Jon Lewis’ choice of players to represent England in the test match will speak volumes about his philosophy of cricket.
Can the established players all be sure of retention? Can the younger generation harbour hopes of promotion? How far will he and his commmittee be influenced by events in the two warm-up matches?
A test squad of 15 was announced on 12 June:
Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, *Lauren Filer, *Danielle Gibson, Amy Jones (w-k), Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Issy Wong, Danielle Wyatt
*uncapped
Just for completeness, this was the back-up squad selected:
Lauren Winfield-Hill (captain), Maia Bouchier, Alice Davidson-Richards, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Kirstie Gordon, Eva Gray, Bess Heath, Eve Jones, Paige Scholfield, Grace Scrivens and Danielle Wyatt. (AD-R and Wyatt appeared in both lists)
They all played in last week’s pair of matches.
From that first list I would pick just nine as probable starters: Knight, Beaumont, Bell, Capsey, Cross, Dunkley, Ecclestone, Jones and Sciver-Brunt.
Even that group can be further divided: the absolute certainties (Knight, Sciver-Brunt, Ecclestone) then the highly likelies (Beaumont, Cross, Jones, etc.)
When Beaumont suddenly found herself discarded (Commonwealth Games 2022) we remembered that nothing in life is permanent. 201 not out was her answer. Then comes the quandary that few achievements in those two games came against opposition likely to be faced at Trent Bridge.
That’s where we will learn much about the selectors’ approach. Is a double ton against a reserve team worth the same as a 5-fer against a first-choice team (Kirstie Gordon)?
Lauren Winfield-Hill was in the reverse position to Beaumont: a battling ton against the pick of Aussie bowlers might convince the bosses that she should return to her once very fruitful opening partnership with Beaumont.
Life is complicated.
A more extreme poser concerns Grace Scrivens. Two distinguished observers of the women’s game (Raf Nicholson and Syd Egan, see below) canvass for her to be Knight’s successor as captain, sooner rather than later. But that must surely mean picking a Kentish opening pair, rather than LW-H or Emma Lamb. At Derby Lamb was limited to 10 with the bat and a late contribution with the ball (5-0-20-0).
The middle order will offer Knight, NS-B, Dunkley, Jones with others to be added. The selectors have shown every sign they would like one of them to be Alice Capsey. The inclusion of Amy Jones as keeper allows the luxury of No 7 and even 8 being a batter.
I have plumped for Jones as my keeper without getting the little grey cells to operate at all. As we will see much further down, Raf Nicholson does not agree. She admitted she’d overlooked the need for a keeper first time round (we all nod), so LW-H got the job. I can’t possibly agree. Jones didn’t need a scruffy performance by Alyssa Healy to prove her own quality.
On the bowling front Lauren Bell presented her case powerfully. England (and especially her former skipper at Berkshire, H. Knight) have been steering her career since she was in her mid- teens. Her time has surely come.
Kate Cross is the one quickish bowler in England who can be reliably expected to aim her deliveries at the stumps. A caustic statement, but close to the truth, I fear.
The one howler Lisa Keightley made in the 2021 test against India (again, see below) was to include only one spinner. How one-eyed can you be? It meant Ecclestone bowled 64 overs, roughly 60 more than in a T20 and even more than in the current favourite, The Hundred. Her shoulder suffered the consequences, as every spinner knew it would.
The problem is to pick her partner. The Trent Bridge track may favour wrist rather than finger-spin, where the Aussies have candidates who really turn the ball. Sarah Glenn I still regard more as a roller of the ball rather than a tweaker. Charlie Dean leads the off-spin brigade. She took 3-49, then a less impressive 1-66 as the Grace Road pitch died a death.
If Australia could pick two leggers, why can’t England pick two left-arm slows? One outstanding shift was Gordon’s 5-49 against the world champions’ top team.
Wickets are typically hard to come by in the rarefied arena of test cricket, so accuracy and the potential to take wickets must be top of the list.
Innocents Abroad
One huge benefit of those 3-dayers was to anticipate the burdens of a 5-day game. For the youngest on board there were novelties everywhere they looked. They include:
A red Duke’s ball seen against a white sightscreen
No chance of rest and recuperation after a hard day’s play; multiply that by five. Test cricket is tough, as the name implies.
A second chance to bat and bowl (unspoken: to make up for earlier misfortunes; to repeat earlier triumphs!)
Far fewer extras for leg-side deliveries.
Cricket’s ebbs and flows far longer and more extreme.
Conclusion
I am by no means sure of my best England eleven. Here’s one pot-shot: Knight, Beaumont, Scrivens, NS-B, Dunkley, Capsey, Jones, Ecclestone, Gibson, Cross, Bell (that requires Capsey, Dunkley and Scrivens to turn their arm to save Ecclestone over-exertion, which is an extreme call).
But I am sure the Aussies know they are in for a real fight. They cannot have been expecting to face a combined total of 1173 in the hosts’ two innings, nor that they would be dismissed for a total of 505 in their own two first innings.
England have experienced far too many draws among the few tests they’ve been allowed in recent years. The current forecast offers three warm dry days among the five, so fingers crossed.
Back-up
A reminder of how times change. This is the XI that faced India in 2021 (Covid raging) at Bristol:
Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Winfield-Hill, Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones (w-k), Natalie Sciver, Georgia Elwiss, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Sophia Dunkley, Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross
Of them only eight remain in harness.
In the latest edition of the Crickether podcast (Episode 169 https://crickether.com) Raf Nicholson picked an XI – before the third day of the warm-ups, which is an important factor:
Lamb, Beaumont, NS-B, Knight, Capsey, Scrivens, LW-H (w-k), Ecclestone, Dean, Cross, Bell
By the purest chance, the backdrop to the podcast depicts Scrivens launching a square drive, a great photo by Jan Kruger.
That choice is distinctly light on quick bowlers, and there’s the puzzle over the keeper. Nicholson picked LW-H out of her remaining Eleven. She didn’t explain her exclusion of Jones. Scrivens bats left-handed; do the Laws permit England to do that?
Our choices both show a changing of the guard. Just six of them have reached the age of 30; two are teenagers.
