Joe Root has been the poster boy for the current England development system. Identified at a young age, he played for England Under-15's and 19's before selection into the Lions team, and finally promotion into the full test team. With an average of 40.23 and 2 hundreds all ready to his name, you can sense there are brilliant and better things to come. It's pat on the back time for all those backroom staff, the scouts and coaches who nurtured and propelled him to his current excellence.
It is an undeniable success story, but does it come under the moniker of a self-fulfilling prophecy? And more importantly, does it highlight an inflexibility within the England set-up of not being able to move outside these young chosen few?
As any coach will tell a child who is left out of a team, some players develop later than others. For me growing up around the Northamptonshire age groups, the example was Mal Loye, who apparently wasn't selected for representative cricket until he was 16, and then played 2nd XI cricket by the time he was 17. This late development is usually prevalent in players from the smaller counties, who won't get a look in for higher selection due to their lack of 'involvement' at a young age. David Willey is a great example of this. Having only played briefly for the England Under 19's off the back of his inclusion with Northants, his career is really starting to pick up momentum. Yet even after a amazing game in the T20 final and a 167 off 101 balls today, he still isn't really being talked about, where as players like Jade Dernbach and Johnny Bairstow from the bigger and more attractive counties can fail time and time again without ever having to look over their shoulders. Chris Woakes is also a man earmarked at an early age, and despite a string of disappointing one day performance, he gets even higher elevation into the test team.
If England are going to invest so much time and money into the Lions team and give them ever more fixtures in an increasingly congested calender, they should be looking at new players and ones who are performing consistently well, not just those that play for the right clubs, and have the right ties to current England management (e.g. Warwickshire and Yorkshire). Otherwise you might as well scrap twelve of the counties and just play tournaments between the six biggest to see who can out-spend who.
Monday, 26 August 2013
Friday, 23 August 2013
I Give It a Year.
On a gloomy night at the Oval, on a pitch where even Kevin Pietersen can't time the ball, in walks débutante Chris Woakes. Looking like a cricket action figure fresh from the box, he caresses his first ball in test cricket through the covers for four. The crowd erupt in partly ironic, partly jubilant applause at this rare break from the two run an over boredom that preceded it. 15 not out at the close including a beautiful back-foot straight drive, and Woakes already looks the business. It would be premature to dub him the next Flintoff/Botham/W.G.Grace, but after his brief innings today I think it confirms why England have been interested in him for so long.
However, the first two days of play cannot be forgotten, and neither can the way Shane Watson dismissed him around the park. He may be a 'batting allrounder' as all the commentators and pundits continue to say, but his route in the team will undoubtedly be decided by his ability to bowl economical spells and get wickets on flat decks. With his involvement in the ODI team almost a guarantee now Bresnan is injured, it will be tough for him to get the necessary first class games and experience in before the Ashes down under, or even before next year. But what is clear is that he needs strong guidance from the England management. It would be easy for them to say ''go and get some wickets and runs'' then turn their backs and watch the statistics, but what I believe is key will be the way in which he gets his wickets and the sort of lengths he bowls. Opening for Warwickshire he can bowl an aggressively full length to get some swing and extract the seam that Edgbaston offers, whilst bowling just back of a length with the older ball. However as Watson proved yesterday and on Wednesday with punishing straight drives and front-foot pulls, there is little margin for error in Test match cricket. This winter and next year will be massive for him, and needs to be spent specifically and wisely.
The man Woakes harshly replaced, Johnny Bairstow, can feel hard done by. All the batsman so far at the Oval have got starts, and he will probably feel he deserved a go in this last test, just to prove himself before the away leg. But for me his batting won't be the deciding factor in his England future. James Taylor is amassing some serious runs for Nottinghamshire in Division One, and on the green seamer that is Trent Bridge - no amount of second division runs will alter England's perception of Bairstow. However, Matt Prior has had a below par series and may possibly be attracted by IPL and Big Bash riches, and with no immediate or obvious plans to include Kieswetter or Butler in the test squads, I would feel wicketkeeping is Bairstow's route to future success. Alec Stewart was once considered an opening batter who kept a bit, but with perseverance and hard work became England's number one with the gloves, as can be said for Matt Prior who was frankly awful when he first donned an England shirt (e.g. Sri Lanka 2007). For me this winter should be about Bairstow the wicketkeeper. It's most likely he will retain his place for the Australian tour given England propensity to leave James Taylor on the sidelines, but this shouldn't serve as an excuse to stop developing his skills behind the stumps. Learn from the proximity with Matt Prior, talk to Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy who will be around with Channel 9, and come back to county cricket in 2014 not just as a dashing number 6, but as a top-order player who can hold his own against the likes of Steven Davies. Otherwise he's just another batsman with a test average of 30.
At the moment though, these two are both fighting for the same place at number 6. Ironically it could be ODI cricket that decides the winner.
However, the first two days of play cannot be forgotten, and neither can the way Shane Watson dismissed him around the park. He may be a 'batting allrounder' as all the commentators and pundits continue to say, but his route in the team will undoubtedly be decided by his ability to bowl economical spells and get wickets on flat decks. With his involvement in the ODI team almost a guarantee now Bresnan is injured, it will be tough for him to get the necessary first class games and experience in before the Ashes down under, or even before next year. But what is clear is that he needs strong guidance from the England management. It would be easy for them to say ''go and get some wickets and runs'' then turn their backs and watch the statistics, but what I believe is key will be the way in which he gets his wickets and the sort of lengths he bowls. Opening for Warwickshire he can bowl an aggressively full length to get some swing and extract the seam that Edgbaston offers, whilst bowling just back of a length with the older ball. However as Watson proved yesterday and on Wednesday with punishing straight drives and front-foot pulls, there is little margin for error in Test match cricket. This winter and next year will be massive for him, and needs to be spent specifically and wisely.
The man Woakes harshly replaced, Johnny Bairstow, can feel hard done by. All the batsman so far at the Oval have got starts, and he will probably feel he deserved a go in this last test, just to prove himself before the away leg. But for me his batting won't be the deciding factor in his England future. James Taylor is amassing some serious runs for Nottinghamshire in Division One, and on the green seamer that is Trent Bridge - no amount of second division runs will alter England's perception of Bairstow. However, Matt Prior has had a below par series and may possibly be attracted by IPL and Big Bash riches, and with no immediate or obvious plans to include Kieswetter or Butler in the test squads, I would feel wicketkeeping is Bairstow's route to future success. Alec Stewart was once considered an opening batter who kept a bit, but with perseverance and hard work became England's number one with the gloves, as can be said for Matt Prior who was frankly awful when he first donned an England shirt (e.g. Sri Lanka 2007). For me this winter should be about Bairstow the wicketkeeper. It's most likely he will retain his place for the Australian tour given England propensity to leave James Taylor on the sidelines, but this shouldn't serve as an excuse to stop developing his skills behind the stumps. Learn from the proximity with Matt Prior, talk to Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy who will be around with Channel 9, and come back to county cricket in 2014 not just as a dashing number 6, but as a top-order player who can hold his own against the likes of Steven Davies. Otherwise he's just another batsman with a test average of 30.
At the moment though, these two are both fighting for the same place at number 6. Ironically it could be ODI cricket that decides the winner.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Too Early?
The question on the minds of most England fans this morning was "what's going on?" and maybe a few "who's he?". In Andy Flower England have had a coach that has foregone the old 'one test and see' mentality of the past, and instead built his regime around consistency of selection and giving players a run of games to prove themselves. This morning however, Johnny Bairstow was discarded after a fairly innocuous series to be replaced by Chris Woakes, with Simon Kerrigan coming in to replace the injured Tim Bresnan.
Chris Woakes was a fairly surprising pick if not one that was always on the horizon; he has spent time with England in the ODI's and has been on their radar for some time, fitting in with the current trend of players that can 'bowl dry', and is a virtual like-for-like replacement for Tim Bresnan. His stats in First Class also justify his selection - an average of 37.67 with the bat and 25.48 with the ball represent those of a brilliant up and coming allrounder - why not play him here on a flat pitch and see how he handles it? It will be interesting to see how he handles it and will act as an indicator for the upcoming Ashes in Australia and his test future in general. Regardless of how he goes and has gone at the Oval, I am sure he will be around for a few years yet.
For me the odd pick was Simon Kerrigan. It was a marquee selection, a grand statement to Australia showing the depth in England's spinning department, and to me seemed a fairly harsh slap in the face to Monty Panesar - 'You could be playing here mate if you hadn't had a mental breakdown'. However, today's play has shown this may have been a step too far and too early for the young Lancashire spinner. He relishes the turning pitches at Old Trafford, but on decks that don't offer as much assistance he has been found wanting on a number of occasions, and has a propensity to lose his action and pitch the ball short as highlighted last year against a rampant Kevin Pietersen at Guildford, and in the recent Lions match at Northampton. There his tormentor was Shane Watson, and history repeated itself today when Watson dispatched Kerrigan for 28 in 2 overs, peppering the midwicket boundary with a multitude of pull shots. Comparisons may be drawn between him and former England player Chris Schofield who had similar problems with a low/absent front arm. Kerrigan seems a far greater player than Schofield and may well come out in the second innings when there's a bit more rough around and take five-for to win the game, but to me that will prove my point exactly - he currently needs help from the pitch or he's in trouble.
It's easy with hindsight to say the Kerrigan pick was a premature one and indeed that of Chris Woakes, but now that they have been made it should send a message to the England establishment - Work in progress. Like Johnny Bairstow and Steven Finn, these players need time to work out their games and be ready for the top level when it next comes, not thrown in at the deep-end and written off as it would appear James Taylor has been. And although it may seem like short-termism to play the likes of Chris Tremlett and Nick Compton, I feel giving them a year or two in the side whilst the younger class graduate is a far better ploy than playing promising talent after promising talent and never seeing the rewards. Hopefully Panesar will serve his penance with Essex and be recalled for the next Ashes series, so that Kerrigan can go out with the Lions and get some good game experience, the kind that you just don't get when you are carrying the drinks.
Chris Woakes was a fairly surprising pick if not one that was always on the horizon; he has spent time with England in the ODI's and has been on their radar for some time, fitting in with the current trend of players that can 'bowl dry', and is a virtual like-for-like replacement for Tim Bresnan. His stats in First Class also justify his selection - an average of 37.67 with the bat and 25.48 with the ball represent those of a brilliant up and coming allrounder - why not play him here on a flat pitch and see how he handles it? It will be interesting to see how he handles it and will act as an indicator for the upcoming Ashes in Australia and his test future in general. Regardless of how he goes and has gone at the Oval, I am sure he will be around for a few years yet.
For me the odd pick was Simon Kerrigan. It was a marquee selection, a grand statement to Australia showing the depth in England's spinning department, and to me seemed a fairly harsh slap in the face to Monty Panesar - 'You could be playing here mate if you hadn't had a mental breakdown'. However, today's play has shown this may have been a step too far and too early for the young Lancashire spinner. He relishes the turning pitches at Old Trafford, but on decks that don't offer as much assistance he has been found wanting on a number of occasions, and has a propensity to lose his action and pitch the ball short as highlighted last year against a rampant Kevin Pietersen at Guildford, and in the recent Lions match at Northampton. There his tormentor was Shane Watson, and history repeated itself today when Watson dispatched Kerrigan for 28 in 2 overs, peppering the midwicket boundary with a multitude of pull shots. Comparisons may be drawn between him and former England player Chris Schofield who had similar problems with a low/absent front arm. Kerrigan seems a far greater player than Schofield and may well come out in the second innings when there's a bit more rough around and take five-for to win the game, but to me that will prove my point exactly - he currently needs help from the pitch or he's in trouble.
It's easy with hindsight to say the Kerrigan pick was a premature one and indeed that of Chris Woakes, but now that they have been made it should send a message to the England establishment - Work in progress. Like Johnny Bairstow and Steven Finn, these players need time to work out their games and be ready for the top level when it next comes, not thrown in at the deep-end and written off as it would appear James Taylor has been. And although it may seem like short-termism to play the likes of Chris Tremlett and Nick Compton, I feel giving them a year or two in the side whilst the younger class graduate is a far better ploy than playing promising talent after promising talent and never seeing the rewards. Hopefully Panesar will serve his penance with Essex and be recalled for the next Ashes series, so that Kerrigan can go out with the Lions and get some good game experience, the kind that you just don't get when you are carrying the drinks.
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