On Thursday in two weeks time I’ll be sitting on the Mound Stand at Lord’s watching my first live England test match. I can’t really believe I’ve never been to a test match, but living in sleepy Dorset it’s never proved that easy to get to a test match ground without missing work/cricket/a hangover etc. Still, all that will change as I grace St John’s Wood with my presence to watch us play the West Indies in what should be infinitely more interesting that the dross that was served up in recent months in the Caribbean.

The squad and team selection will be interesting – with the warm up to the Ashes now well and truly on, who do the selectors fancy as those who should be facing Australia, as they will be looking to firm up the selection in this series against Chris Gayle and co. There are some certainties for the team in Strauss, Cook, KP, Collingwood, Freddie, Prior, Broad and Anderson. Swann has shown more than enough for me to stay in the squad as the only spinner, which leaves question marks on the number 3 and another seamer.

Ian Bell has started the county season well which is all very nice for him, but is he really any different to the player that was dropped for consistent failure in the test side? Give him more time in county cricket for me, if his scores are too good in a months time then look at it again, but he has to prove somehow that he deserves another shot at it. Shah was the man in possesion in the West Indies, but he didn’t exactly set the world alight. I rate him as a batsman, but I’m not sure this is the summer for him to cement his position in that spot. Vaughan hasn’t played international cricket since he resigned the captaincy last summer, but I can’t help but think he could be the man for the Ashes. He is a class batsman whichever way you look at it, he knows how to beat the Aussies and could score a hatful of runs. And for those reason, I’m putting my name on Vaughan for the number 3 spot in the team. Get him in for the early test matches to get him back used to international cricket before the main part of the summer, despite how many (or few) runs he scores in county cricket.

The bowling spot is a tricky one without a stand out candidate to my mind. Harmison was so hot and cold over the winter, and is not on the top of his game which is where you need to be against the Aussies. Sidebottom was woefully down on pace as well and seemed to have lost everything that made him a success on his return back into the test side a couple of years ago. The only other bowlers in the ECB performance squad from which they will probably pick are Amjad Khan and Saj Mahmood…. so like I said, no stand out candidate…

Not that I’ve nailed down exactly my squad or team, does anyone out there reckon I’ve got this horribly wrong? Let me know in the comments below!