England team for the Stanford 20/20 for 20 match - The First Cut is the Deepest

Thursday, September 25, 2008 : Twenty20, England, Stanford Files

England LionsEngland have named their 15 man squad for the Stanford Super Series but, in what Jonathan Agnew has called 'the most divisive and tasteless selection in cricket history', who will the selectors leave out for the Stanford 20/20 for 20 match? Well, what do we know?

  1. Matt Prior is the only keeper.
  2. Alastair Cook has a degree in carrying drinks.
  3. KP is the skipper and our best player.
  4. Other shoo-in players and potential match-winners are Fred, Harmy and Colly.
  5. England won't play 2 spinners so as Patel is flavour of the month he'll get the nod.
  6. England will unimaginatively select the same 11 that played in the last ODI.
National SelectorsNo Third Man
Ian BellIan Bell
Matt PriorMatt Prior
Owais ShahOwais Shah
Kevin Pietersen (Captain)Kevin Pietersen (Captain)
Andrew FlintoffAndrew Flintoff
Paul CollingwoodPaul Collingwood
Samit PatelSamit Patel
Luke WrightGraeme Swann
Stuart BroadStephen Harmison
Stephen HarmisonRyan Sidebottom
James AndersonJames Anderson

Why?

  1. Luke Wright should not play as even Michael Vaughan has a better Twenty20 record with the bat.
  2. England should employ 2 spinners. 15 of the 21 most economical bowlers in the last West Indies domestic Stanford 20/20 Tournament were spinners, notably Lennox Cush, Dave Mohammed and Sulieman Benn who are all in the Stanford Superstars squad. Along with Chris Gayle and even Ramnaresh Sarwan, the Superstars have a number of spin options.
  3. No Stuart Broad? It's a tough call between Siders/Anderson/Broad but one of them has to miss out. Siders has the most economical record of the three but Anderson and Broad have the most international Twenty20 experience of any of England's bowlers. Only Brett Lee has bowled more in International Twenty20 cricket than Stuart Broad. If Siders isn't fit then Broad would obviously come in ahead of Tim Bresnen.

England play 3 matches during the series, Middlesex (English Twenty20 Champions), Trinidad and Tobago (Stanford 20/20 Tournament Winners) and then lastly, in the big match, the Stanford Superstars. Will England try out peripheral players/2 spinners in the warm up matches or play the same team throughout? We will have to wait until the first match against Middlesex to find out.

I'd love to be watching the game with Dimitri Mascarenhas.

Crash Bang Wallop: Twenty20 - A History of the Brief Game is available from Amazon.

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