Time to turn to youth

Well what a good weekend that was for Kimberley Institute! On Saturday, all four teams won their respective league games, something that doesn’t happen very often. Then on Monday, the 1^st XI followed it up with another excellent win against a strong Welbeck Colliery side to make it three wins on the bounce in the Nottinghamshire Premier League. Winning is a habit, so they say.

We now have a fantastic opportunity this weekend to build up that momentum by winning again on Saturday at Ratcliffe-on-Trent. Then on Sunday we face West Indian Cavalliers for a place in the group final of the ECB National Club Championship. It would be great to see as many people down as possible at Newdigate Street on Sunday to cheer us on in what will no doubt be a tough match.

It was also very pleasing to see the England cricket team win the first Test Match against New Zealand at Lords on Monday. The team, and captain have taken a lot of stick recently, much of it slightly harsh in my opinion, so it was great to see them come out and play such excellent cricket in the second innings despite being up against it.

England still have a major problem however, with their choice of spin bowling. Moeen Ali is clearly a good all round cricketer. He can bat in the top or middle order as required, and within the current structure of this England team, is capable of holding an end up with his bowling. If however, England are going to be capable of winning Test Series regularly abroad, in particular in the sub continent, they must look away from Ali.

Moeen Ali can hold up an end but will he win tours away from home?

When I watched him bowl last summer at Trent Bridge, I was struck by how little he offered variation in flight and pace, such an important facet of any spin bowlers armoury. For all the variations Shane Warne had in terms of delivery, many of his wickets were down to deceiving players in the air, something Ali does not do often enough. In fact, I actually think that Joe Root has more potential as an international spinner than Ali as he has a better variation in flight and pace and can actually turn the ball more. If you invested more time into developing Root’s bowling, it could then allow you to bring in a young spinner in place of Ali who has more of what it takes. It was great to see England give young Mark Wood a chance this week, and no doubt people will be pleased with what they saw. 

Simon Kerrigan was given just one Test in the heat of an Ashes series.

Yet how many times have they given an opportunity for a young slow bowler to establish themselves? The last player they gave a chance to was Simon Kerrigan who struggled with nerves. But, the lad continues to do well in county cricket, this week spinning them to victory with another young finger spinner Arron Lilley, and maybe it is time for them to give one of these boys a chance. People often say, that there are no spinners in county cricket, and they are definitely correct in that there is a limited pool. However, until English cricket starts to take the role of spinners seriously, and works with counties to ensure that they get the right pitches and thus opportunities to bowl, we will always be left with ‘a batsman who bowls a bit’ and our chances of success limited in wider formats rather than just Test Matches in English conditions.