As for selection it"s an odd one.
I played the Euros, in the B team. I would love to get selected for Worlds but I was under no false illusion that the team that won the year prior were coming back to defend. If I had known that before I arrived I prob would have played the sides and declined my spot in the team as I felt I had nothing to play for, bar winning a medal.
That sounds pretty selfish, but when speaking to Carl at homes that"s when I found out they were looking to use same team. He may have posted before online, but I"d not noticed.
I wanted to go to Homes, play well, win gold and then get picked for Euros/Worlds/both.
When I got there, I was now in a position where I knew that even if I won every sng, I wouldn"t have a chance for the worlds. Pretty gutting.
Tod, Adam and I all performed well and got in top 10 individuals, and outperformed stalwarts like Carl and Stu, but still don"t have a chance for selection. some seemed more interested in alcohol, some not interested at all. [NB I am not knocking Carl or Stu"s ability here, merely looking at the numbers on the paper and how I felt on the weekend]
Maybe, and I say maybe, this is why the 3 English teams that have played so far this year have only picked up 1x Bronze.
Anyway that"s my 2ps worth.
I"m sure some may take offense in my words, but I like to be openly honest.
Don"t see any need for anybody to take offense to what is a good discussion
Just my 2 cents on this:-
I understand the frustration here Dann, to a certain extent. When I first started playing at APAT in season 4 I was the top ranked player that season and came 2nd in the WCOAP main event. I also had a fair bit of online success in a few leagues including APAT and Blonde at the same time. I was lucky enough to play for Wales at the Home Internationals, which we won, I was also the captain of the APAT forum team that year.
However I was not even considered for the Welsh team at the worlds, this was quite correct, as I said at the time. At the time Wales were the defending Champions and had what I would consider the best team ever to compete in these events. The team that won the previous year returned, duly won again (I railed them to victory) and then they decided that it was time to give others a chance in the team so the team was changed for the next event. I was then selected, after picking up another couple of final tables and having a pretty good season five. This really did feel like an achievement though as I had really had to prove myself before I got into the team.
What this is demonstrating is the real prestige of getting into your international team at the worlds. It"s meant to be bloody hard, you are meant to earn your place. This is even more so when your team is doing so well as England are at the moment (and they are doing well). Be proud to be part of the extended squad and to be involved with such a great team.
When you do get selected to represent England at the worlds (and it will happen) the fact that you earned your place in this team, of such high quality, will make it all the more worth it.
I like the idea of mixing up the formats and selecting players to play each of the formats. Would make team selection much more interesting.
