Cricket news: England warm up for blockbuster Ashes series with white-ball tour of New Zealand
England’s white-ball tour of New Zealand gets underway this weekend, with several members of the Ashes squad looking to sharpen their skills ahead of next month’s blockbuster showdown with Australia.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Oliver Shorland analyses three key areas of the tourists’ squad.
Magical number three
Ollie Pope will most likely continue at number three for England, but that won’t stop people clamouring for change after his inconsistent performances against India over the summer.
And should head coach Brendon McCullum look to shift the batting order around, there are a couple of options.
Just under a year ago, many would have said it was Jacob Bethell’s spot to lose in the wake of a strong Test debut in New Zealand.
However, the Barbados-born all-rounder would only play a bit-part role through most of England’s summer, including missing the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in favour of playing in the IPL.
He also experienced a lack of domestic cricket with Warwickshire, facing only 387 balls during the season.
When Bethell did eventually get an opportunity in the fifth India Test, he scored a combined 11 runs across two innings, falling well short of the standard he had set on debut.
Jamie Smith is another contender after some gritty displays against the visiting Indians, with his score of 184 at Edgbaston – the highest for an England wicket-keeper – a particular standout.
Smith’s inclusion up the order is unlikely to happen, however, as boss McCullum told BBC Sport: “We’re very happy with him at seven and with the gloves on”.
Bashir spinning solo
England have selected only one out-and-out spinner to travel down under, namely Shoaib Bashir.
The youngster, on loan at Glamorgan from Somerset this summer, was heavily involved against India before a broken finger curtailed his series.
Still just 22, there’s plenty of room for improvement in Bashir’s game, not least with his batting as he has struggled to add meaningful runs at the tail end of the order.
As a result, England’s spin attack may prove somewhat of a weak link in Australia, with part-time spinner Will Jacks serving as Bashir’s only real backup.
Indeed, many feel that McCullum and co. have overlooked some key names here.
Experienced Somerset spinner Jack Leach was one of the leading wicket-takers in the County Championship and would be no stranger at the highest level, having already taken 142 wickets in 39 Tests for England.
Other in-form options include Sam Curran, recently recalled to the T20 side after taking 12 wickets in The Hundred and 21 in the Vitality Blast, and Rehan Ahmed, whose 23 wickets fired Leicestershire into Division 1 of the County Championship for the first time in 22 years.
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Juggling act continues
England’s pace attack group – consisting of Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, and Ben Stokes – forms quite a cohesive unit.
With that said, there appears to be a management problem as all but a few of the names just mentioned have had significant injury problems over the last 12 to 18 months and for a variety of reasons.
It’s certainly a juggling act to keep fast-bowler wear and tear to a minimum during five-Test series, but England’s administrators seem to struggle more than most to keep the balance.
And given that Australian conditions will see the visiting quicks saddle a hefty burden on hard and dry pitches, a solution needs to be found sooner rather than later.
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