Moores Announces 'England Performance Squad'

i think it is a very good squad ad some quite young players in is this ODI and test Performance squad

quite a good squad. nice to see trescothick and jones back and a few younger players to bring in for experience.

Yep great squad, good to see they stuck with all those that got hammered 5 nil in aust.

Originally posted by 143no Yep great squad, good to see they stuck with all those that got hammered 5 nil in aust.

who would you suggest the should have picked instead?

If you take a look at what was essentially the Ashes side - Strauss, Cook, Bell, Collingwood, Pietersen, Flintoff, Read/Jones, Hoggard, Harmison, Panesar, Mahmood/Anderson - we can see obviously the wicketkeepers haven't been given another chance (very harsh in Read's case).

Of the others who did little in that series;

Mahmood & Anderson wouldn't have played had Jones been fit and both have potential if only the England management will let them bowl enough overs. Hopefully Moores has a little more faith in the county circuit than his predecessor.

Harmison is one discussed at length on the forum and is certainly pushing his luck. But it is only a couple of years since he was knocking over all-comers and rated No 1 in the world (for what that is worth...not much) and any new coach would want the challenge of getting the best out of him.

On the batting side Strauss did little but had no luck at all on the tour and has more than enough credit in the bank to be worth a continued spot. For Cook it was a learning experience and he clearly has a big future. Bell and Collingwood were a bit up and down but again did enough to show they shouldn't be discarded. (Of course 2 of those 4 wouldn't have played anyway had England had a full strength squad to choose from).

England's results over recent years have been strong enough to ensure that one poor series - against a very strong side - doesn't mean that they have to immediately throw the baby out with the bath water.