Plunkett is not in the squad sadly, although I think most will agree he should be.

Crane is an untried rookie, it would be a massive gamble to throw him into the next test, I wouldnt have even taken him on tour, Rashid would have been my pick.

The second test is at Adelaide in a day / nighter, the toss will probably be crucial but these should be conditions most similar to English pitches, with assistance for the swing and seam.

I`d pick the same team as Brisbane apart from Ball, with the next cab on the rank replacing him.

I think Overton will deffo come in for Ball.

Will have to see if Woakes keeps his place because England really do need a spinner if moeen finger is not up to the task.

i hope to see some verbals fiteback by england in the 2nd test. becos sledging is just as important as the cricket on the pitch.

Crane is a gamble, but I think he's a gamble worth taking, I don't think Moeen is effective in Australia with the ball.

If the next plane taking Jake Ball home could bring Plunkett on the return leg, that would be ideal

comment by Jezzer (U4205)
posted 15 minutes ago
If the next plane taking Jake Ball home could bring Plunkett on the return leg, that would be ideal
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Preferably with Stokes sat next to him

Stokes was pictured at Heathrow, naturally everyone put two and two together thinking he was flying out.

Unfortunately to NZ to spend time with his family

Ffs

So stokes is allowed out the country. Not been charged. What's the problem? Why's he not going to Australia instead?

Overton should come in for Ball but I feel the same XI will get picked as a message to say "you were the right team but you let us down badly in the second half of this test match, now go out and make it right".

Adelaide would be the best chance, in fairness, for that team to get a result. If England can come out of the first three tests 2-1 down or better I think there's a decent chance England might do OK in the last two tests at Melbourne and Sydney where the wickets tend to be more England friendly.

Exactly. Reckon Ball will get a couple more tests before they replace him especially if we can win the day/nighter in Adelaide. Hopefully with Stokes although likely to be Overton, we've also got Wood with the lions so there's a chance we could see him later in the series.

Police have passed Stokes' file to the CPS to decide whether to prosecute him. One of the men he hit got a fractured eye socket.

Latest is there won't be a decision for at least a few weeks. So I'd say that's that.

comment by Blue Heaven (U20912)
posted 3 hours, 42 minutes ago
Police have passed Stokes' file to the CPS to decide whether to prosecute him. One of the men he hit got a fractured eye socket.
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What was the fight about?

There's still no confirmed story, just a few rumours about potentially what happened but Stokes is yet to tell his side of the story. He said he's going to wait for the saga to end before talking out about it.

comment by The Candlestick Maker (U8959)
posted 31 minutes ago
There's still no confirmed story, just a few rumours about potentially what happened but Stokes is yet to tell his side of the story. He said he's going to wait for the saga to end before talking out about it.
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That suggests stokes was the guilty party in all of this.

wasn't the rumour that he was sticking up for some gay guys that were getting heat....!?

comment by junction8 (U1074)
posted 4 minutes ago
wasn't the rumour that he was sticking up for some gay guys that were getting heat....!?
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Yep, that's been said.

comment by -Baz-tango-in-Paris (U19119)
posted 1 day ago
comment by The Candlestick Maker (U8959)
posted 31 minutes ago
There's still no confirmed story, just a few rumours about potentially what happened but Stokes is yet to tell his side of the story. He said he's going to wait for the saga to end before talking out about it.
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That suggests stokes was the guilty party in all of this.
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Allegedly Stokes, Hales and the other guys had a bit of beef in Mbargo before hand. Probably just drunken lout type stuff which obviously escalated outside for what has only been rumoured so far in defending some a couple of guys.

The brawl probably could have got Stokes off a lot lighter, but as others have said before, him stalking the guy and delivering a knockout sucker punch when the guy had backed off with his hands up got him in a lot of trouble. If only he'd done it to a locker again.

Moeen Ali may not be able to bowl because of the injury to his finger but could play just as a batsman. I suppose Root can bowl a bit of spin.

England are better off throwing in the leggie Crane. Adelaide is always a batting paradise and having four 78-85MPH line and length bowlers is pointless.

comment by (Kash) I'm the Mané, I'm the Mané - Justice4Gaza (U1108)
posted 53 minutes ago
England are better off throwing in the leggie Crane. Adelaide is always a batting paradise and having four 78-85MPH line and length bowlers is pointless.
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It is a day/night test though so the ball might move about a bit more under lights.

Adelaide starts flat and then spins sharply on days 4 and 5....Crane IMO should play, especially if Mo isn't fit to bowl...even if he is, i would play both...you still have 3 seamers and then 2 spinners...well balanced attack for adelaide

If Moeen can't bowl then Crane has to play. If they didn't think he was ready then he shouldn't have been picked as our second spinner. Although it wouldn't surprise me if we go with Malan and Root as part time spin twin options instead and retain 4 seamers.

Amazingly though, Malan has 52 wickets at 40 in first class cricket, which compared to Crane's 75 wickets at 44, shows he's not terrible with the ball. The terrible thing is our spin options for this tour so hopefully our seamers can do better.

I didn't actually notice a 12 man squad has already been named so that'd suggest Overton is replacing Ball and England will have no primary spin option if Moeen can't bowl. Crazy.

Not picking Patel is going to bite badly if moeen can't bowl.