Lions Watch

I always enjoy following the England Lions. In some ways they’re a barometer for the general health of English cricket. If the Lions team is buoyant, successful, and looks mouthwatering on paper, then I usually feel optimistic about the full England side’s future.

If, on the other hand, the Lions team is populated by journeymen who really should have made it by now, or youngsters who probably never will, then it’s safe to assume that the post Anderson, Broad and Cook landscape might look pretty grim.

So how are the current Lions team shaping up? Well, the truth is that they’re neither brilliant nor terrible. They’ve just played a short first class series in Sri Lanka, which they drew 1-1, and the team contains a few players I’m excited about and a few I’m really not.

I guess that’s pretty par for the course really, as English cricket is neither blooming nor withering … although dwindling participation levels and the absence of live cricket on free to air television will inevitably have a negative long term effect.

The main successes of the Lions’ recent games were Liam Livingston of Lancs (who had quite a prolific tour), Surrey’s Tom Curran, who has just been called up to the senior 50 over squad, Tom Westley of Essex, and Middlesex’s Toby Roland-Jones. The latter’s county teammate, Ollie Rayner, also did pretty well.

Which one of these is a potential superstar? It’s Livingston I presume. He scored a fifty in the first ‘test’ and then a century in both innings in the second game … yet still game out on the losing side. I admit I haven’t seen a lot of Livingston in the flesh yet but one can’t argue with his career statistics to date. He had a stellar 2016 county season and current boasts a first class average well over 50.

Although Livingstone hasn’t played too much cricket yet – well, he is only 23 – he’s obviously one to watch. The fact he’s got a decent list A record too, with a strike rate of 90, suggests that he’s got all the shots. The selection of Haseeb Hameed proved that England are willing to back young inexperienced players these days, so perhaps a full call up isn’t as far away as it might have been a decade ago.

The player receiving all the headlines today (for obvious reasons) is Curran the elder. I was somewhat surprised that he’s been called up to the West Indies, as I half expected them to phone Chris Jordan first, but I’m not against the move by any means.

Tom Curran isn’t necessarily a cricketer that catches the eye – his younger brother Sam is probably the sexier name – but he seems a very solid one. Tom has a good domestic record in all forms of cricket and his bowling action looks solid and repeatable to me. He’ll also add a little pace as he fills out; after all he’s only 21 years old.

Oddly enough I don’t think the other main success stories of the Lions tour will be picked for England any time soon. Tom Westley is a good player who’s been around for a few seasons now, so unless he continues to score heavily this summer and proves he’s a somewhat late developer (see Smith, Robin) rather than a one season wonder (see Smith, Ed), I don’t think he’ll play test cricket this year.

Meanwhile, although I think Roland Jones is a fine bowler, I personally don’t see him as a test prospect. Sure, he wouldn’t let anyone down if selected (and he might even enjoy some success in home conditions), but I don’t think he’s quick enough trouble the best test batsmen on flatter wickets. Guys like Glenn McGrath don’t grow on trees.

As for Ollie Rayner, I think he would’ve been picked for England’s tour of India if the selectors really believed in him. While I think he’s a good bowler, and certainly better than Liam bloody Dawson and Zafar bloody Ansari (who might have been picked for their batting anyway), I don’t see Rayner as late bloomer in the Graeme Swann mould. He’s tall, which is a plus, and accurate, which is more than can be said for Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, but John Emburey he is not.

Of the other players on tour, the ones most likely to play for England in the near future didn’t actually play very well. Keaton Jennings got a few starts but didn’t go on to make a big score, Haseeb Hameed got sod all runs and is now having a sinus operation, and Ben Foakes scored a few in the first game but none in the second.

Despite his superior glovework, I fear Foakes will probably need to show more with the bat if he wants to surpass Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow in the pecking order.

The other ‘player to watch’ on tour was poor old Jack Leach, who wasn’t picked for the first game and then had a bit of a mare in the second. He bowled just 18 overs for a whopping 97 runs in the first innings (and apparently struggled with his new action), although he did pick up 2-3 in three overs in the second dig. If Leach plays for England this summer I’ll eat every one of my hats … even the mouldy twenty year old caps at the bottom of my cricket bag.

Anyway, I’ve probably bleated on enough now. Have any of the Lions starlets caught your eye? Which ones look like bonafide test prospects and which ones should probably do an Alex Loudon, and hang up their boots for a City job, sooner rather than later?

James Morgan

16 comments

  • Reckon you’ve said it all James. However, if these trips get the prospects competing to be better than the others and they learn from experience, maybe there’s hope.

    I’ve droned on before but will drone again – in a country of 60 million plus, I can’t believe the talent isn’t out there.

  • I’ve said it before and although you may think I’m fixated and quite nasty, ” get rid of Andy Flower” .He can only destroy young talented players.

    • Still bemused that, if he has fine skills as a coach, no-one out there in the big wide world has snapped him up.

  • Livingstone emulated KP’s achievement, whilst Hameed and Jennings were innocuous..hmm..might be a black mark in Flower’s book, but that lad really has sonething special! Plus, he’s from my part of the world…Cumbria…proper North!! :-)

  • Livingstone played a few good knocks on sky last year. He’s one of those batsmen that just looks the part, has a swagger about him and a good fielder too. I was disappointed joe Clarke didn’t play, his lions record is poor but he’s been brilliant since he went pro. Ollie rayner isn’t going to play for England. I’m also surprised at who didn’t get picked for these ‘tests’. No Duckett Or Vince is puzzling, Vince has done plenty of lions stuff so maybe the selectors are saying ‘it’s up to him now’ but surely it would have been a good opportunity for Duckett. Only reason I can think for his ommision is that England don’t have much subcontinental stuff for a while so they’d rather not wreck any confidence if they believe he would still struggle, I want to see him back in the side soon.

    Some of the players for the odi leg will probably play against Ireland, I’d think living stone and Duckett are a chance

    • That’s a good point re: Duckett. I would’ve loved to see him involved with the Lions. Perhaps he’s working on his technique and they didn’t want to expose him to anything that might damage his confidence further. He’s still a really talented player and I expect him to earn a second test opportunity at some stage. He wouldn’t be the first batsman to struggle in test cricket early on but then become a fine player. Steve Smith looked awful the first time he played for Australia.

      • Yeah I think you’re right, there’s no rush for him re sub continent. he’s a brilliant player, I remember watching him in the 19s World Cup where he looked a cut above.

        I’m starting to get really annoyed with Steve smith, he makes formidable amounts of runs but as a Pom I always find excuses to say he still can’t bat, which has proved popular in Melbourne this winter… But my god he scores runs

        • He certainly does. He’s quite an ugly batsman but it’s how many not how that counts.

  • Saw a good deal of Livingstone around 2009 and 10. So was slightly surprised at that FC average, James – the swagger Dom refers to, underpins relentless attack in the shorter forms. Doubt is alien to him. Low hands, then, are they still low?

    TM has a theory that the best timers of a cricket ball often started as tennis players or played a lot of tennis as well as cricket in their very early years. Livingstone bears out that theory.

    Robin Smith a late starter? Those at Hants when the two Smiths arrived would not agree. Is that because Chris came to the fore first? Was a game/style that featured merciless cutting too un-English at the time to give selectors sufficient confidence?

    • I meant Robin Smith’s international career. Don’t think he played for England until he was 27. The call came after a blistering 50 in the B&H or NatWest final I recall. Childhood memories ….

      • James, yes, got that that was your reference. Born 13/9/63, first Test cap 21/7/88. Was it an example of Test selectors seeing the weaknesses or vulnerability and not the potential?

        The delay (one series) in picking Pietersen was another example of fretting about what might happen clouding what would happen.

  • Livingstone, the Master Blaster, hit 350 off 138 balls for his Cheshire club side including 27 sixes in a ‘world record’ innings. It elevated him into Lancs first Xl and he hasn’t looked back.

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