A few weeks have passed since the last test match which saw England win comfortably and take the series. It was a shame the Saffers couldn’t bat because their bowlers were excellent and it would have been a tight series and given England a proper test. This summer Stokes’ England have beaten the two teams that contested the world test championship final as well as the team that sat on top of the table mid summer. It’s certainly been entertaining cricket but it remains to be seen if we can continue to be successful playing this way. By this time next year we’ll have played another Ashes series and by then we’ll know what’s what. One thing I’m certain of is Ben Stokes is a far better captain than Root will ever be.
Next up in December we play away in Pakistan in a test
series for the first time in decades.
This will be tough and the home team will be favourites but I expect
England to compete. Since the new regime
began the team selection has actually made sense, under Joe Root there were
many times when it absolutely didn’t and not just at Brisbane. New England have just picked what they
believe are the best eleven players for the match in front of them and I’m sure
this will continue. Lees and Crawley are
expected to keep their places and I hope they do well. The selectors seem to think these two are as
good as we’ve got so they may as well give them a good go. The leading openers in county cricket have
all been tried before; Burns, Hameed and Sibley have all done well this year
but best of all has been Keaton Jennings who should be next in line should an
opening appear. Bairstow might still be
unfit so Brooks should retain his place.
To win in Pakistan we’ll need our spinners to perform, Leach is our main
man now even though Moeen Ali is reportedly available again. We’ll need at least two spinners and Root
should bowl too. The major decisions
might revolve around which seamers don’t play…
The Squad that probably won’t be picked;
Stokes, Crawley, Lees, Pope, Root, Brook, Jennings, Foakes, Ali,
Leach, Parkinson, Anderson, Robinson, Wood, Potts, Broad.
