houstonspider

I believe he now has commitments outside of football which require his time.

I agree with the poster that on Saturday we kept the ball a lot but if you are going to play that way you are going to eventually have to pick out the killer pass. On Saturday on several occasions though we lost possession before getting a chance to do that and invited danger onto ourselves on the counter. For me after we went a goal down we started to play with a bit more directness and it paid. No bad thing though to be able to play to different styles. Watching the warm up I thought our shooting practice was terrific and I would have liked to have seen our midfielders playing balls forward and expecting to get a ball back to run onto and have a dig. Early days but encouraging signs.

What did you make of the young fella "Sena". Looked very calm and assured for someone his age.

Saw Wharton playing for Pollok towards the end of the season against Auchinleck and wasn't impressed. I felt he'd gone backwards. Paul Gallagher on the other hand. What a better player he's turned into. Would have him back in a flash.

Did Freddy attend training last night to ask who everybody was. Seems the likeliest way of hearing collated team news at the moment if the web site is anything to go by.

Have heard from a reliable source that the Dumbarton friendly will go ahead. Sent from my SM-A520F using Pie and Bovril mobile app

Why does this happen with England so often ? Win the series then not turn up for the final test. Also how often do we see this final day collapse ? These are professional sportsmen for goodnesd sake but England seem to lack a mental toughness and to stay focussed at all times. Series victory against an SA side minus Steyn is only papering over the cracks thst have been present for a couple of years in terms of that fragile batting line up which amazingly extends all the way to No. 8. Still issues at opener, 3 and 5.

Fury 8 out ot 10.

Pleased for the Tykes.

Good luck with your bid. Hope it all works out.

Englands one day game is in a shocking state. They should start by getting rid of Cook as skipper and opener.

Noticed Hales top scored with 40 in the doing from India.

England have not had that Trescothick type opener for a while now. Opening bowlers must have genuinely feared bowling to him at the start of an innings when he eas in his pomp due to his ability to take them on from the word go. I think the selectors thought Carberry might have brought that to the side. The Windies would be the place to try Hales where the hard pitches and ball coming on quick should suit his game. I think a contrast at the top of the order might be good. The strategy over recent times has been to field quite defensive opening pairs featuring players like Compton and Robson.

Hales got a good hundred for Notts in an important one dayer.

Its a bit like when one of the bowlers that comes into the side turns out to be quite handy with the bat gets a fifty odd but disappoints with the ball and goes for 5 an over and no wickets. Latterly, Bresnan was bit a like that. The question is would that bowler get picked again ? Like you, I think they may persevere with him at 6 and hope he improves. In some ways its now a pity theres a rash of limited over stuff where i think he will feature.

Moeen is a bit of a problem. His form does nit merit him batting at 6. You cant pick someone at 6 in the hope he might get some runs. Each time he fails there he is putting added pressure on the likes of Buttler, woakes, Broad etc to get them to the target total. I'm sure Moeen thinks of himself as a batsmen first but has clearly been working on his bowling a lot possibly at the expense of his batting. Its inconceivable that we would be considering going into the Ashes with Moeen as the frontline spinner unless the coaches do a helluva lot of work with him over the winter on his game while also looking very carefully at other spinning options.

Hales is worth a look but close examination of his technique may show not ready, although very impressed with how Buttler has adapted his game for the longer format. Wouldnt be surprised if a recall for Carberry.You need the top 6 to get you a score but at present its only his bowling thats keeping Ali in the said. Another one day player with suspect technique. Unfortunate shortage of tests to try some options.

Opener and number 6 were issues for England last year and that still remains the case. Its all very well Buttler coming in and smacking a 50 but his runs should be a bonus and not something you rely on to get you a decent total. Moeen is giving his wicket away too easily.

Far too many. Skipper too reluctant to bring back Anderson or even the spinner. Lets hope that doesnt come back to bite him. By rights the series should have been sealed half way thru this afternoon.