Wily Porter Still On The Right Path

Jamie Porter has been backed to shine for England if he is given his chance at Lord’s next week after missing out on the team for the first Test against India at Edgbaston.

The Essex seamer earned his first international squad call-up for the series opener in Birmingham, but with England insisting their seamers will be rotated over the course of five Tests in six weeks, Porter may be called on sooner rather than later.

The 25-year-old has taken 158 County Championship wickets since the start of the 2015 season and James Foster, the Essex wicketkeeper, believes Porter, who missed out on selection at Edgbaston to Surrey’s Sam Curran, has the right temperament to shine if given the opportunity to make his Test debut.

“He’s one of those guys, you look at how he’s performed over the last three years he thoroughly deserves the opportunity,” said Foster. “He’s a real competitor, if he gets the chance he will enjoy it, relish it. He’s one of those guys who will get excited about it rather than overawed. This is my impression and I’ve seen a lot of him. He’ll be excited and see it as a challenge.”

Porter does not deliver express pace and is seen by many as too similar to England’s other right-arm seam bowlers in James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes to offer the attack any real variation.