Welcome To The Jungle

Step one: Make the home shirt the same so everyone who wants to buy a new shirt buys the away shirt. Step two: Make the away shirt all red to make it 'on brand' and get people 'used to it' Step three: Add more red to the following seasons home shirt Step four: Repeat until the home shirt is all red Bristol Sport. Diluting 130 years of history since 2014

Ah, you've dropped TRJ though for Woakes which I could also agree with, but not Ali, Stokes, Broad, Anderson, TRJ and Woakes as the post I quoted originally.

I said Id play Stomeman.

Given Englands frailty with the bat, Woakes is a non starter for me. Ali on spin, Broad, Anderson, TRJ and Stokes the other bowlers. That is more than enough in attack and we need more batsmen. I'd go with the team in the last test but put Stoneman in for Jennings

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

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Great day to have a Birthday.

Good win. Bit more consistent. Got to bat well at OT.

Collingwood went for a Duck in his last game

Root'll send everyone else home in a minute

Hello there Jonesy

Ha! 17 minutes

How is this guy still playing? Has proven in almost every innings he is not a test batsman!

Add Mike Carberry to that list

I predict debut centuries before they forget how to bat

So there has been a lot of talk about Englands batsmen not respecting test cricket. Is it not possible that they simply do not know how. Looking at the team from 10/11 ashes, there were a lot of batsmen I would have trusted to stand and play for several hours should they have needed to. The last Ashes down under really showed the naivety of not being able to leave a ball. We have Cook and Root who are good players, but are surrounded by players that I'm not sure know how to bat in a test, or adapt themselves to different pitches and scenarios. We seem to have a test side made up of players that'd be better suited to an easier or limited overs format where they can swing the bat more liberally at every ball. I'm starting to believe that we just are not that good.

Not the purpose of an opener though imo. Your openers need to be patient and intelligent players. They need to get us through the new ball and earn their runs at a slow pace, gradually building. Part of this is consistency. If you can rely on your openers to wear the ball in, your lower order can earn the big runs easier.Jennings shows none of these traits, with is only real consistency is earning single digit scores. He may be better suited lower down the order, but a Test opener he is not.

Time we started picking the best Test team, not the highest scoring batsmen from the County Championship. Jennings and Ballance can hit the county bowlers around but they do not have the ability to stick in the crease for a long session at the highest level.

Prediction time: Cook and Jennings out by lunch with Ballance falling either just before or after lunch. Root and Bairstow to play like it is a ODI with a similar run-rate and to put on at least 75 between them but will fall before tea. The rest to fall before the Close Of Play with only Stokes and Ali making double figures, but less than 50 between them. Or, Cook bats all day, Jennings lasts till just before lunch, with Ballance going just after Lunch. Root makes it to Close of play, England 345-2.

#IHopeItRains

I'm sure talking sense is against the forum rules.

Was going to post exactly this. Cricket is for 'gentlemen' though I suppose. Best XI vs best XI. I'd rather we played the best Aussie team and lost 5-0 than play an almost novelty XI and won.

So lonely without Blowers and Boycott at work today. I'm pretty sure that TMS alone is worth the licence fee.

Root leading by example. One inning as captain. One century

Playing for your county and playing international test cricket are vastly different. The theme of the last few years of England's test team has been how our lower middle order and tail-enders have saved us. The Aussies will have a field day if we keep getting 20-2 or 30-3 as we so regularly do.