dont deserve and spot and opportunities should be given to players like Joyce and Cook.

 

[Grimreepah]

Cook, a young talented English batsman.


Not as good as AB though.

Unless you are referring to Allan Border, you may not use that nickname.

 

[Grimwood]

If I were a pom fan i'd be stoked with the bowling reserves you guys have (pace). The batting, IMO, seems to be the main worry though. Players like Shah, Solanki and Bell dont deserve and spot and opportunities should be given to players like Joyce and Cook.

Solanki yes.. you might want to throw Rob Key in there as well given how many chances he's had. Shah and Bell however should not be so quickly dismissed, granted they've had failures but they've also had successes which have been strong enough to hint at good players with flaws to iron out rather than poor players who peak very occasionally.

 

[the_mighty_pies_3733]

If I were a pom fan i'd be stoked with the bowling reserves you guys have (pace). The batting, IMO, seems to be the main worry though. Players like Shah, Solanki and Bell dont deserve and spot and opportunities should be given to players like Joyce and Cook.

Granted, Shah and Bell failed against Australia, but since Shahs last games against Australia he has improved out of sight and Bell had a terrific tour of Pakistan.

 

[F/D]

Unless you are referring to Allan Border, you may not use that nickname.

de Villiers has boned more girls than Border

 

[Dipper]

Michael Clarke board ?

Haha it's funny you should say that because when i first mentioned Cook on here about 2 years ago I said that 'he's our Michael Clarke', doesn't sound as good now does it?


I'm probably not too well qualified to comment on Clarke but he strikes me as beign a bloke with a good eye & natural flair & he's probably found it fairly easy when he was young but he's a bit too loose & maybe needs to tweak his technique.

Cook is a different guy, he's a strong technician & he's mentality & attitude are his big strengths, apparently hugely mature but also has a sense of equilibrium as shown by all his outside interests, he's one of those sickening people who's good at loads of things.

I've followed him pretty closely from when i first read about him, I'm obviously biased as an Esex fan, goochie was my boyhood hero & Cook is son of Gooch.

I know saying that I reckon he'll break Gooch's record is a big call & probably stupid but I can really see it happening.

What's always struck me about him is that he always steps up to the next level when when put in the position, many Englsih batsmen make runs in county cricket but struggle in Tests/One Dayers but Cook always does well in big games outside of CC, he captained england in the U19 WC a few years ago & in 5 or 6 innings he hit an 80, then two scores of 108 not out.

They shoved him in the curtain raiser MCC v champions game last season & he hit a ton & either a 90 or another ton.

Made a double ton against Australia last year against a good attack(bloody good pitch though).

Makes a 60 & century on Test debut.

Made a ton I think in this years MCC/champs game.

Essex hardly played him in one dayers last year but they as soon as they gave him a go late in the season he scored well & won a few games.

Like I said before in a 10 over slogathon he led us to a 10w win scoring at nearly 2 a ball, something that people thougth he couldn't do as he's a pretty pure player.

These blokes who step it up in these bigger games usually go on much better in International cricket than the blokes who just grind out runs in CC in mid table games in front of one man & a dog.

Essex guru Keith Fletcher said that Goochie was the best young player he'd ever seen until he saw Cook, that's a recomendation.

As for the England order, there's a lot of questions at the moment, I agree with Philhawk that the batting is a worry, I don't think it's been as good over the last couple of years as people think, we've been winning & that tends to blind people to weaknesses.

What's difficult is that they all seem to have a bad game or series followed by a good one, so no body is pulling away from the pack.

Bell, terrible against Australia then tops the stats in Pakistan then goes back again in India.

Collingwood does well in the winter but the thought remains that he lacks true class & isn't suited to the bouncier pitches down under.

Strauss has gone back a bit since a decent start & a superb series in SA.

Tresco has had a really good run but he's a notch below the real top performers & he follows a good game witha bad one too often.

Shah seems a good player of spin which will help with Warne but it's no good if McGrath & Lee take him out every innings.

Too many questions unanswered.

I think you have to play Strauss, Cook & Tresco, which means that one of them won't open (don't think you can send out 3 batsmen to open), the obvious option is to put one of them at 3, my view would be that Cook is the one that you definitely want to open with.But also there's a case for Tresco going in at 4 or 5 as he plays spin well & might be a good foil for Warne in the middle order.

Pietersen is a shoo in (although frustratingly inconsistant) so it leaves one space, obviously if Vaughan gets fit he's the man, I'm not a fan I think a breakdown of his test career shows that great year was the exception not the 'real' Vaughan.I don't think he's captaincy has that X factor that everyone thinks either, you have a unit of Harmison/Hoggard/Flintoff/Jones then it's hard to look bad as a captain.

I guess an England side like tthis would be my prefered line up to face Australia

Cook
Strauss
Vaughan
Pietersen
Trescothick
Flintoff
Read
Giles
Jones
Harmison
Hoggard

And yeah that tail end order is right, I'd always put Jones & Harmison ahead of Hoggard he can hold up an end but they can make runs.The number of times one of them is left not out & you think that there was maybe a quick 20 runs there whilst with Hoggard if he's not out there's maybe 10 runs scored in an hour at best.

As for Read I was never a big fan but he's a much better keeper than Jones & to be honest I can see him scoring more, might not have as much talent but he score runs now, always at a good lick.

 

[Dipper]

haha some of the names here are funny. Plunkett has potential but is young, wouldn't trouble the Aussies, Mahmood and Tremlett the same.

The fast bowling is the big, big strength of English cricket now.

Mahmood has the tools, genuinely quick & tall with high action & can move the ball but he's wild, expensive even in country cricket, I'm not sure he'll ever make the grade he needs to break through for Lancashire this year, they hardly played him in 2005.

I like the look of Tremlett, he's so tall & a reasonably solid build but I'm not sure he has the right mentality, Warne has commented on it.He needs to try to bowl like McGrath but he can be too costly, he should IMO be looking to just bowl back of a lenght on off stump ball after ball.

Plunkett probably has a better attitude than him & that could make the difference plus he can bat.

The one who's coming through & exciting people now is Stuart Broad, son of Chris.

He took a 5 for yesterday, he's only 19, he's 6 feet 6 inches tall, which is an inch or two more than Harmison & they reckon when he stops growing he'll reach 6 foot 9, which will make him Bruce Reid like, the big worry is if his back can take it but with all the sports science stuff they have now & bio mechanists hopefully he'll be ok.Shame we lost Troy Cooley, he was the king at tweaking blokes' actions to the optimum.Of course he can bat a bit too, which you'd expect with his old man.

It's nice strength in depth we've got for sure but it really needs Jones to have a year or two big no big injuries, he's my favourite of the lot but he's like a race horse or a boxer, it's like he needs to be brought to a peak for specific challenge but can't cope with the daily/weekly/monthly/yearly grind.

It's a shame as he had the best Test strike rate of 2005 of bowlers who took over 30 wickets or something like that.

Could do with a bit more consistancy from Harmison & a bit more brain power of where to bowl.

Then there's Anderson who looks reborn, get him, Hoggy & Jones in the same side when it's swinging & we're laughing but wouldn't want him & Hoggard in the same side too often when it's not moving off the straight, that's when we need the giants firing.

Just need a few batsmen to come through & of course spin.

Talking of which Darmyple of Middlesex is a pretty decent batting prospect but they've also got him bowling his off spin a helluva lot, the absolute dream would be if he can get up to a decent Test level as an offie-allrounder, too mcuh too hope but maybe he could force his way into the one day side & from there you never know.Match report yesterday said that he was beating batsmen on both sides, which is a good sign plus he hit a 90 odd.

The reality is though that at present the only batsmen who I think has the potential to average over 50 for an appreciable amount of time is Cook, none of the current batsmen can do it & none of the other wannabees look likely to either.

 

[Grimreepah]

de Villiers has boned more girls than Border

Not if you discount the ugly ones.

 

[the_mighty_pies_3733]

The fast bowling is the big, big strength of English cricket now.

Mahmood has the tools, genuinely quick & tall with high action & can move the ball but he's wild, expensive even in country cricket, I'm not sure he'll ever make the grade he needs to break through for Lancashire this year, they hardly played him in 2005.

I like the look of Tremlett, he's so tall & a reasonably solid build but I'm not sure he has the right mentality, Warne has commented on it.He needs to try to bowl like McGrath but he can be too costly, he should IMO be looking to just bowl back of a lenght on off stump ball after ball.

Plunkett probably has a better attitude than him & that could make the difference plus he can bat.

The one who's coming through & exciting people now is Stuart Broad, son of Chris.

He took a 5 for yesterday, he's only 19, he's 6 feet 6 inches tall, which is an inch or two more than Harmison & they reckon when he stops growing he'll reach 6 foot 9, which will make him Bruce Reid like, the big worry is if his back can take it but with all the sports science stuff they have now & bio mechanists hopefully he'll be ok.Shame we lost Troy Cooley, he was the king at tweaking blokes' actions to the optimum.Of course he can bat a bit too, which you'd expect with his old man.

It's nice strength in depth we've got for sure but it really needs Jones to have a year or two big no big injuries, he's my favourite of the lot but he's like a race horse or a boxer, it's like he needs to be brought to a peak for specific challenge but can't cope with the daily/weekly/monthly/yearly grind.

It's a shame as he had the best Test strike rate of 2005 of bowlers who took over 30 wickets or something like that.

Could do with a bit more consistancy from Harmison & a bit more brain power of where to bowl.

Then there's Anderson who looks reborn, get him, Hoggy & Jones in the same side when it's swinging & we're laughing but wouldn't want him & Hoggard in the same side too often when it's not moving off the straight, that's when we need the giants firing.

Just need a few batsmen to come through & of course spin.

Talking of which Darmyple of Middlesex is a pretty decent batting prospect but they've also got him bowling his off spin a helluva lot, the absolute dream would be if he can get up to a decent Test level as an offie-allrounder, too mcuh too hope but maybe he could force his way into the one day side & from there you never know.Match report yesterday said that he was beating batsmen on both sides, which is a good sign plus he hit a 90 odd.

The reality is though that at present the only batsmen who I think has the potential to average over 50 for an appreciable amount of time is Cook, none of the current batsmen can do it & none of the other wannabees look likely to either.

Also watch out for Tim Bresnan, good young fast bowling prospect plus handy with the bat.

 

[F/D]

Not if you discount the ugly ones.

AB doesnt shag 40 yr old sheilas from Australia.