Day five: things to ponder

 

There will be a moment of the tour when we can concentrate on the cricket. Even without players having to isolate, there are still selection dilemmas. Sri Lanka and India are different prospects away from home than Pakistan and West Indies on home soil.

Individual players came out of the summers tests with credit; Zak Crawley among them. Areas where England are still looking for a player to step up and make that role their own is in the spinning department. Ideally, England would hope to have an in-form Moeen Ali with both bat and ball. That will be touch and go at least for the first test.

Dom Bess was in pole position over the summer, if he can hold onto his place going into the English season remains to be seen. His willingness to get better and improve, go in his favour. Will England prefer him to get some overs under his belt with Yorkshire? To an extent, I hope so. Then again, that also depends on the form of the other spinners.

Ireland ready to get stuck in

Ireland’s first fixtures of the year start this weekend with a series against UAE followed shortly after Afghanistan. The latter series has the added pressure of world cup qualification points on the line.

Ireland managed an ODI win against a much-changed England side in September and will be looking to build on that result.

Afghanistan has three players currently playing in the Big Bash; Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi have been important players for their country and Noor Ahmad who is highly rated.

Delay to WNCL

The start of the WNCL has been pushed back it has been announced. It was always going to be challenging to keep to the original schedule with travel restrictions between states. Hopefully, there isn’t any more need to adjust things. While Australia will be confident they have plenty of depth going into next years 50 over world cup, there is always a chance that a fringe player makes it into that final squad.

Interview shortlist

 I’m going to try and arrange some interviews over the next few weeks. Is there anyone who you think would be good to hear? Someone who has an excellent story to tell? Or you are intrigued how they are planning for the coming season? Let me know, and I will see what I can do.