ICC World Cup

I am delighted that no one to date on this board has joined the "Ben Stokes" bandwagon which is being lazily stoked(pun intended) by the press and Paul Collingwood. Based on his performances over the last year he was unselectable. Obviously he is talented but he had consistently failed with bat and ball. He was clearly going to come good at some point but you have to select on current form not potential. If the squad was picked today Jason Roy would probably replace Alex Hales as well but you have to operate to the prescribed dates.

hh sussex said: I hope Moeen and Bell will form the partnership England needs over the next month.



 I hope so, too, but against Johnson, Starc, Steyn, Morkel, Malinga (who I think is back for Sri Lanka) and anyone else who makes the ball fly, Moeen looks like a walking wicket  - and he's going to come up against all of them in the world cup.

Last summer we saw him get out taking his eye off a quick ball and on one ocassion even turning his back on a fast delivery. He's currently in a terrible slump, and has only passed 40 once in his last nine ODIs.  The only reason he hasn't lost his place to Hales is that his bowling enables England to leave out Tredwell and play an extra specialist batsman.

Collingwood is entitled to argue Stokes was jettisoned too easily, although I agree his form didn't warrant selection. On the other hand he is the only one who is a genuine all-rounder in the classic Botham mode and can bat in the top six. Jordan and Woakes are bowlers who might get a few lower order runs (Woakes looked at one stage like he might be something more than that but has gone backwards with the bat, while adding an extra yard or two of pace to his bowling) and Broad was never anything more than an optimistic slogger.   From the other end of the all-rounder perspective, Bopara doesn't seem to bowl any more - and at the moment he doesn't seem to bat much , either.

If not Stokes, England need to find a genuine all-rounder from somewhere else. The selectors left out Stokes  hoping Woakes might fill his shoes but it hasn't happened. Compare Woakes with  Australia's number eight, James Faulkner, and you begin to see the problem.

The lack of a genuine all-rounder and a tail that begins at number eight with four fast bowlers who will be lucky to manage 30 runs between them is why Moeen is so vital to the balance of the side at present and why he keeps his place at the top of the order, despite his current Cook-like form with the bat.

Am to lazy to read through the previous five pages, but am so disappointed in the formula of the World Cup. The competition real doesn't start until the quarter finals, with the set seemingly guaranteeing that almost all the big countries make it through the group stage. It'll keep the advertisers happy though....

The competition structure seems to lean too much towards accomodating the smaller nations. Could the flagship cricket competition be better served and more constantly competitive by either having only four teams qualify for the semi finals so giving real meaning to all group games or return to the classic 1992 version where all ten countries played each other once with the top four qualifying for the semi finals.

Thoughts?

Is Telford Vice related to Miami Vice? He rasps under a spiked eyebrow, I note, which sounds impeccably vicious.

county2306.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/a-brief-preview-of-the-cricket-world-cup-with-my-bets/

My World Cup preview - from a betting point of view

What a load of garbage bowled by England. Too many half trackers not enough yorkers! Finn you have nothing to smile about because although you may have taken a hat trick you were hammered to all parts and only got the last three wickets due to the batsmen trying to hit you out of the park. It is no achievement to be the most expensive bowler to take a hat trick. 66-4 a message to the England players you're not fit to wear the shirt! We won the toss! Why didn't we bat first in daylight? You cannot afford to drop Finch on zero. Men v boys!

I haven't been to bed and watched every ball. Morgan's captaincy was a mixture of the mechanical and the headless chicken. Mechanical for 40 overs, clueless in the final ten with two or three committee meeetings per over.

Woakes and Finn are pathetic death bowlers, just banging the ball in half way down the track and getting hammered. Broad almost as bad and even Anderson only bowled a couple of yorkers. I'd say it is brainless tactics, except that it is such an obvious thing to do that the only reason England don't bowl yorkers at the death must be because they aren't skillful enough to do so. How can there be any other reason? Woakes and Finn are so inept at the death that Chris Jordan may not be doomed to carry the drinks all tournament after all.

But just as disturbing were the middle overs. We never seem to get wickets in that period and it is little surprise when the attack is so routine and samey. We need a left-armer and England know that, hence we try journeymen like Gurney. But we could also use a proper spinner like Tredwell, who is not a prolific wicket-taker but tends to take one or two in those middle overs which are currently such a barren time for the England bowlers.

And winning the toss and bowling was surely daft. Morgan and Moores must have known that meant we'd be chasing at least 300. What gave them such confidence that without Pietersen, England are capable of that many runs against Johnson, Starc et al?

Finally, I'm still astonished Finch can't get in the Australian Test team. His innings was a perfectly paced proper cricket innings, not a one day slog - he leaves that to Warner. Gillespie and Yorkshire reckon he was at least as good in red ball cricket for them last season as he was in white ball stuff and I can't see any reason why he can't step up to Test cricket and be as successful as Warner has been.

As I write, Moeen Ali fails again - as I am afraid he always will against top pace. Oh dear.