England call on Collingwood

[Kristin5]

...that's Paul Collingwood, of course! (Though sometimes I think they could do with some help from the REAL Collingwood! LOL)

[Donny]

Clarke and Collingwood in - Bicknell, Kirtley and Smith out
Steven Lynch - September 10, 2003

England's selectors today named the parties for the first section of this winter's tour. England play two Tests and three ODIs in Bangladesh before flying to Sri Lanka for three more ODIs and three Tests. The tour starts on Oct 8 and finishes on Dec 23 - the players then return home for Christmas before a revised team travels to the West Indies in March.

Only eight of the players who took part in this week's amazing victory over South Africa at The Oval have been included in the 15-man Test squad. The odd ones out are Martin Bicknell and Ed Smith - and Alec Stewart, who has announced his retirement. Stewart's likely replacement is Chris Read, the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper who has already won three Test caps, but there is also a place for the highly rated Kent keeper Geraint Jones. At 27 - two years older than Read - Jones was a late starter in county cricket but has made a fine impression since taking over fulltime from Paul Nixon at Canterbury this year. He has had an interesting path to England colours: he was born in Papua New Guinea and schooled in Australia. But, as that Christian name suggests, he has Welsh parents, which qualifies him for England selection.

Smith misses out after a mixed showing in his three Tests against South Africa. He started well, with 64 at Trent Bridge, but struggled afterwards - although his fielding, thought to be a worry beforehand, stood up well, culminating in a fine swoop to take the final catch at The Oval. But with Graham Thorpe a certain selection after his own Oval heroics and Nasser Hussain returning after injury, there was no room for another batsman once the selectors decided against taking 16 players.

Bicknell is unfortunate to miss out after his fine second-innings form at The Oval, but lack of pace and surfeit of years counted against him. James Kirtley misses out too, despite taking five wickets on debut at Trent Bridge. Instead the pace battery comprises James Anderson, Stephen Harmison and the returning Matthew Hoggard. Kirtley does at least feature in the squad for the one-day section of the tour.

There was no recall at this stage for Robert Croft, the Glamorgan offspinner who has done his best work for England overseas, with 35 wickets in nine Tests. Instead the selectors have opted for Ashley Giles (a star of England's previous trip to Sri Lanka in 2000-01) and Gareth Batty, the Worcestershire offspinner who was in the squads for the third and fifth Tests against South Africa this summer but failed to make the final cut. But, with the pitches in Sri Lanka expected to help the spinners, the selectors may bolster the spin department after the Bangladesh leg of the tour - and Croft may come back into the reckoning then.

The main surprises came in the form of call-ups for the allrounders Rikki Clarke and Paul Collingwood. Clarke, 22, has had a subdued season for Surrey - only 491 runs (admittedly at an average of 49) and nine wickets in nine County Championship matches to date. Collingwood, previously seen as something of a one-day specialist, he missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, but has returned successfully recently.

Apart from Kirtley, five other players have been named only in the one-day squad - the usual suspects Vikram Solanki, Anthony McGrath, Ian Blackwell, and Richard Johnson, plus Andrew Strauss, the 26-year-old Middlesex captain. Strauss, who was born in Johannesburg, has enjoyed a fine season, and has the advantage of being an opener. He is also seen as an outsider to become Vaughan's eventual successor as captain.

David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, explained his panel's thinking: "In choosing the Test squad, we were mindful of the need to learn lessons from the drawn series against South Africa and ensure we have the right options available in the very different conditions we will face in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Our batting line-up at present is strong and we can draw on a nucleus of highly experienced Test batsmen plus a genuine all-rounder in Andrew Flintoff. The inclusion of Paul Collingwood and Rikki Clarke in the squad will also give us the option, where necessary, to strengthen our batting line-up still further and build totals which the captain can defend with what is a young and relatively inexperienced bowling attack.

"Martin Bicknell and James Kirtley both made strong contributions in the recent npower Test series and were considered as seam bowlers, but Matthew Hoggard was preferred as we feel that his type of bowling will be most effective in the conditions we are likely to face on the subcontinent. We decided not to opt for a third spin bowler in the Test squad at this stage. But we will review the position after the tour to Bangladesh. Jason Brown, Robert Croft and Ian Blackwell will be considered as possible spin bowling options for the Sri Lankan Tests if required. Chris Read will be our first choice wicketkeeper and Geraint Jones will understudy him.

"The one-day squad performed well to win both the NatWest Challenge and the NatWest Series this summer and the bulk of that squad has been retained for the winter. The injection of youth and energy in the field was an important factor in our success and we have kept faith with a number of younger players who we feel could play a part in the World Cup in 2007. Darren Gough still remains a selection option for the second part of the winter in one-day cricket. However, as part of our planning for 2007, the selectors needed to look at other options regarding bowling bearing in mind the playing conditions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

"Andrew Strauss has performed well in both forms of the county game this season and his inclusion will give us another batting option and also maintain the high standards of fielding we are seeking to achieve in one-day cricket."

The selectors also named a 14-man Academy squad, which will undergo training at Loughborough as well as undertaking tours to Malaysia and India. It includes Simon Jones, the Glamorgan fast bowler on the comeback trail, and Kevin Pietersen, the prolific Nottinghamshire batsman who was born in South Africa and doesn't become eligible for full England selection until the end of the 2004 season.

England Test squad
Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Rikki Clarke, Chris Read (wk), Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Gareth Batty, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.

One-day squad
Vaughan (capt), Trescothick, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Anthony McGrath, Flintoff, Collingwood, Clarke, Read (wk), Ian Blackwell, Giles, Batty, Richard Johnson, James Kirtley, Anderson.

[Donny]

Darren Gough's exclusion from the English ODI squad has caused quite a stir in the old country.

He was clearly their best bowler earlier this season when they did so well against Sth. Africa, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

His experience and team spirit will be sorely missed on the upcoming tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
--------------------------------------------

'What a load of poppycock'
The Paper Round by Freddie Auld - September 11, 2003

After the decision comes the comment. The general consensus in the British press was that the selectors had chosen a batsman-heavy Test squad with the surprise inclusion of Rikki Clarke, and to a lesser extent Geraint Jones, while Darren Gough's omission from the ODI squad kicked up the biggest fuss.


Mike Walters, in The Mirror, was the most outspoken about Gough's absence. Under the headline "Dazzler snub fury", Walters claimed that Gough's exclusion was "easily the most contentious call as England declared their hand for the coming tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at Lord's yesterday." And he explained why: "In less than nine weeks … he has gone from new-ball partner Jimmy Anderson's indispensable minder to excess baggage. The selectors must have taken leave of their senses."

And the selectors' suggestion that Gough may get a look-in for the ODIs in the Caribbean, and that they wanted to look at other options in the build-up to the 2007 World Cup, cut no ice with the splenetic Walters either: "What a load of poppycock," he spluttered. "They are leaving their best exponent of the white ball twiddling his thumbs when Gough's reverse swing on abrasive pitches would have been a real asset."

Most agreed with Walters. "Gough with their heads" screamed The Sun. John Etheridge said it will be "amazing if Gough plays for his country again", a view backed up by Mike Selvey in The Guardian. "Darren Gough's dream of playing in the 2007 World Cup looked in tatters yesterday … and it now looks as if Gough will follow Alec Stewart into the history books." He added: "Perhaps there has been some reticence in this aspect, for few people anywhere in the game have such a depth of knowledge of how to bowl on the subcontinent as Gough, after he played a major part in recent England successes in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Instead the bowling in the one-day squad will be in the inexperienced hands of Richard Johnson and James Kirtley, neither of whom has a fitness record to be proud of."

Derek Pringle, in Daily Telegraph, wrote: "Bangladesh is one of the wettest places on earth, but that was probably not a consideration when the selectors decided to force England's Test and one-day bowling attack to sink or swim after preferring the likes of Rikki Clarke to old sweats such as Darren Gough and Martin Bicknell." On the hot topic of Gough, Pringle put a more positive slant on the issue. He wrote: "To drop Gough from the one-day party, after winning Man of the Match award in the NatWest Series final against South Africa, suggests a determination to force the other bowlers to grow up." He continued: "Although a calculated risk, Gough's absence will provide a good litmus test for those assigned his speciality - bowling at the death. His omission was a unanimous decision, at least according to Graveney, and it is probably not as dicey as taking just three front-line pace bowlers to a part of the world where E.coli can be as potent as Murali."

But hauling your eyes away from Gough and the ODI squad for just a moment, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, in The Times, cast his thoughts - and doubts - on the Test squad. On Clarke and Paul Collingwood, CMJ decreed that neither are "likely to be much of a force as a Test bowler". His main gripe, however, was the shortage of bowlers: "The choice of Gareth Batty and Geraint Jones means there are four players uncapped at Test level in a team that will be heavily dependent on a group of experienced batsmen." He added: "The shortage of quality bowling is bound to be felt at times on the second leg of the tour in Sri Lanka. It is all Lombard Street to a China orange that replacements will be needed sooner or later." And "having stated that Read is the chosen man as Alec Stewart's successor, the selectors might have been wiser to include an extra bowler rather than a second wicketkeeper."

Too few bowlers, a wicketkeeper too many, and the snubbing of their best one-day bowler - all in a day's work for an England selector.

[The Prototype]

Gough retired from Tests didn't he?

[Donny]

Yes, Davo, but not from ODIs.