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England’s bowling attack

By Mark Tilley last year, mid-February Add your comment below

Is it just me or do England have a seriously good looking attack on display in the current Test match? Speed-wise, even the most skeptical of cricket fans would have to admit it’s impressive. Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff,  James Anderson and, to a slightly lesser extent, Stuart Broad are all genuinely capable of the odd delivery in excess of 90 mph and they give the captain a wealth of options. 

Harmison is painfully erratic and may well be a spent force but he is still capable of rattling his opponents, even if his days are becoming increasingly numbered. Flintoff is as reliable and dangerous as ever and Broad is a developing into a threatening force, fresh from his maiden five wicket haul in Jamaica last week. Jimmy Anderson, like Harmison, can be inconsistent but his pace is an asset and he can be a genuine strike bowler, especially when the ball is swinging (anyone remember 7-43 against New Zealand in Nottingham?).

But the decision to replace Monty Panesar with Graeme Swann could also be the most important one. Panesar’s recent struggles are heavily documented and he was out-bowled by Swann during England’s toiling in India. Swann’s ability with the willow also means England can potentially bat down to 9, so if he can turn it on with the ball in the way that Panesar hasn’t been able to for a while, then England will surely be forced to give him a run in the side.

Far be it from me to play the role of England selector, but the current bowling attack would probably be my first choice to play when the Aussies come to town in July. I would allow a bit of room for change over the spinner, as Panesar, for all his troubles,  is capable of being dangerous but if you pinned me down and asked me for a set of names, then I’d be happy to give you this lot. It’s harsh on Ryan Sidebottom but he’d always be in contention to play, dependant on the conditions. The same goes for Simon Jones, although he may or may not ever be fit again.

Thoughts - would anyone rather see Monty back? Is there still life in Harmison? Answers on a postcard please.

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3 Responses to “England’s bowling attack”

  • Parth Pala wrote:
    February 17th, 2009 at 1.14 am

    Well it’s one pace one way attack , with erratic line and length. Impressive on paper means nothing, recently your bowlers including Flintoff were quite easily dismantled by an Indian side. None of your bowlers really swing the ball either you can see James Andersons swing coming from a mile away. If you want to see real swing you should have seen their Indian counterparts in the recent series. Zaheer and Ishant swung it both ways , not only that the swing it late. They also showed what real reverse swing is, something Wasim Akram said while commentating had not really happened since his playing (although the thanks should go to him he did teach these boys the art of true reverse swing).

    England’s reverse swing is amateur level at best, and I laugh everytime the English revel in their Ashes reverse swing triumph I say please go see Wasim and Waqar or Zaheer Khan to see real reverse swing, real reverse is that late swinging searing deliveries you get only really replicated by Indians and Pakistanis recently. Going back to Anderson the guy can’t swing it anywhere except for conducive conditions i.e England or NZ. Genuine swing bowlers are guys like Zaheer, Sohail Tanvir, and Steyn.

    So the point of all this is sure you can bowl 90mph have the occasional swing but its all useless since its mostly erratic , bowling wide, or short nothing in that corridor of uncertainty . It eventually led to the first ODI, where India scored a mamooth 386 runs. Then our bowlers got the side out for 220 was it? Most of the wickets taken by seamers so the age old pathetic excuse of India has dustbowls is out…

    Think about its harsh but thats the reality.

  • Daneel wrote:
    February 17th, 2009 at 2.58 am

    I’d still have Hoggard in like a shot over any of Anderson, Harmison or Sidebottom.

    Would have been tempted to go for Rashid in preference to Swann, too.

  • Raxar wrote:
    February 17th, 2009 at 7.48 am

    Definitely go with Sidebottom over Anderson. Difficult to say whether Panesar should be back until Swann has bowled a bit.

    I think the time might have come to admit that Simon Jones is not coming back. I know it’s hard. But it’s time to let go.*sniff-sniff*

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