Cricket Q/A
We've seen Shah, Cook, Panesar and Anderson fill in wonderfully in India, as well as having Paul Collingwood - our 12th man in the Ashes - topping the batting averages. It's a tough call for the selectors, so come on then Bob, nail your colours to the mast. Assuming the unlikely scenario that all the English players are fit and well - including Simon Jones - who, in your opinion, constitutes the best XI? Regards, Ed Milliner.
BOB SAYS: Aaah right! The best XI England is the one that played in the first four Tests of the Ashes series. That is Strauss, Trescothick, Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen, Flintoff, G Jones, Giles, S Jones, Hoggard and Harmison. But there are now question marks of varying size over Trescothick, Vaughan and Giles - not through lack of ability - but through various circumstances.
Ashley Giles in the studio and in his newspaper column has admitted that he is seriously struggling for fitness. He wouldn't say his injury was career-threatening if the rehab was going well. So England has to find a long-term replacement for him and that is Monty Panesar, if he can be accommodated into an attack with Simon Jones fit, and the other three pacemen, Flintoff, Harmison and Hoggard.
It weakens the batting but I don't see the compromise of Udal or Blackwell worth persisting with if they are not good enough bowlers, which in my opinion they are not.
I have been most impressed with Alastair Cook, Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood. The guy under pressure is Ian Bell but you would have to think that in England he will do well, and his Test will come again in Australia against quality spin bowling. In the absence of Vaughan and Trescothick, Cook and Collingwood are first in line.
Hi Bob, congratulations to the England team for a terrific comeback. Do you think the famed Indian middle order is on the decline with out-of-sorts Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly out of the team? Is their golden period with the bat over? Regards, Vipin Acharya.
BOB SAYS: No, I think India has a pool of tremendously talented batsmen, the current problem is the frame of mind everyone has in Test cricket these days. Everyone is in a lot of a hurry, wanting to score quickly, and players like Rahul Dravid are a rare breed.
India are well blessed with batting talent, like most countries they are stronger in batting than bowling, but some of the batsmen you mention could take a leaf out of Dravid's book. They style of Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Dhoni, Andrew Symonds or Kevin Pietersen is not the answer every time. There are five days of 90 overs in a Test match and there is a case for hanging in there and adjusting your aggressive style, as Andrew Flintoff has showed this winter.
Dear Bob, I have heard you remark about a billion people watching the latest Test between England and India. If indeed the Indians are cricket mad, why is the ground not full? Are the tickets too expensive or does everyone in India have a TV and can watch at home? Wendy Hall, Retford.
BOB SAYS: After India's success in the 1983 World Cup the country went One Day made and things have been out of kilter ever since. Most people in India think One Day is the game to follow. It is massively over-subscribed but I think the Indian board need to do a marketing exercise in Test cricket and get the grounds full up again. Sometimes there more people milling around outside team hotel waiting for a glimpse or an autograph from Tendulkar or Sehwag than in the ground, and that can't be right.
Hi, I am a 40 something woman and would love to know the strangest or funniest cricketing dismissal's you have witnessed or heard about. Love the show and thanks, Philippa Smedley. Exeter.
Gilchrist catches Warne
Gilchrist catches Warne's rebound against South Africa
BOB SAYS: Philippa there are plenty to choose from. There was one in India in 2001 when Michael Vaughan handled the ball on 64 in Bangalore and another England captain, Graham Gooch, did the same against Australia when on 133 at Old Trafford in the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series.
Almost five years ago to the day Marcus Trescothick was desperately unlucky when he clipped the ball straight up Russel Arnold's shirt at short leg in the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo when on 23.
In the last Ashes series Shane Warne was caught out in the drawn Test at Old Trafford, very unluckily when the ball bounced up off Andrew Strauss's knee and Geraint Jones took what was nearly a very crucial catch.
But if you were watching our coverage of South Africa v Australia this morning you will have seen Warne get some good luck when Jacques Rudolph's edge hit him straight in the chest at slip, knocking him backwards. As he fell over he inadvertently kicked the ball in the air of his toe, straight up into the grateful and waiting hands of Adam Gilchrist the wicket-keeper!
Hi, Should Sehwag be in the Indian Test side? Is it not better to open with Dravid and Jaffer and bring in Kaif instead of Sehwag? It seems to me that Sehwag seems to always throw away his wicket and put pressure on the rest of the team. Regards, Mrboota.
BOB SAYS: I'm afraid I don't agree with that at all. Sehwag averages 53.66 runs for every trip he makes to the crease in Test cricket and can certainly do a job at the top of the order for India. His style is like that of Pietersen and Flintoff but you wouldn't leave them out. Sure, against the very best bowlers in the world on hard pitches, he will have some trouble against the short ball, but I wouldn't be so quick to discard such a talent.
We've seen Shah, Cook, Panesar and Anderson fill in wonderfully in India, as well as having Paul Collingwood - our 12th man in the Ashes - topping the batting averages. It's a tough call for the selectors, so come on then Bob, nail your colours to the mast. Assuming the unlikely scenario that all the English players are fit and well - including Simon Jones - who, in your opinion, constitutes the best XI? Regards, Ed Milliner.
BOB SAYS: Aaah right! The best XI England is the one that played in the first four Tests of the Ashes series. That is Strauss, Trescothick, Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen, Flintoff, G Jones, Giles, S Jones, Hoggard and Harmison. But there are now question marks of varying size over Trescothick, Vaughan and Giles - not through lack of ability - but through various circumstances.
Ashley Giles in the studio and in his newspaper column has admitted that he is seriously struggling for fitness. He wouldn't say his injury was career-threatening if the rehab was going well. So England has to find a long-term replacement for him and that is Monty Panesar, if he can be accommodated into an attack with Simon Jones fit, and the other three pacemen, Flintoff, Harmison and Hoggard.
It weakens the batting but I don't see the compromise of Udal or Blackwell worth persisting with if they are not good enough bowlers, which in my opinion they are not.
I have been most impressed with Alastair Cook, Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood. The guy under pressure is Ian Bell but you would have to think that in England he will do well, and his Test will come again in Australia against quality spin bowling. In the absence of Vaughan and Trescothick, Cook and Collingwood are first in line.
Hi Bob, congratulations to the England team for a terrific comeback. Do you think the famed Indian middle order is on the decline with out-of-sorts Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly out of the team? Is their golden period with the bat over? Regards, Vipin Acharya.
BOB SAYS: No, I think India has a pool of tremendously talented batsmen, the current problem is the frame of mind everyone has in Test cricket these days. Everyone is in a lot of a hurry, wanting to score quickly, and players like Rahul Dravid are a rare breed.
India are well blessed with batting talent, like most countries they are stronger in batting than bowling, but some of the batsmen you mention could take a leaf out of Dravid's book. They style of Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Dhoni, Andrew Symonds or Kevin Pietersen is not the answer every time. There are five days of 90 overs in a Test match and there is a case for hanging in there and adjusting your aggressive style, as Andrew Flintoff has showed this winter.
Dear Bob, I have heard you remark about a billion people watching the latest Test between England and India. If indeed the Indians are cricket mad, why is the ground not full? Are the tickets too expensive or does everyone in India have a TV and can watch at home? Wendy Hall, Retford.
BOB SAYS: After India's success in the 1983 World Cup the country went One Day made and things have been out of kilter ever since. Most people in India think One Day is the game to follow. It is massively over-subscribed but I think the Indian board need to do a marketing exercise in Test cricket and get the grounds full up again. Sometimes there more people milling around outside team hotel waiting for a glimpse or an autograph from Tendulkar or Sehwag than in the ground, and that can't be right.
Hi, I am a 40 something woman and would love to know the strangest or funniest cricketing dismissal's you have witnessed or heard about. Love the show and thanks, Philippa Smedley. Exeter.
Gilchrist catches Warne
Gilchrist catches Warne's rebound against South Africa
BOB SAYS: Philippa there are plenty to choose from. There was one in India in 2001 when Michael Vaughan handled the ball on 64 in Bangalore and another England captain, Graham Gooch, did the same against Australia when on 133 at Old Trafford in the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series.
Almost five years ago to the day Marcus Trescothick was desperately unlucky when he clipped the ball straight up Russel Arnold's shirt at short leg in the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo when on 23.
In the last Ashes series Shane Warne was caught out in the drawn Test at Old Trafford, very unluckily when the ball bounced up off Andrew Strauss's knee and Geraint Jones took what was nearly a very crucial catch.
But if you were watching our coverage of South Africa v Australia this morning you will have seen Warne get some good luck when Jacques Rudolph's edge hit him straight in the chest at slip, knocking him backwards. As he fell over he inadvertently kicked the ball in the air of his toe, straight up into the grateful and waiting hands of Adam Gilchrist the wicket-keeper!
Hi, Should Sehwag be in the Indian Test side? Is it not better to open with Dravid and Jaffer and bring in Kaif instead of Sehwag? It seems to me that Sehwag seems to always throw away his wicket and put pressure on the rest of the team. Regards, Mrboota.
BOB SAYS: I'm afraid I don't agree with that at all. Sehwag averages 53.66 runs for every trip he makes to the crease in Test cricket and can certainly do a job at the top of the order for India. His style is like that of Pietersen and Flintoff but you wouldn't leave them out. Sure, against the very best bowlers in the world on hard pitches, he will have some trouble against the short ball, but I wouldn't be so quick to discard such a talent.