Form over reputation – why England must pick Jonny Bairstow‏

How rather timely that on the day England were bowled out for 103 at Lord’s and subjected to a 405 run thrashing by Australia, two Ashes hopefuls should score hundreds for their respective counties.

The most in-form batsman in the domestic first class game, Jonny Bairstow of Yorkshire, continued his fine run of form by scoring 139 against Worcestershire at Scarborough, while Nottinghamshire’s James Taylor amassed 163 unbeaten runs on day one against Sussex, before he was eventually dismissed for a career-best 291.

The pair were recently involved in the England’s squad which beat New Zealand 3-2 in their ODI series. Although Bairstow was not picked in the original squad, Jos Buttler’s finger injury meant he was called up for the final match in Durham. The 25-year-old from Bradford duly blasted England to victory with a match-winning 83 runs from 60 balls.

While Taylor’s knock at Horsham was his first championship hundred in an unusually inconspicuous summer for the 5 foot 6 batsman, Bairstow has been scoring heavily in red-ball cricket all season long.

Having made three half-centuries and two centuries prior to his England ODI call-up, Bairstow followed his T20I appearance at Old Trafford with a double-century (219*) against Durham, before hitting 108 at Edgbaston versus Warwickshire a week later.

The man who was cast aside by his country following his bit part role Down Under when England were whitewashed 18 months ago, has now tallied up 906 runs at an average of 100.67 and at an impressive strike rate of 75.44.

Unfortunately for Jonny and James, England’s typical reaction to a crisis is, don’t panic.  But why keep faith with out of nick batsmen when Bairstow is in the form of his life?

Occasionally England will pick a scapegoat and remove him from their batting unit, despite that individual not doing little wrong. Nick Compton, Michael Carberry and James Taylor himself will testify to that. Oh, and Kevin Pietersen of course.

If England do make any changes for Edgbaston, Gary Ballance will probably be the unlucky loser. Opener Adam Lyth has been catapulted into the deep end and not yet given enough of a chance to prove himself at Test level, so he will likely stay. As for Ian Bell, despite being increasingly run-shy efforts at international level, his past efforts will likely result in him keeping his place for his home Test.

Ballance is dreadfully out of form and thus may be the man to step aside, despite the fact that Bell or Root would subsequently have to shuffle up the order to No3, with Bairstow slotting in at No5.

Whether new coach Trevor Bayliss decides to act remains to be seen. But it is surely time for England to stop picking batsmen on reputation, rather than form. They cannot continue to persist with low-confidence batters purely on the basis that they’ve scored runs in the past.

After all, it didn’t hurt Australia to swap the diminishing old guard of Brad Haddin and Shane Watson for the younger, hungrier duo of Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill.

England must follow their opponents lead if they are to bounce back from their crushing defeat at Lord’s and revitalise their hopes of winning back the Ashes on home soil.

 

FLt20 “Ones-to-watch” XI Verdict

Remember our FLT20 “Ones-to-watch XI” from earlier this summer? Well, here’s how the team got on in this year’s competition.

 

1. Michael Carberry – 502 runs at 55.78, HS 100, 4 Fifties, 1 Hundred

“Yet to make a century in t20 cricket, could this be Carberry’s year?”

Yes, apparently. Michael Carberry was Hampshire’s ‘Mr Consistency’ in the FLt20 competition this year, as the Royals advanced to Finals Day having lost just one match, only to fall at the semi-final stage. His century against Lancashire came off 66 balls (11 fours and 3 sixes) and as a result of his masterful t20 displays, Carberry has been called into the England ODI and t20i squads for the series against Australia.

 

2. Dawid Malan – 351 runs at 39.00, HS 86, 3 Fifties

“Aggressive left-handed batsman Malan has had a huge amount of success in the 20-over format over the past few years.”

No change here then, for the shortest format remains Dawid Malan’s strongest. Middlesex were unfortunate not to advance from the tricky South Group, however, Malan did his best to propel them beyond the first stage with some powerful performances at the top of the order, including a match-winning 55-ball 86 against Essex at Lord’s.

 

3. Luke Wright – 130 runs at 21.67, HS 81, 1 Fifty

“England all-rounder Wright has become something of a t20 mercenary over the past few seasons, with stints in the IPL, Big Bash and BPL…”

As such an experienced t20 campaigner, Luke Wright will have been disappointed with his performances in the FLt20 this season. He reached fifty just once – he smashed 81 off 49 balls against Middlesex at Lord’s – and thus made only 49 runs in his five other innings. In addition, Wright bowled only one over for Sussex in the competition, as the Sharks finished dead last in the South Group with nine losses and one solitary victory. A year to forget for Wright and Sussex.

 

4. Owais Shah – 311 runs at 51.83, HS 68, 2 Fifties

“Essex will need Shah to be in top form if they are to qualify out of the competition’s tricky South Group.”

In contrast to his fellow seasoned t20 campaigner Wright, 2013 was a great year for both Owais Shah and Essex. Shah averaged over 50 in the competition, as Essex not only advanced out of the South Group, but all the way to finals day. The Eagles eventually bowed out in the semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Northamptonshire. Shah’s brutal 68 from 43 balls against Hampshire in the group stages, was a particular highlight.

 

5. Gary Ballance – 269 runs at 29.89, HS 68, 1 Fifty

“Zimbabwe-born batsman Gary Ballance is a player showing huge potential.”

Although Yorkshire have had a barnstorming year in the County Championship, their FLt20 campaign didn’t quite go according to plan, as the “Vikings” finished rock bottom of the North Group. But Gary Ballance won’t mind too much. Having scored runs across all three formats, including an eye-catching 68 off 39 balls in a t20 against Durham, the Zimbabwean-born leftie should get the chance to take on the Australians for real in the upcoming ODI series.

 

6. Darren Stevens – 267 runs at 38.14, HS 67, 1 Fifty; 6 wickets at 36.00, SB 2-16

“Ever since his arrival from Leicestershire in 2004, Stevens has been a critical member of the Kent team in all three forms of the game.”

Self-confessed Twenty20 junkie Darren Stevens is a wonderful ball striker, as well as a more than useful limited-overs bowler. As the highest scoring domestic t20 run-scorer prior to this summer, Stevens perhaps didn’t quite hit top gear this year, although his match-winning 67* from 44 balls against Sussex typified the qualities he possesses. Too old to play for England? “Never”, says Darren.

 

7. Craig Kieswetter – 517 runs at 64.62, HS 89*, 5 Fifties, 10 catches, 1 stumping

“South-African born wicket-keeper batsman Kieswetter will be hoping that this year’s FLt20 could be his year.”

Speaking of England honours, Craig Kieswetter will be disappointed that he failed to win a recall to the England limited-overs squads this summer. The South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman scored more domestic t20 runs in 2013 than any other player, including Michael Carberry; Taunton’s short boundaries aside, that is an impressive statistic. His 89* off 55 balls against Gloucestershire was an innings of sheer perfection. Don’t rule this lad out from returning to the England fold very soon.

 

8. Graham Napier – 95 runs at 19.00, HS 38; 12 wickets at 26.17, SB 4-18

“When it comes to limited-overs cricket, Napier is never too far away from the spotlight.”

Although he has starred in t20 cricket with the bat on numerous occasions over the years, Graham Napier refers to himself as “a bowler with bats a bit” and this rang true in his 2013 FLt20 campaign. There are very few professional players worldwide capable of bowling an inch perfect yorker on demand and Napier is one of them; all four of his four Surrey victims in his season’s best figures were clean bowled. Lead the Essex line brilliantly.

 

9. James Tredwell – 7 wickets at 16.43, SB 3-19

“The off-spinner relies on his consistency, control and subtle variations to out think the opposing batsman.”

Kent have had a number of successful seasons in the domestic t20 competition, however this year was not one of them. International commitments meant Tredwell was only able to lead his county in six of their group matches and despite his best efforts as both a leader and an off-spinner, Kent picked up just three victories in the campaign. Tredwell only played a part in one of those wins, as he bowled 3 overs 1-12 to deny Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.

 

10. Jamie Overton – N/A

“Although he has yet to play a t20 match for his county Somerset, many will be expecting young Jamie Overton to make his mark on the competition this season.”

Sadly, he didn’t. Overton is still yet to make his t20 debut for Somerset. However, fear not, because the young paceman has been included in the England squad to face Australia in the upcoming ODI series. The selectors do like picking on potential.

 

11. Boyd Rankin – 4 wickets at 11.25, SB 2-9

“Expect the six-foot-seven seamer to be cause difficulties for batsman at both ends of the innings this year.”

Whilst his county Warwickshire had a solid but unfruitful t20 summer, little credit can be given to their Irish-born fast bowler Rankin, who bowled just eight overs in the competition. That said, he did make a significant impact in those eight overs, picking up figures of 2-9 against Somerset and he subsequently finished at the top of the FLt20 2013 bowling averages. Hopefully he’ll get more of an opportunity to terrorise batsmen in the England-Australia ODI series.