Just before Lisa Keightley’s announces her England squad to play India in a welcome test match in Bristol (start: 16 June), let’s look at some of the challenges she faces.
There are the seventeen centrally contracted players – Sophia Dunkley is a worthy addition to the sixteen already on board – as follows:
Heather Knight, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Danni Wyatt, Fran Wilson, Freya Davies, Georgia Elwiss, Kate Cross, Katherine Brunt, Katie George, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Mady Villiers, Nat Sciver, Sarah Glenn, Sophie Ecclestone and Tammy Beaumont.
The central question is: will Keightley be minded to include form players not among the chosen few? Three games of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy aren’t a lot to go by, set against years of proven experience, but there have already been some exceptional performances from players on the list of domestic contracts.
Among the spinners Charlotte Taylor (Vipers) has continued her outstanding form of last year (she was top wicket-taker) with her well controlled off-spin (8 wickets at 9 apiece). Her figures far outreach those of Mady Villiers, the only front-line off-spinner among the 17. Villiers, like Fran Wilson, has been in the Sunrisers hub that has found life so arduous for the second season running. Should they be expecting more from their top players?
Among the quicks Issy Wong (Central Sparks, 8 wickets at 13) has provided further evidence of her searing pace and control. She went with the touring party to New Zealand, but has yet to displace one of the established new-ball bowlers. Her team-mate Emily Arlott (8 wickets at 15) provided the over of the season thus far, dismissing four batters and completing a dramatic hat-trick.
How do we set these achievements against the CVs of all-time greats like Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole? I have a sneaking suspicion that Wong would have been catapulted into the Australian XI by now.
Keeper
The easy choice first. Keightley is won’t alter her wicket-keeper; Amy Jones posted two big centuries in her first three innings, and her glovework was of its usual high standard. It would be fascinating to know how the specialist coaches rank the other seven keepers around the country. The general standard is very high. Do they follow the disappointing trend of looking first for the highest batting average?
Batting
The front line comprises the skipper Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont, Nat Sciver and Jones. Only Sciver has not yet found form, averaging 13 with the bat and 50 with the ball. She would like those numbers to be reversed. What about Danni Wyatt? She has hit three successive fifties for Vipers, one a solo effort against the odds. If she is selected again, it will tell us a lot about Keightley. There has been more or less no change in the batting line-up for yonks. Only Dunkley has been allowed into this select enclosure recently. She has learned how to build a really big innings to add to the power of her stroke-making.
Other experienced batters such as Lauren Winfield-Hill and Fran Wilson haven’t produced the goods as consistently as they would wish. LW-H scored a splendid 110 against Sparks, but added only 9 runs in her other two knocks. Wilson hit a defiant 50 for Sunrisers, but their weak status needs more input from their leading players. Georgia Elwiss is another multi-capped candidate, but like Sciver her current stats are the wrong way round: 18 with the bat, 53 with the ball.
The leading contender from outside this group is Emma Lamb (Thunder), who scored 121 at Bristol, site of the coming test.
There isn’t a single left-hander here to upset bowlers’ radar.
Bowling
The two lead spinners, Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn, pick themselves. Though Glenn hasn’t been heavily among the wickets, her economy rate is exactly what will be needed in a 4-day game, and her batting is producing dividends (118 runs already). I would want at least three front-line spinners in my test team; who takes the third slot? Heather Knight hasn’t yet thrust Villiers (3 wickets at 39) into the front-line of her England attack. On her record alone it would be Taylor. Kirstie Gordon was in eye-catching form for Lightning in Round 3. I’d much prefer to see her playing for Scotland, but that’s not my business. Charlotte Dean too has her advocates (Vipers, 7 wickets at 15)
In a 4-day game fast bowling is wearing toil. That is where doubts arise about the choice of both Brunt and Shrubsole. If they can deliver 20-25 overs in a day, then fine; otherwise there must be a chance for others to find a place. Freya Davies is the next in line, but her figures this season (2 wickets at 48) don’t ring bells. Kate Cross has been consistent without being able to topple the front-line batters. Both Wong and Tash Farrant (9 wickets at 13) have more impressive records; Farrant’s left-arm approach adds much needed variety.
The whole campaign
With three different formats in the offing, that test match plus the regulation ODIs and T20s, will Keightley adopt the pattern of the men’s game and pick horses for courses? That would be a sharp change of direction. Till now the best players have simply had to change their approach to batting and bowling according to the length of the game in front of them. No easy task.
After the third round of the RHF last weekend the England squad retired to their bubble in Loughborough. What we don’t yet know is whether extra bodies have been invited along. The inherent danger in awarding contracts is that selection can easily be limited to those few players. whether they are in form or not.
One ongoing concern is the lack of competition for batting places from the younger generation. It was visible at the end of the KSL series: in a format dominated by overseas players uncapped English players were notable for their absence from the batting honours lists. There are any number of hopeful candidates; the trouble is, very few are proving their worth with consistent numbers. In the cruel game of cricket that’s all that counts.
