Hot topics this week include having a point of difference on a flat pitch. Well documented is the injury list including Archer, Wood, Mahmood and until recently Olly Stone too. Also injured are Woakes, Sam Curran and Fisher, whilst none of them possess pace, Curran does offer a change of angle.
In realty Wood and Woakes may well have played their last tests and the future of Archer and Stone in red ball cricket must be a concern. So, where can we go?
Jamie Overton – The lesser loved (by the ECB) of the Overton twins has suffered his fair share of injuries. In that period the ECB have spent a small fortune trying to get his twin brother to bowl … well to bowl like Jamie and it has not worked. Jamie is 28 years old, 6’5 tall, is an excellent fielder and a very capable batsman who consistently bowls at 90mph + I cant really see any downside!
Brydon Carse – The Durham man started life as a batting allrounder and then developed into a serious bowler as he grew into his body. He may well have played test cricket already but for a serious knee injury last winter. He is 26 years old, can bowl at 90mph, hits the seam hard and looks ready made for test cricket. This series perhaps has come a little soon for him, and he is in the ODI squad but I’d expect to see him close to the test team by the time South Africa arrive.
Then there are the left armers, Sam Curran is tentatively being brought back by Surry but I can’t shake the feeling that Alec Stewart is quite correct, his future is as a batting allrounder. But there are two lesser lights in county cricket who are in the thoughts of the white ball squad but could mount a case for test selection; Luke Wood (26) and George Garton (24). The latter has been suffering with long covid which has dented his progress this year. He can bat, field and bowl with serious gas too – keep an eye on him!
Turning to spin (see what I did there), I can fully understand the recall of Jack Leach once he was passed fit. Matt Parkinson deserves another go, he didn’t have the perpetration most get for their debut. The easy criticism is that of his pace, but his record to date is excellent, and he needs to be given the time to learn how to bowl in test cricket.
I’m not convinced Leach is the answer and I’d be very disappointed if we reverted to Moeen or Rashid. Nottinghamshire’s Liam Patterson-White (23) is good left armer (who can bat and field properly). The other spinner who interests me is Matt Critchley now of Essex. He is aged 25, bats in the top 6, fields well and delivers his leg spin from 6’2. This gives him the advantage of bounce, and then the ball is not turning off the pitch that can be a useful point of difference. His bowling stats don’t leap off the page, but the last 2 seasons have been impressive.
Extra’s:
- I am absolutely sick of seeing the dukes ball being put through those stupid rings. How much time has been lost to this nonsense? 1) The players should not be allowed to ask 2) If Dukes can’t produce a ball that stays in shape they should be replaced with a manufacturer that can.
- Ollie Pope, delighted for him, such a talent! There is a bloke called Ricky Ponting who was a no4, but made his test debut at no6 and was then asked to bat at no3 because the Waugh twins were at 4 and 5. Sometimes we get hooked on batting positions, but there are numerous examples of people successfully batting up the order; Trott, Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Herschelle Gibbs.
- Jonny Bairstow, the much maligned Jonny Bairstow! It drives me mad how much flak this lad gets. He’s the best fielder we have be that at slip, gully, cover or short leg and he is a very fine player. Yet everyone is so quick to jump on his back. He is the only England batsman in the last decade to score 2 test centuries in Australia!
Last winter he was our standout batsman:
Admittedly the competition for that accolade was low, but it did contain Root and Stokes who both had 6 more innings than Jonny over that time.
He’s 32 and one of the physically fittest players around. He has made it clear he wants to play test cricket and he’s very happy to travel around the world. We should embrace him, I hope we have 5 more years of this excellent cricketer to enjoy at test level.