England's Top 25 Cricketers After the Away Ashes

Utter humiliation all-round for England, making this a rather more difficult task than previously.

Gone forever – Kevin Pietersen (Court Martial), Graeme Swann (Deserted)

Probably gone forever – Chris Tremlett (A lot like a vintage car, still looked good but lacked power), Monty Panesar (Off to the former England cricketer retirement home, called Essex)

On the bubble – Jamie Overton (Quick, tall, bouncy, injured), Steven Davies (Needs early runs and catches), Simon Kerrigan (Thanks to that 5-0 thumping his disastrous debut seems years ago), Tymal Mills (Brings something different, England aren’t interested in anything different), Stephen Parry (No, really), Michael Lumb (Underrated in t20 cricket, so underrated in fact England dropped him), Luke Wright (Conceded more runs in his single over in the t20 series than he scored runs, but had a great Big Bash), Jade Dernbach (Until someone steps forward other teams will continue to enjoy the late innings Dernbach powerplay), Michael Carberry (His multi-format skills may get him another chance) and James Tredwell (clinging on, a safe pair of hands for white ball cricket, has to be praying for Giles as coach).

25 (NE) – Scott Borthwick

Ah leg-spin, that most alien of arts to English cricket. Since, and in part probably because of, Shane Warne, leg-spin to English cricket seems to bring this mixture of apprehension and excitement, which probably explains Alistair Cook treating Borthwick with a degree of suspicion on his debut. His bowling was “raw” (journalist for inaccurate), but looked like there was talent there, and it helps that he bats a bit, and fields a lot. If England are going to be consistent, he probably should start the first Test of the summer, but given that Giles is the favourite for the England job, you worry that his innate conservatism will lead to a spinner less risky.

24 (RE) – Nick Compton

I’m really struggling to think of anyone who would benefit more from England appointing an outsider as coach. 24 is a bit of a fudge for Compton, because if Giles is coach and Gooch remains batting coach, he’s somewhere in the 40s, but a new head and batting coach, and he’s in the top 15. The facts on Compton are that he has scored a lot of runs for Somerset over the last two years, and a lot of those runs have been hard runs. He has two Test centuries, but rumours of a difficult nature do not help his cause one iota.

23 (RE) – Graham Onions

It might be counter-intuitive, but Onions might actually fancy seeing the Riverside become a bit of a road this year. The general fear from the England management is that the Riverside’s bowler friendly surface and climate is the cause behind Onions astonishing figures over the last two years, and what happens when he plays on a pitch providing him with nothing. Hard to not get the feeling that he may end up going the same way as Martin Bicknell, county stalwart who doesn’t ever get the chance he deserves.

22 (15) – Boyd Rankin

Looked to having about as much fun as dental surgery on his Test debut, the look of exhausted relief on Rankin’s face when he took his first Test wicket summed up the level of enjoyment in the England camp. It was a shame Rankin felt so uncomfortable on the big stage, because his attributes are obvious to the most casual of cricket fans. Overtaken by Chris Jordan, he’s not out of the picture, particularly if Steven Finn continues to struggle.

21 (RE) – James Taylor

Forever seemingly stuck in the England Lions side, Taylor continues to score enough runs to get him close to the Test side without ever actually getting into it. England like his character, but don’t seem to fancy his stroke play. Given Stokes emergence it appears that there are only five batting spots to play for, and he isn’t an opener, chances will be limited, but he could be a long term solution for England at three.

20 (17) – Ravi Bopara

His batting continues to tease, blasting a sensational innings in the first t20 when the game was dead, having got out stumped in the most incredibly lazy manner in the final ODI. His bowling however was excellent, and that will keep him in the white ball sides for now.

19 (8) – Jonathan Trott

Looked out of sorts in the home series, completely jittery in the 1^st Test, before the reasons why sadly came clear at the end of the match. Without delving into the complexity of Trott’s particular problem, you would have to worry about a 32 year old player suffering a potentially long term injury, although a fit and healthy Trott would walk straight back into the side.

18 (22) – Alex Hales

Not particularly impressive in Australia, the questions about his personality do not go away, particularly when the opposition captain tells you how he’s going to get you out six weeks before the match, then executes it. More by accident than design, Hales will get his chance in ODI cricket before the world t20, and he could provide England with a bit more firepower opening the batting.

17 (13) – Jonny Bairstow

It is a truly damning statement on the England management that in the two and a half years that Jonny Bairstow has played international cricket, he has barely improved. Likely to be out of all three sides at the start of the summer, England would be well advised to give him a summer back at Yorkshire, so that the talent that was once so obvious can remerge. If it does, he is a huge part of England’s future.

16 (NE) – Moeen Ali

A fairly intriguing cricket, Ali is the dasher that became the reliable middle order batsman, the part time bowler that became hugely effective, and the child who grew into an adult overnight. Ali deserves his chance in a red England shirt, although he has been hugely fortunate that it has happened to coincide with a major tournament. Ali is immensely entertaining to watch bat, and often infuriating, but less so than when he was younger, as the flashing drives now head more often towards the boundary than the slip cordon. He could, if his bowling continues to grow, offer England an intriguing spin option to play in home Tests, with three seamers, Stokes and himself.

15 (18) – Chris Woakes

Didn’t play a single game for England this winter, and that will be to his eternal benefit. His bowling remains down on pace from his pre-injury days, but he could become a hugely valuable back-up to Stokes in Tests, and an alternative when Stokes is rested in white ball cricket. As his bowling has become less effective, he has improved his batting, and he will continue to get opportunities as, on paper at least, his game as an all-rounder is extremely attractive to selectors.

14 (NE) – Sam Robson

When he decided whether he was English or Australian, Robson was always likely to shoot straight into the reckoning for either Test side. Superb technique, immensely strong mentally, well linked through playing for Middlesex, Robson must have been delighted with the appointment of his county head honcho Angus Fraser as a selector, and if England don’t move Joe Root again, he has to be the favourite to open 1^st Test of the summer.

13 (9) – Tim Bresnan

He looked very, very average in Australia, but then so did James Anderson, and his England career is nowhere near over. Bresnan is a truly uninspiring cricketer, but he has an outstanding track record of doing what he’s told by David Saker, and his continued selection in all three squads means he is only ever one injury away from getting another chance. Despite whatever people think, he’s going to keep getting selected, so we better all hope that elbow starts working properly again.

12 (24) – Gary Ballance

Spent most of the winter dealing with comments about his weight rather than on his actual ability as a cricketer, so much so that it’s a wonder he hasn’t developed anorexia. Given a chance in the final Test, didn’t look out of his depth but didn’t make any runs either, and was a more solid number three in the ODI series than Stokes. Everyone assumed the number three spot in reds was being kept warm for Kevin Pietersen, but that’s not an option, so England would be well advised to keep Ballance at three in ODIs this summer, and work out from there whether he is good enough for Tests.

11 (NE) – Chris Jordan

I remember seeing a fairly disinterested, fairly unremarkable young bowler called Chris Jordan playing for Surrey two years ago, but then again, Sussex have always done a fantastic job with rough diamonds. During the winter Jordan looked to have pace, accuracy, and most importantly given it had been questioned before, the heart for the battle. Hopefully the front runner for the third seamer spot (unless Finn rises from the dead), he gets a chance to impress in the world t20. There is a slight worry, that despite bowling well this winter, he didn’t actually take many wickets, but he was definitely a bright spot.

10 (14) – Steven Finn

Having railed against the injustice that is Steven Finn’s lack of Test matches several times before, I am going to admit that he got very lucky this winter. To have been sent home by the England management for being “unselectable” in any other series would have led to a lot of awkward questions about his personality and ability. This series, it was seen as simply symptomatic of Flower and Saker’s coaching. Quite simply, he is the most talented bowler England possesses, and the sooner he fires, the better for all concerned.

9 (12) – Jos Buttler

Looked very good in the ODI series, and it was extremely pleasing to see that he didn’t take a step back from Michael Clarke when Morgan refused to walk on Dan Christian’s word, given he has a bit of a reputation for shyness. Given the sudden flux around the Test keeping position, a Test debut for Buttler is not out of the question, but if he maintained his form in the white ball cricket this summer, whilst settling in strongly at Lancashire, he would have done everything that should be expected of him.

8 (7) – Matt Prior

Completely deserted by his batting form since the England returned home from New Zealand, during the Perth Test, Prior’s wicket-keeping went as well making his position untenable. Given events since, if he scores runs in the early county season, he will almost certainly return to the side, as England love his personality and Cook is going to need a friend. England may want to relieve him of the vice-captaincy, as he will still be a leader either way, and give it to the man below.

7 (11) – Eoin Morgan

The most telling shot during Morgan’s century in the 2^nd ODI came in a moment that looked to have shown up a huge weakness. On 1, Morgan attempted a completely unnecessary slog against Michael Clarke’s left arm spin, and was easily caught. As the Aussies ran around celebrating, Morgan called Ian Bell through for a single, and calmly informed the umpire that it was in fact a no-ball as the Aussies had one too few fielders in the circle. It was as confident a piece of cricket as any of the shots he produced afterwards, and showed behind a cool exterior, his cricket mind was functioning.

There are many questions about Morgan, although the IPL has been answered emphatically. His Test record is unimpressive, his technique unconventional, his motivation for long form cricket questionable. But he has an aggressive nature England are crying out for, and in his brief forays so far, has shown far more natural aptitude for captaincy than any other England player. Now is not the time for England to be timid with Morgan, he should be made captain of both white ball sides, not to undercut Cook, but to free him, and picked in the Test team to play his game, not the bastardised version Flower and Gooch tried to get him playing. He may fail, but England right now are better failing trying someone potentially sensational than mildly succeeding with someone potentially good.

6 (10) – Joe Root

Not very impressive in the Ashes, as his constant movement in the batting order came home to roost. Root clearly struggles to get his bodyweight into the right position on balls of a good length, making it difficult for him to score runs. However, similar to Finn, his failings are not all his own fault, and English cricket is better for having him. A rest however may do him a lot of good, and as he is going to Bangladesh, he should be rested from the white ball cricket against Sri Lanka. He should start for England this summer, and has a massive future, but England need to give him a chance by deciding whether he is a two, a three or a five.

5 (3) – James Anderson

Anderson was extremely disappointing in Australia, not only from a bowling point of view but from a leadership point of view as well. For a player who is happy to dish out as much sledging as Anderson is, to see him moaning to the umpires about George Bailey and Michael Clarke was weak, hypocritical, and the Aussies had him beat from that moment. That said, no-one in England is better at swinging a cricket ball, and he should be a certain starter in the summer. However, it’s time to move on from him being leader of the bowling attack.

4 (4) – Ian Bell

Quietly poor in the Ashes series, Bell recouped some goodwill by looking very handy in the ODI series. England need to decide whether to stick him at three again, position of his greatest failings, or potentially have a new opener and a new number three. As said before, Bell had a poor series, but he has plenty of cash in the bank from the summer, and his position is under no threat.

3 (16) – Ben Stokes

The real success story of the winter, the talent was always been evident, but now the off field attitude has caught up and he is every bit as good as hoped. His batting remains a stretch at six, because as any Durham fan will tell you, he plays plenty of good shots, but quite a few bad ones as well. His bowling is very, very good for a fifth bowler, mixing some neat outswing with a decent pace. His on field attitude is going to get him in trouble now and then, but he showed no fear of a rampant Australian side and never looked anything less than completely committed to the battle. He had always had a big future ahead of him, hopefully now it will be the present.

2 (6) – Stuart Broad

England’s best bowler in Australia by a country mile, and in the face of near constant abuse from the Aussie crowd as well. Broad bowled superbly given his lack of support, particularly from the spinners, the lack of rest between innings, and the foot injury he suffered during the series. Now is probably a good time for England to start giving Broad the first over of the innings, and really backing him as the attack leader. The problem for Broad is given his importance, England have a lot of important cricket coming up, so finding time for a rest is not going to be easy.

1 (5) – Alistair Cook

Given that Cook’s just captained a side that lost a series emphatically 5-0, then the ODI series 4-1, you might think that his position as captain would have been severely weakened, particularly after he struggled with the bat. However, Cook has been backed by all at the ECB since, and in stunning fashion, given how Kevin Pietersen has been retired. The rights and wrongs of this move can be debated from now to the summer, and quite probably will be, but the sole facts is that after one of the worst winters in the history of English cricket, the captain from this winter has been given more power, not less.

Cook is now not just the England captain, but his place enshrined by Paul Downton. The coach will have to have him as captain. The direction of English cricket for the short term is inexorably tied to Cook’s performance as captain. To a good captain, this would be a huge leap of faith – to an at best unproven one, it may prove a step too far.

Andy Flower’s guide to managing young talent

Batting – Joe Root

Make him bat as many different positions as possible

When a young player makes his first steps in international cricket, often they are relatively inexperienced in batting any position bar the one they bat for in their county side. Experience in many positions is vital to scoring international runs, so bat the young player in as many different positions as possible, regardless of form. In fact, if he shows good form in a position, move him quickly – he’s mastered that one. If possible, bat him a different position in ODI cricket as well. This all helps. South Africa have ignored this advice throughout the careers of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers and they’ve barely scored a run between them.

Never, ever, under any circumstances, rest him

It is important to remember that going from playing for six months of year in front of one man and his dog in county cricket, to playing in front of packed crowds all year round against the best cricketers in the world, will have no mental effect on young men whatsoever. At the age of 22 a cricketer should suffer from no mental fatigue at all, so make sure they play every game of every tour in front of the glare of a particularly aggressive media angered by the coach’s refusal to talk to them.

Remove all attacking instinct from his game

It is important to remind cricketers who break into the side in good form that these attacking shots may get them runs now, but when they are out of form, these shots will get them out -  they only need to look at that South African knob Pietersen to see that. All of the great players, Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting etc have scored at a well below average run rate during their careers, wearing bowlers down by letting them bowl maiden after maiden before attempting an occasional check drive. Once a bowler is not conceding any runs, his confidence will virtually be at zero, and then you can strike with a quickly run two.

Bowling – Steven Finn

Tamper with his technique

The technique that has allowed young bowler to consistently dismiss the best players he’s come up against throughout his career, allowing him early selection to his national side, is almost certainly wrong. Technique refined over years of practice needs to be changed immediately to help bowlers face their biggest challenge in international cricket – the constant input of biomechanical coaches, each trying to justify their own position with a new theory, can all help develop a young pace bowler – after all, the more cooks, the better the broth.

Make him much slower

What is the most overrated skill a bowler can have? Aggression? A good physique? An ability to blindly follow bowling plans devised by an off-field bowling coach whatever the outcome on the field? No, pace. Since the West Indies dominated international cricket in the 70s and 80s with two 75mph seam bowlers and two spinners, pace bowling has been dead. The quicker it is, the faster it goes. Not only that, but several truly fast bowlers have their career ruined by injury, like Shane Bond and Ryan Harris, who spent several years injured in between consistently taking wickets regardless of the quality of the opposition. Imagine how many wickets they might have taken had they played it safe and become 75mph trundlers and tried to hit the top of off stump.

Keep picking him in the squad, but never play him

Young fast bowlers can get into bad habits, so it is vital you keep a close eye on them. By picking them in every squad, it gives you maximum opportunity to tamper with their techniques, a particularly good thing to do when they are short of confidence already. It’s a myth that taking wickets and playing competitive cricket makes a bowler better – what really improves them is being a glorified net bowler. Keeping them in the squad also will although them to appreciate how their betters to do it – it must fill Steven Finn with confidence every day to see Tim Bresnan and Chris Woakes in the nets and dream that if only he was as good as them he too could get back in the Test side.

Wicketkeeping – Jonny Bairstow

Don’t let him actually keep wicket

It’s a frankly outrageous lie that keeping wicket in the County Championship for 108 overs a day in the hardest country to keep wicket in will prepare a wicketkeeper for international cricket. The perfect preparation for a young keeper is to give them occasional 30 minute keeping sets, maybe twice a week, after the wicketkeeping coach has finished preparing the main wicketkeeper. What better way to give the keeper the concentration for a full day’s cricket or the ability to judge what to go for and what to leave for first slip than an isolated session when the rest of the team is back at the hotel?

Play him as a specialist batsman

Modern cricket has seen the rise of the wicketkeeper-batsman, which means that all wicketkeepers should be batsmen first, and then keepers – after all, Adam Gilchrist was not a once in a generation freak to whom the normal rules did not apply, but an easily copied cricketer. To establish whether a wicketkeeper is good enough, he should first be bought into the side as a pure batsman, forcing him to play less cricket and focus on his batting, which will no doubt let him flourish behind the stumps. By the time he’s ready to keep wicket, it’s extremely unlikely that international bowlers will have found his weaknesses with the bat so that he’s suddenly fighting fires on both aspects of his game.

Drop him as many times as possible

Many players say they learn the most not for their successes, but from their failures. Therefore, coaches need to help young players fail as much as possible, as they need to learn the most. Consistently picking then dropping a young wicketkeeper batsman, whilst not letting him play for his county side, will no doubt make him a world beater in two years. If possible, naming a young wicketkeeper as your Test keeper for the future, but not letting him keep wicket in the ODI or t20 sides, will create even greater results.

General Tips

Remove all fun

Who is the true enemy on the cricket field? The opposition, the fans, the media, your own player’s fear of failure? No, it’s fun. A happy player is a lazy player. Mitchell Johnson was clearly in complete inner turmoil during the recent Ashes, barely able to even crack a grin as he romped through yet another English middle order, and look how well he bowled. Sport is not an entertainment industry where the fans love the emotional story of the individuals playing as much, if not more, than the sport itself, but a science that can be solved on a spreadsheet.

Try and micromanage every aspect of their lives

With these players spending up to ten months of the year away with the England squad, it’s only natural that they should want their down time to be managed by the coach as well. Players thrive on being told exactly what to do, what to eat, and what they can say, for every day of the year. The truly professional player has no problem with every aspect of his life being invaded by a coach who ultimately has the only qualification of being slightly more experienced than themselves. A coach lecturing the players’ wives and partners before the tour on how to behave when they are granted access to their husband or boyfriend is in no way an invasion of privacy, in the same way that no professional cricketer, who has trained for a decade or more to reach this level, being told by a recently qualified dietician that they are slightly overweight should find that annoying or insulting.

Antagonize the media

The cricket media in England is made up of journalists of a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and qualities to their reporting. The best way to deal with this diverse group of people is to treat them all the same to the standards of the worst of them. Ian Botham’s ill thought out opinions should be given exactly the same treatment as the erudite and clever criticism from Nasser Hussain, in both cases one of complete distaste. It is not only important to ignore the media, but to rub their noses in the fact you are doing so. This in no way shape or form will lead to criticism of the team by vengeful journalists, particularly at the young players who now have no links to the media whatsoever.

6 Cricketers to Watch in 2014

After last year's mixed bag here are another six

George Dockrell

In 2013, Ireland had quite the year. The associate nations have a red ball tournament. Ireland won that. They had an ODI tournament. Ireland won that. There was the T20 qualifier. Ireland won that. Irish cricket is in a very good place at the minute, where they completely dominate the other associate nations, particularly in white ball cricket, where they can compete with the lesser nations. At the world T20 this year, they face Zimbabwe, UAE and the Netherlands. They should win that group at a canter, and when they do, they can give South Africa, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka a hugely tough match.

Ireland’s main problem is their talent drain to England. Their current side is very good, but would be hugely improved by Boyd Rankin, and in particular, both the middle order batting and potential captaincy of Eoin Morgan (William Porterfield is a very good captain whose batting has suffered greatly because of it). The latest player they could lose could be Dockrell, a highly talented left-arm spinner with huge experience in the white ball formats. Still only 21, and likely to bowl his full quota in every game of the world t20 (for Ireland that should be eight games); Dockrell has a chance to put himself in the shop window, either for England, or for the IPL. England need a spinner, and they may be tempted to head to the Emerald Isle again.

Nic Maddinson

Following a similar path to David Warner, and with a similar style, Nic Maddinson is the latest hard hitting left hander to come from Australia. Now 22, Maddinson has impressed since his debut at 18 for New South Wales with his power hitting. Whilst the aggressive and often aerial style are reminiscent of Warner, his stature is more that of Chris Gayle, if much less solidly built. Maddinson forte was T20 cricket, but many in Australia are impressed with his willingness to learn, shown by some excellent performances in the last Australian summer.

Maddinson was touted as a talent for the future, and made a strong impression on the Australian A tour before the Ashes series, where he was the highest run scorer. A T20 debut in India followed, but with Chris Rogers now 36, and Alex Doolan not in the white ball sides and therefore only able to make his case for a short period each year, if Maddinson can find a way into the white ball teams again, with a world T20 in April, it could be a very impressive and important year for him.

Tymal Mills

In a world of bigger bats, shorter boundaries, and greater freedom for batsman to play shots, the role of the true fast bowler has been threatened. The quicker they are, the faster they go. With Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar retiring, and Shaun Tait playing T20 only, it appeared true fast bowling might die. Fortunately, the performances of Mitchell Johnson this year, not just in his headline catching Ashes series, but also in his excellent performances in the IPL, have shown that fast bowling is not dead.

Tymal Mills bowls fast. He does not bowl accurately; he doesn’t swing it and doesn’t possess the canny nuances of a seasoned paceman. He simply runs in, and fires the ball at the batsman as quickly as possible. Bought onto the Ashes tour to give England practice against left-arm pace, Mills impressed all onlookers, particularly the Australian media set, with his natural pace. Tim Bresnan can master both swing and reverse swing, and he may get on top of a particular batsman. But medium and slow medium bowlers will never scare an entire side, as Johnson has done in this Ashes, and there is no terror in a batsman’s mind like knowing the bowler is simply too quick. England face Sri Lanka (destroyed by Johnson last winter) and India this summer, two nations not renowned for their ability to play hostile, short pitched bowling. In ODI’s England may well advised to unleash Mills.

Sam Robson

Nick Compton, Joe Root and now Michael Carberry have all opened for England in 2013. Compton failed as he became completely introverted (not to mention the growing concerns about his role within the dressing room). Root was moved down the order after himself and Alistair Cook were unable to form a working opening partnership, one of them continually falling early, and now Carberry and Cook have suffered exactly the same problem. All three struggled to rotate the strike and score, and all failed to form a relationship with Cook.

The next opening bat off the rank appears to be Sam Robson. Born and raised in Australia, Robson possesses an iron clad technique and has shown an ability to bat for long period of time. He’s England qualified through his parents, and throughout his early professional career was the subject of the affections of both the ECB and CA to declare for them. Robson chose not to declare for either country until he had qualified for both, before choosing to tour Australia with England Lions this winter. Technically sound, hugely mentally rated by all who have worked with him, it may be Robson’s turn this summer.

Natalie Sciver

The one bright spark in this men’s Ashes series has been the emergence of Ben Stokes, a hugely promising all-rounder with match winning potential with both bat and ball. England women found their version in the summer in the shape of Tokyo-born Surrey all-rounder Natalie Sciver, who looks the best prospect in English women’s cricket since Sarah Taylor.

Sciver has been highly rated from a young age, but concerns over her fitness left her on the outside looking in during 2012. Going through the England Academy eased those concerns, and Sciver’s rise in 2013 has been meteoric. In February 2013 she was England’s standby player for the World Cup. Come June she made her debut against Pakistan, winning player of the match in her second game. Selected in the Ashes squad, she wasn’t selected for either the Test or the first ODI, which England drew, then lost. She played the next five games, all of which England won. In October she took England’s first ever T20 hat-trick, impressing with both bat and ball in a tri-series in West Indies. She fulfils the role of batting six and bowling sixth that England need, combining with Jenny Gunn to give England two genuine all-rounders.

The careers of Sciver and Stokes can well be compared. Both 21, both hugely talented and appreciated as such from a young age, both held back by non-cricket problems (although being a bit chubby is probably a lesser crime than Stokes’ drink driving) and both now heavily involved in England cricket, they both have the potential to win a number of games for England in the next decade.

Mohammed Shami

I have been watching cricket long enough to remember the last really good Indian quick bowler. Not Zaheer Khan, who despite being a very accomplished swing/seam bowler, was never a quick bowler with the skills they bring, such as bouncers and aggression. The last Indian quick bowler was Javagal Srinath, a highly skilled operator who took 236 Test wickets and 315 ODI wickets, often using methods alien to the current crop of Indian fast bowlers – pace, bounce and aggression.

Watching Mohammed Shami in his Test career so far has reminded me of Srinath. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav are talented bowlers, but they often give the impression that they don’t know how to use the fast bowling skills they possess. Bouncers are bowled not with intent, but as a ball to be used to change lengths and get a dot ball. Shami bowls his bouncer with intent. He’s not as quick as Srinath was, but there is time to add muscle, to refine technique. India really struggled in England on their last tour due to the lack of anything approaching even an adequate seam bowler. Shami may surprise a few people this time around.

Six others worth a look – Corey J Anderson, Jamie Overton, Unmukt Chand, Monimul Haque, Chadd Sayers and Holly Ferling.