Greetings everyone. Sorry about my lack of output over the last week or so. I’ve been sunning myself in The Loire – not that there was actually much sun! Thankfully a spot of degustation in Sancerre made up for the crap weather. Thanks to Garry, Daniel and Dave for holding the fort.
The big news I missed was our women’s fantastic victory in the World Cup Final at Lord’s. Who’d have thought that good old cricket could produce such an electric atmosphere and captivating spectacle? And we didn’t even need the fireworks and disco dancers that will inevitably appear in the new shitty-based T20 thingy. ECB take note.
The other big news, of course, was the call ups for Tom Westley and Dawid Malan. Initially I didn’t know about Gary Ballance’s injury – the 3G at my resort in France was poor – so I assumed he’d been dropped. However, I guess this injury means he’ll be back for a fourth / fifth (I’ve lost count) go at test cricket some time in the future. Or maybe the selectors might eventually reach the same conclusion as the majority of fans: test cricket and Gary Ballance just ain’t meant to be. Something always seems to go wrong.
Although it’s hard to get particularly excited about either Westley or Malan, they’re probably the best picks available from a cupboard that’s looking a bit threadbare. We have some very good younger players coming through the ranks – guys like Joe Clarke are obviously very exciting – but they’re probably not quite ready for the big time. Therefore going to mature cricketers like Westley and Malan probably makes sense at this point.
Westley deserves his chance, even though his first-class record is somewhat underwhelming, because he scored a ton batting at 3 for the Lions against South Africa at New Road a few weeks ago. I’ve seen him play a few times now and I always think he looks quite elegant and orthodox. Let’s see if his technique can stand up to test cricket.
While Westley seems guaranteed to make his debut – he’s the only guy in the squad (except Joe Root) capable of batting at first drop – it’s unknown whether Malan will play. Personally I hope he does, even if it’s at number seven or eight, simply because I can’t see Liam Dawson contributing much.
Dawson is a strange cricketer really. As far as I can tell he’s playing because, in the words of George Dobell, he’s “a good bloke”. England also seems enamoured with the concept of picking the same XI whatever the conditions … so when they do eventually encounter a bunsen at home they won’t have to change the side.
This strategy seems completely barmy to me. Surely you want to pick the best XI for whatever surface you’re playing on at the time? I mean, who needs six bowlers at the Riverside in May? But then again, I’m not a cricketing genius like, erm, James Whitaker.
If common sense does prevail, and Malan does indeed makes his debut – possibly at number 5 with Jonny, Stokes and Mo all moving down a slot – then England will finally see whether one of the better left-handers in county cricket over the last four or five years can hack test cricket. Malan has been on the cusp of selection for some time, so it’s about time we tried him or moved on.
Personally I think Malan is a decent player. He’s never struck me as anything special but he’s at an age (29) when a batsman can suddenly mature and flourish. Let’s not forget that Mike Hussey made his test debut at the age of 30, and it’s not uncommon for English batsmen to blossom later in their careers than players from the subcontinent.
Obviously it’s hard to predict how a batsman will handle the leap to test cricket but Malan has as good a chance as anyone available. He might well crash and burn like Ballance, Hales, Vince and Duckett, but we need to keep trying people until one sticks. There are far too many holes in the batting order to simply keep picking the same flawed players.
Although some might point out that Malan and Westley only average 38 in first class cricket, it’s important to remember that domestic records aren’t everything. Did you know that Michael Vaughan only averaged 38 for Yorkshire? Marcus Trescothick also averaged more for England than he does for Somerset. Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart also only averaged 40 in first class cricket.
The other cricketer who’s set to make his debut is Toby Roland Jones (or TBR for the sake of brevity). It’s a shame that Mark Wood isn’t fit as The Oval might have suited him a little better than Trent Bridge, and I still think he’ll have a key role to play this winter. Never mind.
I’m afraid (as I’ve said before) that I’m not a fan of TBR’s selection. His first class performances this year have been poor and I’ve always seen him as a very good county bowler rather than someone with international potential – mainly because he’s not particularly quick and he doesn’t have the same skills as a Vernon Philander or even a Matthew Hoggard.
Although TBR has a strong and repeatable action, and he won’t let anyone down, it’s hard to see him improving too much as he approaches his thirtieth birthday. Whereas batsmen can mature and play well into their thirties, it’s unusual for seam bowlers to do the same.
One thing’s for certain, TBR certainly isn’t going to put on that vital extra yard of pace at this stage of his career. The selectors have obviously forgotten their experience with Chris Woakes, who only became a good international performer once he could bowl over 85mph.
Having said that, although TBR was a typically conservative selection, he’s accurate and might do a good supporting job – after all, he’s been a supporting bowler for Middlesex (rather than a strike bowler) for much of his career. He might also be effective in English conditions – although The Oval isn’t exactly Headlingley.
My big fear, however, is that TBR’s selection is short-sighted. He might do well in England and then make it impossible to drop him for overseas tests – even though he’s unlikely to be effective in places like Australia. Personally, I’d much rather England blood a bowler who might develop into an effective paceman in all conditions rather than back someone with a lowish ceiling.
But hey. That’s just me. And as we all know, our selectors know all.
James Morgan
Mark Stoneman?
I’ve just watched the highlights of the Women’s World Cup. Sarah Taylor looks quicker behind the stumps than most of the current male keepers (she did miss a stumping in the final, though I think most others would have missed it too).
I think it’s fair to give Jennings 3 tests. The selectors probably think of Stoneman as an opener. Not sure he was considered as a 3 but could be wrong.
I agree county averages are relatively meaningless in the annals of test selection. Very few successful test cricketers have hugely impressive county averages. It is a question of the selectors knowing what qualities are required to succeed at this level over rewarding county success and potential.
Obviously consistent scoring or wicket taking breeds confidence. It’s no good selecting players struggling for form. The test arena is no place to rediscover it.
It would be good to see some sort of consistent policy here, rather than the clutching at straws that seems to be the order of the day.
Can’t deny I was impressed by Malan in his 1-day debut. He seemed to play in an uncomplicated but basically correct way and have a very good eye. It’s good to see an older player given serious consideration. As for Tom Westley, he looks like an inside job, recommended by Cook, who desperately needs someone to take some pressure off him at the top of the order, so I have no issues there. TRJ just reflects the paucity of bowling talent at present. We can no longer go to coal mines and call up the quickies. He is a good trier, but not a match winner.
Still don’t understand the selection of Dawson over Rashid. If we are going to win matches we have to bowl the opposition out twice.
As a Warwickshire man who would have thought we’d have so much trouble replacing Woakes. He’s a classic example of a player maximising his limited talent. By the way, is Plunkett injured? I know he’s no spring chicken, but has a wicket taking knack at the short game, a bit of nip and certainly lets no one down.
I have been disappointed at the platitudes coming out of the England dressing room over their recent batting. You can’t learn to eradicate technical and temperamental faults overnight. Most of the poor decision making is directly linked to the counter attacking philosophy the present Root set up has. At least the Oval should provide better batting conditions. A draw seems most likely.
Plunkett rarely lets England down. I would have preferred him to TBR.
Especially now it looks as though he’ll be tough to drop, as you feared ?
;-)
I agree that the selection of Dawson is unaccountable – still, at least he’s not playing this time round, and England surely benefitted from the extra batsman for once.
Meanwhile, Rashid shows encouraging signs of a more mature mental attitude (as the Yorkshire Post makes the case for him):
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/cricket/birmingham-bears-v-yorkshire-vikings-adil-rashid-stays-pragmatic-over-his-stop-start-england-career-1-8674040
I think he he’ll be back.
Some attandance details from a Tim Wigmore article in ‘The Independent’:
1) The first four days at Lord’s against SA sold out.
2) The first three days at TB sold out and the day four crowd was 10k.
3) The first three days at the Oval are sold out.
This seems strong evidence for both the health of Test cricket and the appeal of SA in this country. Strangely, there don’t seem to be many celebratory Tweets or articles from the authorities or the UK MSM press publicising these facts (in stark contrast to the CT for example).
Perhaps it doesn’t suit certain agendas? By the way, under the draft international schedule published on Cricinfo, SA won’t tour England again until 2022, with England playing two home five-Test series (in 2018 and 2021) in the meantime.
A cracking article that is, confirming what we all suspected about the northern grounds.
Our scheduling has been a mess ever since we went to 7 test summers, this convinced the ECB they needed more test grounds, when in truth 6 was always enough. Now they are left with white elephants that after next summer will hardly see any international action.
I’ve not seen any info on next summer outside of the teams (Pakistan/India) but with some clever scheduling it could be a cracking summer. However I guess they will make Pakistan play in May and India tests will be squeezed in by the middle of August
2019 is the world cup and the ashes and then we are on to the brave new world.
As for tomorrow, I hope Westley comes off and is not just the latest in a long line of average call ups. I’m not sure what Malan offers with the bat that Mo doesn’t, and I always thought Mo deserved first go at 5.
As for the bowling, its a shame for Wood but I don’t think he’ll ever be the 90mph strike bowler we want and I actually think he should now concentrate on white ball cricket.
We should be playing two spinners, but of course we don’t have two…
Here’s the link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/test-cricket-london-dominate-the-oval-lords-capital-city-a7858216.html
To be fair Westley has blossomed relatively recently. His first class average doesn’t do him justice as the player he is now. Bit upset Jennings has clung on though
Westley orthodox? I wouldn’t say that but that’s not a bad thing at all. I also don’t agree with the idea that we need to keep trying new players. Think how many England players are better now than when they were playing! I saw Finn was added to the squad, yes his fc season hasn’t been great but remember how flat lords is… He still has a very good England record and that strike rate is brilliant. Ballance will come back into the side I think but should be at 4. He’s the best option, his technique wasn’t that poor this summer, he looked a lot better than Jennings, and deserved a long run (at 4!) which cruelt has been taken away by injury. I haven’t looked at schedule but hope hameed gets a knock before he Windies, I’d like to see him play there he’s too good to be sat on the side.
The Dawson thing can’t go on much longer. Surely rashid is now or never for home tests! I hope that Dawson plays at the oval though as picking malan at 5 and mo at 8 is brainless, mo is a better batsman than malan or westley quite simply.
Apart from that good look England
I agree that Ballance looked more compact this summer than in previous years but what worries me is the repetitive nature of his dismissals – stuck on the crease with little footwork. If he keeps getting out the same way then bowlers have probably worked him out. I personally think that Ballance looks more like a natural 5 to me. It’s also my personal view that Root is more of a natural 4 than a 3, so I’m quite happy for us to keep trying different options at first drop. Just my view.
Rashid still has plenty of time – 29 is not old for a leg spinner. And in any event, his availability is doing wonders for Yorkshire’s T20 effort.
The real problem with England’s batting is at 2 and 3. The whole unit would look so much better if we consistently made runs at the top of the order.
While Ballance may well get (and deserve) another go, he just isn’t a test 3, and we have to keep looking for the genuine article. Which is not to say that Ballance might not justify a place lower down the order, but the competition is much more plentiful there.
Hameed will surely be back opening soon ?
Not a very good result for England despite some brave call-ups… Old warhorse Cook still fighting it out in the middle, ever since his departure from captaincy, he has been earning respect all over. people are realizing true his worth now
Congratulations, James. Your clever ploy of pretending to think that Roland-Jones was unlikely to tear up any trees is clearly paying dividends ;) Seriously, though, outright pace isn’t everything as Philander has shown at times this series.
Still, one swallow does not a summer make and knowing England’s luck after this innings he might go wicketless for the rest of the series.
Ha! Yes please pass the humble pie. I’ll happily munch the lot if / when we win. To be fair, I did say he was likely to do well in England. You’re right that pace isn’t everything. Perhaps he’s a late developer as his career stats don’t suggest he’ll excel at the top level. But he sure looks like he can do a job and exploit the conditions. And that’s surely half the battle.
Excellent article. And welcome back. I’d presently like to just bask in the glory of Oval Day 2 without overthinking things. But in the back of my mind I have the horrible feeling your last para might now become quite prophetic. TRJ first change in Brisbane! It brings back memories of when i was a kid and many a summer the selectors would magic up a good county standard seam /swing bowler specifically for the Headingly Test. He’d clean up and spend another few ordinary tests playing for Eng before being dropped – Neil Mallender for example? (assuming my hazy memory is working)
And now i’ve just read your most recent blog/article and everything i said above has already been said much more eloquently and accurately by yourself plus more. oops!
Cheers Steve! I could be wrong about TRJ. We can only judge after he’s played a few tests. He’s certainly a very likeable character and I love his batting too!