Joe Root
Moeen Ali
James Anderson
Jonny Bairstow
Jake Ball
Gary Ballance
Stuart Broad
Alastair Cook
Mason Crane
Ben Foakes
Dawid Malan
Craig Overton
Ben Stokes
Mark Stoneman
James Vince
Chris Woakes

Kind of puts to bed some of the more pratish comments on the Jennings thread yesterday.

Ballance is a very lucky boy, friends in high places! He must have been a good flatmate.

A great washer upper and limited other options Clegg.

Taking Ballance is an absolute bloody disgrace and the Aussies will have him worked out by tomorrow.

A joke and assuming this is Joe Root's decision he needs his head shaking.

First thing into my head, Ballance a captains choice, when I saw his name.
I'm pretty surprised.

Has Root got too much power in the England set-up?
Refuses to bat at number 3, picks his best mate and possibly carries too much clout?

If they are picking off form from the county circuit which provides the England team then other than Sam Northeast at Kent Ballance has out performed the lot and most of the others mentioned by some considerable distance so what makes everyone think we have better choices.

I'd be more concerned with the selection of an out of form Vince than Ballance or Mason Crane who has 16 championship wickets this season. Jack Leach or Adil Rashid may as well not bother

Knives out at Root, you couldn't make it up.

The Rovers fans of the county cricket circuit.

Root and Anderson won't let anyone down.

The rest are a bit cack.

Balance may perform at County level but clearly hasn't got it at Test level....and I dread to think of him at 3 or 4 in an Ashes series down under.

Kerrigan was taking County teams apart a short while ago...but bottled his test debut.....never got a second bite.....I can't see why Balance will be picked and picked until he eventually gets runs..probably against Mombassa seconds or Woolamaloo Ladies...thereby securing another hundred caps.


Statistically, in his last 26 test innings he has passed the 50 mark twice.......which at any level is frankly pitiful...I can only think he has some raunchy pics of Root's Mrs.

Some of those lads are going to have a wonderful few months free holiday in Australia. Total lack of pace in that bowling attack is a major worry.

I'm getting a word, and that word is whitewash.

Root has been stood at the other end enough while Ballance has been sent on his way so I very much doubt it's his decision.

Aussies are not that either so it could be an interesting series.

No Vokes?

fatboy47 wrote:Root and Anderson won't let anyone down.

The rest are a bit cack.

Balance may perform at County level but clearly hasn't got it at Test level....and I dread to think of him at 3 or 4 in an Ashes series down under.

Kerrigan was taking County teams apart a short while ago...but bottled his test debut.....never got a second bite.....I can't see why Balance will be picked and picked until he eventually gets runs..probably against Mombassa seconds or Woolamaloo Ladies...thereby securing another hundred caps.


Statistically, in his last 26 test innings he has passed the 50 mark twice.......which at any level is frankly pitiful...I can only think he has some raunchy pics of Root's Mrs.

Not disputing Ballance struggles at Test Level, the problem is the competitors for his place are struggling at County level !! The only one we currently have who has a bit of X Factor who can come with a performance nobody is expecting when out of form is Hales. He's wrongly pigeon holed as one day only with the looks of it.

Diesel wrote:No Vokes?

Anyone remember the days when BFC used to play Burnley CC at cricket? When did this stop?

Who do you reckon would be useful as a cricketer in our current squad?

I have a feeling Defour might bowl a bit of leg spin. Barnes would be the prick at short cover giving the batsmen plenty all game. Tarkowski, obviously, would be the all-rounder.

RocketLawnChair wrote:Not disputing Ballance struggles at Test Level, the problem is the competitors for his place are struggling at County level !! The only one we currently have who has a bit of X Factor who can come with a performance nobody is expecting when out of form is Hales. He's wrongly pigeon holed as one day only with the looks of it.

Wrongly pigeon holed by the looks of him barely able to get a game in the 4 day stuff for Notts?

Foulthrow wrote:Anyone remember the days when BFC used to play Burnley CC at cricket? When did this stop?

Who do you reckon would be useful as a cricketer in our current squad?

I have a feeling Defour might bowl a bit of leg spin. Barnes would be the prick at short cover giving the batsmen plenty all game. Tarkowski, obviously, would be the all-rounder.

I remember 1, I think the summer we signed Brian Jenson. He was wicket keeper and was diving around like a mad man.

Nahki Wells might be able to get his countryman Dwayne Leverock in as a ringer for the BFC team

RocketLawnChair wrote:Not disputing Ballance struggles at Test Level, the problem is the competitors for his place are struggling at County level !! The only one we currently have who has a bit of X Factor who can come with a performance nobody is expecting when out of form is Hales. He's wrongly pigeon holed as one day only with the looks of it.

I would have taken Hales every day of the week but hey ho.

Ballance managed 3more runs than Lyth today as he scored 5 and Yorkshire stand at 37/6 in their second innings needing another 413 runs to catch Essex up.

Yes a woeful performance by Yorkshire, now 37 for 7, a disgrace for professional cricketers.
Signing Brathwaite was indeed a panic signal but I guess they just got out of jail.

Foulthrow wrote: Who do you reckon would be useful as a cricketer in our current squad?

Mee and Cork opening.

Guddy and Lowton 3 and 4.

Heaton keeping wicket

Quicks - Tarky, Vokes and Wood

Brady leg spin and Defour off

bedfords wrote:Wrongly pigeon holed by the looks of him barely able to get a game in the 4 day stuff for Notts?

He was largely unavailable due to other commitments and injury for large parts of our summer. The minute they picked him he got a run a ball double hundred. Hales is the best we have outside the elite in all 3 formats.

Bin Ont Turf wrote:Mee and Cork opening.

Guddy and Lowton 3 and 4.

Heaton keeping wicket

Quicks - Tarky, Vokes and Wood

Brady leg spin and Defour off

Vokes is too nice to be a real quick.

I could see Barnes as a bustling, aggressive 1st change bowler; a Peter Siddle or Andre Nel.

Marney would be like Mike Hussey - a right busy little **** that you can't shift.

Most boring sport ever, how can a game last 5 days then no one wins coz it rains on the last day, would rather watch golf or paint dry!

So Broad is cack hmmmmm.....

Claret&Green wrote:Most boring sport ever, how can a game last 5 days then no one wins coz it rains on the last day, would rather watch golf or paint dry!

Thank you for sharing.

Much prefer Balance to Vince and Malan.
At least Balance has scored runs in the past for England.
Collingwood would be a better bet than the other two

Claret&Green wrote:Most boring sport ever, how can a game last 5 days then no one wins coz it rains on the last day, would rather watch golf or paint dry!

Start a thread about your favourite hobbies then.

Quickenthetempo wrote:Start a thread about your favourite hobbies then.

He's still thinking of one.

One thing with selecting Balance he is most comfortable and actually generally very good on the back foot in his own crease, Aussie wickets will be meat and drink to him. I guess he will actually be first reserve at the moment anyway vince 3 malan 5

Can't understand why Hales isn't included. Yes, he's excellent at the shorter versions of the game, but to me if you can play, you can play and with the amount of barrel scraping which that squad implies, surely he would have been worth taking imo.

Bordeauxclaret wrote:Root has been stood at the other end enough while Ballance has been sent on his way so I very much doubt it's his decision.

Aussies are not that either so it could be an interesting series.

The Aussies are not the force they were but home advantage must make them favourites,England batting is too fragile for my liking,and our bowlers may well struggle without reserve swing coming into play. Rashid should be taken just for the unpredictably factor,Moeen won't be as effective overseas, and Broad and Anderson will have to be managed carefully over the series,short 2-3 over bursts,this is where a top class spinner like Swann would be worth their weight in gold, just to tie up an end and reel off maidens. ly we don't currently have one so will have to go with what we have. Prediction 3-1 to the hosts i just feel they will be more consistent over the 5 matches.

Stokes might not be going now, with this video out.

Buxtonclaret wrote:Stokes might not be going now, with this video out.

I suspect it'll be the end of his career as well. Can't see him ever playing for England or Durham again after seeing the video.

What a f***ing bellend.

Just seen the video. He looks a bit out of control in that. It'd be good to get the full story /background.
I dare say the authorities might well stop him going to Oz but I dare say Mr Warner will be playing for the home team despite having attacked an opposition player in a bar whilst representing his country abroad.
I doubt the incident will end Stokes' career though.

You can see the other guy threatening them with a bottle. He then attacks in self defense. Wouldn't you??

I can't see it ending his career. It will cost him a lot of money though and his place to Australia I think.

The other guys are known in the trade as Sh*thouses. As soon as you pick up bottles and threaten people with them you deserve a slap.

If that video is the only visual evidence they have then the bloke swinging the bottle provides quite a substantial mitigating circumstance in Ben Stokes Defence.

Spijed wrote:I suspect it'll be the end of his career as well. Can't see him ever playing for England or Durham again after seeing the video.

Get a ******* grip, hardly career ending stuff is it.

The biggest shock to come out of all this is that Stokes fights like a wet lettuce!

It may have been ''self defence'' but he should not of been in that situation anyway.

I remember seeing David Dunn and Keith Gillespie out a few times in Accrington about 20 years ago and they always had at least 2 of their own hired bouncers with them so no chance of trouble.

Hardly shocking, who hasn't seen something like that a hundred times in town? Community service will probably do it, certainly won't be ending his career.

The lad swinging the bottle deserved it, Stokes was right to defend himself and his mate but probably should have walked away earlier. Easier said than done though. I guess the main lesson for him is not to be drinking in town at 2 in the morning. He's 26 with a couple of kids, not 19.

Similar incidents happen every weekend in every town centre. Will get a slap on the wrist and that will be that. Because he's such a good player I suspect the management and ECB will want it swept under the carpet.

Story going the rounds that Stokes (/his party) were spurred to action by the guys (who Stokes set on) verbally attacking/threatening a third group with homophobic words. One of the aggressor guys got hold of a bottle when Stokes remonstrated with their words.
Might be just an effort at an excuse but one of the guys decked did reportedly have a bottle at some stage.
What Stokes needs to explain is how he got involved in this at 2am - as said above he's a married professional athlete of 25+ with two nippers & a wedding coming up.
He's lucky that the guy he decked didnt damage his head on the hard surface but I hope he doesn't get over- harshly treated because the hierarchy want to "set an example".
Stokes' predecessors, Beefy & Freddie got into a few wheezes in their time and managed to continue playing for England with a lot of popular support.

LeadBelly wrote:Story going the rounds that Stokes (/his party) were spurred to action by the guys (who Stokes set on) verbally attacking/threatening a third group with homophobic words. One of the aggressor guys got hold of a bottle when Stokes remonstrated with their words.
Might be just an effort at an excuse but one of the guys decked did reportedly have a bottle at some stage.
What Stokes needs to explain is how he got involved in this at 2am - as said above he's a married professional athlete of 25+ with two nippers & a wedding coming up.
He's lucky that the guy he decked didnt damage his head on the hard surface but I hope he doesn't get over- harshly treated because the hierarchy want to "set an example".
Stokes' predecessors, Beefy & Freddie got into a few wheezes in their time and managed to continue playing for England with a lot of popular support.

Absolutely no doubt he had a bottle, clearly aims it at one of Ben Stokes party at the start of the skirmish on the footage. Stokes might get done by his bosses at the ECB for his being out In the early hours. Its not really up to the ECB to decide what happened in the fight until the Police and the CPS have had their say really. For all intents and purposes it could be perceived that Stokes may actually have been defending himself.

Stokes & Hales dropped by England until further notice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/41433110" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spijed wrote:Stokes & Hales dropped by England until further notice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/41433110" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Correct decision.

Should be kept away from representing his country until he is able to behave off the field in a way worthy of his position on the field. Disgraceful scenes on the video but sadly I suspect he will go on tour. I also suspect the Aussies will be well and truly prepared for him.