England vs India: My Preview

Okay, bear with me. This is my first article/piece/whatever these are called on Vocal.

Basically, I’m going to be looking into the England team for the upcoming test series against India and making a few predictions about what I think will go down.

A lot is always said about England’s Test match selection. Especially this summer as there has been a large gap between the two series England are playing this summer. England still have unanswered questions over four key positions, these are as follows:

• Who will partner with Alastair Cook up top?
• Who bats in the middle order next to Root?
• Who is England’s spinner?
• Who is England’s third-choice seamer?

Let’s have a look, shall we? I’ll go through 1 to 11 and look at the contenders for each spot as well.

1. Alastair Cook

A mainstay and rock for England and the country’s leading test run scorer. I hope he continues to churn them out for England and if he gets in some form for the next 18 months he could then seriously look at challenging Sachin’s spot as leading test run scorer. This is obviously dependent on whether Cook will have the desire to keep going.

2. Rory Burns

I’ve given Rory Burns a debut here because of the number of runs he keeps scoring for Surrey. Another 150 today will definitely give Ed Smith a headache. One thing going against Burns is that Keaton Jennings has only had one inning since his recall against Pakistan. Burns would be a brave call but Smith has made some bold calls in his short stint so far, Jos Buttler and Dom Bess being the main ones.

Contenders:

Keaton Jennings

Like I said, Keaton Jennings is Burns main opposition for the No. 2 spot. It would be harsh for Jennings to get dropped after just the one inning, especially showing that he is willing to adapt his technique after he was initially deemed unsuccessful. Having said all of this, I don’t mind either choice here to be honest, but I think I’d just edge Burns.

3. Joe Root (Captain)

England’s captain I think should bat at 3, especially as the other middle/top order spot is questionable. He has his career best batting at three and after jumping around over the last few years, he needs a long run to completely make the spot his own. If he does that, Alastair Cook’s runs record is not quite safe while Root is around, especially if he fixes his slight conversion problem.

4. Joe Clarke

Spoke to my brother about this one and he’s a big Joe Clarke fan. I would like to see him play for England after scoring runs for Worcestershire in the last few years. He’s young and has the majority of his career in front of him. It’s another debut in England’s top four but Clarke is a guy who I can see receiving his cap in the next few years.

Contenders:

Dawid Malan

Malan currently holds the No. 4 spot but he just hasn’t had the summer needed to prepare for a five test match series. I heard a stat the other day that as of last week he had only played 12 innings in all cricket since the start of the English summer. He has been mainly used by the England ODI and T20 teams as a water boy which has not helped his form. On another note, he can consider himself very unlucky to not make either one of those sides.

Ben Foakes

A very underrated batsman in my opinion. He averages 42.50 in F.C. Cricket which is considerably higher than Tom Westley (35.65) and Keaton Jennings (34.54). Both have obviously received England call-ups. I feel like Foakes is almost out at a disadvantage because his glove-work is so good. He is considered the best keeper in the country so his batting often goes unnoticed.

Ollie Pope

Another wicket-keeper by trade but due to the aforementioned Foakes plays as a specialist batsman. He has scored runs for fun this year but his age and relative inexperience goes against him. He averages 65.46 but is only 20 and has only played 15 F.C. matches. He is obviously extremely talented and will almost certainly play for England one day. I still think he just needs to have at least one season of massive run scoring.

5. Jonny Bairstow

Probably England’s third best batsman behind the two obvious Root and Cook. I wouldn’t give him the gloves with Buttler in the team though (more on that later). I know Bairstow has been a complete rock with the gloves over the last few years but I think he could score north of 8,000 runs in Test cricket, I think it will be a lot more difficult for him to do that whilst having to keep. He's said publicly that he wants to be in the action and keep the gloves but he'd still field at slip anyway; in a series like the ashes where England were in the field for 1,000 overs. That's 6,000 balls meaning 6,000 squats, plus extras, and having to dive all while standing in the 40-degree heat. And that's just the physical side, he has to be switched on and ready to catch every single ball because he cannot drop Virat Kohli on 0.

6. Ben Stokes

Such an important part of English cricket in all formats. Even if he doesn't perform statistically, he allows England to have so much freedom within their lineup as he is a proper all-rounder. He gives England a genuine fifth bowling option (fourth seamer) and could play as a batsman. Also brings a dressing room presence.

7. Jos Buttler (Wicket-Keeper)

I was a big fan of the decision to bring Buttler back into the side. A lot of people spoke about how it is a failure of the County Championship but I saw it that there is more than one way to make it into the test side. At the end of the day, form is form, Buttler showed that against Pakistan. I read somewhere that Buttler is England's AB de Villiers and it's amazing that he hasn't played more test cricket and I agree. I think he can be a serious Gilchrist style option for England but has shown that he has the patience and the technique to 'tough it out' in more pressurized situations.

I'm not going to look at the bowling attack in terms of a batting order because it changes so much depending on who plays.

Opening Bowlers: James Anderson & Stuart Broad

It can't really be any others. They are England's two greatest bowlers in Test match cricket ever and we should consider ourselves very lucky that we are able to watch them bowl together in the same team. They have over 900 test wickets between them—enough said!

Third Seamer: Mark Wood

This has been a position that England have struggled to solidify for a while. Chris Woakes has had fitness problems and Toby Roland-Jones made a really promising start but has barely bowled a ball since last September. Mark Wood is England's quickest bowler and with the really dry pitches at the moment he could be a useful old-ball bowler looking to extract some reverse-swing. I don't mind him playing the enforcer role but he shouldn't be told to bowl short all day because he becomes predictable. A five test match series on hard pitches will test his fitness.

Contenders:

Chris Woakes

Has been a fitness concern for a year now and therefore has struggled for rhythm. If he was fully fit and in good form, I would maybe pick him ahead of Wood but luckily he's not so I don't have to make that call. He could be considered a similar bowler to Anderson and Broad and so Wood shakes that up a bit.

Craig Overton

Showed that he has plenty of character and was often a bit of a highlight in what was otherwise a distinctly poor winter for England in red-ball cricket. My problem with him is that he is too similar a bowler to Broad and Anderson and leaves the England attack devoid of variety. A useful find for the future, however.

Sam Curran

Not yet the finished article but is an interesting talent. The reports coming out of Surrey are that he could become a top-six batsman and a seam bowling option much like Ben Stokes. I don't think he is quite ready to be that first change bowler that England needs yet but his left arm does add variety and he is known for being able to extract some swing out of the ball. If he or Woakes plays alongside Bess then England have a very strong tail with F.C. hundreds to No. 10.

Spinner: Dom Bess

I think Dom Bess should play. I think he did enough against Pakistan and it would be tough to drop him after only two games for Jack Leach. Leach is a very talented bowler but he has only played the one test match. He bowled well in New Zealand but didn't set the world on fire. He showed a great deal of character against Pakistan, especially in that partnership with Jos Buttler at Lord's. He bowled well at Headingley as well, especially after Lord's. It is very difficult to bowl spin with no runs on the board. He was not helped out by the batters at all on debut.

Contenders:

Jack Leach

Would have played against Pakistan had it not been for injury, a fine bowler and I'm a big fan of his. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him bowling alongside Bess this summer, however. Two spinners could definitely be an option with the dry pitches around at the moment.

Moeen Ali

An outside chance but has bowled well in the ODIs leading up to this series. If Jos Buttler can do it that way, why can't Mo? I think that Bess and Leach are England's two best red-ball options, however.

So this is my XI plus any contenders who I think have a chance. I think England will win the series, although with the dry pitches India could snatch the five-match series. I think it will all depend on what pitches the games are played on.