Ed's Gambles Have Proved A Mixed Bag

Englands Test team remained unbeaten at home over the summer, drawing the series against Pakistan in the first half and beating India 4-1 in the second.

But as most teams are undefeated at home these days it is difficult to know whether to praise the selectors or not for the teams they picked.

Ed Smith took over as national selector in April this year, so has been five months in the job. With some of the old panel helping him until a second selector was appointed in July, Smith immediately made an impact by selecting Jos Buttler for the series against Pakistan, following the player’s excellent season in the IPL.

Buttler is a rare talent, at least with the bat, a clean ball-striker with a flair for shot-making and an eye for a challenge. Anyone with a jot of cricket knowledge would know that. Selecting him, therefore, in terms of ability, was an obvious move.

Yet cricket, especially in England, is often beset by prejudice and with Buttler perceived to be dipping in and out of red-ball cricket for his county, Lancashire, he was often overlooked. Smith’s resolve was to ignore the old conventions and pick the best man, which he did to handsome recompense after Buttler scored 510 runs at 46.4 over the two series.

Smith did the same thing by selecting Adil Rashid in the India series though Rashid had opted out of red-ball cricket completely for his county, Yorkshire, and was therefore a more controversial pick. There appeared to be a PR element to it, as well, after Rashid bowled Virat Kohli with a impressive leg-break during the white-ball series that preceded the Tests, to aid justification.

One part of the brief for the national selector’s role was that the incumbent should kow-tow to no-one, including the counties. Yet Rashid’s selection was a slap in the face to all the county players who continue to commit to red-ball cricket in the face of T20’s burgeoning siren call. For them, Smith seemed to be allowing Rashid his cake and then spoon-feeding it to him.