On records, Hales, and Hameed

Not long ago, after Jason Roy scored 162 in an ODI against Sri Lanka, I wrote that it was only a matter of time before Robin Smith's 23-year-old record for England's highest individual ODI score would be broken. In this series against Pakistan, it happened - by Roy's opening partner, Alex Hales.

Gone were those struggles of the test series, with Hales the test batsman replaced by Hales the ODI batsman, those different characters he often seems to play. The man who had already scored three ODI centuries in the last twelve months added another, and his greatest score yet: 171, that record of Robin Smith's finally falling. And not the last record to fall in the day. England surpassed their own  highest ODI score, then it was the world's best - 444/3. Buttler (90*), Root (85), and Morgan (57*) were all involved as well. And even Pakistan got their own record too, Mohammad Amir (58) hitting the highest score by a number eleven batsmen - sadly, all futile by that stage. On went England to a 4-1 series victory, and despite defeat in the Twenty20 that followed, they showed again how they have developed into a serious force in the shortened formats.

But international cricket moves on as quickly as it ever does, and even ODI heroics would have been unlikely to save Hales for the fast approaching test series in Bangladesh. In any case, Hales will not be joining the England squads for the tour, choosing alongside the captain Eoin Morgan to sit out the tour through security fears. It's a decision that for both has brought much scrutiny and often criticism. But such a harsh fare as both, and especially Morgan, have faced feels rather unjust. Assurances have been made, but the ultimate decision was always to be given to the players themselves, with a promise of no consequences. So for the decision to then be called 'disappointing' by the ECB, and then lambasted from many quarters as well, all seems a bit unfair. Sure, I might have liked to see them tour, but it was given as a personal decision for the players and their families, and so it should be left as such.

Lancashire's Haseeb Hameed currently looks like the latest man set to be given the job as Alastair Cook's partner at the top of the order. At least, he is the man currently being 'floated' as the likely option - a recent trend by the selectors to see how the player reacts to an increased spotlight, one that didn't work out well for Scott Borthwick earlier in the summer. Of course, Hameed cannot be mentioned without reference to both his achievements, and his age. Just nineteen years old, so far this season he has scored 1129 runs at 51.31 with four centuries and seven fifties. But the flipside is that - he is just nineteen. Will it be too much, too soon?

The argument has always been there - if you're good enough, you're old enough. The evidence has suggested Hameed is good enough, and certainly he has a huge future in the game. He's something of a throwback in this current age, more traditional in approach than is typical of the Twenty20 generation. It's an approach and mentality not dissimilar from Cook's, and one suited to the test match arena. And, by all accounts, he is a natural. Though touring the subcontinent can be a daunting start to a test career, it is a place where openers can prosper, and is often the best time in the innings to bat. Indeed, Cook made his debut in India aged only 21 - and we know what happened there. Joe Root as well, though not opening, made his mark straight away at a young age. They were good enough, so they were old enough.

If they do choose Hameed, they need to stick with him. He can be a big hit, but there will be bad days too. Some things can be learnt only from experience. It is an investment for the future as much as the present, and so the ups and downs must both be accepted. England need their opening batsman to still be their opening batsman when they visit Australia in just over a year's time. This is the chance to blood the new man, give them that experience, and not just be starting fresh with the pressures of an Ashes tour. But to focus on the present, this is the perfect chance for a new man to make his mark.

Further thoughts: England vs Pakistan

Some further thoughts after Thursday's catch up, because after not posting for most of the series, one post just isn't enough to ramble on in. England's battle for consistency remains an issue, as it often has, and with every series it feels like the same familiar questions arise. Who should open the batting, who should make up the middle order, should Moeen Ali be the first choice spinner, which pace bowler should England pick? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, here's a moment to delve into some of the issues from the Pakistan series.

It has been four years since Andrew Strauss retired, but from the looks of it England are still no closer to finding his replacement. Alex Hales showed a lot of promise against Sri Lanka: on three occasions coming so close to a maiden test century before falling at the final hurdle, and seemingly showing a lot more maturity for one often perceived as just a limited overs player. Yet this series he has struggled, and there would be few surprises if he was soon to miss out. With the white ball, yes, he looks assured, free, and much more confident; but he has yet to replicate that present in the test arena. And he's had more of a chance than most. A confrontation with the TV umpire after his first innings dismissal can hardly have helped his cause. I don't want to see England chopping and changing their openers all the time, I just want to see one stick. But I'm not sure now that Hales will be that one. Frustratingly, there still seems to end in sight to the question.

The question remains as well over England's middle order. It's been so long since it consistently fired, probably going back to that Ashes series in 2013 or before. Joe Root's move up the order to number three seems to have filled that hole at last, but the problem has just been pushed further down. Numbers four and five remain issues. Six, seven, and eight have often been getting the bulk of the runs; and as Cook said, they should be there to provide the icing on the cake, rather than being the ones to make it. James Vince may be elegant, but he hasn't looked the test player, and it's hard to see his test career continuing beyond this summer. So often it seemed to be the same dismissal, the edge behind to the keeper or the slips - a fragility that can ill be afforded at this level. Gary Ballance looked slightly more assured, but still never quite settled, and cannot yet claim to have nailed down his place either.

And again, spin - and the exact role of Moeen Ali - is still an issue as well. Moeen bats at number seven or eight, and is primarily in the team as the spin option - despite generally in his career having been more of a batting all rounder. And in this series, his batting shone; after the embarrassment of a horrific shot to get out for 2 at Lord's, Moeen went on to score a century and two fifties, and at a good strike rate too. The problem was that his bowling wasn't at the same standard. He has the knack of picking up wickets, but with an economy of 4.65 it makes it all the more difficult to apply any pressure. Spinners aren't just there as the wicket taking option, and especially for England - tying up an end is often the priority, and it's something Moeen hasn't been able to do. But is there anyone better out there, demanding their place? Or is the option for Moeen to make his way up the order, bringing in someone like Rashid as the primary spinner and number eight (an option that could be likely come tours to India and Bangladesh this winter). 

Then there's Steven Finn. He's become something of an enigma. He has proven himself, on several occasions across several series, to be a highly dangerous, threatening, wicket taking option, capable at times of producing absolute magic. After his return to the side last year, and particularly on tour in South Africa, it looked like it had finally all come together. But injury struck again, and things fell apart. He's not been at his worst, but he goes through periods where he struggles for rhythm and struggles to look the part. With Mark Wood looking dangerous as he completes his long return from injury, and Jake Ball also making a good impression on debut, he faces a lot of competition to keep his place.

England have stated their aim in selection this year, and it's an admirable idea to give a player one test too many rather than one test too few. After all, I might have wrongly given up on Chris Woakes, and many might have thought Bairstow to have had too many chances without proving himself. But there's a matter of timing, too. Of when time should be called, so you have enough time to prepare the next man. Asia won't be an easy place if a new batsman makes their debut, a steep lesson in spin and unfamiliar conditions for many Englishmen. And England can't find themselves in this position at the end of next summer, throwing a new opener into the frying pan of an Ashes test at the Gabba. There has to be a balance between giving a player a good chance, and planning for the next man in. England have made those mistakes before, and might have made them again. It's the end of the test summer, and England are again left to ponder what comes next. 

Selected thoughts: England vs Pakistan

This blog has gone somewhat quiet recently: not due to a lack of interest, merely a lack of time. As I have obviously missed the boat somewhat for lengthier reviews of the test series, here are some (slightly) shorter thoughts from the past three matches.

The comeback. After losing a hard-fought battle at Lord's, falling victim to the spin of Yasir Shah, it all went much better when the second test began at Old Trafford. For starters, England won the toss and batted - taking out the option of facing Yasir Shah in the fourth innings again. Once Alastair Cook was joined at the crease by Joe Root with the score on 25/1, England never looked back. When Cook departed, it was 210/2. When Root departed for 254, England were well past 500, with a pair of 58s from Woakes and Bairstow also aiding the cause. Yasir Shah, so devastating at Lord's, looked almost ordinary. 589 played 198 after both sides had batted, and despite not choosing to enforce the follow on - Cook and Root instead piling on the misery again - it was then fairly straightforward for England. The bowlers did the rest, and victory was won by 330 runs.

The triumph. The series was finely poised at 1-1, both teams still having everything to play for. Sohail Khan came in for Pakistan, having managed one wicket in his previous two test matches - the first in 2009, the last in 2011. His moment had come though, and he made the wickets tumble - dismissing much of England's middle order for his first five wicket haul. England's batsmen could make starts - Ballance (70) and Moeen (63) the top scorers - but they couldn't build an imposing total, with England all out for 297. Pakistan could though, hitting that 400 mark exactly, led by 139 from Azhar Ali and 82 from Sami Aslam, making his maiden test fifty aged just 20.

Act one was complete. But act two brought a twist. First of all, a rare century stand for the opening partnership, the first shared between Cook and Hales at the top. Batsmen made starts again, but this time more solid starts than before. It was enough for Bairstow and Moeen to exploit when they got their moment - Bairstow with 83, and Moeen on the attack with 86* from 96 balls. England could declare on 445/6, setting a target of 343 and somehow finding themselves in pole position to take the match. And though the breakthrough was slow to come at first, England then went rampant; including a spell of four wickets for one run inside four overs. A fantastic comeback saw England win by 141 runs, taking the series lead to boot.

The finale. England needed to avoid defeat to win the series, Pakistan needed victory to retain the series trophy. All to play for. But familiar problems arose for England. That fragile top order proved fragile again, slipping to 110/5 before Bairstow (55), Moeen (108), and Woakes (45) were there to bail England out to 328. Sohail Khan was there to pick up another five wicket haul, Wahab Riaz returning as well to take three.

Younis Khan had been having a difficult series until this point. Undeniably a brilliant batsman, but things hadn't been going quite right. Catches had gone down when in the field, and when holding the bat he was skittish, jumping around the crease, and not looking like a man of 100 tests and over 9000 test runs. But at The Oval, the real Younis Khan returned. An innings of 218 put the knife into England's hopes, racing along too with a strike rate of 70. Asad Shafiq reached the three figures before him, a comeback of his own after a pair in the previous test. Pakistan had made 542; England had been batted out of the game.

Yasir Shah might have gone quiet for the previous two tests, but he returned for the finale; five wickets to spin England out again. Wahab Riaz was there too, something of a flamethrower in human form, dealing the damage despite having to be taken out of the attack for running on the pitch. Bairstow was England's resistance, fighting as he so often has this summer, until Wahab got his man. England passed Pakistan's score, but a target of 40 was chased down with ease. The series was level once again.

The thrill of the fight

How test cricket is a wonderful, wonderful thing. The runs might have dried up, and wickets too had come to a halt; on the face of it, not much might have been happening at all. And yet it was gripping, utterly absorbing stuff. A target to chase that was a tall ask, but not entirely out of reach, meant that every ball survived and every run scored could give England just a fraction more hope, but that everything could change with just a wicket. Pakistan ran out deserved winners in the end, after a contest that was utterly enthralling.

Pakistan were the victors, winning not just the match but also the hearts of many watching. Their previous tour to England of course ended in acrimony, overshadowed by the spot-fixing scandal that saw Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Amir banned and also imprisoned as a result. Amir made his return to the test team at the scene where it all happened before, but - barring the odd grumblings of discontent - the reception from the stands was generally positive. The final wicket was his, fitting with the script. The past is behind this Pakistan team, and now here is a side crafted in Misbah's image: Misbah, 40 years old and still every bit a test player, and celebrating a century at Lord's with press-ups. When the game reached its conclusion, the team followed; first standing to attention before taking orders from Younis Khan, a reference to a recent army camp before the tour began.

But the match belonged to two men more than most - to Chris Woakes, and to Yasir Shah. I was one of those unconvinced by Chris Woakes before the summer began, but I definitely no longer feel that way, and I am glad for that. He was England's most threatening, most dangerous bowler - and eleven wickets in the match can attest to that. And he held out with the bat too, in that long partnership with Jonny Bairstow that looked like it could edge things back in England's favour. But they had to face Yasir Shah. Yasir, who left England's batsmen utterly flummoxed - and sometimes before they'd even come out to bat. The ball to dismiss Gary Ballance in the second innings brought comparisons with Shane Warne's other 'ball of the century', the one to dismiss Andrew Strauss at Edgbaston in 2005. Sometimes it was just the straight one that did the job too, like the key breakthrough to dismiss Bairstow after he'd held out for so long. Ten wickets in the match were for Yasir, and it was a warning for the rest of the summer for England.

England went on the attack for the second innings, chasing a target of 283. It was a smart way to go after the new ball, perhaps the best time to face this Pakistani attack - just before it really starts swinging or reversing, and before Yasir comes on with his spin. But it was certainly a bold move, and like so many of England's bold moves, flirted dangerously on that line between positivity and recklessness. It will always look brilliant and attract praise when it succeeds, but easily looks foolish when it fails. Hales was gone early, cutting the ball. Root was out pulling straight to the fielder. Vince made his highest score for the test team with 42, but gave chances all the way - and his eventual dismissal wasn't a huge surprise. Moeen's was the worst of the lot - charging at the spinner at the start of his innings, when it just wasn't needed. Ballance (43) was more secure, but the need to dig in soon took over when England fell to 139/6.

England find themselves again with selection dilemmas ahead of the next test, reflected in the 14 men in the squad. Anderson and Stokes return after injury, whilst Adil Rashid is also present - giving the option to play a second spinner, or to replace Moeen Ali as the first choice. Whilst Anderson and Stokes look likely to replace Jake Ball and Steven Finn, Stokes's ability with the bat could lead him to replace James Vince, still struggling to make his mark in the team. If so, it may be an interesting call with the bowlers: to go for a second spinner, so rare in England; to stick with Ball, after a decent show on his debut; or to carry on with Finn, who often looked out of his rhythm, then suffered two dropped catches when he found it.

What is sure though, is that we look in for an absolute treat of a series. The fourth day was the kind that sets the pulse racing, the true test of determination and wills, the character that makes the sport as much as the physical action of bat on ball. And it could well continue with two sides looking very evenly matched, with individuals capable of brilliance, and with the bowlers edging the battle between bat and ball. After this game, I can't wait for the rest of the series.

Springing the surprises

One sure way to create a talking point is to announce a new test squad, or at least it seems to be one subject I spend a lot of time talking about on here. The international summer as ever moves along at a rapid rate, with there barely time to pause for breath before the tricky challenge of a test series against Pakistan begins next week. And with Compton dropped, Anderson injured, and Stokes still absent through his injury, the selectors had some interesting decisions to make.

And interesting decisions they were. I have long been something of a cheerleader for Gary Ballance - when he was breaking into the England team, when he was in it, and when he was out of it. But am I surprised he's been recalled? Yes, definitely. And would I have recalled him at this point? It's unlikely. Whilst I firmly believe he still has a test future ahead of him, like most I wasn't expecting this to be the time he would return. There's still the feeling that he hasn't done enough to remedy the issues with his technique - that big movement back in his crease that got him into trouble against the full, swinging ball. An average of 33.64 in the Championship this season has hardly set the world alight either, especially compared to other rivals for England places. But timing is everything, and this week Ballance made a century against a strong Middlesex attack; whilst Scott Borthwick's last three first class innings have been single figure scores.

It will be a challenge for his technique against a Pakistan bowling attack well able to expose any flaws, particularly with the recent return of Mohammad Amir. But Ballance does seem to have the mental character and the appetite for the battle in test cricket, and maybe a move from three to the middle order will serve him well. Certainly it was a surprise when he took the number three spot in the first place, never having been his position for Yorkshire and really having a technique more suited to batting at four or five. Root will be the man moving up to number three, with Bayliss keen on having the best player in the position. Root is adaptable, and certainly has the ability to rise to the challenge - but there's also the argument that if he's doing so well at four, why should you change it? The make up of England's middle order remains uncertain.

An option that was considered, and was looking likely with remarks made by Bayliss in the ODI series, was for Jos Buttler to return to the test team as a specialist batsman. It would have been quite the attacking move, and one definitely in keeping with the philosophy England are trying to employ in all formats. At the end of the day though, the safer option was taken. Buttler may be able to transform himself into a test player in the future, but I'd feel he needs more time batting with the red ball to do so, and with IPL and England commitments hasn't yet played a first class game this season.

The new face in the squad belongs to a bowler, Toby Roland-Jones. Jake Ball may be the front runner to fill James Anderson's spot, but Roland-Jones will provide strong competition and it will be a close contest for the test place. The call up might have been slightly unexpected, not having featured in an England squad before and with little hype before his inclusion. But he has been consistent in county cricket for a number of years, has a first class average of 25.17, and was involved in the Lions setup during the winter - certainly enough to put him on anyone's radar. He's shown his form this week as well, playing a key part with bat and ball as Middlesex defeated Yorkshire by an innings. His selection also gives me the chance to tell anyone who will listen that he belted a brilliant century from number 10 - also against Yorkshire - when I saw him play last year.

Pakistan of course beat England in the winter tests, and England will be wanting to set the record straight in home conditions - though Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz will provide a big test for a batting line up still not yet fully firing. Series against Pakistan can often be an interesting and tense affair, and the potential is there for a close contest between the two sides.