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Warne tips Key for England captain
By Mark Tilley last year, mid-January, 6 Comments »
Shane Warne – never short of an opinion or two, especially regarding English cricket. In the wake of the depressing England captain saga, Warne has suggested that official replacement Andrew Strauss would be better suited to the vice-captaincy position and that he would have chosen Kent captain Rob Key as skipper for all three formats of the game.
Key, who hasn’t played a Test for England since 2005, has impressed in recent years through his one-day captaincy and was an outside contender for the England position before Kevin Pietersen was appointed.
Warne said, “He has flair and imagination, a good temperament and is well liked within the game. Ideally, you should look to appoint one captain for all forms and I don’t think that Strauss deserves a place in the one-day side on merit.”
He has a point. Strauss last played a one day game for England back at the 2007 World Cup (in the West Indies, ironically) and hardly deserves a guaranteed place in the limited overs side. He lacks the firepower neccessary for an opener in one day cricket and to have him coming in down the order may get in the way of the established players like Andrew Flintoff and Owais Shah.
However, the support for Key may be misguided. He is a fine player, yes, and definately has the potential to play for England again but captaincy seems a tad premature for Key. His success with Kent was mainly in the Twenty20 format of the game however, as impressive as that was, his side’s performances in the four day game left much to be desired. It would say a huge deal for the state of the game if England were to pick a captain on the strength of his Twenty20 skills.
Where does Strauss fit in to the one day squad then? Thoughts and comments, please.
6 Comments »
Rob Key dives…for a pie
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of October, 1 Comment »
Yes, it’s a bit clichéd. Yes, it’s a bit unfair. But it’s too good not to share:
[via King Cricket and Vin]
1 Comment »A young Rob Key busting some moves (video)
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of July, 1 Comment »
(Ed: it’s probably “bustin”)
1 Comment »Understudy tourists
By Ian 3 years ago, mid-August, 5 Comments »
England will soon have to pick its squad for the winter tours and the three understudy roles up for grabs are those of top-three batsman, wicketkeeper and spinner. My calls for Bob Key were largely dismissed, so I’ll move on to the ‘keeper, who will start as Matt Prior’s back-up, but may get a crack if the Sussex man drops Sangakkara on 0 and becomes Murali’s latest bunny.
It seems England now have an embarrassment of riches at keeper with several stumpers scoring regular runs this season. Foster, Ambrose, Mustard, Read, Jones, Batty have all scored well. Read and Jones have likely had their turn, but Foster may be due another one? Ambrose has been excellent too. Tricky. Mustard must be in line for ODIs, because he’s brilliant at the top of the order for Durham. It’s a shame for Steven Davies that Worcestershire have hardly played this season.
Spinners are more of a quandary. I don’t agree that Pietersen and Vaughan can fill in the gaps. We need a genuine spinner to support Monty, especially in Sri Lanka. The problem is that, as ever, there are no English spinners topping the charts, although I can’t see what Graeme Swann has done to upset the selectors. He would do alright. Adil Rashid has great potential and can bat too. As can Alex Loudon. But would any of them bowl out Sri Lanka? I’m at a loss.
Bring back Shaggy?!
5 Comments »Luck of the Irish?
By Will 4 years ago, mid-November, 9 Comments »
William asked for it (not me; I’m not speaking the third person), so I thought I’d offer thoughts on Ed Joyce’s call-up to replace Marcus Trescothick. I find it baffling, quite honestly. I’ve been a big supporter of him for many years. He’s a calm individual, relaxed at the crease – unfazed by situations – and bats accordingly. He’s very talented indeed but what I saw of him in his brief one-day appearances didn’t inspire much confidence. Worse still, what must Rob Key feel?
Interestingly Key is one of Flintoff’s best buddies, and there will have been no shortage of bellowing from the captain. Stranger still that Owais Shah wasn’t called up, perhaps England’s best player of spin (I can’t think of too many who play spin with such ease). Perhaps they just wanted another left-hander…
Your thoughts, ladies and gents.
9 Comments »