Captain Michael Vaughan - not a great one day player to say the least but can be world class on his day and a good thinker as captain.
Keepers Paul Nixon Chris Reed
(I was impressed with Nixon in the 20 /20, though I hear he had a nightmare in the first one day international- It's not hard to pick these 2 as they are the only choices in the preliminary 30)
Batsmen and All-Rounders
Ian Bell Andrew Strauss Paul Collingwood Kevin Pietersen Owais Shah Jamie Dalrymple Andrew Flintoff
No place for Ed Joyce for me at the moment only as I haven't really seen what he can do, Owais Shah looked really good in the test he played last year. Same for Bopura - haven't picked him because I have no idea what he's like yet.
Bowlers
Monty Panesar Matthew Hoggard Liam Plunkett Chris Broad Sajid Mahmood
No room for me for Anderson - In my opinion the selectors have given him enough chances and he hasn't really cut it yet. He's been playing a while and apart from the odd spell here or there has been disappointing. Jon Lewis will get thrashed around those small West Indian grounds so for me I would choose Hoggard, England's most experienced and consistent bowler. Mahmood is lucky to be there as is Plunkett but I can't see any better options in that squad of 30.
Would be great though, if Graham Onions made the cut, just for his name alone.
With all the zonal politics/quotas in Indian team selections and with lots of money involved.........it is very difficult to predict the probable INDIAN TEAM. Here we go with my choice....
[1] Dravid (Capt)
[2] Sachin Tendulkar (Vice Capt) ** Dont be surprised if the Indian Cricket Board make him the captain of the team **
Anil Kumble is verymuch there in my team....but Kaif wont find his place, mainly because he is not a BIG HITTER. If you see all the teams, they have a big hitter coming in at No. 8 or No. 9. No doubt he is a fine fielder and a good runner between the wkts-but cant get me quick 30 /40 towards the end. That is one of the reason why the Australians have brought in C.White ...who can hit some big sixes towards the end. I think this world cup would be a repeat of World Cup 1996, where the bat ruled over the ball. You will see the openers going after the bowlers right from the start.
If at all someone, who can make it to my team would be Suresh Raina in Dinesh Karthik's place. Sorry no place for VRV Singh. This lad Joginder Sharma is a good bowler, who can bat. With some of the matches in this world cup that might go till the wire.....it is better to have someone who can bat (better) down the order. I am sure he can get me those important boundary or two at the end.
>>>>. more suggestions....you should start a topic of the TWO WORLD XI teams, top Four teams that might make it to the WC Semis, the Best Captain of the 80s , 90s or the "BEST BATSMAN" of the current lots....etc.
Anil Kumble is verymuch there in my team....but Kaif wont find his place, mainly because he is not a BIG HITTER. If you see all the teams, they have a big hitter coming in at No. 8 or No. 9. No doubt he is a fine fielder and a good runner between the wkts-but cant get me quick 30 /40 towards the end. That is one of the reason why the Australians have brought in C.White ...who can hit some big sixes towards the end. I think this world cup would be a repeat of World Cup 1996, where the bat ruled over the ball. You will see the openers going after the bowlers right from the start.
If at all someone, who can make it to my team would be Suresh Raina in Dinesh Karthik's place. Sorry no place for VRV Singh. This lad Joginder Sharma is a good bowler, who can bat. With some of the matches in this world cup that might go till the wire.....it is better to have someone who can bat (better) down the order. I am sure he can get me those important boundary or two at the end.
>>>>. more suggestions....you should start a topic of the TWO WORLD XI teams, top Four teams that might make it to the WC Semis, the Best Captain of the 80s , 90s or the "BEST BATSMAN" of the current lots....etc.
Oops Now I see you did have Kumble there. Good suggestions Anto. Anyone is able to start new topics, but I'm not sure if everyone can start a poll. I'll look into it.
El Presidente wrote: My England 15 would be as follows.
Captain Michael Vaughan - not a great one day player to say the least but can be world class on his day and a good thinker as captain.
Keepers Paul Nixon Chris Reed
(I was impressed with Nixon in the 20 /20, though I hear he had a nightmare in the first one day international- It's not hard to pick these 2 as they are the only choices in the preliminary 30)
Batsmen and All-Rounders
Ian Bell Andrew Strauss Paul Collingwood Kevin Pietersen Owais Shah Jamie Dalrymple Andrew Flintoff
No place for Ed Joyce for me at the moment only as I haven't really seen what he can do, Owais Shah looked really good in the test he played last year. Same for Bopura - haven't picked him because I have no idea what he's like yet.
Bowlers
Monty Panesar Matthew Hoggard Liam Plunkett Chris Broad Sajid Mahmood
No room for me for Anderson - In my opinion the selectors have given him enough chances and he hasn't really cut it yet. He's been playing a while and apart from the odd spell here or there has been disappointing. Jon Lewis will get thrashed around those small West Indian grounds so for me I would choose Hoggard, England's most experienced and consistent bowler. Mahmood is lucky to be there as is Plunkett but I can't see any better options in that squad of 30.
Would be great though, if Graham Onions made the cut, just for his name alone.
OK. Maybe Ed Joyce should be in the squad then. Not convinced about Mal Loye, but I suspect he may get the nod over Reed or Shah. Now they are a winning squad, who would you add to the 11 that just beat Australia?
Australia have omitted Cameron White and Stuart Clark from their 15. I think White was a bit unlucky as the matches Australia lost were the ones he didn't play.
In come Shaun Tait and Brad Haddin. Haddin might have made it as a specialist batsman anyway but Gilchrist is due to miss a couple of weeks at the start of the World Cup in order to be at the birth of his 3rd child. Tait is a real wildcard, he could be devastating or he could be rubbish. I am a fan - he was recently clocked at 160 kph in a delivery versus England in the CB one day series. Anyone who has seen him bat though will not be surprised if he bats at number 11 after McGrath.