Posted by Of all the available opening options, Matt Prior was pretty much our last choice, but we’re sick of having opinions and so have reacted without emotion. That might reflect a lack of caffeine at this early hour as much as anything.
Just thought we’d check whether anything had happened while we were writing those two sentences and the headline reads ‘Mushfiqur stumping snares Prior’.
And it’s back to having opinions.
They should have opened with bell.
Fuck it, next game they should open with Bresnan and Swann… if the saffers can open with a spinner, we can go one better.
There are actually far worse ideas than opening with Swann. Morgan, Bopara and Swann are probably England’s best boundary-hitters.
But opening with Prior means one gets to Morgan, Bopara and Swann so much quicker
Was this piece a Bayesian Prior by any chance, KC?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_probability
If we’re getting all mathematical again, I might just need to dust off my Venn diagram collection.
Opening with Prior is not a bad choice at all. He scores quickly, and he is no late-inning saviour so losing him early would not be such a big blow.
Also, there is a real danger that Trott might end up as the leading run-scorer in this tournament. If that happens, I hear Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are burning their own effigies.
Prior, even when in form (which he’s clearly not) is a fairly slow starter who can score rapidly once he’s in. The upshot of this been that you don’t want him coming in during a powerplay (although if you’re England you don’t really want anyone coming in during a powerplay).
Bat him at four maybe, he’ll come in for the ‘boring middle overs’ with time to play in, and if he’s there when the death-hitting starts then he should be set and be an assett. Bell to open, RavBopa and the Iceman Morgan as twin finishers.
Alphamonkey – one of the reasons why he’s such a slow starter is that he can’t properly work the singles in the middle overs. His game is effective but restrictive in Tests, but in ODIs where versatility is key, he’s just gash.