England's Selectors Facing Some Interesting Posers

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Some Interesting Posers Emerging For The Selectors

 

April 20^th 2014

 

Despite rain wiping-out more than two-thirds of the Division 2 programme, the three Division 1 games have got a full day’s play and a number of England players or pretenders have had a chance to make their mark. The biggest winners of the day are probably Gary Ballance – 117 not out in a strong Yorkshire performance against Northamptonshire – and Chris Woakes – 5-63 against Lancashire, who are showing that life in Division 1 is going to be a lot harder for them than it was in Division 2.

While Peter Moores’s supporters point to his leading Lancashire to Championship success in 2011, the detractors point out that the side was relegated the following year and, despite bouncing straight back up, look rather thin to mount a challenge in Division 1 this year. The implied criticism is that he has not been effective at reinforcing the side and that rather than turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse, took a Championship-winning side and turned it into a sow’s ear.

There is a strong suggestion that Lancashire’s chances will depend very much on how much Jimmy Anderson can galvanise them to early wins. Today, despite bowling with pace and good rhythm, his new ball spell went wicketless and Warwickshire made a strong start chasing Lancashire’s 247ao. Jos Buttler’s much-anticipated first innings of the season ended on 28, with a catch to Tim Ambrose (six in the innings, four of them off Woakes). For the first time in the last six years, Jimmy Anderson’s name is not a given in the England side after a difficult tour of Australia. He needs some wickets, just to remind the selectors that, despite the rise of rivals such as Chris Jordan, he is one of the best four seamers in the country: one assumes that Broad and Jordan are already pencilled-in.  

The stand-out performance of the day was Ballance’s 117*, with 18x4 and 1x6. Ballance has started the season with 101, 77, 5 and, now, 117* and is making a pretty powerful case to occupy the spot of either the unfortunate Jonathon Trott or KP.

In the one Division 2 game to get in nearly a full day of play, Michael Carberry has not helped his case by adding another attractive 45 to 0, 6, 27 and 100*. Carberry needs some big runs to stay in the frame, with Sam Robson and Alistair Cook already making pretty irresistible cases to open.

The one real area of doubt is the wicket-keeping spot. Jonny Bairstow and Matt Prior are injured. Jos Buttler is playing his first game and one wonders if the selectors would want to go back to someone like Steven Davies if others are either unavailable, or unconvincing. There is even a chance that the selectors could go with someone with international experience such as Craig Kieswetter if he gets into a run of form. People tend to forget that, barely 26 years old, Kieswetter is still relatively young and probably 3-4 years from reaching his peak.