I’ve really enjoyed the early rounds of the county championship, its been refreshing to see the batsmen score big runs, the better seam bowlers prevail and quality spinners in the game. I’d argue they are a good batch of balls … I’d favour we play with a kookaburra in England!
The Vitality T20 is upon us, a good competition actually. Not ideal to have it start as we prepare for a test series.
Is the ‘Counties Select XI’ a missed opportunity? There are a number of players who were unlucky not to be picked in the test squad; Tom Haines, Dom Sibley, Tom Abell, Sam Hain could all have put their case forward for top order positions. Jamie Overton and Matt Parkinson could’ve played a competitive game against international opposition, and Broad + Anderson could have worked more overs into their legs and perhaps set the tone for the tests.
I’d have offered Jonny Bairstow a game too if he wanted it, a chance to get back into red ball mode. A key player coming off a winter with two test centuries and being the only player to average over 40.
Injuries; Dan Lawrence and Saqib Mahmood missing test cricket is a shame. Both seemed to be bedding in during the Caribbean tour and showing skill and temperament.
Brydon Carse is 2 games into his comeback and Warwickshire tell us Olly Stone is close. Both players will need a long period of time to get match fit. The sad news of Jofra Archer’s injury makes him a serious doubt as a test player. Looking at Mark Wood and Chris Woakes they too may opt for the whiteball route to prologue their careers.
Scheduling; there is too much cricket played at domestic and international level. As unpopular as the reduced counties structure is, less games at a higher quality would help. As would 3 formats and perhaps not played in blocks.
Internationally, I don’t see a place for T20, this format works well as a franchise game. India, Australia, Pakistan and Caribbean already have relatively successful formats. Let them thrive and don’t milk the players.
Test Squad; a mixture of excitement and frustration. Harry Brook and Matty Potts are exciting picks that are correctly rewarding performance. A little odd is the implication that Brook won’t play, not very motivational. He could comfortably play at 5 and Bairstow return to 7 as keeper to bolster the batting.
Crawley and Pope are fortunate. They have ability and I genuinely hope they succeed, but I question their temperament to build big scores in a test match environment at the top of the order. Dom Sibley (remodelled) and Sam Hain offer less flashy, but perhaps more effective alternatives to lay a foundation for the middle order.
Tom Haines is unfortunate not to be included, and omitting Jamie Overton was curious in the context of the options available. The criminal one is the omission of Matt Parkinson, its simply the wrong call.
Much like Pope and Crawley, Brendon McCullum is a bold call, I hope he’s the right one as he is a good man and a team playing in his image will be fun to watch. I still find it odd that Gary Kirsten fails to get through the process given his clear experience and success.
I also wonder, how does McCullum feel about Key and Stokes making the call on the batting positions of Root and Stokes himself as well as the veteran bowlers?