Winter Tours of 2019/20

Test Squad for New Zealand

I don't forsee much resting of players for this series even if the series doesn't count for the world test championship. The test only players should be there without doubt, there is no reason to rest the likes of Anderson or Broad if they are fit. The multi format players have to be looked after more and will have to be rested at times. Root and Stokes are too vital to the test side at present so they will have to miss odis and T20s in the next year but should play all tests. Moeen has taken a break from test cricket and Jonny Bairstow may have to join him. Bairstow's performances have been poor over the last 3 years and whilst he might not like it may need a dropping (or resting) to help him refresh and refocus on his game.

The biggest issue is likely to be the backup bowlers. Wood, Stone and Anderson are likely to be unavailable due to injury and with Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer needing theire workloads monitored it leads England short of resources. The Somerset trio of Craig and Jamie Overton, and Lewis Gregory may well all gain selection with Woakes rested if Anderson is fit enough to travel.

Burns
Sibley
Denly
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler
Archer
Broad
Anderson
Leach

Vince
S Curran
B Foakes
C Overton
L Gregory
J Overton

Sibley - Deserves his chance on the weight of runs. Bats a long time when he gets in. As good a time as any to have an obscure technique, especially a leg side dominant one.
Denly - He's still a stopgap as seen by not getting a test central contract but they are better of going with his experience rather than blooding a youngster like Crawley who probably isn't ready.
Pope - Continues to rack up the runs. Is a brilliant talent who clearly picks up the length of the ball early and is especially strong through the leg side, he does remain quite loose outside the offstump. For this reason he should be protected at number 6 and allowed to develop in time and move up the order. The likes of Buttler and Bairstow have had the luxury of batting 6 and 7 in recent times but they haven't backed up the protection they get from the new ball with sufficient runs, it should now be time to invest in the best of the next generation.



Lions Squad 

Zak Crawley, Chris Dent, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sam Hain, Tom Abell, Joe Clarke, Dan Lawrence, Tom Banton, Luke Wood, Matt Fisher, David Payne, Henry Brookes, Saqib Mahmood, Amir Virdi, Tom Bailey, Dom Bess, Matt Carter

Crawley – Pretty close to a full callup in my book even with his modest record but an average end of season and Joe Denly’s good efforts means he should go on the lions. A tall upright classical batsman Crawley now really hits the ball cleanly. Plays some delicious straight drives with seemingly little effort that race to the boundary. Strong all around the ground with a good pull/hook shot too. Catches swallows in the slips.

Kohler-Cadmore - The tall upright classical batsman has the qualities to play international cricket. He strikes the ball cleanly in the v and rather like Zac Crawley is quick onto the short ball.  At age 25 he should be maturing and ready for some more high level cricket.

Dent - What Rory Burns has proven is that grinding it out in county cricket may not be a bad thing. Whilst Burns (and Dent) may not be able to average 40 opening the batting for England as they have looked for in the past, they may well be more adaptable and skilled than the ODI type selections England have used in the last few years such as Jason Roy, Alex Hales, and Moeen Ali. Dent has a career average of 38 and at age 28 is now reaching his peak so it may well be worth England having a look at one of the more consistent performers on the county circuit.

Hain – Solid season again and with England maybe moving away from the ODI chancer and moving across to the accumulator for test cricket Hain will come into the consideration. Needs to score more consistently at county level like his clubmate Sibley to grab the attention. A well organised batsman though who at 24 should still have plenty of improvement to come and could benefit from some high level cricket.

Abell – Fairly moderate career averages (averages 31 with the bat in all 3 formats) means Abell doesn’t immediately stand out but more than anything it’s his impressive captaincy of Somerset that marks Abell out. He is only 25 and has had his most influential season as a batsman this year as Somerset challenged on all 3 fronts. Plays spin especially well, has added power and variation to his shorter format games, and is one of the fittest players in the county game. He doesn’t quite have the skill yet for international cricket but what he does have is the work ethic and character to be an international cricketer, more work on his game with quality coaching can only do.

Clarke - Has had a terrible season until this past week or so. In term of international potential though I'd still put Clarke towards the top of the uncapped players around the English game. Strong of the back foot, and through the leg side he can score runs of good pace bowling. He still vulnerable to the ball moving into him from the seamers, and is an average player of spin due to his hard hands.

 

Lawrence – Has matured into one of Essex’s key batsman this season in all formats and has scored some key runs across the season. He is leg side dominant and can be an lbw candidate but the game looks in good shape right now and he is scoring more runs in the v rather than through square leg.

Banton – His innings in the 20 and 50 over competitions have caught the eye but he has also shown maturity and understanding of how to build an innings in championship cricket. One of the comparisons he often has is to Jason Roy (the other is Kevin Pietersen), and already in championship cricket he seems more capable of playing the ball later and is less vulnerable to movement than Roy which is pleasing to see.

Luke Wood – Sam Curran caused Steve Smith more issues than most in his one ashes test and illustrated the point that England should keep looking for variation in their test bowling attack. With Curran’s height and lack of pace he may well struggle in Australia and with that in mind I’ve been looking at left arm options. Wood whilst in and out of the Nottinghamshire side is starting to put together more consistent cricket and at 24 should now be coming towards his peak years. He offers a little more pace than Curran but with the swing included. He’s a useful lower order bat and good athlete in the field so these are the kind of multi-dimensional cricketers that England should be looking at to improve.

Fisher – Has struggled with injury since bursting onto the scene with England u19s as a 16 year old fast bowling prodigy. Needs game time now and at 21 should have grown into his body enough. I would think he will be playing for England within 3 years and as such could do with a lions tour to broaden his experiences even if his first class statistics to date are nothing to write home about.

Payne – Probably the best 3 format left armer in the county game currently. Has slaved away at Gloucestershire over the years but now is a quality leader of the bowling attack across the 3 formats. He has added a bit of pace so he’s now in the early to mid 80s bracket and has more height on his side than other left arm options such as Wood, Curran and Willey. At 28 he is at his peak and it might be worth England having a look. They may be surprised at the quality he does possess.

Henry Brookes – Has bowled on some pretty flat tracks for Warwickshire this season which is good for his long term development. A decent action which can get speeds upto 90mph means he is someone with England potential and is also a useful batsman in the lower order.

Saqib Mahmood - Again impressive in one day cricket where he has added consistency at the start of the innings to his skills at the backend. Hasn't always played in 4 day cricket this year for Lancashire but is a more reliable performer than last and his skills (low arm, skiddy pace) will be an attribute in foreign climbs.

Virdi – Spins the ball prodigiously. Has had issues this year with poor fitness and losing his action on occasion but looks the classiest of the spinners coming through. When he gets it right he looks a real handful. Career could still go either way

Tom Bailey – The top wickettaker in division 1 in 2018 has backed it up in 2019. Bailey is quick enough these days at early to mid 80s mph and has backed it up over a few seasons. 

Dom Bess - With Moeen Ali taking a break from test cricket England need to be active in their pursuit of spin bowling options and Bess is a multidimensional cricketer who is always working on his game.

Matt Carter- Has been excellent in white ball cricket this year for Notts with his tall offspin. England are lacking conventional offspin options in the shorter formats. Isn't a great fielder or batsman so could do with working on these skills if he wants to challenge for international honours in the future.

What I’ve tried to look for in these players more than just peformances in county cricket is the possibility that they can step up to international cricket. For this reason I have looked for players strong in character, work ethic, fitness, and who offer multidimensional skills.

Rumblings and Ramblings

England hindered themselves straight off the bat on this West Indies tour with their selection in the first test. Granted it can happen that you misread a pitch. England certainly did but even so their team selection was weird. If they thought it was going to be a slow turner selecting Rashid as the second spinner, rather than Leach, was misguided given Rashid has basically been used for bowling at the tail, and Root seems unwilling to trust him. An attack of Anderson, Curran, Stokes, Ali and Rashid just put too much emphasis on Anderson and Stokes, two guys you really want to be looking after.

Olly Stone was injured before the tests got underway which was a shame given he would have been useful on a lot of these wickets getting bounce and movement. He hits the pitch hard and would have found the up and down bounce more than Anderson and Curran did. He probably wouldn't have played though judging by the team selections. It still feels like a missed opportunity to have not played him in that final test in Sri Lanka, especially when you consider that Broad, who did play in SL, was then dropped for the first test in the West Indies. 

The return of Keaton Jennings for the third test was a cruel gesture by the England management. After being dropped after the first test, he and they surely thought his tour was over. He spent most of the time in the second test substitute fielding at short leg, and it possibly wasn’t until a couple of days before the third test that he would have became an option for selection. There would have been very little time to work on his game, or to attune his mind to the task ahead. Why was he considered for selection? Probably because they no longer wanted to bat Bairstow at 3, and Root was once again reluctant to move up to 3 – and so they stuck a guy who was struggling back in to open. Too often Root has moved others to make his life easier. As captain, and the best player it makes sense to a degree to make him happy, and it’s his prerogative as captain to make that decision. Still using Balance at 3 (who bats below Root at Yorkshire), Ali at 3, Stokes at 3, Pope at 4, bringing Jennings back; none of these things were likely to be successes. Whilst most would appreciate the chance of playing for England and be accepting of the opportunity, many of these haven’t been given the best chance of success. 

Bairstow looked particularly cheery this game having got his way back batting at his favoured 7. 3 tests of decent success and he’s dropped back down. Really you must ask what was the point? It’s tough putting the team together with the lack of top order options but the team selection over this series was especially troubling.