England 13 man squad for first Ashes test

@BBCSport: England name a 13-man Ashes squad: Anderson, Bairstow, Bell, Bresnan, Broad, Cook (c), Finn, Onions, Pietersen, Prior, Root, Swann, Trott.

Not a massive surprise but Compton misses out as Onions is preferred as England will have 3 to choose from for the last seam spot

On that squad i would pick

1. Cook (C)
2. Root
3. Trott
4. KP
5. Bell
6. Bairstow
7. Prior W/K
8. Broad
9. Swann
10. Anderson
11. Onions

Onions might make you cry then.

Think Bresnan will play at TB

Tbf I do like Onions but he got injured at the wrong time

Ill be happy with Bresnan, but i want Onions he always performs on the big day as seen in the 2009 ashes. He has also looked in good touch for Durham so far this summer.

It has to be Finn. Onions is OK, but Jimmy A is already there who can perform a much better job with a broadly similar bowling style. Finn is a much better bowler than Bresnan is, and it will be a real travesty if Finn's dropped on some ludicrous grounds. Said that, I am not entirely trusting the England management to do the sensible thing though.

I imagine Bresnan will play at TB and Finn at Lords.

GSC wrote:I imagine Bresnan will play at TB and Finn at Lords.

As I said, it will be sad if the England management is out to demonstrate their clownish face at the beginning of the series. I am very sure Finn will have to be brought back at some stage, like they did during the South Africa series last year!.

He is a bit of a talisman for England is Bresnan, and the selectors like him to balance the side. Slightly long tail with Finn, who I also feel is a tad overrated as a bowler. Takes wickets but struggles with control.

To be fair to Bresnan, at TB he has 140 runs in 3 test innings, and 14 wickets at an average of 17.

Also Trent Bridge are the biggest wan*ers for not allowing the barmy army in!!!! Needs to be noise in the ashes!!!! Hopefully Warner gets a lot of stick.

Yeah should really let him in, but don't really care. The barmy army generates noise regardless.

True, but i just can't understand why, used to really like TB but not anymore. Hope this test is a disaster, so they don't host future matches.

Yawn

One player who should be there is the best batsman in county cricket Darren Maddy, he is way better than ever player in the squad.

No Compton, not a surprise but quite frankly an awful call. Its a closed club, Compton obviously not welcome by Flower so has gone

NickisBHAFC wrote:One player who should be there is the best batsman in county cricket Darren Maddy, he is way better than ever player in the squad.

    You'll be calling for Ed Giddins to be selected as England's opening batsman next.  Might be a plan to lay off the  for a week.

Would imagine it's a straight battle between Bresnan and Finn for the final spot, and quite frankly both would do a good job. As GSC says wouldn't be surprised to see Bresnan at TB and Finn at Lords.

Can understand the clamour for Finn over Bres in ODI's, but in Tests I think both do a good job.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:

NickisBHAFC wrote:One player who should be there is the best batsman in county cricket Darren Maddy, he is way better than ever player in the squad.

    You'll be calling for Ed Giddins to be selected as England's opening batsman next.  Might be a plan to lay off the  for a week.

 GSC will you please do the honors

Olly wrote:Would imagine it's a straight battle between Bresnan and Finn for the final spot, and quite frankly both would do a good job. As GSC says wouldn't be surprised to see Bresnan at TB and Finn at Lords.

Can understand the clamour for Finn over Bres in ODI's, but in Tests I think both do a good job.

In ODIs, the argument that a bowler who can offer some control could be an asset is a fair enough one, although in Finn's and Bresnan's case, its a misconception that the latter offeres greater control than the former. Besides, there could be a convoluted logic to placing some importance to Bresnan's batting abilities.
However in test matches, there is absolutely no question whatsoever. You win test matches by taking 20 wickets, a wickettaker like Finn is absolute value. Bresnan is not a bowler with that x factor about him. The stats tell you an honest story, that of a capable backup. Apart from Graeme Swann, Steven Finn is the only bowler in the England first choice attack who average under 30 for every wicket. Besides, his strike rate of 47 compares well with the greats of the game. He takes 4 wickets per match on an average it has to be remembered, 88 from 22 vs 57 in 18 from Bresnan at an average above 32 at a strike rate over 65, that is just above 3 wickets per match.

I am not as fanatically determined as msp   that Finn is the only possible choice ; but I would be surprised to see Bresnan preferred here...yes he adds to the batting , and he has a good record at Trent Bridge , but his recent bowling performances just haven't been good enough to oust the incumbent. Would like to see Finn in a bit better rhythm than recently , but I fancy this might well happen now he is back in Test Match mode.
One big merit of Finn is that he tends to take wickets even when he isn't bowling all that well. And his pace and bounce will be handy against Australia's (very handy) tail.

alfie wrote:I am not as fanatically determined as msp   that Finn is the only possible choice ; but I would be surprised to see Bresnan preferred here...yes he adds to the batting , and he has a good record at Trent Bridge , but his recent bowling performances just haven't been good enough to oust the incumbent.  Would like to see Finn in a bit better rhythm than recently , but I fancy this might well happen now he is back in Test Match mode.
One big merit of Finn is that he tends to take wickets even when he isn't bowling all that well.  And his pace and bounce will be handy against Australia's (very handy) tail.

That's a good start alfie!!!. Finn had done well in the New Zealand test series as well. He wasn't at his best in the first test, yet he produced a 4 wicket haul, and those were not from catches in the deep. Then in the 2nd test, he opened up the New Zealand batting along with Graeme Swann to put England firmly in control. Hope big Finn just puts in a fine performance in the first test to convince that I was just being logical about it!!.

No surprise that Compo has been dropped given the noises made from the England camp. He really needed a ton against the Aussies to give himself a chance and couldn't do that against what will likely turn out to be pretty much their 2nd string attack. Whether it's the right move or not only time will tell.

I'm not sure how anybody can think Bresnan ahead of Finn given their performances in the last few series could be a good idea TBH. Finn has outbowled Bresnan in test matches consistently for a while now, and as others have pointed out has the happy knack of getting wickets even when not bowling well. I would be very disappointed and somewhat surprised if Finn doesn't start.

From Australia's point of view, things are looking a bit brighter than they have, and their class bowling will keep them in the game. Watson opening is (IMO) a good move, although personally I would partner him with Cowan and have Rogers (who can score big hundreds and dominate) at 3. Smith surely has to play now, and he should do - Australia have to find a way of getting someone with his amount of talent in the side, and given the relative paucity of middle-order options it would be a travesty if they didn't. I'm not convinced about the 5 bowler strategy, particularly with Watson - Hughes or Warner may well slot in at 5 or 6 IMO.

Bowling wise it seems likely to be Pattinson, Siddle and Lyon. Final spot is anyone's guess, I would suppose Starc, but I guess Bird, Harris are also in the frame. For me, Bird's natural length is a bit short for England, and Starc's pace and swing could be quite a handful. Harris of course is a wonderful bowler if he stays fit. If...

All in all I look forward to Wednesday...

I'm not saying Bresnan should start over Finn, just that it wouldn't be the complete disaster that some are making it out to be.

I would expect Finn to start on Wednesday also

Hoping Finn will start, but will be neither too disappointed or surprised, if Bresnan gets the nod.