“Both Bell and Sidebottom have been in form in the early part of the season and have been a part of the England set-up in recent years. Ryan Sidebottom has recovered from surgery and reports that he is now bowling pain-free and like he did against New Zealand. The inclusion of Bell and Sidebottom in the team gives the selectors, the coach and the captain a sense of normalcy going into this game. Ravi and Graham are unlucky but it was always highly unlikely we would continue to experiment with unknown players when we had two proven performers back in form. Bell also bowled a few overs for Warwickshire last week, and that was enough to show us he is now an allrounder.”
Geoff Miller
You are setting yourself for another Poe. You should make the humour/irony more obvious.
We can only hope.
Ian Bell I can sort of understand. He averages 90 for the season so far, and is a much better option in lower middle order, where he averages 50+ for The England. Bresnan’s not bowling, so I’d rather Bell was there if they’re going to have an all out batsman, against the windies, they can utilise KP’s offspin, and Ravi & Colly are tidy back-up bowlers. But Sidebottom is averaging 31 with the ball, he’s been out bowled by a 20yr old called Luke Fletcher, who averages 20 with the ball. If Geoff Miller is serious about selection being based on form, then the young fella should have been picked.
Suave, Bell’s average is less impressive when you consider the individual scores: 172, 13*, 29, 37 and 30*. One big score followed by a handful of pretty 20s and 30s – typical Bell.
And isn’t it a bit soon to pick Fletcher, after only 3 matches in his career?
Dave, that’s true. I am not a big fan of Bell, but he averages 54 at 5 and 49 at 6. I’d rather have him in there, than Bresnan. Bresnan didn’t bowl so why is he there.
I’m not saying I would have picked Fletcher, but to say that you’re picking Sidebottom on form, when he’s been outbowled by Fletcher, Swann & Broad, is bullshit.
I wouldn’t have picked Sidebottom at all.
I presume Bresnan is in the team to fill the sub-Test-standard bits-and-pieces quota. We had Gareth Batty in the Carribean, but I think Bresnan’s been consistently ok with bat and ball for long enough to warrant being picked.
dave,
two of those scores were ‘not out’..so there were only 2 failures
“The inclusion of Bell and Sidebottom in the team gives the selectors, the coach and the captain a sense of normalcy going into this game.”
I know Geoff did not say it, but we all know he is thinking it