These after the Lord Mayor's show one day series don't seem to matter. Sure, there was brilliant stuff last year v India, but I liked the old (from 2000) triangular format. With two visitors who aren't Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, they work well.

QUOTE:
Once again English contempt for their northern neighbours strikes...

Heh. Strictly speaking KP's had five games in charge- as well as the uncompleted one with Scotland, there was the previous day 20/20 call-off in Durham.

Could England run a test and one day tour alternating the games?

This post will no doubt look silly in retrospect, but Bell's just scored 1 run of the first 12 balls of the match. That's just not good enough for a one-day opener.

(I think he'll be great at 3 in tests, btw - Bell certainly isn't a pet hate of mine.)

Currently 62 off 63. But I think you're right that it might not be his best position. He seems to be there to "bat through". Maybe you need two hitters opening, and him down lower as "finisher".

No, if you're going to play Bell in ODIs, it has to be as an opener. Collingwood is a much better finisher as he can do the slogging if need be too. And Prior/Shah/Pietersen/Flintoff should be able to keep the momentum going at the other end.

Bell's best one day innings for England, I thought. Top class.

Kudos to the Proteas for coming back hard. England about 15 runs short of optimal.

Patel's looking good. I like his response to Morkel's 2 sixes

Etienne, I don't think Bell takes advantage of the fielding restrictions enough. On yesterday's evidence he scores quicker when there aren't any. I think he's a better batsman than Collingwood over a longish innings which a finisher plays. Having said that, I can see cicrumstances where Flintoff comes in ahead of both of them.

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Kudos to the Proteas for coming back hard.

Tee hee.

Bell scores faster when the fielding restrictions are lifted because he's set then. He just isn't capable of coming in when he needs to score at a run a ball right off the bat. Ideally I wouldn't have him in the ODI team at all, but in the absence of anyone else convincing as an opener, he'll do as a stopgap.

So, England have decreed that Pietersen, Flintoff, Bell, Sidebottom, Broad, Collingwood and Anderson are to be rested until the Stamford Series in October, but the rest are free to play.

Now, I have a problem with some of these people being rested. I know there's not a huge amount of cricket left in the domestic season, but...

Anderson - Well, he's going through one of his periodic radar failure episodes but I would have thought that the evidence this summer has shown, in that him bowling consistently brings better results, would lend itself to him being bowled a bit.

Broad - Surely, a cricketer of his age need every over he can get to learn his trade.

Collingwood - Has played his way back into some form but still looks scratchy and needs time at the crease.

Flintoff - Well, is he a better bowler with proper match fitness or without?

Even Cook is banned from county matches and is only avaiable for matches he's not going to feature in (20/20 & Pro 40). How does that help him to try and cure his conversion failure problems?

Sidebottom's injured and Bell doesn't really need much to get him going, but it seems peverse to stop the players that really need the match time from being allowed to get it.

I'm all for central contracts but this is all excessively unfair on the counties, especially given the absurdly close and tense nature of this year's title race

Broad strikes and then it starts raining again.