CMJ: James earns partial reward (10 Sep 1997)

Wednesday 10 September 1997

James earns partial reward

Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

NICK KNIGHT and Steve James came close to selection for the West Indies but Mark Butcher was preferred. Their consolation is to be named as captain and vicecaptain of the A tour.

For Knight it is a great opportunity to develop tactical and leadership skills which have so far proved embryonic when he has captained Warwickshire. He will be more confident and assertive if he can start the tour with his broken fin- gers both completely healed.

After two seasons in which he has scored more than 3,500 runs the 30-year-old James, the late developer, will be relieved simply to have won any sort of tour place. Performances in Sri Lanka will not necessarily be a guide to what he might have done in the West Indies but he could easily get there yet as a replacement if he carries his Glamorgan form into this tour.

These two and Mark Ealham are the most experienced players by far in a young side which underlines the main objective of A tours: to identify and develop possible future England players. The itinerary in Sri Lanka still has to be finalised, but Tim Lamb, chief executive of the ECB, confirmed that it would include three five-day games and three one-day "internationals".

Spin usually rules the roost in Sri Lanka which explains the biggest surprise in all yesterday`s announcements, the selection of the 18-year-old Essex off-spinner, Jonathan Powell. He has played a single first-class game, taking one wicket for 109, and will probably join the tour late after playing on England Under-19s` tour of South Africa and the Youth World Cup. The choice of Ashley Giles and Dean Cosker was much more predictable and their rivalry as possible left-arm successors to Phil Tufnell will be interesting. No young leg-spinner was considered anywhere near good enough, but Chris Schofield of Lancashire may make the Under-19 tour.

Fast bowling and batting aspirants were, by contrast, two a penny. Among those who can consider themselves unlucky are Mathew Dowman, Iain Sutcliffe, David Hemp, James Hewitt, Ben Phillips and Melvyn Betts. It is not being unduly cyni- cal to observe that if Gatting and Gooch had not been selectors, Powell and David Nash, the Middlesex batsman and re- serve wicketkeeper, would not have been chosen.

Andrew Flintoff and Chris Read, who cannot play for Gloucestershire because of Jack Russell, have earned their selection (like Nash) because of outstanding efforts for England Under-19s, as, of course, had Ben Hollioake. Chris Silverwood gets another chance after a good senior tour last winter and Shah, Sales, Maddy, Hutchison and Ormond are all exciting talents.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)