under pressure test players

Name 11 players who you think face massive pressure for their test places this year......who is most likely to be dropped, or is constantly under pressure.....

here is mine:

1.Andrew Strauss (captain, however struggling for runs at the moment)
2.Alviro Peterson (brought back into the side, but has struggled since coming back)
3.Ricky Ponting (already dropped from odi side which led to retirement, and now faces massive pressure for test place)
4.VVS Laxman (if he dosent retire, then he faces the prospect of running out of time, if he dosent make runs)
5.Jacques Rudolph (constanlty under pressure, wherever he bats)
6.Asad Shafiq (with umar akmal getting some form back, how long will shafiq stay in the side for)
7.Prassana Jaywardene (with chandimal making a big impression on his test debut, prassana is under massive pressure)
8.Graeme Swann (now this will be controversial, but swanny has been out of form for a while now, and monty is starting to really perform, swanny needs some performances, and quickly)
9.Ishant Sharma (india have a few young genuine quicks coming through, and if sharma dosent sort out his consistency he could be gone)
10.Devandre Bishoo (with the emergence of narine, bishoo will be under pressure to consistenly perform)
11.Morne Morkel (class bowler, however De lange is waiting in the wings, and after 7-fer on debut, de lange could be in the side soon.

Monty's had two good tests (in which Swann did pretty well too, though less well than Monty). I think it'll take a lot more before Swann is really under pressure (he did bowl England to victory at the oval three tests ago, so hardly "out of form for a while").

Same with Ponting, he's just off the back of a great series against India, which will have taken some of the pressure off.

Haddin's a contender for the keeping spot, with Wade doing really well in the ODIs I think it's only a matter of time there.

Ashwin is another to consider, he didn't do well in Aus (was outbowled comfortably by Nathan Lyon), and obviously Cheema from Pakistan who just doesn't add anything to the team at present.

I wish the entire NZ team was under pressure. Sadly given the lack of replacements

Agreed about Strauss, although a series win in Sri Lanka will give him the summer you feel. Anyway, who out there is better?

Putting in Peterson is a bit disingenuous IMO, he's just returned to the side so of course he's under pressure. You may as well put in Bopara.

Ponting shouldn't be under pressure, but is and will be for the rest of his career, as he is old, not as good as he used to be and plays for a country which values team success over individual achievements.

Laxman should be dropped, but I suspect with Dravid going India will want him to hang on for another year.

Rudolph and Shaffiq aren't as good as the guys in the wings waiting, I don't expect either to see out the year.

Good shout on Jayawardene, and agree with MfC, Haddin won't be long, Wade looks a good'un to me.

Swann hasn't been in poor form for a while, that's simply nonsense. He had a perfectly good home summer on pitches which on the whole didn't assist him at all, and bowled England to victory on the only two that did. He had a reasonable tour of Pakistan, and the only reason people are even talking about it is that Panesar outbowled him on wickets which suit his type of spin down to a tee (Being quicker through the air he got more bite off the wickets). Panesar will probably outbowl Swann in Sri Lanka as well.

India's new crop of fast bowlers are very raw still, but Sharma seems to always take one step forward then 2 back.

I've been impressed with both Narine and Bishoo. What odds on West Indies picking 2 spinners against Australia at home? Now that would be a bit of a turnaround...

Dunno about Morkel...

Ashwin is a good shout as well, with guys like Abdulah and Sharma performing (albeit in the IPL)... What about Gambhir, really struggled in tests recently?

i dont think ashwin is under pressure..

he is off to a good start with both bat and ball in his test career.

I would agree that Alviro Pietersen and Jaque Rudolph is under pressure to perform.

Morkel is bowling well, in fact the whole summer he has been bowling well, just not getting the results.

With england coming up I doubt Gary Kirsten will put De Lange in then.

I think boucher migh be under some pressure though.

Petersen might have been reading these comments, eh?

Probably earned himself another game or two

haha yes, perhaps i inspired him by saying he was under pressure :P

i think swan quashed the doubts with todays bowling.

i think prior is gonna have to go mind. time to mix things up and realise that he isnt a test bat for the long term

Really? A man who averages 44 in Test from number 7, isn't good enough?

I think there are many people who will be under pressure in this England side before Matt Prior is.

i dont agree at all- i think we need balance in the team- i also think all batters need to be under pressure regardless of avergaes- but more about recent form.

cook,peterson and trott can not go- they are way to good

bop,patel and bresnan are obviously fighting for a place- so pressure is there anyway!

bell 100% under pressure in my eyes- didnt mention him bvecause he is to obvious and that leaves prior,who has sucked for a bit of time and cant cope in other formats either- odd player for me, seemed to boost his test average with a few mental innings- which looked more like limited over performnaces! Personaly id love to see a new opener for strauss and that would be a different glove!

Prior was one of our best bastmen in Dubai with a 70* and a 49*! His Test form has been exceptional for a few years now and he has turned himself into one of the best glovemen on the international scene! As for him not being able to perform in other formats, that should have no bearing on his Test position if he continues to perform as he has been doing.

What do you mean about balance? How would bringing another keeper in who doesn't score as many runs as Prior add balance?

I have this (perhaps impossible) dream that england can have almost the same team in all formats that can play every format. I honestly think the best play every format well.

However i may have misjudged prior , no idea why i didnt remeber his half decent scores in dubai!

The rate Prior scores in Test matches he should be able to play ODI cricket, it is odd that he has never adapted to it. Being messed about in the order didn't help him, but he is just do easy to cut off in ODI and T20's as his main scoring area is the off side.

I think it is easy to forget anyone who scored runs in that series! There weren't many of them!

mystiroakey wrote:i dont agree at all- i think we need balance in the team- i also think all batters need to be under pressure regardless of avergaes- but more about recent form.

cook,peterson and trott can not go- they are way to good

bop,patel and bresnan are obviously fighting for a place- so pressure is there anyway!

bell 100% under pressure in my eyes- didnt mention him bvecause he is to obvious and that leaves prior,who has sucked for a bit of time and cant cope in other formats either- odd player for me, seemed to boost his test average with a few mental innings- which looked more like limited over performnaces! Personaly id love to see a new opener for strauss and that would be a different glove!

Despite averaging a minimum of 47.29 since the Ashes 2009 in all but one series (Pakistan this year) Bell is under pressure? Despite getting 4 tons and a double ton last year, Bell is under pressure?

he doesnt score quick enough- when him and trott get together i go to sleep or throw things at the telly

mystiroakey wrote:he doesnt score quick enough- when him and trott get together i go to sleep or throw things at the telly

This is Test Cricket lad, not hit and giggle.

i know and my fav format!!

Can anyone actually recall a partnership between Bell and Trott? I find Bell a fantastic player to watch personally, and he doesn't bat particularly slowly.

To say Prior is under pressure is ridiculous. The very very best can probably play all formats but here you are talking about the Pontings, Tendulkars, Kallises. You can be a very good test player and pretty hopeless at ODIs (e.g. Langer) or a very good, even great ODI player and pretty hopeless at tests (Bevan, Fairbrother, it seems Morgan). Similarly I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Dernbach should play test cricket.

As JD says, Prior scores a lot of his runs square or behind square on the off-side in tests, taking advantage of a lack of third-man or sweeper. In ODIs those areas are cut off. It is similar with Bell and Vaughan: their boundary shots are classical areas which yield only singles in ODIs, and unlike say Hussey (who also scores boundaries in classical areas) they're not adept at working the ball into gaps for singles. Which is why England have felt that their only realistic position in the order is opening, but the trouble is they don't score at 80+ playing naturally (more 65 or thereabouts) so not fast enough for today's ODIs...

mystiroakey wrote:he doesnt score quick enough- when him and trott get together i go to sleep or throw things at the telly

mystiroakey wrote:bell 100% under pressure in my eyes

Mike Selig wrote:Can anyone actually recall a partnership between Bell and Trott? I find Bell a fantastic player to watch personally, and he doesn't bat particularly slowly.

To say Prior is under pressure is ridiculous. The very very best can probably play all formats but here you are talking about the Pontings, Tendulkars, Kallises. You can be a very good test player and pretty hopeless at ODIs (e.g. Langer) or a very good, even great ODI player and pretty hopeless at tests (Bevan, Fairbrother, it seems Morgan). Similarly I don't think anyone has ever suggested that Dernbach should play test cricket.

As JD says, Prior scores a lot of his runs square or behind square on the off-side in tests, taking advantage of a lack of third-man or sweeper. In ODIs those areas are cut off. It is similar with Bell and Vaughan: their boundary shots are classical areas which yield only singles in ODIs, and unlike say Hussey (who also scores boundaries in classical areas) they're not adept at working the ball into gaps for singles. Which is why England have felt that their only realistic position in the order is opening, but the trouble is they don't score at 80+ playing naturally (more 65 or thereabouts) so not fast enough for today's ODIs...

sorry you talking rubbish- cook,trott,strauss,pieterson can all play both formats. fairbrother was never even a good batter in my eyes, morgan needs to be dropped in all formats,m the guy looks like he is taking the mick considering he only choose englqnd to try and play test!- prior needs to be giving another shot at odis.

The best batters and englands best batters can bat in all formats- end of story


and yes the amount of times i have seen them two in partnership is ridiculas- yes mainly in the odi format, which bell can not play in effectively.

Its ok having the anchor trortt in there- but with bell it was like watching paint dry!!

as i say i want our batters playing in all formats, - every time england change between formats we loose the next format with a different nuculeas of players!!

mystiroakey wrote:

The best batters and englands best batters can bat in all formats- end of story

Bevan is arguably the best ODI batsman of all time. Why couldn't he play test cricket? Fairbrother and Morgan were/are both excellent ODI players, look at their records.

mystiroakey wrote:and yes the amount of times i have seen them two in partnership is ridiculas- yes mainly in the odi format, which bell can not play in effectively.

Just remind me of one then. Because I remember a lot of Cook/Trott partnerships where even I've sort of gone "gee this is great skill and fantastic concentration, but it doesn't make for the most compelling watching", but never had that feeling with Bell at the crease.

I would hazard a guess that all the english batsmen are feeling the pressure right now.

mystiroakey wrote:i think swan quashed the doubts with todays bowling.

i think prior is gonna have to go mind. time to mix things up and realise that he isnt a test bat for the long term

he averages 44 in test cricket, is arguably one of the best keeper-batsman playing today, and u want him gone....

come back when u know a thing or two about cricket.

Now now, fellas.

im sorry fists, but a comment like that needed a response.

cricketfan90 wrote:[Prior] [...] is arguably one of the best keeper-batsman playing today

In tests I would say he is comfortably the best keeper-batsman playing at the moment. I think Wade will run him close over the next few years, but ATM he's easily the best batsman amongst the keepers, and with Boucher's form dropping probably the best keeper as well (Dhoni and Jayawardene are better in the subcontinent but not by as much that Prior is on bouncier wickets).