I would just like to say Thank-You to all of the players who have applied to play for England this year. I have first-hand experience of playing against most of you and the others I have been doing my research and found out all that I needed to know.
Now then, to the team selection.
A bit like Fabio, Sven, Tom, Dick and Harry......whoever I select I am going to upset someone, somewhere, if not everyone, everywhere, so while I will announce the rest of the team on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week, tonight I am announcing my first selection.
Whether this selection will be the most controversial is open to opinion, but I sense it will certainly get the forum talking.
My first selection for the APAT 2010 England team is............
BRIAN YATES {CAPTAIN}
I have thought long and hard about this, but at the moment I feel that I am in the form of my life, especially over the last few weeks. Choosing myself was not a decision I came to lightly and while I am sure there will be people out there that may believe that this is wrong, I would like to think that whoever was Captain would have been giving me serious consideration as a player.
I am current Online Rankings Champion, still current APAT Irish Champion, hold 3 Gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze APAT medals. Last season I was 4th in points scored overall at the European Championships and top scorer for England.
My heads-up play of late has been outstanding and that has helped sway me in making this decision.
I hope that I do not upset too many people in making this choice but I actually feel that it is the right one for the team and ultimately, there is no "I" in team.
I will lead from the front and yes......the white jacket will be making an appearance too
OK guys......now you can begin the debate. I am off for a weekend in Benidorm and will catch up on my return on Monday when I will announce my 2nd choice for the team.
COME ON ENGLAND !!
