3 Christmas Wishes for England Cricket Fans
For the England cricket team, this Christmas is not a time for giving. Instead, it is a time for preparing.
Alastair Cook's Test squad will barely have slept off the turkey and trimmings, plus the second glass of eggnog, by the time they face hosts South Africa in the series opener in Kingsmead, Durban.
But, before the Boxing Day Test against the Proteas comes around, here are three Christmas wishes for the England team.
Opening Present
After several false dawns and plenty of fresh faces, England are still searching for an opening partner for captain Cook in Test cricket.
Following the retirement of Andrew Strauss in August 2012, the selectors have cycled through plenty of options.
Nick Compton, Michael Carberry, Sam Robson and Adam Lyth have all tried to fill the void, with different degrees of success.
Compton struck two centuries on a tour to New Zealand, only to be jettisoned before the 2013 Ashes series.
Carberry, meanwhile, drew the short straw. He got his chance for the Ashes tour of 2013/14 and ended up being part of an England squad that were swept 5-0 by Australia.
As for Robson and Lyth, they both made hundreds early in their Test careers. However, both were also worked out quickly by international opposition, so they were sent back to county cricket.
When you add in the fact Joe Root, Jonathan Trott and Moeen Ali have all been promoted from their previous positions lower in the order, it shows just how difficult it has been for England to find a solution to their opening issue.
The tour of South Africa will see Alex Hales become the latest cab off the rank. Compton has also been recalled for the trip, though it seems likely he will come in at the fall of the first wicket.
At some stage, someone needs to grasp the opportunity and forge a long-term partnership with Cook.
Unearth a Spinner
England's three-Test series against Pakistan exposed the dearth of spinning talent on the domestic circuit.
Adil Rashid has been a consistent performer for Yorkshire in Division One of the County Championship, yet the leg-spinner found the going tough when making the step up.
Despite a five-wicket haul in the second innings of the first Test against Pakistan, Rashid finished the trip with eight wickets at an average of 69.50.
He has not even been picked for the tour to South Africa, meaning England will revert back to all-rounder Ali as their main spinner.
England were always going to find life tough following the departure of Graeme Swann, but why is there such a lack of spin options for the selectors to choose from?
In alphabetical order, the reasons are: bonus points, pitches and schedules.
Middlesex off-spinner Ollie Rayner wrote an excellent article for ESPN Cricinfo in September explaining the difficulties of being a slow bowler in English conditions:
All you can hope to do as a spinner is bowl as much as you can, keep it tight and earn the right to stay in the side for the drier months of the season. But then, just when you'd expect spin bowlers to come into their own in July and August, there's a big block of one-day cricket to disrupt your rhythm before the Championship comes to the crunch in September.
Rayner's point is a valid one. You cannot complain about too few spinners and then schedule most of the four-day season at either ends of the English summer.
Likewise, counties know the best way to win games is to back their collection of seamers over the first couple of days, rather than gamble on their spinner succeeding in the second half of a Championship fixture.
It will be interesting in the 2016 county season to see if the decision to scrap the toss will change the standard of surfaces up and down the country.
However, there is no short-term solution to any of the issues.
England can prosper in seam-friendly conditions because they have a conveyor belt of options to choose from, but to win in all climates, they need a spinner—not a batsman turning his arm over—in their attack.
Bring Back KP
England may have tried to move on from Kevin Pietersen, but his performances around the world make sure he still remains a topic of conversation.
His Test career came to an abrupt and controversial end after the 2014/15 Ashes tour to Australia.
It seemed a recall could be possible at the start of the 2015 English summer, particularly when the right-hander struck a triple century in domestic action for Surrey.
However, Strauss' first duty as the England and Wales Cricket Board's new director was to tell his old team-mate there would be no dramatic return to the fold in the near future.
At 35, KP is not likely to add to his collection of 104 Test caps. In limited-overs action, though, there could still be a place for him.
A recall for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 would make sense, offering the player a return to the international fold for a tournament on Indian soil, a venue where Pietersen has prospered in the past, both for England and also in the Indian Premier League, as pointed out by author Peter Mille on Twitter:
Miller tweeted after Pietersen made 76 from just 42 balls for the Melbourne Stars in Australia's Big Bash League on Sunday. That knock came off the back of a successful stint with the Dolphins in South Africa that saw him hit 401 runs in seven innings.
The return of KP would certainly be welcomed by the majority of England's fans. Former England captain Michael Vaughan admitted on Twitter he would get Pietersen back, albeit only for the shortest format.
It is unlikely to happen, but sometimes wishes do come true.
