What do you all think of Bob Willis calling for Carberry, Prior & Swann to be dropped for the Boxing Day Test & be replaced by Ballance, Bairstow & Panesar, with Root moving back to open & Stokes down to no. 7?
I don't think Carberry deserves to be dropped, he's one of the few who has consistently played with pride and has the potential to develop further. Root should stay where he is because it's working, and if Cook repeats his WACA performance he'll effectively end up opening anyway.
Bairstow and Panesar would be good changes if the aim is to send a message to the senior players that resting on faded former glories is not acceptable any longer.
Bringing in another bowler for Anderson should be considered too, he's physically and mentally worn down from having been used by Cook as a stock bowling hack rather than a striking spearhead and he's been well and truly worked out by our batsmen. He could do with a long period off before returning to the side on home wickets that help him out.
Prior's current form is probably worse than Brad Haddin's was when he was mocked for the same sort of Kamran Akmal-esque form and dropped for Matthew Wade. Giving Bairstow a shot it the only way to work out if he's good enough (although he must be decent if he's the second-choice keeper, else why did he get on the plane to come here?) and to whether Prior would fade into the background or respond as Haddin did to come back with match-winning form.
Oh really? I admire Collingwood, he's never been replaced in the England team, but whether or not he would - or should - be coach I don't know. I'd stick with Flower anyway.
I would suggest Collingwood should be avoided for a few more years yet. Overseeing too many of his former team-mates would be an untenable position, and his coaching career is very much still in the early days and wouldn't need to be rushed.
It's for a similar reason that Darren Lehmann wasn't appointed earlier, now that Michael Hussey retired at the start of this year there is only one player left in the Australian side he played alongside for just a very short overlap at the end of his playing career - Michael Clarke.
Surely, not Ashley Giles. I would pick Graham Gooch ahead of him.
I can't see Gooch's position as the England batting coach surviving another three weeks, let alone him being in line for a promotion.
Giles could turn out to be decent based on his playing career. As a bowler he was quite average but somehow managed to punch above his weight once he got his tactics sorted out.
The main thing to consider is that a good coach does not necessarily need to have been a top player first. The international coaching successes of Jamie Siddons (never broke through to play for Australia) and Steve Rixon (third-choice wicketkeeper behind Rod Marsh and Wayne Phillips) are good examples of that.
Also, what do all think of Geoff Boycott calling for an ultimatum by Andy Flower as to his commitment to the England squad? He has more or less said, that if Flower is getting bored of the job, go now!
I don't think Boycott's blovations deserve to be honoured by a response, and I'm pretty sure that Andy Flower is smart enough to not get sucked into that.
I know that here in Adelaide there was never any question of Flower's commitment in the years he played for South Australia after his exit from international cricket, he was very much respected as a player of incredible quality and as an intelligent cricketer was very much sought after as an informal vice-captain.
I also don't think that the English coach argument needs to be trotted out here. As a number of senior players retire in the next couple of years, his experience of holding back the tide with only a couple of other international-quality players in his side is probably going to be quite relevant for England.
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