Selectors embark on a vague adventure (16 August 1999)

16 August 1999

Selectors embark on a vague adventure

Mark Nicholas

Give them their due, the latest selectors have given us plenty to think about. Balance, options and a sense of direction are the highlights of the party announced for the Oval Test. We can gripe here and grumble there about the odd choice and marvel, perhaps, that Mark Butcher can be captain in one Test match and nowhere in sight for the next, but overall, a good and vaguely adventurous job has been done.

Selection is an art, it is not a whim. Occasionally, rabbits are pulled from the hat but mainly it is, or should be, a painstaking business of research and observation. When deciding upon batsmen, footwork, head position and a straight bat should be de rigueur, along with proof of important innings played against the very best bowling.

The astonishing thing about Aftab Habib's brief international career was the complete absence of footwork. If this is how he uses the crease, or does not, as the case may be, when he bats for Leicestershire, what the devil was he doing batting for England? If he is balanced and moves back and forward for his county but failed to do so for England, then his temperament has been found out for, clearly, the Test match stage put him off his game, poor Habib, a gifted man and brave to have left Middlesex and resurrected himself at Leicestershire but so churned up by microscopic scrutiny.

When deciding upon a bowler, accuracy is important, the position of the seam equally so and the ability to do something with the ball, i.e. bowl it seriously fast, swing it, seam it or spin it. To be sure of these attributes in cricketers, selectors must watch intensely and seek opinion widely and once they think they've got something, have it confirmed by consistently dominant performances at first-class level.

It is a myth to say that Australia give young players a go willy-nilly. Australian selectors watch youngsters like a hawk, for sure, and if they turn it on in the Sheffield Shield, and we're talking hundreds and five-wicket hauls here, they will watch some more, but not until. Only in Pakistan, where there is barely a first-class structure, are young players rushed into the fray - and we hear a lot about those who swim, precious little about the many others who sink.

We can shout from the rooftops about Andrew Flintoff, Ben Hollioake, et al, but if they are not in charge of county matches, they are almost certain to get a fearful going over at Test level. Which is why Graeme Swann and Ed Giddins are good choices. Here are two immensely confident cricketers, cocky some might say, with facts to support them. Swann will give depth to the batting and he properly spins his off-breaks. Giddins will give flair to the bowling for he swings the ball both ways and has a handy yorker. If he is allowed to, he will lighten up the dressing-room because he gives life a dash.

Those rumours that the England dressing-room is not a warm place for newcomers are disturbing. They may be misplaced but if so much as a grain of truth is in them, Nasser Hussain must act pronto.

Few, if any, England captains have been granted so much authority. Oddly, Hussain has the chance to shape the future of the team, either with old muckers or with babes thrust into a thick wood. His own appointment, though, is not forever so he had better make what he can of his moment.

He must ensure that the men he chooses are pulling for him, for the team and not for themselves. There is some baggage there, some cluttered minds, and it is right that he and Duncan Fletcher have the first opportunity to unravel them. This is no time for private agendas - not that it ever is - it is a time for collective responsibility. He must encourage the various personalities to be more outgoing, to embrace their challenge with an intelligent and bright public face. The country is craving a team it can relate to. They can win in time; for the moment, they must convince everyone that they care.

There are cricketers in England straining at the leash to do this. Privately, many sensible county cricketers are surprised by the way their game has been ridiculed of late. The facts are that not enough young people play cricket, that club cricket is mainly recreational rather than used as a nursery for the international game, that county cricket is badly structured and that its people play too much in four competitions. The culture needs changing. End of story.

This does not mean that there are not good players about. Darren Gough, Dean Headley and Alex Tudor are injured but are the right stuff when fit. Paul Nixon waits with his gloves on, a county cricketer keen to change the world. Chris Adams, Nick Knight and Michael Vaughan sit in silence and hope that their bats will be given a chance to do the talking.

Craig White's cricket has improved since he last played a Test. Gavin Hamilton, his Yorkshire colleague, has already proved for Scotland during the World Cup that a fire burns within him. Any of these could tour South Africa and none will disappoint through their attitude or approach. The 13 chosen for the Oval have the first chance. They must convince a fascinated, concerned cricket world that the English game has not crumbled irretrievably.

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