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Luke-Wright
Surely this is the end for Harmison
By Will last year, mid-October, 3 Comments »
Well what an odd feeling it was reading (as opposed to doing, but I digress entirely) the England selection today. No Ravi Bopara, whose cocksure waves to the pavilion against West Indies to acknowledge his hundreds were greeted with initial surprise, followed by widespread admission that England had on their hands a great talent. His arrogance should therefore be embraced. We did, but he regressed without so much as a whimper.
And no Steve Harmison, presumably for the last time. He himself gave England a ridiculous ultimatum at the end of the Ashes that he didn’t want to be a part-time England player. Right – so, that’s full-time then Steve, except you don’t tour very well, you’re as consistent as a bowl of porridge with a sausage stuck in it, and you retired yourself from ODIs. And then you unretired. For his and his family’s sake, if not the media’s – it’s incredibly frustrating writing about players whose belief in their ability is so at odds with their results – let this be the last time we speak of Harmison in an England shirt.
His replacement is hardly a shining example of consistency himself, but at least he has youth on his side. For now. Liam Plunkett has had a fairly decent season, but more a surprise – and a pleasant one too – is the name Luke Wright. He’s quick with the ball and potentially a powerful hitter, with plenty of bottom-hand, and undeniably quick in the field, but Tests will stretch him to the absolute limit. I’ve always thought he has a bit of ticker about him, but his technique could be cruelly exposed by South Africa’s seamers.
England weren’t finished there with the giggles. Saj Mahmood – ha! – and Alastair Cook – honk! – were called up to the ODI side. In fairness, as much as it genuinely pains me to say, Cook went bonkers a couple of times this season for Essex in domestic ODIs. But, still, you can’t help feeling he might not fare quite as well against a side of South Africa’s quality. I hope he does. As for Mahmood, well, who honestly knows where the ball’s going to go, but at least we can enjoy his befuddled facial expressions as a result.
3 Comments »Use the force, Luke
By Ian 3 years ago, at the start of August, 1 Comment »
I was a little sceptical about Luke Wright’s succession to the England 20-20 squad on the basis that he scored the most runs in this year’s campaign, not least because Chris Schofield was picked for taking the most wickets. Graeme Swann must be uber-gutted! But while I am delighted the selectors have decided to go with a specialist squad, I had developed the opinion that Wright was just a slogger-got-lucky.
Not for the first time, I was dead wrong. His 60-ball hundred last night for Sussex against Gloucestershire was stunning. While there was the odd smear and hoik, almost every shot was orthodox, including a dreamy cover drive and on drive, all hit with terrible power and timing. Gloucestershire are not the very worst of attacks – I’m sure Wright will meet some worse bowlers at the 20-20 World Cup – but he made them look inept. Even Michael Atherton was purring by the end, shifting his stance from, “if you’re good enough for international 50 over cricket, you’re good enough for 20-20†to “if this lad’s good enough for 20-20, he should be good enough for 50 overs too.â€
There were various comparisons, such as he grips and rips like Tendulkar or has the speed of hands through the ball as Ali Brown. Indeed, not since Brown have I seen an Englishman so dismantle an attack in the way Jayasuriya or Gilchrist do for fun. As a right-hander, he had something of Michael Slater about him, although I’ll go for a more modern Aussie as a comparison, who likewise has plenty more to prove. Shane Watson batted in a very similar fashion in the World Cup, matching power and timing with elegance. He bowls a bit too and has the same bottle blond hair. Time will tell whether Luke Wright can mix it on the same stage.
1 Comment »