Selection remains an inexact science
Joe Root and Nick Compton are the new faces in England's tour party to India, but the routes taken by both have been contrasting
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Joe Root and Nick Compton are the new faces in England's tour party to India, but the routes taken by both have been contrasting. Root has come through the system, while Compton has had to barge his way back into it through sheer weight of runs. Steve James writes in the Telegraph that their selections were a bit surprising, having edged out James Taylor and Ravi Bopara.
Asked by the MC, the former Kent captain David Fulton, whether he had received a call about the Test tour party to India that was to be announced the day afterwards, Root replied: “I’ve had the call but I can’t say anything about it.” It was a shock answer, if delightfully naive. It certainly meant Root was in the party – those touted as possible candidates are not contacted with disappointing news – and it contrasted with the response given by Nick Compton, who was also at the lunch to receive the County Championship Player of the Year award.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo