Selectors- any common sense?

Prior to the Indian series I made a list of recent competent county cricketers who failed to perform at Test level.

I am sure I omitted some but noted Liam Dawson, Mason Crane, Tom Westley, Habeeb Haseem, Keaton Jennings, James Vince, Mark Stoneman, Tim Curran, Zafar Ansari, Gareth Batty, Alex Hales and Steve Borthwick.

I am fairly sure that Ollie Pope will soon join them and James Vince return. There is a school of thought that the selected should be given a decent chance. Nick Compton, another who could not make the step up, was the latest to endorse this theory.

I do not adhere to this at all.

I believe you can discern pretty quickly if a cricketer is Test class or not. To make matters worse one wonders why Alistair Cook can still be picked on past form, or Mooen Ali who scored a century  for Worcestershire and up till recently a proven Test class cricketer dose not make it. After a week in court, Ben Stokes walks back into the side at the behest of one selected (Sam Curran) who did look the part. I do not believe the cerebral Ed Smith has achieved that much as Chairman except for identifying Josh Buttler as Test class.

One person who seems to exercise a disproportionate amount of influence is ‘Mr Surrey’ Alec Stewart: a significant number from my list play for that county. Rest assured if Pope is dropped – I should say when – Ricky Burns will be his next endorsement. How the selectors could conceive of 39 year old Surrey man Gareth Batty for the India tour, I know not.

Call me cynical but I am sure that a quick pathway to the England team, as well as a lucrative contract, attracts players to Surrey where Alec Stewart presides as Director of Cricket. Skipper Joe Root will put in his happorth, as will the senior pros Stuart Broad and Jimmy Andersen.

It’s valuable to compare Gareth Southgate on two counts.

Terry Venables selected him very young as a Crystal Palace defender recognising his international qualities. As national coach he produced a team whose sum is exceeded by its  parts.

Neither of this seems to happen in Test selection and performance. To be frank, it’s a mess.