There may be troubles ahead: England selection issues.
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It seems sensible to suggest that a period of readjustment is on its way. Not really because of the toils with bat and ball in Australia (I still think we have a reasonable chance) but because the natural lifespan of a team is coming to an end.
As suggested elsewhere on the board, the inability to get a serious contribution from our seventh batter, opener and third seamer since the beginning of 2012 suggests that there might be a bit of a fall off in quality beyond the first eight picks. This whole picture is complicated by the struggles on the pitch during that time, which now appear hard to ignore. England have an ageing and tired looking team, even among the eight.
If I award one of the number six/spare opener/number three to Root, who looks likely to have a bright future (though his similar mannerisms/movement to Atherton make me irrationally fear years ahead of him standing as the lone impediment to another England collapse) that leaves nine tenants of first team places. Let me add Bresnan and Carberry for arguments sake. Though Carberry I see as adding to the problems of a team needing to build for the future, and with Root actually showing signs of life in that position in the summer, I thought he should have stayed there.
This lines up as the side, and I've identified needs for planning. A slash suggests a need for longer term change. A double slash suggests more imminent change, and italics, a question mark over quality, or serious loss of form.
Cook
Carberry//
Trott//
Pietersen//
Bell/
Root
Prior/
Bresnan
Broad
Swann//
Anderson//
So I've identified Broad (who carries a permanent injury) Cook and Root as players to carry us into the foreseeable future.
Beyond that:
Next level. I think Bell will be able to play for a while. After his superb summer Ashes there is an acceptance that Ian Bell as an irrefutable recent success of the team. But since 2012, he's really only had that one good series, though with some other sporadic performances. Nevertheless, I see Bell as having a medium term future, and my hunch is that he may have some of his best years.
We can add Bresnan to this group based on age, though the doubt is over his quality, therefore I will add him, but italicised.
Prior would be in the same position as Bell, as a player with a few more years on the clock. His form currently makes it difficult to to know whether he can deliver on this potential. So I will italicise him too.
So, Cook, Root, Bell, Broad, Bresnan, Prior. Can play for the longish term.
Beyond that level, we have Carberry, who complicates everything by being a new player who is old. He's a potential Simon Katich figure in that he's a player you might want to look past with a view to rebuilding, but may well hang around, and may be better than alternatives. My view is that his selection was a mistake and just creates a problem for later. I would have kept Compton, but can't go back to him really, for the same reason as my objection to Carberry. So Carberry is someone who needs to be replaced in the medium term, but I will italicise him as we don't know yet if he is good enough.
Likely to go in the short to medium term are Swann, Anderson and Pietersen. Anderson hasn't had a great year, but he still has had very good days. He looks tired and down on pace and hasn't been preserved well over the years. Swann has had a very good year, and is an England phenomenon, but he too is injured perpertualy and is 35. Pietersen says he wants to go on, but his decline seems to be becoming quite entrenched. His 2013 hasn't been good, though he was superb in 2012. He scored a ton at Old Trafford, which no one remembers.
So, Pietersen, Anderson, Carberry and Swann can play for the medium term. We need to identify alternatives to them now.
On the next level there's Trott, about whom it is difficult to make any predictions at all. Except he needs to be (and is) replaced in the short term.
Then there is the issue of who will carry out the change. James Whitaker is Chairman of Selectors, and Ashley Giles is a selector. Another position will be filled to replace Whitaker's previous role. More importantly, will Flower stick around to overhaul the side a second time? Presumably Cook will be given the chance to develop his own side, rather than the one he inherited from Strauss. There's no need for them to suddenly wield the axe, but there are changes ahead, and probably results will suffer.
As suggested elsewhere on the board, the inability to get a serious contribution from our seventh batter, opener and third seamer since the beginning of 2012 suggests that there might be a bit of a fall off in quality beyond the first eight picks. This whole picture is complicated by the struggles on the pitch during that time, which now appear hard to ignore. England have an ageing and tired looking team, even among the eight.
If I award one of the number six/spare opener/number three to Root, who looks likely to have a bright future (though his similar mannerisms/movement to Atherton make me irrationally fear years ahead of him standing as the lone impediment to another England collapse) that leaves nine tenants of first team places. Let me add Bresnan and Carberry for arguments sake. Though Carberry I see as adding to the problems of a team needing to build for the future, and with Root actually showing signs of life in that position in the summer, I thought he should have stayed there.
This lines up as the side, and I've identified needs for planning. A slash suggests a need for longer term change. A double slash suggests more imminent change, and italics, a question mark over quality, or serious loss of form.
Cook
Carberry//
Trott//
Pietersen//
Bell/
Root
Prior/
Bresnan
Broad
Swann//
Anderson//
So I've identified Broad (who carries a permanent injury) Cook and Root as players to carry us into the foreseeable future.
Beyond that:
Next level. I think Bell will be able to play for a while. After his superb summer Ashes there is an acceptance that Ian Bell as an irrefutable recent success of the team. But since 2012, he's really only had that one good series, though with some other sporadic performances. Nevertheless, I see Bell as having a medium term future, and my hunch is that he may have some of his best years.
We can add Bresnan to this group based on age, though the doubt is over his quality, therefore I will add him, but italicised.
Prior would be in the same position as Bell, as a player with a few more years on the clock. His form currently makes it difficult to to know whether he can deliver on this potential. So I will italicise him too.
So, Cook, Root, Bell, Broad, Bresnan, Prior. Can play for the longish term.
Beyond that level, we have Carberry, who complicates everything by being a new player who is old. He's a potential Simon Katich figure in that he's a player you might want to look past with a view to rebuilding, but may well hang around, and may be better than alternatives. My view is that his selection was a mistake and just creates a problem for later. I would have kept Compton, but can't go back to him really, for the same reason as my objection to Carberry. So Carberry is someone who needs to be replaced in the medium term, but I will italicise him as we don't know yet if he is good enough.
Likely to go in the short to medium term are Swann, Anderson and Pietersen. Anderson hasn't had a great year, but he still has had very good days. He looks tired and down on pace and hasn't been preserved well over the years. Swann has had a very good year, and is an England phenomenon, but he too is injured perpertualy and is 35. Pietersen says he wants to go on, but his decline seems to be becoming quite entrenched. His 2013 hasn't been good, though he was superb in 2012. He scored a ton at Old Trafford, which no one remembers.
So, Pietersen, Anderson, Carberry and Swann can play for the medium term. We need to identify alternatives to them now.
On the next level there's Trott, about whom it is difficult to make any predictions at all. Except he needs to be (and is) replaced in the short term.
Then there is the issue of who will carry out the change. James Whitaker is Chairman of Selectors, and Ashley Giles is a selector. Another position will be filled to replace Whitaker's previous role. More importantly, will Flower stick around to overhaul the side a second time? Presumably Cook will be given the chance to develop his own side, rather than the one he inherited from Strauss. There's no need for them to suddenly wield the axe, but there are changes ahead, and probably results will suffer.