Been a while since i actually posted about England test cricket it seems, but its time to start thinking about the squad that is going to be picked for the first test against NZ in a couple of weeks. There are undoubtedly a few questions which need to be asked, and some tough decisions made in the coming week before the squad is announced on Sunday.

There is talk that we will stick with the 6 batsman, 4 bowlers and a keeper formation that we have done since Freddie has been out injured. In the past he always gave us the freedom with him batting at 6 to still keep 4 bowlers in addition to him, but we’ve almost settled with the new look side, and barring injury during a game, it should be enough firepower with the ball to bowl sides out twice.

If we stick with the 6 batsman formation, expect no change from the side that beat NZ – Strauss still there at the top with Cook, with Vaughan, Bell, KP and Colly following. Despite the storming start to the season Ravi Bop has had, it would take an almighty shift of focus to pick him, or other outsiders such as Shah. If Vaughan has another poor series though, expect the calls for change to louden, as they will if someone like Strauss also doesn’t score big. Ambrose will keep the gloves in the test matches, he was tidy overseas and we’ll be hoping for more of the same.

It is with the ball that questions need to be answered. Sideshow Ryan and Monty P will obviously be there without any shadow of a doubt but who will join them? In NZ it was Broad, Anderson, Harmison and Hoggard to pick 2 from, but now we can throw Flintoff back into the mix as well. Freddie has been bowling for Lancashire since the start of the season and the talk coming through is positive. Whether his ankle can stand up to being one of four main bowlers is a question I can’t answer, but I know that if he is fit, I want him in the team. His bowling is hard, fast and aggressive, and even if his batting isn’t where it was a few years ago we won’t be as reliant on him if we put him at 7, or even 8 behind Ambrose.

So that would leave me with one spot to fill, and I would have it between Hoggard and Broad. I’m still not quite sure why Hoggy was dropped in NZ, and it wasn’t that long ago he was the mainstay of the attack. Picking him is the safe and maybe boring choice, especially in early season England where the conditions should suit him, and looking forward to the rest of the summer we’ll probably be crying out for his experience against the South Africans, but I can’t help but want to live on the edge a little and pick Broad. I don’t think I can rationalise it, its a hunch and a look to the future – and I’m glad I don’t have the final say!

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on this, and maybe I havn’t questioned the batsmen enough, so let me know if you would do anything different!