Since England's Ashes victory in the summer of 2005, injuries have blighted the team. The absence of key players such as Steve Harmison, Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones have given a select few the opportunity to show the selectors what they are capable of, with differing amounts of success. Results have not been favourable, due at least in part to the absence of the skipper and many debutants needing to fit in and come up with the goods immediately.

Here I will give my own assessment of the performance of England's recent debutants. Bear in mind, however, that there were two teams in each contest. England did a fine job in securing a draw (and first Test win for 21 years) in India, and huge credit must go to Sri Lanka's underdogs in battling for the drawn series secured at Trent Bridge last week. It is always difficult to rate a players' chances after just a few games, but I will try.

Although he is not a recent debutant, we'll start with the man who seems to have been in or around the squad for donkeys years. Despite making his one-day debut for England way back in 2001, he has never been able to force his way consistently into the Test team. His appearance as replacement for Simon Jones in the Ashes-winning draw at the Oval was only his third appearance.

Since then, he has established himself with great success, scoring 134 and 36, both unbeaten, to save the Test in Nagpur, India. He is rarely fluent, but adds a solid backbone to the batting line-up that allows the likes of Pietersen and Flintoff to express themselves and is a master of adjusting his approach to fit the state of the game and batting conditions. His average of 39.65 is solid rather than spectacular, rather like his batting, but he is 'arguably the finest fielder in the world today', according to CricInfo. A good series against Pakistan later in the summer should cement his place in the side.

Rating:

Given his chance by the sudden absence of Marcus Trescothick in India, Cook left an England 'A' match in the West Indies at luchtime, flew to India and opened the batting for the senior side, impressing with an unfussy 60 in the first innings and 104 not out in the second. Although he is yet to make another century and has only made one fifty since, his batting remains impressive. He has looked very mature at the crease, although he looks more comfortable opening than at number three, as he did against Sri Lanka. Missed opportunities at short leg also prompted Test Match Special's Mike Selvey to comment that
'he's making a case rapidly for being not a very good fielder'. His time will come, but he probably isn't doing quite enough to convince selectors that he can replace Strauss or Trescothick, and will probably be the unlucky one when Michael Vaughan finally returns from injury.

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A bowler with great potential, Plunkett was touted as being a bowler who could bat a bit at number eight and is seen by many as being Ashley Giles' natural successor in that role. His best score so far is 22 not out in England's unsuccessful run chase against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge. Averaging less than seven, he has much work to do to prove he can bat this high. His bowling averages in both first class and Test cricket are above 30 and it may take time for him to improve enough to convince. Six wickets against Sri Lanka in Birmingham remains his only performance of note, but at such a young age his potential is there for all to see.

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Steady if uninspired, Udal was called up as experienced cover for the injured Ashley Giles, fitting the same mould as a spinner who can bat at number eight. Scoring 18 runs on debut and taking just one wicket for 94 runs, it was clear that, at the age of 36, his tenure as England's spinner was only as a stop-gap. After four matches, taking eight wickets at an average of 43, it seems the selectors' eyes are on younger models.

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A fast, full and skiddy bowler, it was something of a surprise that Mahmood was left out of England's final game against Sri Lanka after a promising start in the series. Two Test matches are probably not enough to make an adequate assessment of his ability, but his first innings figures of 3-50 were almost as good a statement of intent as any. Hasn't scored a run in Test matches as yet, but a couple of fifties for Lancashire show potential in this department too.

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Though it is more acceptable to call players by their surname, the sudden love of Panesar means we should all be calling him Monty and, in any assessment of his contribution to the team, point out that he is the first Sikh to play for England. That out of the way, we should be clear about one thing: Monty is the best spinning talent England have had for years. He flights the ball well, gets turn on flat pitches and sees it as a challenge when he gets hit to the boundary.

Yes, Monty's sudden cult status ensures that it is very hard to write anything bad about him. His bowling figures, though excellent, are somewhat misleading; he hasn't got as many wickets as his bowling deserves, though this will surely right itself in time. Until his wonderful 26 from 28 balls chasing a lost cause against Sri Lanka, his batting has been awful. His fielding is poor, though this has only induced fans to cheer when he gets it right and excuse his mistakes (such as fielding a ball well to stop a boundary, then overstepping the rope absent-mindedly). In these days of multi-disciplined cricketers, Monty is a man who does only one thing well — bowl.

His successes? Well, who else could claim as his first three Test wickets Sachin Tendulkar (who signed the ball that did it with the words 'Never again mate — ha ha'), Mohammed Kaif and Rahul Dravid. He was second only to Matthew Hoggard in averaging 25.62 against Sri Lanka, at only 2.11 per over. And he seems to have the coach's support; Duncan Fletcher said of him, 'We've picked him as a spinner and he's picked to play as a spinner and do his job as a spinner and as long as he's trying there's nothing more you can ask of an individual.'

There seems to be something incredibly likable about Monty, an adoration that is rarely given so easily. On his home Test debut at Lord's, fans turned up on day one sporting false Monty beards. Clearly it is too much to expect for him to become a legend, but the 24-year-old has managed to capture the imagination of cricket fans up and down the country. As much as we love Ashley Giles, it appears we have only one successor.

Rating:

Poor Jon. A consistently good performer at County level for years, Gloucestershire captain Lewis was overlooked in the first Test at Lord's when he might concievably have done well. He was thrust into the final match of the series ('for a look at him', according to Duncan Fletcher) where the ball didn't swing and he struggled to make an impact. In fact, the Sri Lankans may have seen his inclusion on that basis as complacency; despite bowling well in the first innings (3-68), he was tidy without being threatening in the second. It would be a shame if a consistently great perfomer in domestic cricket was
discarded after just one game, but the fault surely lies with the selectors for not picking him at the right time. About five years ago would have been better for him and England.

Rating:

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I stood in my first Under-15s game this week. The standard was excellent, though there were a few niggles (the key to the dressing rooms not arriving until it was almost too late, away team not having an umpire, that sort of thing). Once again, the home team won by over 100 runs, but this time my decisions had no bearing on the result¹! I only had one tough decision to make, where the fielding side thought the batsman had gloved to the wicketkeeper, whereas it hit him (in my view) a few inches higher on the forearm. I'd had a chat with the club's cricketing manager (a man who works full-time for a local newspaper, plays on Saturdays and coaches the youngsters every weekday evening — a dedicated man indeed) who had told me 'always give what you see — don't care what they say, just give what you see', and this gave me confidence to make my decisions.

The real star was the away team's opening batsman. The home bowlers were taller than me, despite being only 15, and got real pace on the ball — accurate, and I wouldn't have liked to face them. The lad was only 11, very short (I guess less than four feet tall, easily) but a real hearty battler. Anyone could bowl a bouncer to him, because of his stature, but he ducked and nudged and prodded, and was only out after 15 of the 20 overs — he hit a magnificent straight drive a few
inches off the ground that was somewhat improbably held by the bowler. I'll remember the look on his face for a long time. After the game I purposely sought him out, shook his hand and told him 'you can be proud of that innings. You were brave, worked hard and were only out to the catch of the season. Well done!' — and I can see the look on his face at hearing that just as well.

The next Alistair Cook?

The Absolutely Plumb Archive

Skankyrich

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