When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Or in some cases, the tough get told to bugger off. The selectors have made plenty of difficult decisions over the last six months. Paul Collingwood, who was captain during the T20s, was left out of Sunday’s ODI team (wow, a batsman actually dropped?!). And KP was rested / told to sort his life out last summer before the ODI series against Pakistan.
Now the selectors have made some tough choices in finalising our fifteen man squad for the World Cup. The hardest was the decision to axe wicketkeeper Steve Davies, who has an embarrassingly better record than his replacement, Matt Prior, who was himself brutally guillotined a year ago. I wonder what Miller and Co said to poor Davies? ‘Tough luck’ I suppose.
At the end of the day, it will be incredibly difficult for England to win the World Cup. That would’ve been the case whatever squad we’d picked. Although England have some strengths – KP, Eoin Morgan and Graeme Swann are amongst the best in the world – there are also a few glaring weaknesses in the squad.
For starters, everyone knows that you need a pair of ultra attacking openers to succeed in ODI’s on the subcontinent. The initial powerplay is absolutely crucial. The best time to score is when the ball is hard and new. The spinners come on later in the innings and constrict the batsmen like an undersized jockstrap.
It was a similar tale in the Caribbean during the 2007 World Cup. Everyone realised this apart from England, who seemed determined to pick the players with the most elegant forward defensive shot.
Whereas Sri Lanka opened up with Sanath Jayasuriya, we sent in Vaughan and Bell, who usually went on to score aesthetically pleasing twenties off approximately eighty five balls. The game was usually lost in the first fifteen overs.
Four years on, and after our triumph in the T20 World Cup, in which we opened with Lumb and Kieswetter – two batsmen with the subtlety of enriched uranium – we’re now back to orthodox openers again. The likelihood is that the recalled Prior will open with Andrew Strauss. Where is our much needed pinch-hitter?
Steve Davies was supposed to be that man. OK, so Davies hasn’t set the world on fire thus far, but he’s only played seven matches. What’s more, his record is impressive compared to Prior, who has played a whopping fifty five ODIs and reached fifty just twice. Davies averages 35 for England with a strike rate of nearly 110. Prior averages a dismal 25 at a strike rate of just 75.
Prior is an excellent test batsman and as pleasing a driver of the ball as you’re likely to see. I am a fan – don’t get me wrong. However, he was jettisoned from the ODI team a year ago because, like Michael Vaughan (another elegant driver) he was just too bloody orthodox. He also had a very limited leg-side game and didn’t rotate the strike well enough. He also failed consistently when asked to open the innings.
The selectors had better hope that Prior has improved. Granted he’s made some runs in Australia’s domestic slog fest recently, but the standard of Aussie domestic cricket can’t be much better than county cricket at the moment – if not worse. After all, Prior only averages just 28 for Sussex in list A matches. It’s an embarrassingly poor return for such a gifted player.
As a Worcestershire man I admit I’m a bit biased, but Davies is incredibly unfortunate to be left out of the World Cup. He drives the ball on the up like a young Trescothick and he’s also quick on the pull (something that Prior definitely isn’t). England don’t possess a Jayasuriya, but Davies is the closest we’ve got – apart from, perhaps, Craig Kieswetter, who has also been snubbed.
England usually back their batsmen and give them a chance to cement their place. After one solitary ODI down under in which he scored a useful 42 off 35 balls and helped England get off to a flyer, Davies has now been replaced by a perennial struggler in limited overs cricket. It doesn’t seem fair.
At least I can see the selectors’ logic however. After years of toying with bits and pieces cricketers like Mark Ealham, Alex Wharf, Gavin Hamilton, Neil Smith (bloody hell, remember Neil Smith?!) We’re actually picking our best cricketers now.
The theory, of course, is that your best players should be able to adapt to any form of the game. I doubt whether Jonathan Trott will metamorphosise into Viv Richards after putting on blue pyjamas, but we get the idea. The best one day teams usually contain quality specialists with one or two all-rounders thrown in – in England’s case, Michael Yardy and Luke Wright (neither of whom is certain to play).
On this basis, the England squad isn’t too much of a surprise. In fact, the final XI should look remarkably close to the test team – which should create good vibes in the dressing room, especially if we bump into the Canary Yellows.
Australia might be glad that Tremlett hasn’t made the squad, but conditions in the subcontinent should suit Shahzad’s reverse swing. We also like the cut of Shahzad’s jib. He snarls like a jackal and he’s got the self-confidence to get up the batsman’s nose. Unlike Mitchell Johnson, Shahzad won’t burst into tears when the opposition calls him a whoopsie.
England squad: Strauss (capt), Prior, Bell, Trott, Pietersen, Morgan, Collingwood, Wright, Yardy, Swann, Tredwell, Bresnan, Broad, Anderson, Shahzad.
The selectors have a good track record, I have faith that Prior will do us proud (I admit his stats in India are dire!)
Prior was a surprise selection – he admits that himself.
I don’t know if England have said that the will open with Strauss or not, but I wonder if they might promote Bell. I accept the point above about orthodoxy and openers but Bell is such a good player and playing so well, I think that he could hit any ball anywhere with an orthodox stroke at the moment. The Prior at 6 or 7 might then look a good bet.
People always say that orthodox players have no place in limited overs, that it’s the unconventional big hitters who will dominate, yet in last year’s IPL the two best batsmen were Tendulkar and Kallis, who played everything along the ground with a straight bat. I don’t see why Bell shouldn’t open.
The problem is that England seemed obsessed with the idea that the keeper should open. It has become one of those things that they’re stubborn about. Prior has had endless opportunities to open the batting in ODIs but never performed well. The decision to recall him makes no sense unless they plan on using him down the order. After his duck opening today, the selectors had better pray that he starts to improve quickly. England got off to a flyer at the MCG, but the poor start today has put the team in a hole.