Whilst most of England’s selections for the winter’s tour of South Africa were expected, there were a few that generated discussion. Although England won the Ashes, this was in spite of a lack of outstanding individual performance, and the team will find it hard to replicate that success without greater production. With a year until the next Ashes series in Australia, England need to identify some players who are going to be able to produce game breaking performances under pressure, and the credit the management earned by winning this summer has given them a little leeway with which to experiment. On the other hand, it is important not to fall into the classic English trap of being too Ashes-centric. A tour to South Africa is an end in itself, and will be a major test of Andrew Strauss’ England team.
The headlines went to the omission of Steve Harmison, but in many ways it is a surprise that he has lasted this long in the England side. Harmison’s best years were 2004-5,and since then he has achieved little in relation to his talent. He has a poor record outside of England, averaging 50.58 overseas since 2004, and he has always been a reluctant tourist. Any other bowler would garner far less attention, but because of the devastating way he bowled in 2004-5, and crucially, because of a lack of other genuinely fast bowlers, the selectors have kept coming back to him, such as this summer, when he did little, but displaced Graham Onions anyway. Unless he retires, his career will still not be over, and if he bowls well for Durham next year, his name will feature strongly in discussions for the 2010-11 Ashes.
It is this lack of pace bowling alternatives that has led to two interesting selections: Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood. Refugees from the disastrous 2006-7 tour, both started their international careers with great promise, but were ultimately too inconsistent. However, both had good seasons, and although England’s bowling attack is its strength, it remains rather one-paced, and the fear is that when the ball does not swing, Anderson, Onions and Sidebottom will struggle. Both players offer something different, and that raw ability is what Duncan Fletcher saw in them, and favoured over more consistent, but less talented county performers. Whether the intervening years have polished their rough edges remains to be seen, but theirs are talents that are worth a punt.
The other newsworthy test selection was that of Luke Wright. A reasonable one-day performer, Wright is an odd selection for the longer game, as he is not a test match bowler and seems unsuited as a batsman. Presumably he is cover for Stuart Broad, but in the event that the allrounder is injured, England would be better served by picking an extra batsman. Wright is therefore unlikely to feature much, but should an opportunity come his way, it will at least be a chance to see what he can do. Perhaps he is there to cover multiple positions, but it still seems an odd selection.
The final points of interest have been in the one-day squad, where Owais Shah has been omitted, along with Ravi Bopara, and Jonathan Trott has been included. The latter selection makes a lot of sense, Trott has a good county limited overs record and his nerveless hundred in the last Ashes test suggests an ideal temperament. Shah’s omission comes at an odd time. He had been on thin ice for some time, having underperformed since 2007. However, he came to life in the Champions Trophy, scoring 98 against South Africa and 44 against Sri Lanka. His weak fielding and running between the wickets make him a liability at times, and it is worth remembering that the selectors were forced to announce the Champions Trophy squad well before his poor performances against Australia this summer. It seems to be an equation with Shah: are the runs he scores intermittently worth his failures, and the runs that his fielding and erratic running cost the side. Clearly the selectors feel that they are not. This selection may bear the fingerprints of Andy Flower, who was the sort of industrious player unlikely to be impressed by Shah’s lack of all-round game. It may not be too late for Shah, but he will have to show a marked improvement in the next domestic season if he is to make the World Cup.
Finally, Ravi Bopara has been omitted, but this is no great surprise. After a difficult summer in both forms of the game, the Essex man needs a winter off and time to fix his technical flaws and digest his experiences. The careers of a number of Australian players, notably Damien Martyn, have shown that it is possible to come back from early disappointments, but there are concerns, notably expressed by Michael Atherton, that twice in his short test career, Bopara has been dropped after failing mentally. This winter could be the critical period in his career, if he can rebuild his game and his mindset, it could catapult him to bigger things. He would do well to turn to his mentor at Essex, Graham Gooch, who rebuilt his own career spectacularly after early failures.
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