Is the Cupboard Really That Bare? Part 1: The Bowlers

Froggie

It’s all been doom and gloom for a while now. Most of us expect to have our rears handed to us on a porcelain plate during the World Cup, and with a test schedule only a sadist could have dreamt up in 2015, our best players will be dropping like bar flies after twenty pints by the end of the year. It doesn’t bode well.

As we’ll probably need to rely on a number of inexperienced players at various points in the next twelve months, we thought it would be a good time to look at the ‘next cabs off the rank’ (© Bob Willis).

The broad consensus seems to be that the cupboard is pretty bare, and that England’s bowling reserves in particular are as weak as they’ve been for some time. Is this really the case? We look at three bowlers that might make a break through in the coming year and prove the doom merchants wrong.

Matt Dunn (Surrey) On the face of it, a first class average of 32 isn’t much to shout about. But as we all know, statistics can be deceptive. Mitchell Johnson’s test average was hovering around the thirty mark eighteen months ago.

We’re not suggesting that Dunn can be England’s Mitch (they’re completely different bowlers) but in this observer’s opinion Dunn shows great promise. He plays his cricket at The Oval, where wickets aren’t always easy to come by, and he’s just 22 years old.

Those of us who watch a little England U19 cricket will have followed Dunn’s career with interest. I first saw him bowl two or three years ago and was immediately impressed: although he looked like a schoolboy (he basically was at that stage!) he was aggressive and bowled in the high 80s mph.

Although Dunn hasn’t put on a great deal of pace since then (which is a tad disappointing) he’s quick enough and looks like a good prospect to me. He’s strong at the crease, has a good solid action and bowls good bouncers and yorkers – always valuable on lifeless test pitches.

I’ll be watching Dunn’s development closely and won’t be surprised if he’s fast tracked into the England squad sooner rather than later. He certainly has the tools, although he’s possibly a little raw.

Mark Footitt (Derbyshire) It’s probably just me (in fact I’m sure it is) but whenever I hear Footitt’s name I’m always reminded of the former Aston Villa winger Steve Froggatt (pictured above for the hell of it): both have vaguely unusual names and utilise their left limbs more proficiently than their right. What’s more, they both have (or in Froggatt’s case had) the talent to represent their country.

Footitt has always been known as a talented bowler. Putting it all together consistently has been his problem. Thankfully, he finally managed to do so in 2014, when he took 84 first class wickets at 19. Not too shabby eh – even if it was in the second division.

England’s selectors will be keeping an eye on Footitt for two reasons: he’s pretty quick and he’s a left armer. It’s just a shame it has taken him so long to start fulfilling his potential: he’s 29 years old. Having said that, Mitchell Johnson was 32 when he belatedly found his radar. It might not be too late for Footitt to start an international career. Stuart Clark was a similar age when he first donned the baggy green.

Derbyshire fans will remember that Footitt broke Michael Klinger’s arm last year. That’s the same Michael Klinger that’s currently the top run scorer in the Big Bash.

Mark Wood (Durham) Unlike Dunn and Footitt, Durham’s Wood has been plying his trade in division one. He’s made a bloody good fist of it too: he’s taken 70 wickets at 24.6 in his short career to date.

There’s nothing particularly intimidating about Wood. He doesn’t look as fearsome as former teammates like Steve Harmison – he’s somewhat scrawny and not particularly tall – but he has that important knack of picking up wickets.

Whether he’s good enough to make an impact at international level, only time will tell. The signs are good though: his match figures for The Lions this week were 5-40 off 13.3 overs. Not for the first time, he out-bowled teammates with more glamorous names.

In the coming days we’ll move on and discuss some up and coming batsmen. For now we’d love to hear your thoughts on Dunn, Footitt and Wood – especially if you’re a supporter of the county they play for.

Do you think these young guys have the talent to succeed an international level? Can you think of anyone else we’ve missed out? I’m sure there must be some Mills and Overton fans out there.

James Morgan

19 comments

  • I’d definitely say Dunn, whom I’ve watched a bit of. He definitely has some of the right stuff but needs to make a move on. A bowler who I have thought has flat-lined a bit is Jamie Overton. Perhaps he can make a bit of a return to form in the next year or so.

  • There is some bias to this but a guy to keep an eye on next year might be Left armer Chris Wood at Hampshire. He struggled with his knee in 2013 and had an ordinary season but a knee op last winter meant that when he was eventually fit at the end of last season. He returned to Fc action and took 15 wickets at 18.60 to help Hampshire over the line in Div 2. This included 5-39 at Canterbury which as we know is not a particularly helpful place for bowlers

    Now that he is back in div1 and the knee op has meant his pace has sharpened I will be interested to see how he goes in 2015

  • Stuart Broad was bigging up Mark Wood less than a week ago:

    “It was also good to spend some time with Mark Wood of Durham, who is an exciting prospect. I don’t play too much county cricket so I haven’t seen much of him but he’s quick and if he can stay fit and work on his injury prevention I can see him playing for England in the near future.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2895749/Stuart-Broad-Alastair-Cook-better-Tests-England-aren-t-old-school-win-World-Cup-hope-never-year-c-p-it.html

    Like Ian, I also have high hopes for Chris Wood having seen him take 8-0-39-3 in the 2012 CB40 Final against a strong Warwickshire line-up and on a pitch where all the other seamers took some stick (Woakes took 8-0-59-1).

  • I’ve only seen Mark Wood once so far, back in 2013. He’s not as quick as some of our other seamers, but his action looked decent – more like Onions than Harmy. Difficult to assess how good he is at this stage – he’s yet to play a full season because of injuries, and playing half his games at Riverside helps his average a bit. The selectors must have seen something though, and his Lions performance this week shows that.

  • What became of Stuart Meaker – he was supposedly clocked at 95mph a few years ago?

    I can’t buy fully this line that Saker and the England staff just ruin our young quicks. It seems a more complex issue than that – Saker may have overseen the decline of Finn , but he also got him bowling magnificently in New Zealand early last year.

    • I actually don’t think Saker ruins young quicks in general – Finn is indeed a much more complex case, where South Africa targeted him and campaigned for a change in the laws.

      However, once we get past the glorious Ashes victory Down Under of some years ago, Saker’s troops have been plagued with fitness and form problems. Fitness has affected the seniors as well as the young guns. All in all, it’s hard to say that things are all good in the England camp.

      On Meaker, it seems once again we have to look at the structure of the domestic game and ask: does the grind of the county game work against young bowlers developing express pace?

      And as a Yorks fan watching Gillespie’s work, I have to say that the England camp, but more, most of the English coaches, don’t seem to know how to get the best out of pace bowlers.

      • “South Africa targeted him “.

        Or, to put it another way, South Africa expected him to be able to bowl without regularly kicking the stumps over – a feat every other bowler in cricket history has been able to manage.

        • It wasn’t that regularly – and the dent in the over rate from the dead ball was punishment. Still, someone thought it needed to be made a no-ball…

    • Meaker is fast but gun-barrel straight. Don’t think he has enough in his armoury to trouble batsmen who can handle proper pace without seam or guile.

    • Mills wasn’t getting enough cricket at Essex. Even when fit Reece Topley (another decent young leftie) was getting picked ahead of him. Mills will move to Sussex next year, so it will be interesting to see if he can stay fit and find some consistency.

  • Meaker is still quick enough, when fit, and can bat a bit too. Selection for England.s oneday team set him back, learning to bowl slower balls and such fancy stuff is not his forte Dunn has slowed down in order to target the stumps mor often, his average reflects his earlier tendency to spray it everywhere.

  • The Lions bowlers – who include Plunkett and Mark Wood and Rashid – have toiled to get 8 wickets against South Africa A. I guess we have to look at the whole match before assessments can be made – plenty of bowlers toil on first-day wickets – but the fact that Wood got out nos 6 and 9 as an opening bowler is not a great prospect. When did we last have an opening bowler who could clean up the tail like Ian Botham and John Snow?

    • Today’s events show that perhaps not too much should be read into bowling performances in this game. I think it’s safe to assume that the wicket is something of a featherbed.

  • A few more names to add to the cupboard:

    Nathan Buck. Looked a cracking bowler for England U19s when with them, but never really kicked on at Grace Road while still looking comfortable bowling in the high 80s. A move to Lancashire will hopefully work in his favour. An interesting one to watch in 2015 (see also: George Edwards).

    Reece Topley. Mentioned above but worth another shout. A tall left armer who can swing the ball. Lacks the pace that Mills displayed at Chelmsford, but generally looked more of a class act. If he can stay fit he could have the selectors having a cursory glance.

    Matt Fisher. How easily can you judge a 17-year old fast bowler? It is a bit foolish, as a growth spurt or growing pains can easily put a career in ruins. It should also be remembered that plenty of players have broken into the Yorkshire team at the age of 16 (or thereabouts) as Fisher has done and not gone on to much (James Lee is now out of the game, Tim Bresnan never became the express bowler we hoped he’d become when he first broke into the Yorkshire team, Mark Broadhurst now lives in Canada working in IT…). However, there’s something about Matt Fisher (and Josh Shaw looks very promising too). You get the impression that the longer Gillespie stays at Yorkshire, the better chance of making it Fisher has. It’s far too early for international honours, obviously, I just like talking about Fisher, being a Yorkshire fan.

    Craig Miles. Do the selectors bother going to Bristol? If not, I don’t blame them. I really like the look of Miles from what I’ve seen though. It’s very early in his career, but a very nice looking bowler. Like Buck, one to watch in 2015.

    Matt Hunn. My friend Lee, who supports Kent, says he looked quite good. And if we’re going to question the word of my friend Lee, then we might as well give up altogether.

    There are a few others knocking about not included in the list above (I really like the look of Dunn). Jack Brooks could easily have a Ryan Sidebottom-style late blossoming career. He’s a very skilful bowler. Liam Plunkett will probably find the South African wickets to his liking next winter. It’s far, far too early to be writing off either Overton. Chris Woakes looks better at this stage of his international career than Jimmy Anderson did (in my opinion). Surely there’s something in Steven Finn that can be reignited. I haven’t lost all hope for James Harris. And Boyd Rankin shouldn’t be judged solely on the basis of one test in a very broken team.

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