up until recently trescothick has always been poor off english soil, his home average is 52.45 compared to 36.2 away. however this is much improved since the last ashes - in the past two winters he has averaged 46.5 against south africa and pakistan, certainly not the weakest sides in the test arena, it would have been good to see him against india. finally, you CAN'T drop him. strauss and him are brilliant brilliant openers and i rate trescothick as our most brilliant batsman and he WILL prove himself in the forthcoming ashes.
who will be dropped?
middle-order averages since ashes:
ian bell 53.50
alistair cook 53.16
paul collingwood 49.44
kevin pietersen 46.72
ian bell i still fear is in the weakest position, but this may be my own personal negativity because i really like him as a player and have been angered by lots of stuff that was said about him when he wasnt really given a chance. he's been widely critisised for his odi performances when he's been playing in a losing side, averaging 45.87 (since last years last summer odi). unfortunately i'm not given a strike rate with that stat, since it's probably lower than a few odi players, but the difference is that he's one of the only players who rotates the strike and keeps the runs ticking over which is constantly a problem for england. ian bell may have had his faults during the ashes, but he is a top class fielder shown by some stunning catches in the ashes, plus he can add a little bowling if required, although strauss hasnt appeared liable to call on him in the same way that michael vaughan would last year.
you seem certain that collingwood will be dropped, but he's played equally as well as the others for me. also collingwood is a steady fixture in the odi team - he has nearly 100 one day internation caps, in englands insistence in keeping a close side between the test team and the odi team he fufilled the slot of graham thorpe and then suddenly he had a test slot for himself. he has a central contract whereas bell and cook do not. he is widely recognised as one of
the best fielders in the world, plus he can contribute a bit with the ball.
ali cook appears to be secure, but for me it's him who should be watching his back, although he will almost certainly be taken to australia. during all this chat about monty panesar we have been told that duncan fletcher demands three-dimensional cricketers - where is cook's third dimension? he's the first man in the current team to be stuck down at third man, hardly the most demanding position. then again, maybe batsmen should just be there to get runs, but whereas collingwood, bell, strauss, pietersen and trescothick are all frontline fielders.
it's just such a shame that pakistans bowling attack was so weakened this series, when they have their best fast bowlers in they are a joy to watch.