Selectors get it spot on

Warning. This is a positive post. If you’ve come here to bury Caesar not to praise him, you might be disappointed.

I’m astounded. The selectors have picked, man for man, the exact twelve players I would have picked. Indeed, it’s the same squad I picked in the pub last night.

I can only assume that Whitaker, Fraser and Newell were hiding behind the curtain hanging off my every word (wink).

I don’t want to get too carried away, as they might not pick the same XI I’d field, but the signs are good.

A line-up of Cook, Robson, Root, Bell, Balance, Prior, Ali, Jordan, Broad, Plunkett, Anderson looks deep in all areas … except spin bowling of course, but what are you going to do? If we’d picked Monty he would’ve turned up halfway through the test match.

The selectors have got every single call correct from where I’m standing. Robson is the coming man. Carberry is not the future. What’s more, there are obvious advantages in having a right-hand-left-hand opening partnership.

In the middle-order, Bell is the man to replace KP at four. He’s the best batsman, and provides experience in a pivotal position.

Root is the only man capable of batting three in my book (remember, he might have to face the second ball of the match) and Ballance is the leftie we’ve craved at number five since the mighty Graham Thorpe retired.

For all the talk of Eoin Morgan, I remain extremely unconvinced by his credentials as a test batsman. His first class average is a paltry 34.8 and he has only scored ten centuries in 82 matches.

Ballance on the other had has the best first class statistics of an emerging England batsman for twenty years. He is three years younger than Morgan, already has one thousand more first class runs, twice as many centuries (twenty) and averages an astonishing 54 runs per innings.

Some observers (including Mike Atherton surprisingly) proposed Morgan because they believe the middle-order needs X-factor. All I can say is that Athers didn’t do his research for once. Morgan’s first class strike rate is just 51. That’s less than Balance’s by the way.

As you’ll see, my side slots Prior in at six. This is to provide experience, and to split up the left-handers at five and seven. He batted six in the 2009 Ashes, and I think he’ll complement the players around him nicely.

I agree with the critics that Prior is an injury risk, but I don’t see any alternative. Buttler is an incredibly talented batsman, but he has never kept regularly at first class level. Picking him in a test match would therefore be an even bigger risk at this point.

The other realistic alternatives were Foster, Ambrose and Kieswetter. Picking the first two would be a backward step, whereas I personally don’t rate the latter. Sorry Somerset fans.

What’s more, people forget that Prior is just 32 years old. Far from being over the hill, a keeper is often in his prime at this age. And let’s not forget that he’s still four years younger than Brad Haddin, the bane of our bloody existence.

Now we come to the bowlers. The first thing to say is that Stokes does not have enough cricket under his belt. He would be one of the first names on my team-sheet in normal circumstances, but he’s bound to be rusty.

I admit the same could be said of Matt Prior, but there is no credible alternative to Prior. When it comes to Stokes, however, there is a ready-made replacement in the shape of Chris Woakes – another emerging cricketer.

Having said that, I do not believe that Woakes will actually play. With Ali, Broad, Jordan and Plunkett, England will bat deep. There’s no need for another all-rounder. England will have the luxury of picking their four most penetrative seamers.

Bowling out the team I picked above will be extremely tough. In many ways, a bit like Australia last summer, I expect the lower order to make up for the inadequacies of the frontline batsmen. It’s not an ideal strategy, but the first thing a struggling side should do is become difficult to beat. I think we all know what a pain in the posterior the Aussie lower order became during the Ashes.

I would also like to applaud the selection of Plunkett in particular. While Jordan got the opportunity to impress in the ODIs, the re-born Yorkie is actually a better bowler right now: he’s stronger, faster and nastier from what I’ve seen this year.

I believe a four-pronged seam attack of Anderson, Broad, Plunkett and Jordan covers most bases. Whilst there is no bowler with extreme pace, I think Broad and Plunkett should provide sufficient menace until the likes of Mills and Overton are ready for international cricket.

Plunkett certainly gave Durham the hurry-up on Sky a few weeks ago. He looks a completely different bowler to the lost-looking guy who last played for England when he was a youngster.

In terms of the spinners, Moeen is somewhat fortunate to get picked ahead of Samit Patel (primarily because Samit’s left-arm spin might complement Joe Root’s occasional off-spin a little better), but I am not convinced that the Notts twirler is Peter Moores’ kind of guy.

Besides, Samit has played before and been found wanting. This is supposed to be a new era, so why not see what Ali can offer? We might even see the odd doosra.

All in all, I think the selectors have done a fine job. Whisper it quietly, but I’m actually feeling a little bit optimistic today. Now watch us balls it up.

James Morgan