The Ashes: The kids are alright
If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard the phrase “an Ashes series is no time to try new players” this summer, I’d be following the cricket from a small island in the Pacific somewhere. Why is it that all-England (by which I mean our media, who speak the words that they don’t think we have the wit to think of for ourselves) are so convinced of this?
Was it only four years ago that Kevin Pietersen was given his debut in an Ashes series? He did alright as I recall. Graham Thorpe is another that springs to mind, with a century on debut in 1993. Mind you, at that time, England operated a “law of averages” policy for young players in that they selected so many that some were bound to pay off.
Suddenly though, what was good enough for KP is not good enough any more. Are we saying, in effect, that there isn’t anyone good enough at present? And if so, how do we know?
It is part of our cricketing culture in England that we are frightened of new things – we much prefer the comfort of familiarity regardless of whether it is better than a precocious young talent or is just plain mediocre. Sadly, it has had to come to this either way, unless the selectors were going to make a massive, media driven, gamble on Ramps or Trescothick (henceforth collectively known as Tramps to save time).
Because of the policy over the preceding four years of “no, no, la la la la la” when it came to the batting lineup, Strauss and Flower are now paying the price. True, they’ve tried Bopara, who has come unstuck (but will come again). But, when they took over for the series against West Indies, the only other player outside the inner-circle with any Test experience was Owais Shah.
And you can’t argue that the existing lot have been pulling up trees. At least when Australia weren’t bringing any new players in, it was because they had 7 world class batters already, each capable of pulling up trees with just the one hand.
“But Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood both average over 40″ I can hear you cry with a hint of desperation in your voice.
So what?
An average of 40 in Test cricket doesn’t mean anything any more. In the mid-nineties, this would have equated to about 33*. So that means that Bell and Colly = John Crawley.
Once the Ashes have passed, and Flintoff has sailed away into the Test match sunset, England will have no choice but to start looking for the next generation of batsmen. They will likely have to revert to six batsmen/four bowlers for lack of a Test quality Fred-a-like, which will make this search an even higher priority.
And, obsessed by the Ashes as we are, we will need to complete that search in time for the next Ashes series down-under, in just 18 months time. Before then, England have four Tests in South Africa, a short tour of Bangladesh, and home series against Bangladesh and Pakistan. Something like a dozen Tests all together to get their next Ashes challenge sorted. They can’t afford to waste any time worrying about individual match results.
The idea of picking Tramps for this Oval Test was always far-fetched. One is forty next month, the other has repeatedly made it clear that he is retired from international cricket (people don’t listen so he keeps having to say it). The Aussies would have been delighted to face either or both. Tramps was never actually an option, but journos who should know better told us otherwise.
Trott is hardly, at 28, a wet-behind-the-ears-just-out-of-university-still-asking-his-parents-for-relationship-advice rookie. He might just do the job. Or he might not. The point is, England will never know if they do not pick him.
At the same time, being a wet-behind-the-ears-just-out-of-university-still-asking-his-parents-for-relationship-advice rookie isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, less experience, less understanding of the importance of it all (although, it’s not actually that important – not as important as, say, the threat of climate change) can lead to an uninhibited performance and better results.
We don’t seem to suffer the same problem in football – Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott to name but three were all given their heads at international level at a young age.
What is actually important is that the selectors are acting with a modicum of sense and making minor changes rather than starting again. Evolution, not revolution. For an example of how revolution works, check out the West Indies.
I say: stick the kids in there and give them a chance. They might just surprise us.
*Source: some bloke down the pub
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