(sometimes this happens though, doesn’t it… i remember around ten years ago, bit more perhaps, india were touring england; shiv sunder das was out of favour, got plonked back into the team playing the warmup matches to see if he could push his way back into contention, hit 250 – admittedly against a university side iirc – and still didn’t get picked. sometimes the selectors have just made up their minds… but wouldn’t it be fairer to tell the player, stop him getting his hopes up?)

does seem harsh on compton. it really isn’t long ago at all that everyone thought he was a natural test player… then he has a couple of shit matches and suddenly he’s dog food. so he goes back to county cricket, hits a daddy hundred in his next innings, and the selectors aren’t interested. i think you may well be onto something with this “criticism of slow scoring” theory. three grinders at the top of the innings… are they just worried no-one will watch?

very good point(s). never mind the 90s, it really isn’t long ago at all that everyone was saying that england had got their act together in tests but couldn’t crack ODIs for toffee. coming within one ball (sort of… tredwell was never gonna hit that for six, was he) of winning the CT is definitely a vast improvement

Bairstow is craptastic. Wouldn’t make my squad unless it’s as a ‘keeper.

Honestly, I’d rather have Bopara or Morgan at #6.

They’ve obviously seen something in Boyd Rankin. My guess is that they got a list of the top ten tallest bowlers in county cricket and stuck a pin in it. He’s not even Warwickshire’s third best English qualified bowler.

I’m not going to, though.

But after a night of reflection, quiet contemplation and meditation, my attitude has, naturally, changed somewhat.

Self-immolation is the only way to demonstrate enough utter contempt for England’s miserable capitulation, snatching defeat from the very jaws of victory and depriving true fans of the morale-boosting victory they deserved. Self-immolation along with some suitable effigies (Buttler, Bresnan, Morgan, Bopara, Oxenford…) would be even better. This posting is a call for volunteers – sadly I am otherwise engaged this week.

“Remember the 90’s” -indeed! These days we are competitive in all formats; it wasn’t always so.

As everyone has stated already, Australia appear to be concocting their own version of England’s ’90s. Very good.