Ramprakash is no more "mentally" flabby than Bell or Bopara and has a lot more experience and superior technique to either.

Key is a stronger and more confident character but lacks athleticism and can look leaden against the best bowling. We're basically picking between candidates with various shortconings and hoping we get the best we can for the given situation.

Mark Ramprakash is technically almost flawless, and he's also a very fit athlete. I'd liken him to a veteran actor who is capable of delivering an Oscar-winning performance in the Autumn of his career. I watch him regularly in the County Championship and he's like a machine. He can be a nervous starter, but once he gets past about twenty he's relentless; he's like a chess grandmaster, he just thwarts everything the bowlers throw at him. Sometimes he appears to be becalmed, then he'll unleash a string of scoring shots and he's suddenly got yet another ton. He's patient and calm and can bide his time or accelerate when he's well set. I could watch him bat all day. (And often do.)

Keedy 6-fer against the Champions and Champions-elect yesterday...good timing with the Lions game and the squad announcement coming up at weekend...a miles better option than Monty but will the selectors dare pick 2 spinners again at the oval after the lack of success at cardiff????

Keedy must be the best English player of his generation never to win a Test cap, with the possible exception of Ali Brown who at least represented his country in the shorter form of the game.

It's amazing that considering his form over the last 4/5 years that Ramps has never been brought back into the fold.

I'd agree with that whole-heartedly (but I am a bit biased!!)...he got an under 19 call up and this is his first rep call-up since then...crazy!!

Ramprakash is technically the best English batsman of the modern era, with Bell I reckon second, he's our equivalent to Jacques Kallis, or Tendulkar in that he doesn't have any technical weaknesses, even Boycott can't pick up on them.

The difference with Kallis is he is mentally tough under pressure and so relentlessly accumulates runs in the Test arena like Ramprakash does in the county game, albeit that Kallis has reined in his natural flair and Ramprakash, at county level at least, plays with great style and dominates the bowling.

Ramprakash is quite mentally tough in backs against the wall situations, when he has nothing to lose, he has been good for England when hes been down the order batting with the tail, scored some not out fifties against Australia hence his good average against them. Where he's not so good is when there's a lot of pressure and expectation to perform. Mike Atherton's theory on Ramprakash is that he got so pumped up and nervous before batting that he was playing blind for the first few overs, there was a time in Aus when I think Brett Lee bowled him a beamer and he moved into forward defensive position and the ball jammed between the peak of his helmet and the grille, he didn't see it at all. Atherton reckons if Ramprakash can get lucky and get past the first few overs in a Test, then he settles and he's a chance of making a good score, but he is very vulnerable early on.

do you think we will get a result or a draw from the 5th test

Bell and Bopara both dismissed for 1 today, hardly helping their causes...

Pathetic.

Line up as follows

Strauss
Cook
Ramprakash
Key
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions

And Cook got 4.