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Jonny Bairstow* (rhb) | 71 | 44 | |||||
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Hopefully we won't be seeing him again. England still have an opener problem. Lees and Crawley have both failed this series
Yes, if, as mentioned previously, Daddy is a very very wealthy hedge fund manager who looks after most of the MCC committee personally.Stokes says it's not about stats but the manner that you play. So if someone like Crawley keeps hitting a few fours and then getting out for less than 25 he keeps his place?
Spose it's possible but sounds unlikely to me that the selection Committee will be swayed by such things. Does daddy look after McCallum and Stokes funds? Maybe there actually isn't anyone better out there!Yes, if, as mentioned previously, Daddy is a very very wealthy hedge fund manager who looks after most of the MCC committee personally.
Whilst some things have changed gloriously for the better, certain things remain in place that make the soul cringe and this is one of them.
Well you can throw in that the new ECB Manging Director of Cricket was described by Zak Crawley as "my mentor in chief" he is clearly been allowed longer to hopefully flourish than anyone else i can remember in a long time. At least Hick and Ramprakash would go back to County Cricket and prove they were the best available, thats not happened here.
Take out his one standout score against Pakistan (only 20 wickets fell in the entire match) and in 18 homes test match innings he averages 17.
English cricket suffered for years because players from certain counties were given preferential treatment by the hierarchy, not so long ago all you had to do was sign for Surrey to guarantee yourself a test cap, hopefully those dark days are behind us, but to me Crawley's inclusion is beginning to get a bit smelly, i hope he proves me wrong and smashes India to all parts on Friday, but it appears to me that his failings are being overlooked - that leads naturally to the question - why?
The only reason I can think of is the argument that there's no one else available who could step up.I hope he comes good i really do, but why has he been given longer than everyone else?
Lyth got 7 matches
Duckett only 4 matches all away from home
Hameed only 10 matches, same average as Crawley but has played against only India & Australia, arguably the two toughest gigs you can get.
Burns and Sibley both fell by the wayside (rightly in my opinion, but both average more than Crawley)
Hick, the classic flat track bully.The Hick and Ramprakash comparison is really interesting isn't it. They couldn't cut it at Test level but they all plundered thousands of runs every season against County Championship cannon fodder. Crawley can't even do that. His first-class batting average, after 140 innings, is barely 30. He has only ever scored six centuries in red-ball cricket.
Oh please don't bring Sibley back.I hope he comes good i really do, but why has he been given longer than everyone else?
Lyth got 7 matches
Duckett only 4 matches all away from home
Hameed only 10 matches, same average as Crawley but has played against only India & Australia, arguably the two toughest gigs you can get.
Burns and Sibley both fell by the wayside (rightly in my opinion, but both average more than Crawley)
The only reason I can think of is the argument that there's no one else available who could step up.
The fact that there's a chasm in the standard between county and test cricket doesn't help, even when Hick and Ramprakash were scoring bucket loads of runs there were plenty of the best foreign test players playing in county cricket which isn't the case now.
If we're committed to "Bazball" (shudders) maybe it's time for Jason Roy to have one more go despite looking a fish out of water last time?