The case for the specialist stumper
In just over a week, England will name their squad for the first Test and in the Guardian Mike Selvey looks at the success of James Foster in the ICC World Twenty20 and wonders why the superior batsman but inferior gloveman Matt Prior should be
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In just over a week, England will name their squad for the first Test and in the Guardian Mike Selvey looks at the success of James Foster in the ICC World Twenty20 and wonders why the superior batsman but inferior gloveman Matt Prior should be the automatic selection in Tests.
Prior, of course, can bat, well enough indeed to score two Test centuries with the promise of more. He may be required to bat at No. 6 in the forthcoming series, particularly if at any stage England choose two spinners. Thus we will have a modest gloveman but a pretty good batsman taking precedent over a craftsman behind the wicket who is not necessarily more than an adequate batsman. Trading runs scored against chances missed is rather like Fabio Capello selecting an inferior goalkeeper because he can score from free-kicks.
In the Times, Ivo Tennant chats to Keith Exton, the man who has the high-pressure job of preparing the pitch for the first Ashes Test in Cardiff.
He is well aware that he would not have his job had not Len Smith, his predecessor, disappeared along with the eventual clearance of the rainwater after the abandoned one-day international against South Africa last summer. “Yes, I know I am under pressure,” Exton said as he gazed pragmatically at the square.
He reckons he knows already the kind of pitch the England selectors are anticipating. “I feel they will play two spinners — those are the signals that are being given out. So it would not surprise me if the Australians come down here to have a look at the surface and send for Shane Warne.”
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here