Read should be given an extended run
Are you a traditionalist or a moderniser?, asks Mike Atherton in The Sunday Telegraph
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Are you a traditionalist or a moderniser?, asks Mike Atherton in The Sunday Telegraph. Do you believe a wicketkeeper is there to catch the ball, tidily and unobtrusively, or do you believe that he also has to score Test match centuries? Were you a Jack Russell or an Alec Stewart supporter? Your answers to these questions will depend on whether you believe Geraint Jones or Chris Read should walk out at the Gabba in three months' time.
While Read's selection was surprising to me in its timing - a Test match had just been won but the series not yet secured - it demonstrated absolutely where the selectors' priorities lie. By dropping Jones at a time when his keeping had improved immeasurably, the message is as clear to Read this time around as it was when he last felt the selectors' axe in the West Indies three years ago: runs are essential.
Marcus Trescothick had to abandon England's winter tour and is still looking for top form. But the man with the unlikely nickname tells Kevin Mitchell that it is just a question of time before he is back to his very best.
'You're never far away. You can just be one innings away from clicking back into form. That could be 30, then you're away. You might start with a hundred, who knows. It's a feeling, very much so with my game. I can feel when it's about to go. You start picking the ball up easily and early, your feet get in the right place, your head's still to watch it nicely, then you click. The concentration kicks in after that.'
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo