Third Test: England v South Africa, The Oval, July 27-31

[Arthur Crabtree]

Such a shame England lost James Taylor. Though obviously his health is far more important than selection issues.

[captaincolly]

Arthur you make the point about Dawson, but Rashid took 23 wickets in India etc...he should still be there and IMO should be re-called...dont care if he goes for runs, leg spinners pick up wickets, theyre not picked for their control....we need wickets we dont look penetrating..and if you pick two spinners, Rashid should be there...

I agree but there have been a few stories in the press suggesting England have drawn a line under Rashid as a test player. No idea why that is the case ( assuming it is) but the stories I've read claim England will select Crane when Woakes returns to bolster the lower order batting!

something must have happened behind the scenes for them to discard him after the winter he had

Either Botham or Warne ( I was only half paying attention ) implied just that and said something about it being the job of the management to get the best out of different personalities.

[rich1uk]

something must have happened behind the scenes for them to discard him after the winter he had

That would effect his LOI places though.

possibly

i'm just trying to explain a decision that doesn't seem to make much sense from a cricket perspective

we stick with the guy for a couple of years, have him carrying drinks and only getting the odd game, then he seems to make a breakthrough and all of a sudden is out of the picture and the reports are that Mason Crane will be picked ahead of him

[Arthur Crabtree]

Arthur you make the point about Dawson, but Rashid took 23 wickets in India etc...he should still be there and IMO should be re-called...dont care if he goes for runs, leg spinners pick up wickets, theyre not picked for their control....we need wickets we dont look penetrating..and if you pick two spinners, Rashid should be there...

I agree but there have been a few stories in the press suggesting England have drawn a line under Rashid as a test player. No idea why that is the case ( assuming it is) but the stories I've read claim England will select Crane when Woakes returns to bolster the lower order batting!

Back to the nineties again, when England left out Caddick and Tufnell as they weren't considered team men. Though I'm inclined to think that if this was true, it would have leaked out.

Maybe he whistled?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Rashid was top wicket taker in the winter, but was expensive. Mo is expensive, though a wicket taker. I took Rashid's demotion for Dawson as a desire for one spinner who dried an end up. Though he hasn't done that.

[andy]

who cares if he's expensive...you dont pick a legpsinner to contain...you pick them to attack and get wickets, and if they leak runs but get you wickets so be it..

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'd have Rashid ahead of Dawson (though Rayner ahead of both). But I guess they didn't want two spinners going at 4-5 an over.

[andy]

Na Rayner's gone off the boil....Rashid should be playing particuartly in these final 2 tests, where they tradtionally turn, he could be deadly...

[Alviro Patterson]

Arthur you make the point about Dawson, but Rashid took 23 wickets in India etc...he should still be there and IMO should be re-called...dont care if he goes for runs, leg spinners pick up wickets, theyre not picked for their control....we need wickets we dont look penetrating..and if you pick two spinners, Rashid should be there...

I agree but there have been a few stories in the press suggesting England have drawn a line under Rashid as a test player. No idea why that is the case ( assuming it is) but the stories I've read claim England will select Crane when Woakes returns to bolster the lower order batting!

something must have happened behind the scenes for them to discard him after the winter he had

its the old cliche about spinners improving with age and just at the time he seemed to be moving forward with his game he gets dropped

Maybe England think Rashid does not have the guile to bowl at test level. Rashid might have taken 20 odd wickets in India, but most of those wickets came when India already racked up the runs.

During the round of CC matches under floodlights, Rashid was getting smacked about by Sangakarra so it's understandable why England have considered other spin options.

Though writing Rashid off altogether I can't see, mainly because of Root being the test skipper so at least Rashid will be on the radar.

[captaincolly]

I wonder how much of a say Root has on the spinners? If his vote of confidence was a big factor in the Ballance recall will he have had a strong opinion on the spinner selection.

[Alviro Patterson]

With Ballance picking up an injury, could Scott Borthwick come into the equation?

A number 3 batsman by trade and a handy leg spinner, so that's two birds killed with one stone.

[andy]

Im a huge fan of Borthwick, but he hasn't set the world alight with the bat this year, and if its possible, he bowls even less for surrey then he did durham!

[rich1uk]

he's averaging 30 with the bat and taken 2 wickets all year

and last thing we need is another batting all-rounder tbh, assuming he qualifies as one in the first place

[Arthur Crabtree]

Different story in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/ ... dex-finger

[captaincolly]

Different story in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/ ... dex-finger

That's a markedly different emphasis from the DT! It must all be dependent on the specialists verdict but it does suggest he will play if passed fit.