Hard to argue with that common sense loaded team ginge however Tremlett bowled MILES AND MILES better than his figures suggest and I think Englands strength was the bowling unit as well as the individuals - I would play him before Sharma ( not taking anything away from Sharma mind)

All that said - I would go with 4 bowlers - the England unit - and put Laxman at 5 and Raina at 6

Trott can count himself the unluckiest player not to make the team based on Dravid Magic

Lydne
Yes with six batsmen, either Trott or Laxman would come in.

How can you bowl better than your figures suggest?

If you got smashed 1-80 per se (not suggesting Tredders did), then surely those figures suggest your bowling was dreadful.

How can you bowl better than your figures suggest?

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I would imagine that it's happened many times before.
I've seen bowlers miss the edge and end up with naff all and on the other hand, a bowler could bowl like a drain early on and then come back to take 2-3 tail enders.

well Treeburning - Figures dont lie that often - but its a bit like 2 players in a game of rugby scoring 3 tries each but the guy that set up all 6 getting the man of the match award

btw ,,,whats the condition like for the next test??
will it favor bowling or batting?

Indiasox
The pitch?
Not sure.

Lydne
Please don't bring egg-chasing into one of my articles as I may have to delete it
No, good analogy

I don't think Tremlett was bowling well, he does deserve credit for running in when clearly not fully fit.
He has a long spell without cricket until a 4-day game in which he only managed one wicket.
It could be a toss up whether he is ready for Trent Bridge with only 3 days rest.

"How can you bowl better than your figures suggest?

If you got smashed 1-80 per se (not suggesting Tredders did), then surely those figures suggest your bowling was dreadful."

Really?

Sorry insert soccer delete rugby and replace tries with goals

Soccer?

well hope - he took as many wickets as Sharma - and outside of his first spell in each innings played well enough - and kept a lot of pressure on the Indians - he could of had 2 more wickets - and if hes not fully fit then the future is bright

"Combined" team my backside

The team should read:

Strauss (c)
Cook
Trott
Pietersen
Bell
Morgan
Prior (wk)
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett

5 players in that "combined" team happened to lose a test match by nearly 200 runs this week. All 11 of the players I listed won a test by nearly 200 runs this week.

It's like shelling peas

Champagne
Don't take it to seriously

One thing most often combined teams rarely gel. That Oz versus a world XI some years back was a flop. It always irritated the old TMS scorer that it was given test status and that runs and wickets counted for test statistics.

btw ,,,whats the condition like for the next test??
will it favor bowling or batting?


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Indiasox, pray to god that the pitch does not favour bowlers that much that your bufoons manage to bowl decent on it, otherwise you know what is going to happen to you again
I can not see how on earth it wont be 2:0 given the state of your team.

I would back Bresnan to come in and bowl well at TB.

Who would you leave out Hazsa? The way Morgan is batting, we could just stick him in at six? Or is that being ridiculous? It would give us plenty of bowling?

Is Tremlett carrying an injury?
Bresnan could come in for him,

It was clear that Tremlett had a problem and I read today he was feeling some stiffness in a leg.

No Maksi i would not drop a batsman. I always an advocate of 5 bowlers but i'm a changed man. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

But Tremlett is a little bit broken. If he's carrying an injury I see no problem with bring in a proven performer such as Bresnan. TB swings more since the new development not less, he's the perfect bowler for those conditions.

Rest Tremlett for Edgbaston where the pitch is harder and drier. It deteriorates more going into the last couple of days and that's perfect for a tall bowler to exploit.