Is back in the Test squad at the expense of Sam Curran. MOM one minute, dropped for a loutish oik the next. Great way to nurture a young player's confidence. Shame on you England selectors.
Not just back in the squad but in the playing XI at Curran's expense. Agree with you completely. Ludicrous decision but that is what we have come to expect from the ECB. I look forward to the sledging he will get and what his reaction will be.
Not Stokes' fault, the ECB are the shower of ****houses who selected him in the squad. 11 that won at Lords' should have retained their place, but instead we go right ****ing back to 4 RFM bowlers. Shocker.
Do we play our best XI or should he remain on the naughty step? Many thought he shouldn't have been suspended for the Ashes last winter, ie innocent until proven guilty. How many times should he be punished? Surely he'd be in the best XI? Agree Curran gave another option, but Stokes offers something very different to the other RFM's. Shame we don't have the same competition for places with our batsmen.
The Wheels Of British Justice. I Don't Know , Thou That CCTV Footage Of Punching Out A Dude Cold On A Street Renders A Guilty Act To Any One Else. Ho Hum.
If Curran hadn't been ace and MOM in the last test I would've agreed with this choice. Should've left him off the field.
It is a really tricky one. On one hand Curran is an excellent prospect, someone who will play a lot for England in the future. He had a great game in the first match of the series, and he was excellent in that game. He provides us with great variety something we don't have. However, on the other hand he is not quick enough if the ball doesn't swing. We are going to win this series so we need to prepare for the winter, is Curran going to be successful abroad this winter? No probably not. Stokes was also excellent in the first match, he is a far better player currently. On top of that Woakes just took 4 wickets and scored a century, how can you drop him? If we pick our best XI Stokes is in it. I agree with what people have said but Stokes was found innocent. I think Curran needs to go away and play more County Cricket to continue his development. I also think for the last two matches we need to find an out and out quick bowler or someone different to try, we need some variety to the standard swing bowlers we have. It seems as if our failings abroad are being forgotten and we are focusing on just our conditions again.
Agree Stokes was found not guilty and shouldn't be vilified. He's still a jumped up oik though, he wasn't better than Curran in the first test, and Curran doesn't deserve dumping now. What's wrong with dropping the bloke who was brought in to replace Stokes for the 2nd test, Ollie Pope. He didn't do badly but didn't set the world alight either. Curran's been shat on from a great height. I think the selectors/ECB have behaved poorly by bringing him back so quickly.
I agree, that's my concern re Curran, how will he fair in non English conditions? Similar though even with Anderson and Broad. Is there any point in them both going to Sri Lanka in the winter? I have been in favour of dropping Broad, but he keeps coming back with one fantastic spell per test. That's enough to keep him in there. I cant think of anyone who stands out asking to be picked for the winter? No proper pace bowlers knocking on the door, can Curran reverse it? Even our spinners don't seem able to perform in subcontinent conditions. Maybe we should be debating what has happened to batsmanship!
We have to keep the balance of the team, so we need to find a batsman, Pope is next in line so has to be given a proper pop. The only decision the selectors had to make (apart from the openers but that's a different matter) was Stokes or Curran. Its a 50/50 call, no one's been shat on Stokes is going to be the mainstay of English team for the next 5 years, so has to come in as soon as possible. The easy decision would have been that they didn't want to change a winning team and stick with Curran. No, hats off to them for showing some balls.
That's a very balanced view Askew except that, for me, it's not just a 50/50 call. Stokes has behaved badly, not just on this occasion but others aswell and for the selectors/ECB to say well he was found not guilty so it's all ok is dodging the issue and sending out wrong messages to young aspiring cricketers. I think the selectors/ECB showed they had no balls.
As a player at the top level below the professional game (Premier League cricket) and I play alongside a number of under 18s who could become Pro's not one has taken any message from the Stokes incident every single one thinks its wrong. Stokes is probably one of very few true World Class players we have in all 3 formats. He brings balance, he brings talent and match winning spells. He is clearly a man who needs some help off the pitch and I truly believe he needs rehabilitating and working with rather than just throwing away. He needs an arm round his shoulder rather than a ban.
I'm not sure you Know what you are debating Plum. You started off saying Curran shouldn't be dropped on performance. Then you say actually Stokes should replace Pope (which if you know anything about cricket, you wouldn't). But decide actually Stokes has been a very naughty boy and shouldn't be considered at all.
The ECB have a pyramid system a bit like football. League cricket below the county level has various levels, the top of which are the Premier Leagues. There's about 30 of them around the country, 4 In Yorkshire: Yorkshire North, Yorkshire South, Bradford, North Yorks/South Durham. These teams often have county professionals playing when they are not playing for the counties, and overseas professionals. The Yorkshire CC Academy team play in Yorkshire North. It's a very good standard of cricket. Hull CC were in the Yorkshire North Premier but got relegated last season. There is a playoff at the end of each season with the winners of each league competing to be Yorkshire Champions (in the case of the Yorks/Durham one its the top placed Yorkshire team). Hanging Heaton (from Bradford) are the current champions.
Stokes has previous. He missed the 2012 world cup with a broken hand that he got through punching a locker after being given out in a test match. He was sent home from an England Lions/A tour after breaking curfew. He's a good player, could be very good. But he's walking a fine line with his discipline problems.
Askew - Exactly what Oregon said but I play over in Cheshire where I now live. The standard as Oregon said is pretty good and our overseas is a regular South African county player. A couple of other pro's. Admittedly I am nowhere near their standard (Not even close!) but as I am an all rounder I can slot in pretty much anywhere in the team! I also scored a hundred the only time I played for the second team this year.
All the very best sportsmen are flawed in some way. He was found not guilty. He has to play. Or are you saying you’d have left Gazza out of our national team? Loads of similar examples.
