So the conventional international summer comes to an end. Obviously massive credit to both Pakistan and the West Indies for making the trip, and committing to the trip, at the time when a pandemic was raging in this country. I think for me, and a lot of others it made a real difference to see live cricket.
England will for the most part be very pleased with their summers work. 3-1 over 6 games is a pretty solid return, against 2 talented but ultimately mid level sides. I make it 15 home series (of more than 2 games) since England lost at home, so they remain very strong.
I haven’t given a lot of thought to the one day sides, and will probably do a bit of a de-brief post the Australia series, and focus more on tests here.
Some general thoughts- I think England have done what they needed to do after the Ashes. Overall Root has captained pretty well and Silverwood has settled into the job positively. I think they need to be less cautious at times, but we are slowly moving away from that mindset.
The introduction of young players, and specialists has been a big positive for me. Sibley, Crawley, Pope and Bess will all benefit fromthe experiences they have had. It’s a shame they can’t seem to get Curran in. But their introduction has helped them team.
In terms of the bowling- and obviously injuries and form aside it looks to me as if we are moving to Australia on the basis of Woakes, Broad, Anerson, Archer & Wood as the 5 quicks I expect to go. Craig Overton may be able to push himself in, but I think the above 5 are the guys in possession. By the time Australia comes about, I think Anderson and Broad will alternate (Broad Brisbaine, Anderson Adelaide etc) with probably neither playing at the WACA. To me thats sensible.
Wood and Archer may take a blow in one game, and I think Woakes will fill in a couple of games. It’s a tough spot for the selectors. Wood and Archer have to be prioritised for Australia and I think will bowl very well there. Woakes as a package is hard to ignore, especially as he’s a very good number 7-8.
I get the arguments re Anderson/Broad and age. However that experience will be critical, and if they are committed to I don’t see any reason why not. Anderson bowled pretty well Australia last time (averaging about 30). Broad didn’t really, but it’s fair to say Broad is probably bowling better now than he did 3 years ago. I don’t see any reason why they can’t be successful if they are well managed both before and during the series.
The real pickle England have with the bowling is with the spinner. (I appreciate bowlers like Ollie Robinson/Mahmood may push their way in, but don’t see it currently). Finger spinners traditionally struggle in Australia, even Greame Swann only averages 46 in Australia. Bess is a young and improving cricketer, but I do worry if he will be able to keep an end tight in Australia. He averages 50+ in England with the ball, but his batting is about 28 now. I actually think, as 23- there is probably quite a competent lower-mid order player there. That may be what gets him the shout. If he can cement himself as a solid 7, it gives another dimension to the team.
Leach is probably the best alternative bowling wise. He bowls with good control and has shown himself to be a prtty gutsy tailender. He also gives another angle- which particularly for Steve Smith has to fairly central in their thoughts. He may not take a lot of wickets, but he’s quite accurate.
Moeen Ali is a bit of a wildcard. As has been mentioned he’s been on the decline, struggles badly in Australia and sturggles \way from home really. I am a bit Ali fan, but sense his time may have come and gone.
The other wildcard is Rashid. I would be very tempted to move in this direction. He’s a leg spinner, which I sense you need to be in Australia, and again quite a handy number 8. The concern would be his control- where Leach gives good control, he will leak runs but get wickets. A lot depends on what they are doing with the rest of the attack. An attack of Wood, Archer, Rashid and Broad could go for a lot of runs quickly.
I would probably go the Rashid route, but fully understand if they see the package of Bess- as a bowling allrounder is hard to ignore. I’ll do a evaluation of where the batting is at in a following post.
