England's class of 2010 ready for Ashes
England's last Ashes defence may have ended in a nightmarish 0-5 drubbing Down Under, but David Lloyd writes in the Independent that the class of 2010 is in far better shape than Andrew Flintoff's troubled touring party from 2006.
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
England's last Ashes defence may have ended in a nightmarish 0-5 drubbing Down Under, but David Lloyd writes in the Independent that the class of 2010 is in far better shape than Andrew Flintoff's troubled touring party from 2006.
No team could breathe easily after losing three players of the calibre of Vaughan, Trescothick and Simon Jones. But while Strauss must hope he does not have to find out exactly how much strength in depth England possess these days, there is reason to believe that the toughest decisions this winter will concern who to leave out of the XI, rather than who to put in.
Take the batting department, for example. Were Bell to be fit (and he won't be) for Friday's Second Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston, who would miss out? Morgan? What, after that terrific century at Trent Bridge? Jonathan Trott? Hang on, he scored a double hundred two matches ago. Pietersen, then? Some might like to show KP that no one is irreplaceable but the old expression about noses and faces springs to mind. OK then, Alastair Cook. But hold fire, he made three centuries in just five Test matches last winter.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo