Stewart keeps his place as Anderson, Kirtley and McGrath called up
Alec Stewart, England's most-capped player, retained his place in England's 13-man squad for the first Test against Zimbabwe, which starts at Lord's on Thursday (May 22)
Steven Lynch
17-May-2003
Alec Stewart, England's most-capped player, retained his place in
England's 13-man squad for the first Test against Zimbabwe, which
starts at Lord's on Thursday (May 22). Lancashire's James Anderson
comes in for his Test debut, and there is also a first call-up for Anthony
McGrath, the Yorkshire batsman, and Sussex fast bowler James
Kirtley.
Stewart may have turned 40 in April, but he has played in 126 Tests,
scoring 8187 runs and making 260 dismissals. He recently suggested
that he shouldn't be considered for England's one-day team any more,
but made no such pronouncement about his Test career. Worries over
the fitness of Andy Flintoff - he missed the latest round of
Championship matches with a shoulder problem - probably helped
Stewart to survive ahead of a clutch of highly rated young keepers, such
as Chris Read, James Foster and Geraint Jones.
The surprise name among the batsmen is McGrath, 27, who was
tipped for stardom as a young player - he toured Pakistan with
England A under Nasser Hussain's captaincy in 1995-96 - but more
recently has been something of an underachiever. But this season he
was appointed as Yorkshire's captain, when Darren Lehmann decided
to have a year off, and has made an impressive start. He can also fill in
with a few overs of medium-pace, and with Craig White and Paul
Collingwood also unfit, this was crucial. David Graveney, England's
chairman of selectors, explained: "Our chief medical officer will
continue to monitor the situation with Andrew Flintoff and we are
hopeful that he will recover in time for the Test match. We discussed at
length the type of player that we would need as cover for Andrew and
we have gone for Anthony McGrath as a batsman who can share the
role of fifth bowler with Mark Butcher."
McGrath was predictably pleased: "I was surprised and delighted to get
the call from David Graveney. I think I have been in good form this
season so far and played pretty well without getting a really big score.
I'm enjoying being Yorkshire captain and I'm really looking forward to
joining up with England next week."
Robert Key retains his place ahead of John Crawley and young
hopefuls like Bilal Shafayat and Owais Shah. Graveney said: "We feel
that Robert is very much part of England's future. But we would stress
that John Crawley has not let England down in the past and he has
certainly not been removed from our future plans."
A Test call completes an amazing year for Anderson, who was playing
for his club, Burnley, at this time last year. But his consistent form since
being called up for England's one-day squad in Australia, plus injuries
to Darren Gough (hamstring) and Andy Caddick (foot ligaments), made
his selection for Lord's a formality. A hat-trick against Essex earlier this
week - including Hussain as the middle victim - didn't do him any
harm either.
Caddick's absence also allows room for Kirtley, 28. He's a skiddy
fast-medium bowler from Sussex whose whippy action has attracted
the scrutiny of the ICC in the past, in the course of nine ODIs for
England, in which he has claimed seven wickets - and one amazing
one-handed diving catch, to dismiss Sourav Ganguly at Lord's last
year. Graveney explained: "He has been in good form for Sussex this
season. He fully deserves a chance in the longer form of the
international game. We did not consider Chris Silverwood, Richard
Johnson or Alex Tudor as replacements for Andy Caddick because they
are all carrying injuries at present."
If Flintoff is fit to play, McGrath is likely to carry the drinks, with one of the pace bowlers standing down as well unless the overcast weather
continues. In that case Ashley Giles might miss out - no England
spinner has taken a wicket in the three Lord's Tests played in May
since 2000.
Whatever the final selection, England will start as favourites for the
Test, the first of a two-match series. Following a spate of retirements
after the World Cup, Zimbabwe have only one player (Grant Flower)
who has scored a Test century, and there are fitness doubts about
Heath Streak, their captain and main strike bowler. The only other time
these two sides met in a Test at Lord's, in 2000, England won by an
innings early on the fourth day. Ed Giddins (remember him?) took 5 for
15 and 2 for 27 as the ball zigged and zagged on a helpful
early-season pitch.
England's 13 for Lord's:
Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain
(capt), Robert Key, Anthony McGrath, Alec Stewart (wk), Andrew Flintoff,
Ashley Giles, James Kirtley, James Anderson, Matthew Hoggard, Steve
Harmison.