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England Cricket 2026
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Cox has had a very good couple of days. Kept excellently yesterday, and batted very maturely today in the run chase. Indeed more solid than Root.3
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Yeah I thought he might not have done enough to stop Bethell coming straight back in, but he's had a very good Test, as you say.killerandflash said:Cox has had a very good couple of days. Kept excellently yesterday, and batted very maturely today in the run chase. Indeed more solid than Root.
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He’ll still come straight back in, just probably not for Cox. It’ll be for Lawrence or GayNorth Lower Neil said:
Yeah I thought he might not have done enough to stop Bethell coming straight back in, but he's had a very good Test, as you say.killerandflash said:Cox has had a very good couple of days. Kept excellently yesterday, and batted very maturely today in the run chase. Indeed more solid than Root.0 -
I think Gay deserves another series - hasn't been amazing but has something about him and in general takes overs out of the new ball.fenaddick said:
He’ll still come straight back in, just probably not for Cox. It’ll be for Lawrence or GayNorth Lower Neil said:
Yeah I thought he might not have done enough to stop Bethell coming straight back in, but he's had a very good Test, as you say.killerandflash said:Cox has had a very good couple of days. Kept excellently yesterday, and batted very maturely today in the run chase. Indeed more solid than Root.
Lawrence you might be right, away from home batting conditions and they might think Bethell/Root can be the spinners given I think they'll stick with these 4 seamers.
Assuming no other injuries in the meantime!3 -
Can't be too many Test matches when both sides lost 2 wickets in the first over of their seconds innings.
And if there are then can't be too many that led to one side making 400 and the other still only 2 down with 130 runs on the board.
Strange Test.0 -
Bethell is a decent player and clearly highly rated but I find it strange how he is somehow seen and spoken about as a certainty to retain his place. Has he really done that much to cement it? It is only one series but Cox looked excellent and should certainly be in with a shout.
Duckett is safe for now but in need of some big runs soon otherwise I think there will be some scrutiny on his place.
Credit where it is due I also thought Lawrence had a very good series. Lots of eyebrows were raised at his call up but I actually think it was very clever. He is clearly no Stokes but sorts the spin conundrum for me.1 -
Agree with everything you've said including Lawrence having a good series. I think the jury is out so fat as him solving the spin issue. He only bowled 7.3 overs in the whole series and all the time we are able to win games in seam friendly conditions it doesn't matter who bowls spin. The fact that he has, at the age of 29, just 66 first class wickets, at an average of 6 wickets a season as a pro, at 45.50 each and with an economy rate of 3.49 suggests that he has never really been a front line spinner.Notts_Addick said:Bethell is a decent player and clearly highly rated but I find it strange how he is somehow seen and spoken about as a certainty to retain his place. Has he really done that much to cement it? It is only one series but Cox looked excellent and should certainly be in with a shout.
Duckett is safe for now but in need of some big runs soon otherwise I think there will be some scrutiny on his place.
Credit where it is due I also thought Lawrence had a very good series. Lots of eyebrows were raised at his call up but I actually think it was very clever. He is clearly no Stokes but sorts the spin conundrum for me.
That is why 22 year old Bethell might end up displacing him, if not right now, certainly in the near future but he, too, has to be doing the hard yards to prove himself with the ball. And that means playing in the county championship. The cupboard for all the reasons I've previously suggested is bare but he has time on his side to add that string to his bow. We might find, though, that Bethell comes in for Gay and opens which would be quite harsh given all the opportunities Crawley was given.1 -
Bethell certainly hasn't appeared to have much interest in playing County in the past so I can't imagine we will see him playing much in the future either sadly. I fully agree it is what he needs if he is going to develop that part of his game but the ECB don't seem to bothered about sending players out to counties so I just don't see him playing much, if any, county. You could point to Smith as someone who should really be keeping in county cricket to hone his skills but he doesn't and nobody in the ECB seems to fussed.Addick Addict said:
Agree with everything you've said including Lawrence having a good series. I think the jury is out so fat as him solving the spin issue. He only bowled 7.3 overs in the whole series and all the time we are able to win games in seam friendly conditions it doesn't matter who bowls spin. The fact that he has, at the age of 29, just 66 first class wickets, at an average of 6 wickets a season as a pro, at 45.50 each and with an economy rate of 3.49 suggests that he has never really been a front line spinner.Notts_Addick said:Bethell is a decent player and clearly highly rated but I find it strange how he is somehow seen and spoken about as a certainty to retain his place. Has he really done that much to cement it? It is only one series but Cox looked excellent and should certainly be in with a shout.
Duckett is safe for now but in need of some big runs soon otherwise I think there will be some scrutiny on his place.
Credit where it is due I also thought Lawrence had a very good series. Lots of eyebrows were raised at his call up but I actually think it was very clever. He is clearly no Stokes but sorts the spin conundrum for me.
That is why 22 year old Bethell might end up displacing him, if not right now, certainly in the near future but he, too, has to be doing the hard yards to prove himself with the ball. And that means playing in the county championship. The cupboard for all the reasons I've previously suggested is bare but he has time on his side to add that string to his bow. We might find, though, that Bethell comes in for Gay and opens which would be quite harsh given all the opportunities Crawley was given.
Spin when done right is fantastic but I do think the four pace bowlers are now locked in so we are probably after a part time spinner/batter in the Lawrence mould. You hear a lot of pundits speaking up about his leadership abilities as well which I do think is important given the real lack of experience and leaders in the team. There are better spinners out there but we are clearly after one who can bat as well given Stokes is no longer around and Lawrence is an excellent batter on his day.
I think Gay will get the next series to prove himself but longer term unless he really does well I can see Bethell opening, Cox at 3 and Lawrence at 6. I think there is also a small chance if Duckett has a poor series and Gay performs well that they might consider Bethell for Duckett but suspect that is less likely.
Feel very sorry for Gay if that does happen but Cox looked like an absolute natural this series and like he had been in the squad for years so I can see why they will be desperate to fit him in. I suspect he might go as the spare batter for the next series but will be in the full squad at some point soon.0 -
Bethell has 18 first class wickets at 59.50, so is barely a credible spin option in Tests. And at least Lawrence plays red ball cricket, and does bowl in the CC. Indeed I recall that one of the reasons he left Essex was because of Harmer restricting his bowling opportunities.
This does highlight how badly England have mismanaged Liam Dawson, the perfect No 6/7 and genuine "hold an end" spinner in seam friendly conditions.
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Lawrence has 9 wickets for Surrey at 71.33 this season. That is the worst average of the 14 bowlers that Surrey have used this season. How has he improved by moving to Surrey? He is not a Test spinner and at the age of 29 is very unlikely to be.killerandflash said:Bethell has 18 first class wickets at 59.50, so is barely a credible spin option in Tests. And at least Lawrence plays red ball cricket, and does bowl in the CC. Indeed I recall that one of the reasons he left Essex was because of Harmer restricting his bowling opportunities.
This does highlight how badly England have mismanaged Liam Dawson, the perfect No 6/7 and genuine "hold an end" spinner in seam friendly conditions.
Bethell had 8 Test wickets at 31.87, has a repeatable action and at just 22 has every chance to improve. He is centrally contracted and if he wants to be keep his contract he should be told that he has to play county cricket. No ifs. No buts. That is the point of central contracts, isn't it?0 -
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I agree about Bethell but the reality is he has barely played any county cricket (one game in 2025) and given his schedule unlikely to play much more than an odd game.Addick Addict said:
Lawrence has 9 wickets for Surrey at 71.33 this season. That is the worst average of the 14 bowlers that Surrey have used this season. How has he improved by moving to Surrey? He is not a Test spinner and at the age of 29 is very unlikely to be.killerandflash said:Bethell has 18 first class wickets at 59.50, so is barely a credible spin option in Tests. And at least Lawrence plays red ball cricket, and does bowl in the CC. Indeed I recall that one of the reasons he left Essex was because of Harmer restricting his bowling opportunities.
This does highlight how badly England have mismanaged Liam Dawson, the perfect No 6/7 and genuine "hold an end" spinner in seam friendly conditions.
Bethell had 8 Test wickets at 31.87, has a repeatable action and at just 22 has every chance to improve. He is centrally contracted and if he wants to be keep his contract he should be told that he has to play county cricket. No ifs. No buts. That is the point of central contracts, isn't it?
The ECB seem to believe players can just learn on the job which is the wrong view in my opinion. Smith is another example of someone who Is only going to get better by keeping more and yet he is second choice for his county. He has improved this year and I do think a lot of that is because he managed to keep at Surrey due to injury and also because we actually have a WK coach now. By all accounts we didn't even have a WK coach until this year which is absolutely insane and just further evidence of the mismanagement under Mccullum/Key etc.
The sad reality is that they will expect Bethell to learn on the job and hope exposure to international cricket develops his game. Perhaps he is talented enough to make it work but there are very few proper spinners out there who haven't had to learn their craft first, and Bethell is always going to be asked to prioritise his batting first and bowling second.
With our four pace bowlers we are looking for an all rounder who can bat and play a bit of spin at 6. Lawrence seems the best option for that at the moment and if he gets injured or smashed round the ground Bethell could be the next option. Dawson would have been an ideal option as mentioned before but yet again has been so poorly managed by the ECB and thrown the towel in on international cricket which is a real shame.1 -
Bethell not playing for Warwickshire at all is a bit of a pisstake. Should be told he's not going to the IPL to sit on the bench next year and part of his central contract should be going and playing the first block of the Champ. There's the 150th Anniversary test in March and then no test until the one off with Bangladesh at the end of May. Perfect gap to go and play Championship Cricket and get time in the middle.5
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Bethell makes his own schedule beyond his England commitments but the ECB are now in league with the IPL franchises anyway. He was away for 10 weeks at the IPL. Tell him he won't play for England if he goes to the IPL and take his central contract away if he does. That is what India does if a player dares to play in another franchise competition. As much as I detest it, England's franchise competition is The Hundred not the IPL.Notts_Addick said:
I agree about Bethell but the reality is he has barely played any county cricket (one game in 2025) and given his schedule unlikely to play much more than an odd game.Addick Addict said:
Lawrence has 9 wickets for Surrey at 71.33 this season. That is the worst average of the 14 bowlers that Surrey have used this season. How has he improved by moving to Surrey? He is not a Test spinner and at the age of 29 is very unlikely to be.killerandflash said:Bethell has 18 first class wickets at 59.50, so is barely a credible spin option in Tests. And at least Lawrence plays red ball cricket, and does bowl in the CC. Indeed I recall that one of the reasons he left Essex was because of Harmer restricting his bowling opportunities.
This does highlight how badly England have mismanaged Liam Dawson, the perfect No 6/7 and genuine "hold an end" spinner in seam friendly conditions.
Bethell had 8 Test wickets at 31.87, has a repeatable action and at just 22 has every chance to improve. He is centrally contracted and if he wants to be keep his contract he should be told that he has to play county cricket. No ifs. No buts. That is the point of central contracts, isn't it?
The ECB seem to believe players can just learn on the job which is the wrong view in my opinion. Smith is another example of someone who Is only going to get better by keeping more and yet he is second choice for his county. He has improved this year and I do think a lot of that is because he managed to keep at Surrey due to injury and also because we actually have a WK coach now. By all accounts we didn't even have a WK coach until this year which is absolutely insane and just further evidence of the mismanagement under Mccullum/Key etc.
The sad reality is that they will expect Bethell to learn on the job and hope exposure to international cricket develops his game. Perhaps he is talented enough to make it work but there are very few proper spinners out there who haven't had to learn their craft first, and Bethell is always going to be asked to prioritise his batting first and bowling second.
With our four pace bowlers we are looking for an all rounder who can bat and play a bit of spin at 6. Lawrence seems the best option for that at the moment and if he gets injured or smashed round the ground Bethell could be the next option. Dawson would have been an ideal option as mentioned before but yet again has been so poorly managed by the ECB and thrown the towel in on international cricket which is a real shame.
As for Smith, as a centrally contracted player, the ECB choose when and where he plays. There are plenty of counties that will take him as keeper/batter even on a short term basis. It is, indeed, also inexplicable that England didn't have a keeping/fielding coach but some counties don't have one either. It's the easiest option to dispense with and yet, as we know, it can be the difference between winning and losing matches.
The reason why Dawson had the hump was because he was never centrally contracted until this year so had to make his money playing franchise cricket and Moeen Ali was picked in front of him for the Ashes. We then wanted him to tour as second/third spinner to someone who isn't and never has been good enough and who can't bat either. He is now 36 and 14 years older than Bethell. Dawson has earned his right to turn his back on international cricket. Bethell hasn't but should he want to then that's fine if he would rather not play for England. He's not indispensable.
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Don't want to see Rob Key make any more stupid comments about counties signing Aussie overseas when he can't make our own centrally contracted players play for their counties. Anyone that's around the red ball setup shouldn't be at the IPL.4
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Bethell isn't a Test spinner, NZ handed him a few cheap ones but he's absolutely not up to the standard of a credible first-choice international spinner. I know this because I've used my eyes rather than the stats.
Duckett is closer to the exit than all of you seem to think. How many 50+ scores do you think he's had since the start of the Ashes? The answer is 1. Bad series in SA finishes him - we have openers in the CC looking good too (namely, McKinney and J Thomas)
A few home truths could be revealed in SA tbh. This series has taught us next to nothing0 -
Do your eyes tell you that Bethell has a repeatable action? We do not have a "credible" international spinning option for all the reasons I've suggested previously which is why we are resorting to batters who bowl spin. But Bethell could be. One day. If he works at it and consistently plays red ball cricket. Your eyes tell you what your eyes tell you right now with Bethell at the age of 22 and undercooked in terms of overs. Not in seven years (when he will be the same age as Lawrence is now) having played every season in the CC.Leuth said:Bethell isn't a Test spinner, NZ handed him a few cheap ones but he's absolutely not up to the standard of a credible first-choice international spinner. I know this because I've used my eyes rather than the stats.
Duckett is closer to the exit than all of you seem to think. How many 50+ scores do you think he's had since the start of the Ashes? The answer is 1. Bad series in SA finishes him - we have openers in the CC looking good too (namely, McKinney and J Thomas)
A few home truths could be revealed in SA tbh. This series has taught us next to nothing
Swann made his international debut at 20 and was never picked again for seven years. Spinners need time in the middle to learn their craft and if Bethell doesn't get that then he will end up like Root or KP. Someone to throw that ball to when we are desperate.
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What does 'repeatable action' even mean? He doesn't turn the ball much, he doesn't get overspin, he doesn't vary his pace and flight cleverly...he looked good in a bunch of T20s in Sri Lanka where they basically made pitches that would make any spinner look dangerous, but what we have in Bethell is a guy who bowls darts. He could develop into a second spinner but to talk of him as frontline is an affront to the entire craft of spin bowling1
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The ECB seem to have a sound strategy for managing Key's stupid comments which is to keep him hidden away. I can't recall hearing from him for months which is no bad thing as usually whatever he comes out with is a load of nonsense.MarcusH26 said:Don't want to see Rob Key make any more stupid comments about counties signing Aussie overseas when he can't make our own centrally contracted players play for their counties. Anyone that's around the red ball setup shouldn't be at the IPL.
Hiring a pundit as managing director was pure laziness from the ECB. However if they were going to go down that route there are numerous other pundits who you suspect would have done a decent job just from listening to them speak. I am sure Key is a nice guy but you only had to hear him on comms to know he was completely unqualified and unsuited for such an important role.2 -
I fully agree with everything you say, I just don't see it happening if recent history is anything to go by. Archer is a good example of someone where the ECB could have put their foot down and insisted he was back in time for the test summer but they didn't and allowed him to miss the start.Addick Addict said:
Bethell makes his own schedule beyond his England commitments but the ECB are now in league with the IPL franchises anyway. He was away for 10 weeks at the IPL. Tell him he won't play for England if he goes to the IPL and take his central contract away if he does. That is what India does if a player dares to play in another franchise competition. As much as I detest it, England's franchise competition is The Hundred not the IPL.Notts_Addick said:
I agree about Bethell but the reality is he has barely played any county cricket (one game in 2025) and given his schedule unlikely to play much more than an odd game.Addick Addict said:
Lawrence has 9 wickets for Surrey at 71.33 this season. That is the worst average of the 14 bowlers that Surrey have used this season. How has he improved by moving to Surrey? He is not a Test spinner and at the age of 29 is very unlikely to be.killerandflash said:Bethell has 18 first class wickets at 59.50, so is barely a credible spin option in Tests. And at least Lawrence plays red ball cricket, and does bowl in the CC. Indeed I recall that one of the reasons he left Essex was because of Harmer restricting his bowling opportunities.
This does highlight how badly England have mismanaged Liam Dawson, the perfect No 6/7 and genuine "hold an end" spinner in seam friendly conditions.
Bethell had 8 Test wickets at 31.87, has a repeatable action and at just 22 has every chance to improve. He is centrally contracted and if he wants to be keep his contract he should be told that he has to play county cricket. No ifs. No buts. That is the point of central contracts, isn't it?
The ECB seem to believe players can just learn on the job which is the wrong view in my opinion. Smith is another example of someone who Is only going to get better by keeping more and yet he is second choice for his county. He has improved this year and I do think a lot of that is because he managed to keep at Surrey due to injury and also because we actually have a WK coach now. By all accounts we didn't even have a WK coach until this year which is absolutely insane and just further evidence of the mismanagement under Mccullum/Key etc.
The sad reality is that they will expect Bethell to learn on the job and hope exposure to international cricket develops his game. Perhaps he is talented enough to make it work but there are very few proper spinners out there who haven't had to learn their craft first, and Bethell is always going to be asked to prioritise his batting first and bowling second.
With our four pace bowlers we are looking for an all rounder who can bat and play a bit of spin at 6. Lawrence seems the best option for that at the moment and if he gets injured or smashed round the ground Bethell could be the next option. Dawson would have been an ideal option as mentioned before but yet again has been so poorly managed by the ECB and thrown the towel in on international cricket which is a real shame.
As for Smith, as a centrally contracted player, the ECB choose when and where he plays. There are plenty of counties that will take him as keeper/batter even on a short term basis. It is, indeed, also inexplicable that England didn't have a keeping/fielding coach but some counties don't have one either. It's the easiest option to dispense with and yet, as we know, it can be the difference between winning and losing matches.
The reason why Dawson had the hump was because he was never centrally contracted until this year so had to make his money playing franchise cricket and Moeen Ali was picked in front of him for the Ashes. We then wanted him to tour as second/third spinner to someone who isn't and never has been good enough and who can't bat either. He is now 36 and 14 years older than Bethell. Dawson has earned his right to turn his back on international cricket. Bethell hasn't but should he want to then that's fine if he would rather not play for England. He's not indispensable.
Perhaps the appointment of Fleming will change things but the ECB seem to have a complete apathy and disregard for county cricket. The argument about the hundred has been had a million times but the county champ has descended into a farce this year with numerous games being lost to the weather. Anyone with half a brain would have foreseen playing cricket in September is a lottery, it's not that the ECB don't know that it's just that they don't care. I am hopefully going to the one day final next week but the fact it's been played at the back end of September is ridiculous.
Key can barely hide his disdain for the county game and Mccullum made no effort at at all to hide his contempt for it. There will be plenty of players in that group who that will have rubbed off on.
Fully agree on Dawson, but just another example of mismanagement and as you say he is well within his rights to be mugged off and now prioritising making as much money as possible. On the subject of mismanagement it is noteworthy that Bashir doesn't even seem to factor into the conversations about a spinner anymore. What a bizarre episode that has been.
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"Repeatable action" means having the ability to land a ball on the spot a spinner wants to land it on. I agree he bowls darts but, over the course of seven years, he can learn about flight and giving the ball time to turn. Unfortunately, far too often, you see a Rehan or Farhan Ahmed and think that because they turn the ball square, they won't get pumped out of the ground because they can't land the ball where they want to under pressure. It's a bit like suggesting that Crawley is a Test batter because he has an exquisite cover drive which so many others have previously.Leuth said:What does 'repeatable action' even mean? He doesn't turn the ball much, he doesn't get overspin, he doesn't vary his pace and flight cleverly...he looked good in a bunch of T20s in Sri Lanka where they basically made pitches that would make any spinner look dangerous, but what we have in Bethell is a guy who bowls darts. He could develop into a second spinner but to talk of him as frontline is an affront to the entire craft of spin bowling
You've rightly previously mentioned the promise of Rehan and Farhan Ahmed but you've also suggested that they should be in the England side. My eyes tell me that neither has the control to be a frontline spinner and will get hit out of the park. It's not just my eyes though. Rehan has 13 wickets all season and Farhan has not played a single 1st X1 game for Notts despite taking a stack of wickets in their 2s when he won't have been under pressure.
In the meantime, it is clear that England will try to get away with a non frontline spinner. In not encouraging/telling Bethell he has to play in the CC then he will never become that.0 -
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The irony of that is, of course, that without county cricket he would not have had a career in cricket and there would be no system in place to produce players for England. The Hundred certainly isn't going to do that either. As the saying goes "Never forget those who helped you on the way up........"Notts_Addick said:
I fully agree with everything you say, I just don't see it happening if recent history is anything to go by. Archer is a good example of someone where the ECB could have put their foot down and insisted he was back in time for the test summer but they didn't and allowed him to miss the start.Addick Addict said:
Bethell makes his own schedule beyond his England commitments but the ECB are now in league with the IPL franchises anyway. He was away for 10 weeks at the IPL. Tell him he won't play for England if he goes to the IPL and take his central contract away if he does. That is what India does if a player dares to play in another franchise competition. As much as I detest it, England's franchise competition is The Hundred not the IPL.Notts_Addick said:
I agree about Bethell but the reality is he has barely played any county cricket (one game in 2025) and given his schedule unlikely to play much more than an odd game.Addick Addict said:
Lawrence has 9 wickets for Surrey at 71.33 this season. That is the worst average of the 14 bowlers that Surrey have used this season. How has he improved by moving to Surrey? He is not a Test spinner and at the age of 29 is very unlikely to be.killerandflash said:Bethell has 18 first class wickets at 59.50, so is barely a credible spin option in Tests. And at least Lawrence plays red ball cricket, and does bowl in the CC. Indeed I recall that one of the reasons he left Essex was because of Harmer restricting his bowling opportunities.
This does highlight how badly England have mismanaged Liam Dawson, the perfect No 6/7 and genuine "hold an end" spinner in seam friendly conditions.
Bethell had 8 Test wickets at 31.87, has a repeatable action and at just 22 has every chance to improve. He is centrally contracted and if he wants to be keep his contract he should be told that he has to play county cricket. No ifs. No buts. That is the point of central contracts, isn't it?
The ECB seem to believe players can just learn on the job which is the wrong view in my opinion. Smith is another example of someone who Is only going to get better by keeping more and yet he is second choice for his county. He has improved this year and I do think a lot of that is because he managed to keep at Surrey due to injury and also because we actually have a WK coach now. By all accounts we didn't even have a WK coach until this year which is absolutely insane and just further evidence of the mismanagement under Mccullum/Key etc.
The sad reality is that they will expect Bethell to learn on the job and hope exposure to international cricket develops his game. Perhaps he is talented enough to make it work but there are very few proper spinners out there who haven't had to learn their craft first, and Bethell is always going to be asked to prioritise his batting first and bowling second.
With our four pace bowlers we are looking for an all rounder who can bat and play a bit of spin at 6. Lawrence seems the best option for that at the moment and if he gets injured or smashed round the ground Bethell could be the next option. Dawson would have been an ideal option as mentioned before but yet again has been so poorly managed by the ECB and thrown the towel in on international cricket which is a real shame.
As for Smith, as a centrally contracted player, the ECB choose when and where he plays. There are plenty of counties that will take him as keeper/batter even on a short term basis. It is, indeed, also inexplicable that England didn't have a keeping/fielding coach but some counties don't have one either. It's the easiest option to dispense with and yet, as we know, it can be the difference between winning and losing matches.
The reason why Dawson had the hump was because he was never centrally contracted until this year so had to make his money playing franchise cricket and Moeen Ali was picked in front of him for the Ashes. We then wanted him to tour as second/third spinner to someone who isn't and never has been good enough and who can't bat either. He is now 36 and 14 years older than Bethell. Dawson has earned his right to turn his back on international cricket. Bethell hasn't but should he want to then that's fine if he would rather not play for England. He's not indispensable.
Perhaps the appointment of Fleming will change things but the ECB seem to have a complete apathy and disregard for county cricket. The argument about the hundred has been had a million times but the county champ has descended into a farce this year with numerous games being lost to the weather. Anyone with half a brain would have foreseen playing cricket in September is a lottery, it's not that the ECB don't know that it's just that they don't care. I am hopefully going to the one day final next week but the fact it's been played at the back end of September is ridiculous.
Key can barely hide his disdain for the county game and Mccullum made no effort at at all to hide his contempt for it. There will be plenty of players in that group who that will have rubbed off on.
Fully agree on Dawson, but just another example of mismanagement and as you say he is well within his rights to be mugged off and now prioritising making as much money as possible. On the subject of mismanagement it is noteworthy that Bashir doesn't even seem to factor into the conversations about a spinner anymore. What a bizarre episode that has been.3 -
Swann was a spin bowler, who batted a bit. Bowling was his main job.Addick Addict said:
Do your eyes tell you that Bethell has a repeatable action? We do not have a "credible" international spinning option for all the reasons I've suggested previously which is why we are resorting to batters who bowl spin. But Bethell could be. One day. If he works at it and consistently plays red ball cricket. Your eyes tell you what your eyes tell you right now with Bethell at the age of 22 and undercooked in terms of overs. Not in seven years (when he will be the same age as Lawrence is now) having played every season in the CC.Leuth said:Bethell isn't a Test spinner, NZ handed him a few cheap ones but he's absolutely not up to the standard of a credible first-choice international spinner. I know this because I've used my eyes rather than the stats.
Duckett is closer to the exit than all of you seem to think. How many 50+ scores do you think he's had since the start of the Ashes? The answer is 1. Bad series in SA finishes him - we have openers in the CC looking good too (namely, McKinney and J Thomas)
A few home truths could be revealed in SA tbh. This series has taught us next to nothing
Swann made his international debut at 20 and was never picked again for seven years. Spinners need time in the middle to learn their craft and if Bethell doesn't get that then he will end up like Root or KP. Someone to throw that ball to when we are desperate.
Bethell is a "star" all format batsman who bowls a bit. And might be the next England white ball captain. Spin bowling is surely well down his priorities, especially in red ball.
If we are playing on bunsens in the sub continent, we'd still need 2 proper spinners ahead of him.
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