Quote Originally Posted by Luis Anaconda View Post
We did - did you see his last effort in Australia. Move the **** on for ****'s sake. His last Ashes at home was pretty average as well
Oh, I did. My point was we need someone world class. JA was over the hill and had been declining for some time. Basically, he switched swing for wobble ball but would even go back to swing on those days with cloud cover that used to be a guaranteed five-fer with one of the most beautiful curves a cricket ball has ever made.

Woakes would be great if his away averages were like his home ones. A genuine all rounder. But he's proved time and again he can' cut the mustard away from home. We don't have enough fit genuine quicks. We don't have a decebnt left-armer. We don't have a spinner who can at least bat at 8 or 9 when there's not much turn and we just use him to try to hold and end, wait for the new ball and try for the odd wicket before breaks.

In short we might as well give Cook a go in light of the lack of other options. Stokes not being able to bowl enough also causes problems when we lack a spinner of Swann's class.