Let’s start with the basics. You need a wicket keeper, not someone who is a good bat, hoping one day to be any good. Smith is not a Carey or a Foulkes - he’s a decent number 6 or 7, maybe even a number 3 now the Pope selection has so obviously failed.
You need a spinner. Not a bloke who is ok as a Test number 8 and can turn his arm over. It has to be someone who can average better than 5.5 runs an over with the ball. I didn’t mind them trying the Bashir experiment but to take him … and then not use him on the friendliest of spin pitches so far - strange.
An opener who can bat for more than 15 overs - only one is ok. I like Duckett and think he is a Test player - but Crawley? Really. Sibley or Jennings or someone who’s played grade cricket and knows the conditions … there must be some.
Have a number 3 that you can rely on to stick around and blunt the attack - Pope might be a dashing 5 or 6 but not a 3. Bethell? Hasn’t got a first class 100 and spent last summer waiting to play IPL or some other short format stuff. No doubt a good player but let the county scene at least see him and see if they can work him out.
County cricket - use it to develop Test players. Love it, cherish it, not treat it like some inconvenience between some non entity competition and the inconsequential 100.
Anyway what do I know, a paying member of the public, when I can afford the crunching prices.
