: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:34 pm
Asim wrote:
Which they do in six overs.
Never thought I'd see the day England would lose at Lords to Holland, even at 20/20, can't see why some are getting so worked up about it though and lambasting Broad, it's not like it matters.
It does matter, it's our national team in a world cup tournament, and long term I feel T20 is stronger than the 50 overs a side format.
It's ludicrous to lambast Broad though; poor management and selection is to blame - too many inexperienced players given key roles.
If Rob Key wasn't going to open the batting I don't see the point in picking him at all for this. Not at 6 - he's a good but fairly orthodox batsman who doesn't bowl and is a mediocre fielder, but he can anchor an innings from th start and increase the tempo.
Also Adil Rashid - terrific Test prospect in the long term, but not a big hitting batsman and has a poor T20 record as a bowler at county level. It seems he got picked yesterday on the strength of one impressive warm up game against West Indies. Dimitri Mascarenhas was the obvious alternative to Flintoff - an experienced all rounder who can hit big shots and keep it tight with the ball. Lord's is a small field, much smaller than The Oval for instance; 163 was an ordinary target to set against any opposistion on that ground, especially after putting on 100+ for the first wicket in eleven overs. Our middle order failed abysmally to capitalise on the opening partnership.
Eoin Morgan was just an embarrassment yesterday, but sometimes that's going to happen to a player thrown in at the deep end at international level. He may turn out to be good enough, but why experiment in a world cup?