ECB ranks it’s players

The ECB has announced it’s new England Performance Programme, with a new category system that tells everyone who is next in line for a place in the senior side.

Three categories – imaginatively named A, B and C – include those closest to selection (A), those “one to three years away” from selection (B) and those younger players who might make the jump in the future (C).  So, here’s the list:

Grade A

  1. Mark Davies (Durham)
  2. Amjad Khan (Kent)
  3. Stephen Moore (Lancashire)
  4. Michael Carberry (Hampshire)

I’m surprise to see Davies in this list, but not because he’s not worthy of it – he’s one of those players who has performed well at county level for years yet is generally percieved to be too medium paced for higher honours.  Stephen Moore gets in on the basis of deeds in 2008 in division two and one innings against Australia for England Lions this summer.  Carberry is a better pick, but Moore came from South Africa so is almost guaranteed first chance.  Khan played a Test in West Indies at the beginning of the year.

Grade B

  1. Stephen Finn (Middlesex)
  2. Andrew Gale (Yorkshire)
  3. Rory Hamilton-Brown (Sussex)
  4. Chris Jordan (Surrey)
  5. Chris Nash (Sussex)
  6. Joe Sayers (Yorkshire)
  7. Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire)
  8. James Taylor (Leicestershire)
  9. David Wainwright (Yorkshire)
  10. Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Finn and Woakes have been hyped up in the last couple of years, but James Taylor is probably the best prospect from this list.  He was the PCA Young Player of the Year, topping Leicestershire’s batting charts.

Grade C

  1. Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)
  2. Vikram Banerjee (Gloucestershire)
  3. Keith Barker (Warwickshire)
  4. Will Beer (Sussex)
  5. Alex Blake (Kent)
  6. Andy Carter (Nottinghamshire)
  7. Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
  8. Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire)
  9. Billy Godleman (Essex)
  10. Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)
  11. Richard Johnson (Warwickshire)
  12. Richard Jones (Worcestershire)
  13. Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)
  14. Jake Mickleburgh (Essex)
  15. Sam Northeast (Kent)
  16. Ollie Rayner (Sussex)
  17. Ian Saxelby (Gloucestershire)
  18. John Simpson (Middlesex)
  19. Tom Smith (Middlesex)
  20. Max Waller (Somerset)
  21. Adam Wheater (Essex)
  22. David Willey (Northamptonshire)

Fast bowling program

  1. Jade Dernbach (Surrey)
  2. David Griffiths (Hampshire)
  3. James Harris (Glamorgan)
  4. Stuart Meaker (Surrey)
  5. Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)

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