What Next for the English Test Team? Part II

England in Test cricket right now is a wounded animal. The hangover of a bruising 4-1 Ashes defeat, combined with the hangover of a drunken night out in Noosa, hangs over the team like an angry storm cloud. The home series against New Zealand earlier this summer was supposed to improve the situation. Instead, by the end of it, the team found itself mired in more off-the-pitch controversy and bereft of its talismanic captain.

Luckily enough, England now has a two-month break from Test cricket. But on August 19th, they will have to take on Pakistan in a three-match series they simply must win (as their last Test series win came in November of 2024). Looking ahead to that series, below is my predicted eleven to face Pakistan at Headingley.

Openers: Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay

Caption: Opening duo of Ben Duckett and Emilio Gay scored 385 runs between the pair of them.

Ben Duckett is one of the few England players to have emerged from the disaster of the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy with his reputation enhanced. After a dismal Ashes series and all the controversy of that Noosa video, Duckett was under immense pressure to turn up for England. And he did. Facing the perfect storm of New Zealand pacers, all returning from injury at once, Duckett reached an average that crested 40, which culminated in a magnificent counter-attacking century in the third Test at Trent Bridge. Duckett seems back to his best, and, as he closes in on 50 Test caps, looks set to be England’s Test opener for the long term.

As for his partner, Emilio Gay’s debut series wasn’t the start of dreams, but a well-made 57 on a devilish Lord’s surface, facing quicker and better bowling than ever before in his career, showed promise. In any case, England has been looking for a long-term successor to Alastair Cook since his retirement. Haseeb Hameed, Sam Robson, Adam Lyth, Alex Lees, and Zak Crawley have all come and gone. Gay has immense talent and deserves a proper run in the Test side.

Top Order Batters: Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, and Harry Brook

Caption: Harry Brook and Joe Root—England’s only current players to average more than 50 in Test cricket.

Arguably England’s two best batsmen, plus their brightest prospect. Positions three, four, and five are sorted for England for the foreseeable. Or so you would think. Root’s recent appointment as captain is a mistake and raises the question—will the burden of captaincy affect his batting? Brook is a generational talent, and, considering he averages a career-best 84 against Pakistan across six Test matches, his lack of form in recent months doesn’t concern me too much.

Bethell is something of an anomaly, however. He shows flashes of brilliance, including several magnificent fifties away in New Zealand, and, of course, his iconic maiden Test ton in Sydney. However, this rarely seems to translate into consistent form. That problem, in my eyes, seems to stem from a lack of red-ball experience. Bethell’s choice to miss the start of the County season with Warwickshire, and instead play franchise cricket, was a questionable one, considering he only passed fifty once and averaged 17 this summer for the Test team. He is only 22, though, and is learning how to bat three on the job. But if his form is as poor as it was against New Zealand, Bethell’s spot may well come under scrutiny. For now, however, I think he deserves England’s full backing, and will play a key role in the upcoming clash against Pakistan, not just with the ball but also as an electric fielder.

Wicketkeeper-Batter: Jamie Smith

Caption: Smith’s batting average in Test cricket has only just slipped below 40, following a terrible Ashes tour.

Similar to Duckett, Surrey’s Jamie Smith was under extreme pressure to improve his performances. Whilst Smith didn’t tear up any trees, he was quietly solid with the bat, providing a gritty 39 that was worth a lot more in a doomed first innings at Lord’s, whilst also battling through to tea at Trent Bridge on Day Five, as the Black Caps slowly but surely wrapped up the series.

Perhaps the most telling sign of Smith’s importance to the side, however, came when he didn’t feature at all. Many people had been calling for the inclusion of Somerset prodigy James Rew, and when Smith was away for the second Test match for the birth of his child, Rew was selected. England promptly suffered a crushing defeat, and Rew made scores of 24 and 15, whilst also struggling behind the stumps.

Despite possessing immense talent, Smith is clearly far from the finished article. Behind the stumps, he lacks the poise and the consistency of an elite keeper like Alex Carey or Tom Blundell. However, that comes with time, and it is easy to forget that Smith’s experience is consigned to just 22 Tests. There is no reason not to pick him, and I expect Smith to prove his doubters wrong come August.

The All-Rounder Spot: Rehan Ahmed

Caption: At 18 years of age, Rehan Ahmed became England’s youngest ever Test cricketer, as well as the youngest to take five wickets.

Following Ben Stokes’s shock retirement, the number seven all-rounder spot in the side is now vacant. It’s a position that is integral to the balance of the team, and also, considering the fitness issues that have plagued England’s bowling attack, crucial in terms of workload management.

The second Test at The Oval, when Stokes had been dropped following off-pitch controversy in a Chelsea nightclub, was an interesting window into the future of what life would look like post-Stokes. The ECB opted to pick a batter in Jordan Cox, rather than a true all-rounder such as Rehan Ahmed. The effects were clear to see, as England looked imbalanced and light on bowlers, as New Zealand thrashed them by 260 runs. To add insult to injury, that weekend in the County Championship, Ahmed scored a century and picked up two wickets for Leicestershire.

As an attacking leg-spinner, Ahmed’s bowling style is not conventional for an English player. However, that uniqueness, combined with a career batting average of 36.8 in First-Class cricket, may well be what makes him so valuable. Late-summer pitches in England tend to dry out and offer some spin too, and with current spinner Shoaib Bashir clearly still not at a Test level, Ahmed looks like an excellent option. Ahmed, of course, made history, becoming England’s youngest Test debutant in 2022. However, since then, opportunities have been few and far between. His talent is obvious though, and in my opinion, it is finally time to invest in one of England’s brightest young prospects.

It only helps his case too, that the competition isn’t particularly strong. Sam Curran has expressed an interest in returning to the Test side, but given England’s current obsession with bowlers who can hit 85mph+, and with the ODI World Cup being around the corner, a recall for Curran seems unlikely. The only other cricketer who could perhaps pose a challenge would be Craig Overton. Already Test-capped on eight occasions, Overton has acquitted himself well so far this season in County cricket.

Craig Overton over the last 12 months:

• Batting average: 49.35
• Bowling average: 21.75

Excellent figures, but regardless, I still would pick Rehan Ahmed, and back the selectors to do the same. Overton is a good player and in great form, but Ahmed is the future. Also, crucially, spinners can bowl for longer, and with England’s fast bowlers needing rotation and workload management, having a spinner who can carry the overs is integral. England has an Ashes series next summer to prepare for, and hopefully, whoever succeeds Brendon McCullum will also show more interest in competing for the WTC. Either way, Rehan Ahmed looks to be the best choice for me.

Four-Man Bowling Attack: Ollie Robinson, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, and Josh Tongue

Caption: When fit and firing, England’s bowling attack is stacked with raw pace, mastery of the ball, and shares a combined 71 Test caps between the four of them.

The most difficult part of the team to pick, simply because of fitness issues. All four of the bowlers above have missed extensive periods with persistent injury and fitness issues. This summer alone Ollie Robinson, after winning player of the match in the first Test at Lord’s, was ruled out of the remaining two with a knee injury. Archer, meanwhile, wasn’t present at Lord’s because his fitness needed managing following a gruelling IPL campaign.

When fit, however, you gain incredible mastery of the new ball through Ollie Robinson. Express pace and bounce are provided by Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue, coupled with a stifling economy rate and relentless accuracy from Gus Atkinson—who provides elements of both.

The bowling attack is notoriously unreliable, and with all four bowlers, apart from Robinson, playing in The Hundred, the chances are that one or more aren’t available for the Pakistan series. Tongue and Archer were both flagging by the end of the New Zealand series, and it showed as their pace levels dropped. Personally, I don’t see Archer playing more than four Test matches in total this summer, and the same applies to Tongue.

So the question is: who can England call upon when inevitably fitness issues arise?

Well, young Hampshire quick Sonny Baker seems to be at the forefront of the “pace race” and was handed his maiden Test callup earlier this summer. His ability to hit 90mph+ and consistently target the stumps has been put to deadly effect in the Vitality Blast this year too, as Hampshire made finals day. His return in the County Championship is impressive too, as he has picked up 22 wickets already. The only question in my mind is whether England’s new coach (whoever that ends up being) will value express pace the same way that Brendon McCullum and co. did. Because apart from that, Baker is still developing other key areas of his game. He is fairly inexperienced in red-ball cricket and struggled somewhat on debut. In fairness, he was facing batting far superior to anything he’d seen before, and Baker had the misfortune of bowling on a road at The Oval.

Unfortunately, the County Championship—England’s finishing school for young red-ball bowlers—does not seem to be a good indication of a Test-quality cricketer. Matthew Potts, in my view, deserves another chance, especially as he is bowling well at Durham. For reference, Potts ranks second in the top wicket-takers so far this season in the County Championship with 41. Essex’s Sam Cook is in a similar position and has been bowling beautifully in Division One. Cook’s 27 poles at 19.25 apiece make him the seventh most prolific bowler in Division One.

On paper, it looks quite positive. However, England’s bowling depth really doesn’t feel that secure. The reason for this is that success in the County Championship simply doesn’t seem to translate to success on the international stage. Just look at Potts—dominating domestically, but in his most recent Test match at the SCG, he went around the park. Similarly, Cook, one of the best in the business at a county level, and yet he put up figures of 1-119 on Test debut. Against Zimbabwe. Surrey’s Matthew Fisher is yet another example.

Why does this happen? Well, the level of batting increases hugely at an international level, and on the whole, pitches offer less. Furthermore, the pressure, the scrutiny, and the crowds swell in number when international games take place. Now, this is not exactly uncommon; many other countries have high-level red-ball cricketers who can’t carry over their success to international cricket. These nations aren’t in crisis and work around it. However, in England’s case, this is a problem because their group of Test-level pace bowlers are amongst the most injury-prone on the planet.

In my opinion, England has four Test-quality, match-proven bowlers, who are excellent players and comfortably the best attack they can assemble. When rotation is required, however, I would probably turn to Potts, as he has had some success on the international stage. Brydon Carse is an interesting alternative, and I would definitely take him along in December when we tour South Africa. That said, Carse actually subverts the traditional case of English seamers and actually struggles on home soil. A very respectable career average of 30.18 with the ball jumps to 60.88 when bowling in England with the Dukes ball. As a result, it looks to me as though England’s bowling depth is perilously weak outside of the core four bowlers listed above.

My Test XI to Face Pakistan

1. Ben Duckett
2. Emilio Gay
3. Jacob Bethell
4. Joe Root (C)
5. Harry Brook (VC)
6. Jamie Smith (WK)
7. Rehan Ahmed
8. Ollie Robinson
9. Gus Atkinson
10. Jofra Archer
11. Josh Tongue

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Watch out for the final part of this three-part article series, which should be coming out over the next few days, and will include my preview of the Pakistan series, as well as my predictions.