England Winter Squads (Test Matches)

Test v Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Andrew Strauss

Alaistair Cook

Jonathon Trott

Ian Bell

Kevin Pietersen

Eoin Morgan

Matt Prior

Tim Bresnan

Stuart Broad

Graeme Swann

Jimmy Anderson

Steven Finn

Chris Tremlett

Gary Keedy (/ Monty Panesar/Simon Kerrigan)

Samit Patel (/Moeen Ali)

James Taylor

 

The first 13 names I think are academic. They made up the basis of the test team this year. Chris Tremlett performed brilliantly when available and so should be given nod, although they will want to make sure he is completely fit after he missed the end of the season. Steven Finn was around the squads all summer and it was obvious from his spells in India that he has improved and could bring vital pace and vitality to an attack which although strong may lack a bit of firepower on the flat subcontinental wickets.

The other 3 spots are anyone’s guess in reality. Given my staunch backing of Ravi Bopara in earlier columns you will be surprised to see I decided to go with James Taylor instead of Bopara. I want Bopara to succeed internationally and I feel if everything went right he would be a fine addition to the England test team with his ability to bowl decent seamers at around the 80mph – he could fulfil a similar role to Paul Collingwood by bowling 10 or so overs an innings when required. The problem is whenever I see him bat I can’t help but think ‘what are you doing’. For someone who is meant to be a good player of spin and has had his fair share of IPL experience, he seems to miss an extremely high percentage of forward defences against spinners. There just seems to be a total lack of faith in his own ability and he seems to go into a shell and become too defensive and then inevitably gets out. I’m not sure I can survive watching and listening to another tour with Bopara coming in at 6 at 400-4 and making 30 of 80 balls before missing a straight ball. England most likely will stick with him because that’s what they do and it’s worked well with others such as Ian Bell but I’m hoping otherwise, especially as Bopara is unlikely to make the final xi anyway so it’s better for a youngster to get some experience. James Taylor has had an impressive domestic career and excelled in the Lions games this season so probably deserves a first senior tour to develop his skills and get used to the setup.

That leaves two spots remaining with both spots being taken up by spinners in my case. Firstly there needs to be a quality backup spinner who could either bowl in unison with Swann or if disaster struck and Swann was injured could be the frontline spinner . Ideally a spinner who spins the ball the opposite way is ideal and the three in my mind are all SLA’s. Monty Panesar would be the easy choice given he was the reserve choice for the 2010/11 ashes tour and had a good first class season. The other two options come from Lancashire and are at opposite ends of their careers. Gary Keedy, 36, and Simon Kerrigan, 22, both had positive seasons with Lancashire. Keedy was the senior bowler and was consistent throughout the season taking 61 wickets at 23.63 (Panesar took 69 at 27.24) whereas Kerrigan was only called upon on 4 occasions but was spectacular when he did play taking 24 wickets at 18.2. All 3 are no.11 bats and vary from average (Kerrigan) to terrible (Panesar) fielders. I fear it is too early for Kerrigan and it would be too much of a risk to pick him as the main spinner if Swann were to get injured which leaves Keedy or Panesar. I’m still far from convinced that Panesar has improved his variations; he seems to be the kind of bowler nowadays who tries to bowl as accurately as possible and build pressure that way. That’s good in the first innings but once the second innings comes around and the pressure is on to bowl out the opposition he just doesn’t have the variation. I’d plump for Keedy – at 36 you may think it’s a backward step but there is precedent there with Shaun Udal who did so well in India in 2006 at 37 and I feel he has the ability to both contain in the first innings and attack in the second.

England presumably will want to look at different options and a spinning allrounder may be needed to bowl extra overs and fill the no.6 or 7 batting spot. There aren’t a huge amount of options on the county circuit but Samit Patel is at the head of the cue after his impressive batting performances in India. His bowling is distinctly average by international standards but he does turn the ball in the opposite direction to Swann. I’ve personally not been convinced by his batting in 4 day cricket as his footwork is questionable and seems to get out more often than he should to rash shots. Fortunately the subcontinent should favour his batting style although one wonders how he will stand up to the full rigours of a five day test in scorching Sri Lankan conditions. Scott Borthwick is still too raw and it would be a big gamble taking him as you almost certainly couldn’t play a player who doesn’t even bowl that much in county cricket and although is talented with the bat isn’t yet capable of batting above 8 in Test Cricket. Adil Rashid has gone backwards this season and has zero chance of making the tour. That leaves a bit of an outside pick in Moeen Ali.  Moeen bats in the top order for Worcestershire and had a solid season as well as taking over the captaincy. He is left handed which should be an added bonus for a primarily right handed middle order and is a more solid batting option that Patel. He is a silky batsman who loves to drive and is a delight to watch when in form. He bowls offspin and got through a decent amount of overs as a 5^th bowler at Worcester this season without spectacular results. Patel is likely to get the nod by the England selectors but Moeen should be considered and may well get a chance in the ODI team given his success at the top of the order for Worcestershire this season.

Amendment - 4th December

A few days before the test squad to play Pakistan is announced and on second consideration I'm going to have to go with Monty Panesar over Gary Keedy. I'm still not convinced that Panesar has shown any real improvement in any of the 3 aspects of his game. He is basically a solid containing bowler who is pretty much useless when you need to take wickets - this would be OK if he could bat a bit or even field decently but he is still awful at both. His spell in grade cricket in Australia at present has not been a success. The problem is though Keedy is now 37 and will be 38 by the time they play India next year. For this tour I think Keedy would offer more but for someone who probably isn't going to have a massive affect on the outcome on the series it's probably worth going for someone who is going to do better long term. I just hope that Simon Kerrigan continues to improve and by next year there'll be no need for Panesar or Keedy.

Also I have no second wicketkeeper so I guess James Taylor has to be omitted and either Jonny Bairstow (if they deem his wicketkeeping to be good enough) or Craig Kieswetter get a call up.