Graham Thorpe

Spin to win for England

Fri Mar 13 02:37PM

England's Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar

Where this winter's hugely disappointing performances leaves England's bowling attack is anyone's guess: we're better off playing on turning wickets against Australia in the summer.

I doubt we will actually take this approach, but in my opinion, it represents our best chance, given the state of our pace attack at the moment.

England have gone backwards this winter; there weren't too many players who took positive forward strides, and the make-up of the side needs a lot of work.

We have gone away from identifying what is their best bowling attack, and who they want challenging for a place in the side.

Graeme Swann and the returning Monty Panesar were the men who came out of the final Test with the most credit from the bowling side of things and are without doubt, the best two spinners in the country, with Adil Rashid lurking behind them.

We need Andrew Flintoff fit and firing because without him our bowling attack looks very lightweight.

I would send Steve Harmison back to Newcastle Football Club and get him fit: he enjoys it, and through that fitness he will bowl his best again.

James Anderson has made some great strides this winter, but Harmison has gone backwards again. He has slipped away; Amjad Khan has shown glimpses of something different, but probably not enough.

Stuart Broad and Anderson should be selected and continue to keep improving, but they are not enough on their own, and are still relatively inexperienced.

People are calling for Simon Jones to lead the bowling attack, but he has not been fit for a long time. He has played sporadically, but not sustained the form that would warrant a place; I really don't know what you can do with a player like that.

We have Saj Mahmood and Liam Plunkett playing for the England Lions, but we are showing no signs of actually pushing them back into the fold - what is the point of that team if it's not to breed players for the Test side?

We have lost significant ground on Australia, where they are starting to develop a very strong nucleus to their side again, and they can be heartened by the progress they have made.

Having beaten South Africa away from home, they will be in a very good place mentally. England, on the other hand, will not be going into the series as favourites, which is actually not a bad thing as we seem to prefer to be underdogs.

The jury is still out on Owais Shah as a number three, which opens the door essentially for Michael Vaughan, possibly even Robert Key - that position is really not settled at all.

Shah has certainly not cemented that number three spot: he and Ravi Bopara are both Test number fives in my opinion. I'm just not sure that their techniques allow them to be number threes; they are better suited to playing down the order, which leaves that top order spot open.

The root of the batting line-up is: Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, if he is fit, but beyond that it is up in the air. The start of the first-class season will tell us a lot about the players with something to prove.

The winter was hugely disappointing and we didn't win a Test; we must learn our lessons and have a strong strategy in place for how we are going to win Test matches this summer.

Australia hold the psychological advantage, but if we can get our house in order, we still have a chance.

Comments1 - 15 of 15

Agree entirely with the article but not sure about Andrew Flintoff as a 'root of the batting line-up'. I do not believe that over the last four years or so, Flintoff has done enough with the bat to justify batting at six. Matt Prior is a far better bet at six but is his keeping up to scratch at test level? Therefore not only is the number three spot still up for grabs but it appears that this is the case at number six also.
Bicky
From tony.gore2 on Fri Mar 13 03:03PM
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Since summer 2006, Flintoff's series batting averages have been 15.66, 28.22, 28.25, 28 and 16.75. While it is true that between 2003 and the start of 2006, he was a genuine all-rounder who earned a place in the side with both parts of his game, since then he has been more of a bowler who is useful with the bat. A pure batsman with Flintoff's stats would not still be in the side, it's as simple as that. As for Anderson, he has played 34 tests and taken over 100 wickets: how can he possibly be classed as 'inexperienced'?
From marcoscarratala on Fri Mar 13 03:26PM
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How is Cook not included in the root of the batting line-up
From basil_feilding on Fri Mar 13 04:09PM
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Robert Key should be in the 'root' also. As for Jimmy Anderson, he is so inconsistent its frustrating - good shout though Thorpey
From parsnip10 on Fri Mar 13 04:19PM
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Don't agree with Panesar being in the test side at all. Has to be the worst cricketer playing test cricket at the moment. Can't bat or field and his bowling has gone back not learn't anything since coming into the test arena
From petergwilcox on Fri Mar 13 04:42PM
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Preparing spinner's wickets would certainly be the way to beat the assies since they currently lack a spinner who averages under 40 in 1st class cricket. I wouldn't want to see us do it though. England and Australia are about the only two countries left who don't prepare wickets to order for the home team captain. Against anyone else it might be fair game but not this time.
From bob.edge64 on Fri Mar 13 07:07PM
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The big diff between us and the Aussies is they know how to win period
dont panic when they dont and pick the right young players and stick with them.As for Harmision everyone knows he cant bowl south of Watford!
From andyganley on Fri Mar 13 09:27PM
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England require a complete overhaul of their bowling attack.
Sack James Anderson, Steve Harmison, Jammes Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Amjad Khan, James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff.
Bring back Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones and Chris Tremlett to bowl alongside Stuart Broad and Graham Swann.
From biswasroop on Fri Mar 13 09:45PM
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i agree with number 9
anderson out
From willowwillow59 on Sat Mar 14 08:49AM
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i agree with number 9
anderson out
From willowwillow59 on Sat Mar 14 08:49AM
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i agree with number 9
anderson out
From willowwillow59 on Sat Mar 14 08:49AM
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I think pprior is stable with the bat as well, and i can agree with cook. He could be number three. I just don't think the openers combination is right.when trescothik was playing it was excellent because strauss and trescothik complemented each other's styles very well. If Ian bell is fit he is a good number three. I agree with the bowling attack because Hoggard is not at his best at the moment. If he was england would surely brink him back,
From leo.gauvain on Sat Mar 14 06:56PM
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I also agree with #9. I've been saying for ages that Anderson & Harmie shouldn't be in the team. Who to put in tho' opens up another can of worms. basically the whole infrastructure of English cticket needs looking at, once they've gotten rid of the 'crud' at the top. All this 'dollar' chasing does the test format no good whatsoever.
From keiranpack on Mon Mar 16 08:49AM
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rashid never got a chance to prove himself,was a shame.The one shining light was graeme swann.Colly is back to his best too.
From marsden.ruth on Mon Mar 16 11:14PM
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English shoud learn from India
Even a part time spinner like youvraj singh gets KP out so often
lolz...
From ankushinani on Tue Mar 17 10:19AM
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