by bigfluffylemon » Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:52 pm
In response to your above comments AC, (although I know you were not being entirely serious), I wasn't advocating for five seamers. That would be madness. But we know that England with three seamers plus Stokes and Mo works well in English conditions, we know that Edgbaston almost never does anything for spinners (Swann averaged 38 here and only took 10 wickets in 4 games, and no other spinner in the last 10 years, English or visiting, has taken more than three wickets in an innings, except Ajmal, who as a chucker doesn't count), so call it innate conservatism if you will (not something I'm often accused of), but I don't see any need to change that formula now.
We are getting mixed messages about the pink ball and what the D/N format will mean, and it's clear that the answer is that no-one really knows, in English conditions. We should be wiser in 5 days. I've read that the ball softens quickly and doesn't swing for long, making it harder to get batsmen out with it, but I've also read that it can be harder to pick up, especially under lights, and the dew can be a factor, implying that it could be difficult for batting. Perhaps they'll cancel each other out - the evidence from Adelaide so far suggests that this might be the case, and that it might be a little more attritional than is traditionally the case at Birmingham. That does suggest that having a variety in attack might help, which could be a reason to replace a quick with a leggie, especially given that Anderson, Broad and Woakes are all pretty similar medium-fast right armers (at least RJ offers a bit of variety, but not a lot).
However, I maintain there is no point giving Mason Crane a debut with the Ashes coming up. Perhaps he will be the English Shane Warne and will prove me wrong, but visiting spinners get destroyed in Australia, almost invariably. Even Murali struggled there. Throwing a novice spinner into an away Ashes is just asking to have his confidence shot to pieces. The lad has clear potential, and I am sure will feature for England some day, but I think he's too inexperienced, and now is not really the time. I'll be happy to be proved wrong if he gets picked and takes a hatful in Australia, but I'm not going to bet the farm on it happening.