England have decided to break from the team that has brought them so much success in a radical shake-up, as Rob Key focuses on the future rather than the present.
The squad for the first two Test matches against the West Indies was announced with notable exceptions. There was no place for previous Bazball stalwarts, the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jack Leach and Ben Foakes.
Bairstow was dropped on exactly 100 caps, and a year after England stuck with him, awarding him the gloves in an Ashes series when his mobility was severely affected by a horrific leg break less than nine months previously, but that loyalty has seemingly come to an end.
Instead, England turn to Jamie Smith, a wicketkeeper who does not keep for his county (Surrey), where Foakes is the first-choice gloveman, as he had been for the national side for all of the winter tour of India.
“We’ve been watching Jamie Smith for quite some time,” Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket said.
“You just see players who you think are rare talents really, and he looks like that.
“We’ve done a fair amount on his keeping as well, because obviously we don’t get to see much of him keeping in county cricket, but he’s more than a stopgap keeper, that’s for sure.
“We want people who can not only up the ante if they have to, batting with the tail, but also soak up pressure as well, and we feel Jamie Smith can do that.”
England have tended to prefer a batter-wicketkeeper over a specialist gloveman, at least in home conditions in recent years, although Durham’s Ollie Robinson might be the unlucky player to miss out.
The decision to opt for youth rather than experience might make sense for the seam attack, with James Anderson’s imminent retirement just a year after Stuart Broad made the decision a year previously, but the spin bowling choice came as a surprise.
England have backed 20-year-old off spinner Shoaib Bashir over Jack Leach, even though the duo hail from the same county, where the latter is the undisputed first choice. Leach’s injury ahead of the India series in the winter fast-tracked Bashir into the side and he went on to take 17 wickets in three Test matches, including two five-fors.
However since then, Bashir has been forced to go out on loan in search of first-team cricket, playing for Worcestershire, where he was dispatched for a then-record equalling 38 in a single over.
“I love watching what he (Bashir) did in India really,” Key explained. “The same thing, where you’re picking someone because you just see that potential.
“I think that he’s an excellent bowler now, and he showed that.
“He’s right at the beginning of his career now, so it’s an opportunity, and I think we’ll see him thrive, we’ll see him grow.”
Key added: “If there’s ever a time when we need a second spinner, I’d imagine that would be Jack Leach.
“When we go to places like Pakistan, I see someone like Leach fulfilling that second spinner role, and who knows, injuries or anything like that. It’s very much not the end for Jack Leach.”
In the seam attack, Chris Woakes is the only experienced player with Matthew Potts, Gus Atkinson and Dillon Pennington also included. Anderson will play the first Test, bowing out at the top of his game, but it is not clear yet who will take up his mantle in the long-term.
The dropping of Sussex’s Ollie Robinson does not come as a surprise after an underwhelming year and a tour of India where he struggled to maintain his speeds and stay fit enough.
Bazball England have previously stuck with the players who have delivered the success, yet this is a significant departure from the immediate recalls of Broad and Anderson when Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over. England have to look to the future, but it remains to be seen whether the move has come too soon and in too many positions or not.
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