England Squad

[Flipper]

England selectors are meeting on Friday, and will name their squad this weekends for the test series against Bangladesh. This squad will be chosen from the 25 men development squad they announced earlier last week. The forms of the English batsmen have not been quite impressive lately. Ian Bell and Robert key are the only ones to score a century this summer. Both of them are in excellent form, however, they rank lower than our Habibul Bashar and Mohammed Ashraful in the LG ICC rankings.

Selectors have been concerned about the injury toll of the England team. England Test duo Graham Thorpe and Simon Jones have both been ruled out of the County Championship meeting between Surrey and Glamorgan at The Brit Oval this week due to back problems. Meanwhile, Mark Butcher continues his rehabilitation from a wrist injury. Ashly Giles, the leading wicket taker in the county so far is the latest one to give selectors a injury scare. He told BBC “It's a twisting injury in the hip and groin area and I've been for a scan as a precaution”. The good news for them is Andrew Flintoff who bowled today for the first time since ankle surgery for Lancashire against Durham. Although he is least likely to be bowling in the test series, his inclusion as a batsman hasn’t been rulled out.

England Development Squad: Michael Vaughan*, Kabir Ali, James Anderson*, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Mark Butcher*, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff*, Ashley Giles*, Darren Gough, Stephen Harmison*, Matthew Hoggard*, Geraint Jones*, Simon Jones*, Robert Key, Jon Lewis, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Read, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss*, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Graham Thorpe*, Marcus Trescothick*, Alex Wharf
• = players who have a 12-month contract

Here is where they stand in the LG ICC rankings published on May 4th 2005: (I have also included BD players for comparison)

The LG ICC Top 100 Test Batting Ranking:
Rank: Player: Country: Rating

11. Andrew Strauss ENG: 751
16. Marcus Trescothick ENG: 713
22. Graham Thorpe ENG: 671
27. Michael Vaughan ENG: 618
30. Andrew Flintoff ENG: 586
36. Mark Butcher ENG: 568
39. Habibul Bashar BAN: 539
55. Mohammad Ashraful BAN: 428
58. Robert Key ENG: 421
64. Geraint Jones ENG: 400
70. Rajin Saleh BAN: 388
72. Ian Bell ENG: 383
75. Nafis Iqbal BAN: 370
81. Ashley Giles ENG: 352
86. Mohammad Rafiq BAN: 329
96. Khaled Masud BAN: 303
98. Javed Omar BAN: 299

The LG ICC Top 100 Test Bowling Ranking:
Rank: Player: Country: Rating

10. Steve Harmison ENG: 717
13. Matthew Hoggard ENG: 701
14. Andrew Flintoff ENG: 698
16. Ashley Giles ENG: 605
22. Mohammad Rafiq BAN: 559
36. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza BAN: 429
45. Simon Jones ENG: 385
47. Enamul Haque Jr. BAN: 382
54. James Anderson ENG: 317
74. Tapash Baisya BAN: 232
88. Manjurul Islam BAN: 164 (not in Ban Squad)
92. Martin Saggers BAN: 140 (not in the Eng Development squad)
94. Talha Jubair BAN: 134
100. Mushfiqur Rehman BAN: 116 (not in Ban squad)


Note: Players Not in the Top 100 of ICC rankings

England Development Squad: Kabir Ali, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Darren Gough, Jon Lewis, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Read, Vikram Solanki, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, and Alex Wharf

Bangladesh Squad: Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahriar Nafis, Anwar Hossain Monir, and Shahadat Hossain.

[Flipper]

Here is an article that talks about England's poor form in the county. It also points out the injury toll of the Britis side.


"Chief selector David Graveney has played down the poor form of England's batsmen just two weeks before the first Test against Bangladesh.
Captain Michael Vaughan and Geraint Jones were dismissed cheaply in county matches on Thursday.

And Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick and Graham Thorpe have had a torrid start to the season"

Read More: (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/4538791.stm)

[TheWatcher]

Guardian Report (http://sport.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,10260,1482941,00.html)

Times Report (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6442-1610059,00.html)

Edited on, May 13, 2005, 3:27 AM GMT, by TheWatcher.

[Flipper]

Times (above post) has a really good comprehensive analysis. Thanks!

From the article, the Batting average of England Batting contender:

Michael Vaughan (batting average this season, 10.5): 9 v Leicestershire
Marcus Trescothick (av 16): did not play
Andrew Strauss (av 14.75): 10 v Gloucestershire
Kevin Pietersen (av 18): did not bat v Kent
Ian Bell (av 57.3): 35 v Sussex
Robert Key (av 36.8): did not bat v Hampshire
Andrew Flintoff (av 28.4): 42 v Durham
Geraint Jones (av 15.8): 6 v Hampshire

[Flipper]

Ian Botham talks about the poor form:

"Former great Ian Botham reckons England should not be concerned about the poor form of their batsman ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh. More>>> (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/4543487.stm)


By the way, Giles given all Clear by ECB's chief medical officer.

ECB (http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/media-releases/spinner-to-resume-bowling-soon.html)