Fantastic win and it's great to have the Ashes back!!

Broad had to be the motm, Swann may have had more wickets but it was Broad's spell which changed the game and won us the Test.

Looking ahead I would say when KP comes back that Collingwood should be the man to go and for Trott to keep his place. For me Collingwood is definately past his best and it's a time for a change.

Agree with that.

My squad for the SA tour:

Strauss, Moore, KP, Trott, du Plessis, Compton, Lumb, Prior, Kieswetter, Groenewald, McLaren, Dernbach, Ant Botha, Kruis, Meaker, Ervine

Every one of them born in SA/Zimbabwe...should have plenty of heart for the battle at least...more so than Ian c0cking Bell anyway!!

ps....I'm only joking with this squad, but I think Moore should be in the real squad anyway

i would drop colly as well tbh. I'm not sure i know i called Bell but he showed more responsibilty and determination not to throw hes wicket away in this test. Id go for

Strauss
Cook/Denly
Bell
Pieterson
Trott
Bopara (I think he wpould do very well down the order against the older ball with a lot less swing. The way he plays he chases the swing of the new ball he could take attacks apart lower down IMO)
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions/Harmison

To be fair, I think you can probably put Lumb in the same category as Moore for mine. Had a good couple of years and seems to have really matured as a cricketer, worth a shot at number three?

If England take 3 specialist openers to SA then surely Carberry has to be the 3rd on form.

So I'd be taking a squad something like:

Strauss, Cook, Carberry, Bell, Trott, Lumb, Pietersen, Prior, Davies, Swann, Rashid, Broad, Onions, Anderson, Sidebottom, Plunkett.

I doubt they'll take 16 players, especially given the lack of cricket between tests and the relative ease in which players can get overseas as replacements if necessary. Saying that, I don't think they'll take 2 spare batsmen, so I'd lose Lumb from that squad.

As for the bowlers, doubt they'll take Plunkett, they're far more likely to go with Harmison, who was making noises last night about wanting to go on the tour. Not saying I'd do that, especially without his best mate there as a baby-sitter.

Whaaaaaaaat?? That's exactly what he didnt do...he got himself in in the first innings and then, as ever, got himself out to a daft waft of a shot then in the second innings, when everyone knew what was coming, he got out to the short ball from Johnson...still not good enough.



He bats at number 3 for Essex and has done for the past 2-3 years...where this myth comes from that he isn't a number 3 batsman I don't know.



I agree entirely re Lumb - he's most certainly developed his game an awful lot since he left Yorkshire and could well be worth a look at in the middle order but I think he may be behind Hildreth and Denly (rightly or wrongly) at the minute.

And Carberry has been outstanding this season too but again I think he'd be behind Denly as an extra opener.

I think the actual squad will be...
Strauss, Cook, Bell, KP, Trott, Collingwood, Prior, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Harmison (if he can cope with A- touring and B- not having his best mate with him) with Denly, Bopara and Hildreth as cover batsmen, Davies as cover keeper and Rashid and Onions as cover bowlers.

I'd like to think they'd be a bit more ambitious and pick Plunkett ahead of Harmison and Lumb/Carberry/Sayers ahead of Bell, but doubt it after yesterday.

I think Moore will get in ahead of Carberry and considering he is available I would take Harmison above Plunkett. Don't think Plunkett has done enough to warrant a Test repreive.

Bar half an hour yesterday what has Harmison done to deserve being retained? It's to the credit of Broad and Swann that England managed to win that game with basically a two-man bowling attack.

You might only be half-joking with some of those. Steven Moore is clearly on the selectors' radar after his successful selection for the Lions match a few weeks back. Craig Kieswetter is the best young wicketkeeper in the country and has been making useful runs with the bat this summer - I'd take him as Prior's understudy this winter. Stuart Meaker bowls seriously fast and is an outstanding fielder. He's only played a handful of Championship matches and is aged just 20, but may well feature in a few years' time.

The selectors clearly want a squad mentality and at times the team selections have almost resembled a closed shop so I wouldn't expect too many radical choices for this winter. Of the eleven who featured at the Oval I'll be surprised if any is omitted other than Flintoff obviously, while Panesar, Sidebottom and Onions were all in the squad for that game and Pietersen will obviously return barring complications with his injury. It would be wise to include an addtional top order batsman capable of opening if necessary (also with Flintoff's departure they'll probably want the option of six specialist batsmen in the event of Prior getting injured or Broad not making sufficientruns at 7), and the back-up wicketkeeper's position could be wide open after Tim Ambrose's failure to establish himself ahead of numerous other candidates, some of whom have already been tried in the past.

I hope they will be bold enough to pick Adil Rashid ahead of Panesar, and I'd like to see Craig Kieswetter get the second wicketkeeping place.