Saturday, 5 April 2008

Ben on...squad for England tour

The touring squad has been announced.

From the four youngsters I named in my previous post, Flynn and Hopkins have been added. Flynn at the expense of Sinclair. Bell also misses out, his place is taken by James Marshall (who hasn't impressed with his earlier test appearances but has had a strong State Championship season). The bolter, who didn't appear in my list but was spotted by Paul Holden (prescience or inside tip?), is Aaron Redmond. Fulton and O'Brien are back for the tests and Ryder is back for the ODIs. Elliott has been given another go in the warm-ups while Oram is away and Gillespie and Mason have been given the warm-ups to play for a place in the test team.

2 comments:

Karl said...

Interesting selection. I think Ryder is an idiot and a waste of space - what does it say to the professionals who graft and get shafted by Bracewell et al (e.g. Vincent, Sinclair, Bell).

Glen Turner in talking about the selections said Marshall was chosen to be a middle order batsman but acknowledged the on-tour selectors are free to stuff him around if any of their untested openers fail.

I think Bell was worth perservering with. NZ Cricket at the very least should be trying to get some players county contracts

Anonymous said...

From an England point of view, it's hard to see how Bell is worth persevering with? How do you guys think the series will go?