England Ashes Squad-Batting

After England’s exit from the Twenty20 World Cup coach Andy Flower was quick to turn the teams attention to this summers Ashes series.

He revealed that a squad of up to 16 players would be selected to be involved in training days with the squad up until that first test in Cardiff.

This training squad is set to be revealed on Monday, with players sure to be left elated as well as disappointed at the decision.

As with every squad you have your shoe ins and your outsiders, and over the next few days we’re going to evaluate the four areas of the team and who will make it into that final 16.

For all intense and purposes we can count out Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad and James Anderson as they all look like certainties for that Ashes squad.

They’ve been the backbone of the test side for sometime now, and it’s extremely difficult to see any of them being left out of Monday’s squad announcement.

So you can tick those seven off your list, and look ahead to trying to fill those coverted nine places.

Today we’re going to look at the run scoring department, and with four recognised batsman already in the squad, we’re looking for just two more to fill the list.

I’ve drawn up some of the candidates already, and with your help we’re going to try and shape this England squad, that could guide us to similar scenes we encountered in 2005.

Ravi Bopara (Essex)
Pros: Well three hundreds in 6 matches tell it’s own story. He may well have solved the role of number three for the national team and after an impressive Twenty20 World Cup he is well in the running for a call up this summer.
Cons: Well his first series against Sri Lanka hardly struck fear into the world as he record three ducks in six innings. And his centuries have all come against the same side, the West Indies one of the weakest test playing nations around. His experience against the hostile Aussies is almost non-existent, with jus the two ODI played against the men from down under, and his success limited.

Owais Shah (Middlessex)
Pros: Made an impressive 88 on his debut match in India and a second half-century followed on the tour to the West Indies earlier this year.
Cons: Having played the same amount of matches as closest rival Bopara and not made a century to date puts him in deep trouble of usurping the Essex man. His average over those six matches is also pitiful, and it is hard to see why he was ever stuck with in the England side. He might make the squad just to fill the numbers, but never a realistic number three.

Ian Bell (Warwickshire)
Pros: Unlike his competitors Bell has plenty of experience against the Aussies, having played in each of the last 10 matches against their Ashes rivals. He has a highest score of 87, one short of Shah highest career score and has played 40 more matches than either Bopara or Shah. He has 10 career centuries to his name at a credible average of over 40. Since his omission from the test team his response with the bat has been awesome, averaging 85.25 the perfect response from the Warwickshire man.
Cons: Despite his 10 matches against the Aussies he was targeted from ball one as a weak link in the England side, he made a pair in the first test match, and followed it up with a pair of 3’s in the next. Whether he’s still part of the selectors plans or not is still up for debate, but have the rest done enough to keep him out or not if a different story.

Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire)
Pros: Probably the most successful batsman against Australia since the turn of the century. Four of his 18 career centuries have come against the Aussies, three of which came in 2003 during the tour down under. His average against Australia is higher than his career average of 41.44, and of course he led the England side to a 2-1 series win over this years opponents in 2005.
Cons: After a succession of knee injuries that kept him out of the series in 2007 a return to form hasn’t been as swift as the former skipper would have liked. After giving up the captaincy last year he hasn’t turned out for the side as the younger group of England players take over the side. And after the debacle of Kevin Petersen’s captaincy, would another former captain in the side destroy the team’s chemistry?

Special mentions should go to the likes of James Hildreth, Rob Key and Mark Ramprakash whose early season form has suggested a possible call up to this most illustrious of squads, but maybe their progress is slightly too late to make an impact on this squad.

All four have an excellent chance of making the squad and that first test in Cardiff.

But you can’t help but feel that Shah has missed his chance at three, and that the man holding onto the jersey in Bopara will keep it until at least the first test.

When your looking at the two experienced men, Vaughan just hasn’t had the time at the crease that the selectors would have liked, certainly not enough to warrant selection.

So for me the raw talent of Bopara and the experience and class of Bell would be a good way to complete the batting line-up.

Tomorrow I’ll be covering the all-rounder position and analysing whether Andrew Flintoff’s injury hit season could get in the way of his Ashes ambitions.