Some thoughts on England selection for Pakistan test series.

Complex decisions await Bayliss and co for this forthcoming test series as they look to weigh the short term interests of winning the series against consistency of selection and not damaging the confidence of players. It is a delicate balancing situation that will need all the management’s expertise.  

Openers spot – Moeen seems favourite. What impact opening will have on Moeen’s bowling is up for debate and vice versa. His spin bowling is likely to be a key factor in the series. Should he really be taking up a tough new role at the top of the order to go with being the frontline spinner? Will he be able to go out to bat after bowling 40 overs and be fresh. If he gets in does he have the quality to go on and make a big score? I’d prefer either of Hales or Bell over Moeen. Hales may have his technical failings but he is used to opening; will be able to concentrate solely on opening; and if (and it’s a big if) he got in he could make a defining contribution. Bell is the third option and as a poor starter against spin but competent against pace I feel like he could certainly benefit from moving up to opener. As a middle order bat in these conditions Bell barely warrants selection. Selecting Moeen only prolongs the time before they need to make a big decision about the opener – because he certainly won’t be opening in SA.

James Taylor – In the conditions that the series will be played in, for me, he is the third most likely of the batsmen to make key contributions with the bat (behind Cook and Root). His short stature is well suited to the low bouncing wickets of the UAE and seems very comfortable playing spin. He also is very capable of batting long periods of time which I'm not sure the rest of the tea  yet long term I don’t see him as good enough for test cricket and I’m not sure I’d even taken him to SA for the next test tour even if he succeeded  in this tour.

Jonny Bairstow – Related to the Taylor issue. I’d back Taylor to comfortably outscore Bairstow in these conditions but Bairstow has only just come back into the team, on the back of brilliant domestic performances, and has done fairly well.  Is it fair to Bairstow to drop him again and what impact do the continual droppings and selections have on his career and mind?

Ben Stokes – Quite how useful Stokes will be on this tour is up for debate. Would he make the best team in these conditions? Maybe not. His place is complicated by the lack of quality spinner. If they play 6 bowlers as looks likely at this point (Stokes, Ali, Rashid, Wood, Broad, Anderson) the batting is vulnerable with only 4 frontline bats (Cook, Root, Bell, Bairstow/Taylor) and will all the bowling be utilized? Select 5 bowlers ( Stokes, Ali, Rashid, Broad, Anderson) and there is a lot of pressure on Broad  and Anderson as none of Ali, Rashid or Stokes are proven test class bowlers.  Stokes has struggled batting in Asian conditions before especially against spin playing with hard hands and his bowling is somewhat lacking in guile. Taylor or Bairstow are better bats than him in these conditions, Wood, Finn or Plunkett are better bowlers. Would the balance of the side be better off if he wasn’t there? Cook, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Taylor, Ali, Buttler, Rashid, Wood, Broad, Anderson looks a better balanced team that any team with Stokes in it. But again long term what impact will this have on Stokes and given that he is a big part of the future of English cricket would they be better of investing in him by selecting him now (even if he fails) so that he is better for the experience for the inevitable series’ he will play in the future.

Jos Buttler -  His batting especially against spin is average and he seems unaware of how best he should play as a batsman. I always had my doubts and he’s going through a tough time. Thankfully for him his wicketkeeping for the most part was very good last summer (especially in comparison to Bairstow who made a few mistakes in high profile games). Bairstow for me is comfortably the better first class bat. He’s proved his pedigree in first class cricket and scored a lot of runs and has played some quality innings in test cricket. Buttler never really put it together in first class cricket and has fluffed up his stats somewhat at test level with easy runs against poor opposition. If it wasn’t for Bairstow being injured at the midpoint of the 2014 season it could well have been Bairstow as the first choice keeper rather than Buttler. The issue here is wicketkeeping. Do they trust Bairstow’s keeping enough to go with him as keeper? If they do I think they should make a change. Playing Bairstow as keeper would free up James Taylor to play and strengthen the team.

So issues aplenty.

The team I’d go for if this was a test series in isolation.

Cook, Bell, Root, Taylor, Bairstow, Ali, Rashid, Buttler, Wood, Broad, Anderson

But long term planning and continuity of selection must come into the thoughts of the selectors. I will be interested to see what they come up with. I will though be disappointed if (and it seems likely) Taylor does not play. Panesar played last time as a second spinner due to conditions, why this time can we not select a batsman specifically because of the conditions? Maybe like last time in the UAE (and India) they’ll wait until the second test to go horse for courses.

 

Reasons for positivity

Hmm, as per my last post, I listed Alex Lees as a potential future England player. Well for most of the season he has looked an imitation of the clear minded individual with fluent drives that prospered in 2014. He seemed to spend the season monitoring his back lift and his batting seems to have become very mechanical in the process. Chances are his time will come again but in the short term it will be back to the drawing board for the 22 year old.  Craig Miles on the other hand still looks a serious prospect but again probably wasn’t quite as consistent as he would have liked but he makes another England performance group this winter.

 

This season as a whole has been very positive in unearthing bowling talent with the potential of playing for England. Last year I was well aware of the likes of Jamie and Craig Overton, Olly Stone, Mark Wood, Craig Miles, Matt Fisher, Reece Topley and Charlie Morris, but this year has brought some new names to my attention.

Jake Ball- In 2014 he was a tallish, bustling, medium fast one day bowler for Nottinghamshire who looked ok but nothing exceptional. He came back this year obviously much stronger and was bowling 5mph quicker and has regularly hurried batsman in first class cricket this year.  He’s tall, swings and seams the ball at around 85mph and already is experienced in LO cricket. The next step will be to take this year’s 40 or so wickets and turn it into 60 wickets @ 25 and become leader of the Notts attack. He still can be a little profligate but don’t be surprised if he gets an ODI call up next summer if his progression continues.

Luke Wood – Another Notts seamer, whereas Ball is well built and tall, Wood is slight and less than 6 foot. The left armer really charges to the crease and continues the speed through the crease. His main threat at present is inswing. He’s early 80’s mph at the moment but at only 20 he should have a good deal of strength development to go through and as long as he keeps his snap in his runup and action he looks a fine prospect. To add to his bowling qualities he’s something of the original Stuart Broad type, happy go lucky strokemaker down the order.

Sam Curran- This guy. What a prospect. Only just 17 and barely looks 14 in both his face and his build but boy is his bowling impressive. Whippy pace from a short rhythmical runup allows him to shock batsman and with his late inswing that he gets against right handers he’s often good for one or two wickets with the new ball. If it’s not swinging he has a good bounce and like his brother and innate sense in how to bowl and the different variations to pull it off. Even more impressive is the fact that he a promising bat who long term Alex Stewart thinks will bat at 5 or 6. Has worked his way up from 11 to 7 or 8 in half a season and has not looked out of his depth on any occasion which is a massive compliment for someone so young.

Tom Curran – Slightly less headline worthy than his brother but Tom has been possibly the key figure in Surrey’s promotion and season as a whole. The one near ever present of the bowling lineup, he has shouldered the burden admirably putting in consistent performances throughout the season, over the different formats with no drop off in performance. It was his consistency that stood out as he rarely veered from a fullish length in the championship and his ability to adapt in the shorter formats as he often bowled in the toughest situations. I think he will have to add a touch of pace because at present he’s around the 78-80mph mark but that will come with time and a less stressful schedule. Like Sam, Tom is also another useful bat, and will prove likely to be a very good number 8 in time. The brother's are smart cricketers and that is a useful trait if you are going to make the stepup. They know what to bowl and they have enough confidence  and good enough technique to be able to bowl it.

A small mention to Matt Hobden. He had a poor season but I saw enough in a warmup game where he dismissed Lyth, Lees and Bairstow to know that  Hobden has a real chance. From his Jason Gillespie like action he generates good pace and can bowl with real hostility. Finding consistency will be the key for him over the next year or two.