England’s squad for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s has opened up some intriguing questions.
Here, The i Paper runs you through the most pertinent ahead of the start of the series on 4 June.
Who opens the batting?
After finally dropping Zak Crawley, it has been confirmed Emilio Gay will debut partnering Ben Duckett at the top of the order.
The Durham left-hander averages 92 in the County Championship this summer and has been backed by Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket.
“It isn’t going to be easy against this New Zealand attack,” he said. “But Emilio is someone we know well. He played well out in Australia [for the Lions last winter] and really well last year against India A. He shaped up really well against a good attack and he’s evolved and got better since then.”
Will England pick a spinner?
Having played all five of his Tests so far away from home, this summer presents an opportunity for the 21-year-old to kick on. Of course, Shoaib Bashir, who didn’t play in the Ashes despite being in the squad, is also in but if they do play a spinner – and that’s not guaranteed at Lord’s – Ahmed’s batting gives him the edge.
Is Ollie Robinson going to play?
Key confirmed this when speaking following the squad announcement on Wednesday, admitting Robinson will take the new ball. Hailing the Sussex captain, recalled after more than two years, as one of the best seamers the game has ever seen was a bit much, even if his Test record of 76 wickets at 22.92 is impressive.
If the 32-year-old remains fit and maintains his pace throughout multiple spells, he can make this second chance count.
What about the rest of the attack?
Josh Tongue is a certain pick after the fast bowler backed up his 18 Ashes wickets at 20 in Australia with a fine start to the county season for Nottinghamshire.
Gus Atkinson was concussed last week – by Tongue when Notts faced Surrey – but will be given every chance to make Lord’s after it was confirmed he has been pencilled in to play for England Lions against South Africa A at Arundel from 22 May.
If England pick a spinner then those two and Robinson will likely form the seam attack, with captain Ben Stokes also available to bowl. If either Atkinson is not deemed match-ready or England eschew a spinner, that brings the exciting fast bowler Sonny Baker into the frame.
Will we see a new style of play from England?
If Bazball really is dead, what replaces it? It’s likely England will revert to a more traditional approach with the bat than we’ve seen in recent years, with the quality of New Zealand’s attack likely to restrict the most aggressive players anyway.
Key’s admission he has told Gay to “play his own way” suggests the old Bazball diktat of going hard with the bat has been replaced by a more prosaic approach that will still allow for some – Duckett, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith to name three – to be aggressive without foisting that mantra on everyone.
And is there any fallout from the off-field controversy that happened last winter?
Off-field indiscipline – namely Brook’s altercation with a bouncer in Wellington and the Noosa “stag do” – rubbed salt into England’s Ashes wounds. The team were depicted as unlikeable too.
Things should be different this summer. The midnight curfew brought in for the white-ball tours that followed Australia remains. And the addition to the squad of two genuinely likeable and gregarious characters in Gay and Baker can only help on the PR front.
How significant is the recruitment of Sarah Taylor?
Becoming the first woman coach of any major England team in any sport feels like a moment, for sure. The former wicketkeeper-batter has been brought in as a fielding consultant for this New Zealand series and was praised as “the best in the business” by Key. She’s expected to be involved later in the summer too. Of course, Taylor will be judged on results but good luck to her.
What’s the best XI to play at Lord’s?
The top seven is set in stone but, given the early-season conditions, I wouldn’t select a spinner so we can have a look at Baker. Five seamers, including Stokes, seems like overkill but it would allow the captain, Tongue and Baker to be used in short bursts while Robinson and Atkinson take on the donkey work.
My XI to play New Zealand
- Emilio Gay
- Ben Duckett
- Jacob Bethell
- Joe Root
- Harry Brook
- Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper)
- Ben Stokes (captain)
- Gus Atkinson
- Ollie Robinson
- Josh Tongue
- Sonny Baker
