Strauss capt

Cook v/c
Anderson
Bell
Bresnan
Broad
Collingwood
Davies (wkt)
Finn
Morgan
Panaser
Pietersen
Prior
Swann
Tremlett
Trott

Panesar? FFS!

Glad Rashid hasnt been picked. He'll gain more from being with the development squad rather than his usual winter drinks waiter role and will still be in Aus if needed.

He would if he were in it mate.
Apparently he's been told he needs to "rest", this less than 12 months after being told he needs to play on a more regular basis, which he has done and done as well as any other first division spinner has.

If I were him or Shahzad I'd be majorly frigged off. Panesar and Tremlett ahead of them both? Clearly 2nd division wickets for southern-based counties mean more than test and 1st division wickets if you happen to play for a northern-based county.

Another opener should have been in the Squad due to the fact Alistair Cook has been in terrible form apart from his hundred in the last Test against Pakistan. I suppose they could promote Trott up the order but that would mean wholesale batting line up changes. Rashid should have been picked ahead of Panesar as the second spinner and he can bat and field 100 times better than Panesar ever will be able to.

On the squad picked my side would be:

Strauss
Cook
Trott
Pietersen
Collingwood
Bell
Prior (w/k)
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Finn

Both Rashid and Bopara missout on the development squad too



Thought rashid would have got in the actual squad ahead of Monty although it was interesting that Vaughan said this morning he would have chosen Monty too.

Shame about Shazhad, can only think the extra height/bounce from Tremlett might have been the difference.

Good to see Gale, Lyth and Bairstow all making the devlopment squad.

Shazhad would have been my chioce over Tremlett too. Shazhad has bowled very well in the Tests that he has played and why bring back Tremlett when he wasnt even in the selectors thoughts over the summer????

Monty Panesar can not bat and field and his bowling can be very hit and miss. Rashid should go as 2nd Spinner behind Swann as not only can he bowl he can bat and field aswell shock horror!!!

Maybe he's in as a direct back-up for Broad or Finn if either of them go down injured??
Thing is, Tremlett is more likely to get injured than anyone else in the squad.

Tremlett has simply been picked due to his height and the rock hard wickets out in oz, they assume that he'll get something out of them. We'll see.

Shahzad & Tremlett are totally different types of bowler and that’s not really an either/or choice as I see it. Personally I’d have taken Shahzad instead of Bresnan, who to me is a “typical English county seamer” of the type unlikely to make much impact in Australian conditions. He did well in his Tests in Bangladesh last Winter, and omitting him now would admittedly be harsh, but conditions there couldn’t be more different.

For me Shahzad is a good alternative to Anderson, whereas Tremlett is clearly an alternative to Broad & Finn. After laughably being rested at the start of the season to “manage his workload” Tremlett came good and bowled plenty of overs with good strike & economy rates to finish well up near the top of the final First Class averages. Unlike most extremely tall bowlers he isn’t a beanpole, but a muscular well proportioned athlete. I’ve seen him regularly this year, and his combination of relentless accuracy and extreme lift off a good length at a decent speed make him a particularly awkward proposition for batsmen. Given that he should now be at his peak in his late twenties, and has already played a few Tests with fair success three years ago, it’s a no-brainer to take him now he’s been fully fit for a continuous period for the first time in ages. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if he nudges Finn out of the Test XI, possibly even before the First Test at Brisbane.

Panesar has clearly been picked as an alternative to Swann in case of illness or injury, not as a potential second spinner. I wouldn’t want Rashid as the sole spinner in a Test XI in Australia when he’s completely untried. Whether he should have been tried already is another matter. Personally I’d like to see him get a game at 7, ostensibly as a lower middle order batsman, then he could act as fifth bowler/second spinner without any risk of weakening the bowling from what we’ve had recently, i.e. four front line bowlers. He’s the closest we’ve got to a genuine all-rounder of potential Test quality, certainly much more so than Luke Wright whose bowling is never really likely to be more use than Collingwood’s in Tests.

Frankly it beggars belief that Rashid isn’t even in the performance squad, from which James Harris of Glamorgan is almost an equally baffling omission.

You make a good point about Tremlett and when he did play his tests he looked very good and took wickets against a strong India side. Should Anderson break down then I think Shazhad will be moved into the squad.

Rashid is a touch unlucky, we won't need two spinners and Swann is probably the best in the world right now so maybe the selectors have set him some other goals this winter?

He is playing really well at the moment. Tremlett too, despite both being in Div 2.

Monty is a far better option than the other spinners. He can get wickets against Australia and he's superb in terms of his enthusiasm in the squad.

A decent enough squad, the only baffling selection is the continuing loyalty that the selectors show towards Tim Bresnan, who will never be Test class. His bowling will be destroyed down under and his batting is mediocre at best. He is a throwback to the bad old days of the 90's, when we had an obsession of finding the next Ian Botham, and fell into the trap of selecting rubbish like Mark Ealham, David Capel, Chris Lewis , etc.... Now, it seems, we have an obsession of trying to find the new Andrew Flintoff, who the Aussies genuinely feared. With Bresnan, they will be peeing into their breakfasts with laughter when they find out he is in the squad.

As for Panesar, he is only there for 'enthusiasm to the squad ' purposes....Rashid, or any other young spinner, may just become a little dejected playing waiter in a 100 degree heat for a month or 2. With Panesar, you will get an unyielding enthusiasm, which can be pretty vital during a long tour....Realistically, unless things go majorly t!ts up for England, then a second spinner is pretty irrelevant anyway. The only way we can retain the Ashes is for our 3 pace bowlers to maintain consistancy and allow a free rein to Graeme Swann who, if we are to be successful, is going to have to take on a Warne-style role and plunder 30+ wickets...He is going to be the key figure if we are to win.

True he will be a key figure as all 4 bowlers will be...but remember, we don't actually have to win the series. The aussies have to win 1 more test than us and with their current squad I'm quite optimistic at this early stage of us not losing the series.

I can see the logic of picking Panesar over Rashid. The second choice spinner might get a game at Sydney but isnt likely to get a lot of bowling beforehand. A leggie such as Rashid would find it more difficult going into his first test without much recent match practice behind him. He really needs to be introduced to test cricket late in the English summer. Cant understand why he isnt in the development squad though.

Totally agree. Poor old Adil must wonder what he has to do......

Go on tour - carry the drinks/needs more cricket
Play more cricket - Has a good county season & needs a rest











The ECB's treatment of him has been scandalous. His stats for the season are better than both Treadwell and Monty. Plus Monty's wickets are division 2 wickets!!!! Granted, at the moment everybody is fighting for the number 2 spinners slot as Swanny is untouchable but to not even get into the train on squad is frankly a disgrace







As for the rest of the squad, no real shocks. Tremlett is a good choice as back up for the type of wickets they will get in Oz. I just hope the series is still alive by the time I get to Melbourne for Christmas

Maybe the selectors spoke to Rashid and they made a joint decision for him not to go with the development squad?

Maybe they didn't??




Why would a young, ambitious cricketer with great potential even consider that an off season of no cricket rather than a tour (in either squad) down under, in and around the international set up would benefit him???

I'm sure Adil would jump at the chance had he been given one........

I don't know tbh. I just don't think they would have completely ignored him without some sort of reason/discussion with him after having around the Test squads in the past.

I just don't think Andy Flower thinks much of him tbh. He has done exactly what the ECB have asked of him, ie, playing more county cricket for Yorkshire and he has done it well. It just doesn't make sense to me. Especially to miss out on BOTH squads

As I see it, Bresnan's going to be the 5th bowler if we decide to go down that road at any point. With only 5 specialist batsmen they reckon him, Swann and Broad would bolster the batting line-up further down.

No real surprises in the squad for me; the guys on Sky were talking about Tremlett on Wednesday, so I reckon they'd been given the nod about him going before the announcement.

Do you not think Monty is more of a shock that Tremlett??

Aye. Bumble tweeted earlier in the week that he expected Tremlett to be selected, then the evening before the announcement Sky were talking up Panesar's chances.

Let's just hope that Swann stays fit, because the Aussies will love the chance to have another slog at Monty.

In all honesty, no. He's taken wickets this summer, had a half decent record last time and is a known, liked, face around the squad. I never expected them to pick Deidre as the second spinner, so he was the obvious selectors pick for my money.

I realise stats are not the be all and end all and other factors are taken into account. However, below are the stats of the 3 most likely candidates to be Graeme Swann's no.2.

Bearing in mind Adil Rashid and James Tredwell have been in and around the squad (albeit not playing too much for the last couple or three years). James Tredwell did an excellent job when he deputised for Swanny in Bangladesh. Adil Rashid was told to go away and work on his game with his county team.


A U Rashid (Yorkshire) 504.4 67 1784 57 31.29 5-87 3 0
A U Rashid (Yorkshire) 16 24 8 732 76 45.75 0 6 14 0
22 years old playing for Yorkshire in division 1


M S Panesar (Sussex) 516.2 135 1328 52 25.53 5-44 2 0
M S Panesar (Sussex) 15 19 5 154 46* 11.0 0 0 1 0
28 years old playing for Sussex in division 2


J C Tredwell (Kent) 348.1 61 1098 37 29.67 7-22 2 0
J C Tredwell (Kent) 11 18 2 472 115 29.5 1 1 20 0
28 years old playing for Kent in division 1


For me, taking the bowling AND batting stats into account, the fielding ability, the ages, the division played in and future potential I only see 1 choice in the 3 players above. Plus the fact leg spin offers a more varied attack should 2 spinners be used. There is even a case for Tredwell to be selected ahead of Monty