Key Or Butcher for the 2nd Test?

[Marc]

After Butchers shite opening test in South Africa...two wild shots and that "I did'nt f***ing see it!" drop catch, should Key come back in and use his weight to smash the ball about abit?

 

[Titanic]

Key deserves a shot - he looked sharp in the warm up game.

 

[Marshy]

I take it thats a wind up Crabbers, has to be Butcher.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I think Butcher will get this game and then we shall see. Key is completly shite in the field and Butcher is the sort of gritty player like Thorpe that is needed to dig in, when you have players like Banger, Vaughan and Flintoff in the side, that do play shots.

Also regarding Key, other than that mamoth innings against the West Indies, his record is not all that and he has a habit of getting out to silly balls. Now if Bell was there....

 

[Marc]

I take it thats a wind up Crabbers, has to be Butcher.

eerr no! Butcher looked dodgy as hell in the first test and Key was doing alright I thought in the summer and deserves another go IMO.

 

[Marshy]

Butcher scored more runs than anyone other than Stauss !

 

[CHAPPERS]

Butcher scored 79 runs in a very important first innings knock, can't really drop him because of two silly shots. He scored more runs that Vaughan and Tresco (who should really be shitting himself about his place).

I agree that if Bell were there he should be in.

 

[Brovion]

Key! On Boxing Day! Are you insane? He'll be so full of turkey and pudding I'll doubt whether he'll be able to squeeze out of the hotel door.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Butcher scored 79 runs in a very important first innings knock, can't really drop him because of two silly shots. He scored more runs that Vaughan and Tresco (who should really be shitting himself about his place).

I agree that if Bell were there he should be in.

I guess the other option is your take Tresco out, as he has a habit of getting out to the same shot, as top bowlers know his game now and move Vaughan back as opener and put Key in at 4. However I think there are still questions about Key's temperament. The Aussies said last time we were over there that he was a great player technically (like Hick), however his test record suggests otherwise (like Hick).

 

[CHAPPERS]

I guess the other option is your take Tresco out, as he has a habit of getting out to the same shot, as top bowlers know his game now and move Vaughan back as opener and put Key in at 4. However I think there are still questions about Key's temperament. The Aussies said last time we were over there that he was a great player technically (like Hick), however his test record suggests otherwise (like Hick).

So what you are saying is that although Key may be able to score big in the county game that he hasn't got what it takes to make the step up and will be a bit part player throughout his test career?














Like Hick.

 

[Soton Seagull]

Key, becuase there's few things funnier than watching a fat bloke trying to run.

 

[Uncle Buck]

So what you are saying is that although Key may be able to score big in the county game that he hasn't got what it takes to make the step up and will be a bit part player throughout his test career?














Like Hick.

Umm exactly, he will reappear for the national side, then dissapear again, then reappear. It is a shame, as when his mind is on the game, like against the Windies in the summer he is awesome, but he does not seem to be able to do it consistantly. Coupled with the fact that you have Bell and Pieterson waiting in the wings, he could find himself well down the pecking order.

What will be interesting is how they replace Thorpe when he hangs his pads up (probably after the Ashes), as we seem to have a number of nice stroke makers in the middle order, but not many of those gritty players that dig in and are able to take the 1's and 2's and keep the scoreboard ticking over.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I'd like to see Butcher carry on for the time being although his recent test form is a bit of a curate's egg:

56 runs from 2 tests v Bangladesh
175 from 3 tests in Sri Lanka
but an average of 59.2 in the series against the Windies
105 from the 3 tests v NZ

I always get the feeling that when things aren't going well for him he doesn't let it get to him - plus if he's in the test team he can't help Surrey

 

[larus]

I'd stick with Butcher for the next test.

On Key, I still think he can make it as a test player. Don't be too quick to write him off. I remember a certain internet chat site writing off a fat CB a couple of years ago and then getting proved wrong.

 

[Chesney Christ]

Drop Butcher? He scored 79 for f*** sake.

The amount of runs someone scores is surely of more importance than how they get out. By your theory Crabbers, we'd have to drop Flintoff - who invariably gets out playing wild shots.

I don't rate Key either - I'd have taken Bell ahead of him.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think that Bell and Pietersen are the natural successors to Butcher and Thorpe, and I can't see Key being in the team in 2 years time.

I don't think for a moment the selectors will drop Butcher, and I think they'd be correct. The 79 was a great knock until he started swishing like a musketeer caught in a windmill.

The difficulty is that while he can do a job that, in all likelihood, will contribute to an England series win you have to wonder whether he will do the business v the Aussies. A big ton v the Boks is definitely required.

 

[Robbie G]

Key, becuase there's few things funnier than watching a fat bloke trying to run.

Marvellous stuff

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

I read that as "Kev or Butcher for the 2nd test?"

 

[Beach Hut]

Butcher for me - more experience and a better player

 

[dougdeep]

Key for me, compare their averages.