England (Internationals)

The die was cast way back in 2018 when Rashid was allowed to decide that he no longer wished to play any county cricket but still wanted to be considered for the England test side. He should never had been selected again. The fact that he was (and is) by test standards a pretty moderate performer set a very low bar for better players to cherry-pick in future. Key has just confirmed that the ECB have no issue with it.

I am surprised the Two Dicks don't get more involved in keeping Key in line if they are the advocates of county cricket that they have always professed to be.

From what I've seen, James Rew's game would need adapting somewhat.

Given that T20 keeping is more like goalkeeping, why not just select Aaron Ramsdale?

Jackers wrote:The die was cast way back in 2018 when Rashid was allowed to decide that he no longer wished to play any county cricket but still wanted to be considered for the England test side. He should never had been selected again. The fact that he was (and is) by test standards a pretty moderate performer set a very low bar for better players to cherry-pick in future. Key has just confirmed that the ECB have no issue with it.  

I am surprised the Two Dicks don't get more involved in keeping Key in line if they are the advocates of county cricket that they have always professed to be.

Moeen Ali also decided he couldn’t be bothered to play county cricket or even play against the ‘lesser’ teams for England in tests. Then all of a sudden he gets plucked out to play against India and Australia.

Two-tier selection policy.

How many Championship games have Wood, Woakes, Archer and Tongue made this season to qualify for an England test call up?. It doesn’t seem to matter any more and I don’t agree with it. But then I am stuck in the past.

Shocking state of affairs.

There is not one other sport in the world where not playing at all qualifies you better for international selection. Utter madness.

Time to split.

It seems Gus is learning it in the lunch-breaks.

Wokoval wrote:How many Championship games have Wood, Woakes, Archer and Tongue made this season to qualify for an England test call up?. It doesn’t seem to matter any more and I don’t agree with it. But then I am stuck in the past.

Exactly. Archer won't play any more Tests. He can barely get through 4 overs in a T20. Wood and Woakes are well into their 30s, plus Wood is a walking injury waiting to happen. Haven't seen much of Tongue, but it appears he never hardly plays. Perhaps another injury?
It'll be interesting to see what happens now Anderson has at long last made a good decision.

Sir Winston Churchill wrote:There is not one other sport in the world where not playing at all qualifies you better for international selection. Utter madness.

I don't think Leinster's internationals play in the everyday competition, the Celtic League or whatever it is called. They appear to be perfectly qualified for the big European Champions' Cup matches and of course for internationals. Of course rugby union is an intensely physical game in many positions and it's not a complete absence from Leinster matches but they don't play much. That gives Leinster (and Ireland) quite an advantage because their players are fresher. Bit of a difference between fresh and undercooked (raw, even) though!

I’m not into Rugby Union that much but is it not the case that to play for England players cannot play abroad, a move to a French club deems them ineligible for selection?.

Wokoval wrote:I’m not into Rugby Union that much but is it not the case that to play for England players cannot play abroad, a move to a French club deems them ineligible for selection?.

Correct and it is controversial because the salaries available in France are way above those that English clubs can afford. No other country has so severe a restriction. The argument for the ban is that witho9ut it the English Premiership would be denuded of its top players and would get5 less income. The argument against is that it is already weakening the English national team. Welsh teams have had the same problem for years vis-a-vis England and they have a rule which says it's OK to play "abroad" if you have more than X caps but not if you haven't, the idea being to keep developing players in Wales.

English cricket's rule, I think, is that a player has to be registered with a county in order to be selected. That's why Surrey got Pietersen and why the disappeared PDQ when it was clear he was never going to be selected for England again, and why Morgan was on Middlesex's books as long as he was. The registration seems to be pretty nominal in some cases, with the player hardly, if ever, turning out for the county. Of course in the case of cricket it is often the ECB which is enforcing the non-playing. English rugby has limits on the number of matches that internationals can play but this usually means missing one club game in four or similar (in addition to those missed due to fixture clashes).

Football is quite different of course, because the clubs have so much money. Or sometimes spend it even if they don't have it.

'England captain to play in county match' is actually a news headline in 2024.

Peter.M.Gardens wrote:Might Jimmy Anderson ask to play in that one (Durham v Lancs) , he might be motivated to bowl a few bouncers!

Remind me not to watch.

Josh Tongue is injured.