Miller and Co. Face Selection Dilemma Ahead of Second Test

Geoff Miller and his team of selectors face a dilemma ahead of the second test match against the Proteas, starting in Headingly on Friday. The return to full fitness of England and Lancashire talisman, Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff, there are now three top players vying for the two places in England's middle order. 

Many are of the belief that the only places under threat from the big all-rounder are those currently occupied by Ian Bell, whose sublime 199 on friday all but cemented his place in the side, and Paul Collingwood, England's One Day captain and the man in need of runs the most.

Coming off the back of a very disappointing home series against the Kiwis (32 runs in three matches @10.66), Collingwood was dealt another turn of bad luck, when, in the first innings against South Africa, was wrongly adjudged to have been caught bat pad by Hasim Amla. Replays later showed that he did not in fact hit the ball with his bat and it was merely a deflection off the pad.

A straight swap, Flintoff for Collingwood, seems like the only sensible option, but I believe it is the wrong one.

Firstly, Flintoff himself cannot buy a run at the moment, making only two in his first innings of the LV County Championship against Hampshire today. Although Flintoff would undoubtedly bring both talent and experience into a fairly young England seam attack, his poor form with the bat is still a worry and the pace trio of Anderson, Sidebottom and Broad have dealt well with both an inexperienced New Zealand team and a highly rated south African top order.

This is mind, the only option, other than remaining with the current 11 players adorning the "persil" whites of England, is to replace one of these seamers with the raw pace of Flintoff, a pace that has been missed since his injury.

The only viable swap, then, is James Anderson out and Flintoff in. Taking nothing away from Anderson, he is the weakest of a strong bunch and arguably brings one dimension to the England team. Whereas Broad brings McGrath-esque Consistency as well as a useful No. 8 batsman, and Sidebottom has the unconventional left arm action that seams both in and away, as well as an aggression not seen for a long time among England players. Anderson, on the other hand, can be very inconsistent, and really has no merit with the bat.

Unless Anderson takes a good haul of wickets in the second innings, I believe he is the man to go, although Messrs Miller, Giles and Co. may not agree.