Dernbach called into England sqaud for Lords test match.

Thoughts on whether he is the right choice, it could still be Finn who plays, but is this a bit unfair on Shazad.

bit of a suprise i expected woakes or shahzad to be called up.

Harsh on Shazhad but bringing in a swing bowler is the right option.

what did shahzad do to get dropped?has flower forgotten about continuity?i personally wouldnt have minded onions bcoz he was first choice before his injury.but all of a sudden dernbach gets picked.he is a very good bowler and i expect him to do well if he makes the final XI but this is against flower's principles of continuity.

Jade Dernbach was most impressive for the England Lions over the winter in the West Indies and again against Sri Lanka the other week.

He has certainly worked hard over the last couple of years and has developed enormously in that time. There is now quite a bit of variety in his bowling; in particular, a very well disguised slower ball.

In my view, all the above means Dernbach deserves his call up although it has to be acknowledged that he hasn't bowled particularly well for Surrey this season. That - together with Lord's being Finn's home ground - will almost certainly mean that Dernbach will be twelfth man for the second test, barring any further injuries.

Flower obviously wanted to bring in an another swing bowler to replace Anderson and Dernbach was the only real option.

He can bat a little bit as well so may the obvious option to be nightwatchmen if he plays.

I see this as being a way of getting Dernbach involved with the squad, and I think they'll actually plump for Finn. Onions needs more overs under his belt, which he won't get carrying the drinks...

I can't imagine Onions being back into the England squad until the end of the summer. Certainly needs the games, England won't wanna rush him into the team.

Sad thing is if he didn't get injured he would probably be still in the squad now.

Dernbach has bowled plenty of overs in the last 18 months, and this is just probably to give him a taste of what being around the England squad is like as I fully expect Finn to play, althought I wouldn't have gone that way as it makes our attack a bit "samey" with 3 tall bounce bowlers.

I would have liked to see Onions or Shahzad in, as I rate Onions really highly. I like him hitting the stumps and he would be dangerous at Lord's with his bowling at the stumps and just nibbling it with the slope. However I can understand he needs more overs before be called back in.

"what did shahzad do to get dropped?"

Not Shahzad again! Thank goodness he has been dropped.

I agree with your point about three tall bowlers JDizzle, but let's face it, the SL batsmen really didn't fancy the bounce in Cardiff, which is hardly the bounciest track around. So maybe bounce is the way to go, so long as they don't get carried away.

I'd have liked to see Onions in, but he's not ready yet. Plus it's Finn's home ground so he should do well.

Sri Lanka will expect it. At least one bowler will have too try something different and mix it up.

liam
i think broad should look to pitch it up as he is far more dangerous pitching it up rather than bowling short.

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:liam
i think broad should look to pitch it up as he is far more dangerous pitching it up rather than bowling short.

I was thinking that.

Broad only seems dangerous bowling short against tail-enders but when he pitches it up he takes wickets. Ashes 2009 5th test is a perfect example of that.

Although Tremlett looked dangerous yesterday when pitching it up.

Liam_Main wrote:Although Tremlett looked dangerous yesterday when pitching it up.

If Tremlett can recreate that performance yesterday throughout the whole summer he should be taking the new ball with anderson consisitently, it is just a matter of him getting consistent.

As a couple of people have already suggested , I suspect the selection is essentially one of 12th man , with a view to letting another reserve player get a feel for the big game atmosphere.

Not much point in having , say , Onions carry drinks. Or even Shahzad, really.

And of course they're hoping it is only for one match , with a fit Jimmy A back for the 3rd .

Aye, the Sri Lankans did struggle against the bounce second innings at Cardiff so I can see why they would go along the three fast bowlers route Chelsea. I just think that looking at the bigger picture, they are not going to be able to get away with this for too long so they may aswell have put in a swing bowler (Shahzad/Dernbach/Onions) to see how he complimented the attack.

I do think that Dernbach would complement Broad and Tremlett nicely as he is a slightly more skiddy bowler who swings it a bit more compared to the other two, whereas Finn is very simmilar to Broad and Tremlett.

The other question is who should lead the attack at lords, in terms of experince and wickets it should be Broad, but Tremlett is older and arguably a calmer head.

If I was a selector I would play Dernbach.

Would be extremely harsh leaving Finn out but 3 tall seamers is too obvious as i've said in my above posts.

Broad and Tremlett will open the bowling with Broad likely leading the attack because of his experience at a higher level.

I do wonder about Broad leading though as he is prone to lapses of judgement and can let that affect his bowling.

One thing I will say is that it seems he's improved on his discipline. He was getting very annoyed in the first test but kept his emotions in well. Credit too him for that.

Fair enough for him but last summer with Haider and at times in the Ashses he looked very angry and this seems to make him want to bang it in short at 90MPH.

Very sad to hear Dirtbag is in the squad. It's very unlikely he will play and I don't see him as someone who has an international career ahead of him.

I would much rather they selected a young promising bowler such as Adil Rashid to expose him to being in an England Squad.

MR. scotland27 wrote:I do wonder about Broad leading though as he is prone to lapses of judgement and can let that affect his bowling.

I am a massive Broad fan but he is certainly one that lets his emotions get the better of him at times. Having a bit of fire is one thing thing but loosing the rag the way he does is not that professional.

Once Broad settles down his temper I think that will help out his bowling. He occasionally lets his temper get the better of him and his bowling can be all over the place.

I know he is a left field pick, and unlikely to play, I am pleased - I have watched him for a long time at Surrey and although his stats are not great, the improvement he has made over the last couple of years is staggering - definately one for the future.

Cant see Dernbach starting but its a positive move i feel.

eirebilly wrote:Cant see Dernbach starting but its a positive move i feel.

indeed - he adds something different genuine skiddy pace - and can swing it in the right conditions: he is the perfect foil for Anderson, when the swing is not there, and Tremlett's high bounce.

He is a very effective bowler in the 'typical' Engish conditions.

eirebilly wrote:He is a very effective bowler in the 'typical' Engish conditions.

And abroad!! Did you see his stats for the Lions over the winter - that is why he caught the selectors eyes

Anyone think England could make a surprise pick and go with Dernbach?

His bowling certainly suits England conditions and is a life-like bowler to Anderson.

na

Flower stated in his interview with SSN that he hadn't chosen his final bowler yet.

i think they will use Finn he was in the squad and they are big with continuity

I think they will go with Finn, but if they wrap the series up at lords then I can see him making his debut at the Rose Bowl.

They probably will go with Finn but I wouldn't be too surprised if they picked Dernbach. Stranger things have happened,remember when Darren Pattinson was picked to play?

I was expecting Woakes as well. But in fairness to Dernbach he has looked for Surrey in the last few years.

Would it harm to give Dernbach a go? I'm thinking no. Maybe rest Tremlett and play Finn as well?

Back to the cricket forums for me after my football forum fiasco earlier :P

I think if England win this test then maybe rest a seamer for the next but certainly not in this match England need to play there best players they can't afford to risk defeat not playing there best line up. If England win this test then yeah why not play Dernbach he could certainly do with the experience.

How good do people think Dernbach is then?

Gregers wrote:How good do people think Dernbach is then?

Andre "Gunther" Nel the South African fast bowler swears by him and believed 2 or so years ago that he Dernbach would one day play for England. Anyway it is about time that England have had a South African pace bowler after the countless number of South African born batsman who have represented England's test team since the 60's.

My feeling is Dernbach is being picked to carry the drinks. Good management by Flower, imo: Dernbach gets to be part of the squad, but without the pressure of playing. Means when he's later picked for real, he has some idea of what's going on - he's already done some of it.

Interestingly three of the pace attack are from div.2 of the championship, which probably makes sense in view of the fact that they are the bowlers who play often at Lords.
Bowlers from div1. hardly get an opportunity to bowl at Lords with Middlesex long established in div2.
With 3 of our top six batsmen also from div2, we have six of the twelve selected from this division. Rather curious considering the difference in quality between the divisions.

Rather curious considering the difference in quality between the divisions..

An interesting instance of the influence of the individual - or lack of it - in a team game of this sort? No matter how good you are, if the rest of the team isn't up to it, you'll still lose.

I'm a little worried by the inexperience ( bar Swann ) of this attack. It's not a big problem if the pitch is lively but Lords can be too flat for everyone and negate our threat. :-/

I feel in this case the 3 tallboys might be too samey if it's not a pacey wicket. Rather see someone much like Jimmy , i.e Shazza or Onions to give it some variety.

Hopefully the strip is fast and bouncy and we can watch the SL batters in some more trouble.

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:what did shahzad do to get dropped?has flower forgotten about continuity?i personally wouldnt have minded onions bcoz he was first choice before his injury.but all of a sudden dernbach gets picked.he is a very good bowler and i expect him to do well if he makes the final XI but this is against flower's principles of continuity.

Shahzad wasn't dropped as he wasn't in the previous squad. He's played one Test match so far, nearly a year ago.

I personally would have chosen Shahzad, but I can see why they've gone with Dernbach as he's in better form.