Well, this is the first for a very long time. The England Test Squad has been announced and there is a player in there I have never heard of. I know, but I am honest enough to admit this loud and proud.
Dominic Bess, who are you?
A little bit of, er, research tells me he is a highly rated spinner who has one (yes, count them, one) wicket this season. So he’s really good then, right?
England do have past form of throwing in spinners who are not ready and finishing their careers before they even start so hopefully he is just along for the ‘experience’.
I was much happier to see Joss Buttler recalled to the squad as he is a player I love watching. I’ve always held the belief that if a middle order is not firing, like ours for quite a while now, bring in the players that always have the potential to fire very quick runs and just let them bat. I still wouldn’t be against Jason Roy and Alex Hales being in that line-up somewhere.
James Vince probably feels a little disappointed. He managed to go a whole 201 runs without nicking it to the slips days before the squad was announced and he has been left out – how’s your luck?
Moeen Ali is being ‘rested’ after a shocker of a tour (which makes me think Bess is going to be thrown in like another lamb to the slaughter).
Joe Root is going to move up to three, we are told, which is ironic as that is about as many runs as he as scored so far this summer. But hey, he loves batting at three so it will be fine.
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It’s all kicking off over ‘the 100‘. The ECB chairman, Colin Graves, is far from happy at some of the sniping going on around the idea (he clearly hasn’t read any of our stuff on it then) and is threatening to say “well, you’re not invited anyway!” to the likes of Surrey who seem particularly non-plussed by the whole affair. Graves says the competition is definitely happening and the only thing still up for debate is how the 10-ball over looks. This would be so true to the true ethics of a cricket committee, hours and hours spent over one small detail on the agenda and the actually important stuff wilfully ignored. It’s a ten-ball over – bowl ten balls and get on with it. Next?
