There is a case for dropping Bairstow, given his limitations as a keeper and poor form.
There is a case for dropping Foakes, given his limitations as a batter.
There is a case for giving Smith a run in the team as a specialist batsman.
What I cannot for the absolutely life of me understand is how anyone professionally employed to select cricket players could think the solution to the problem of England's test wicket keeper after years of having to choose between a part-timer who is good at batting and a keeper who is a meh batsman is an uncapped decent batsman who doesn't keep for his county when there is an actual proper wicket keeper in form in county cricket with a higher current batting average.
I think there is a far stronger case for sacking the entire selection board and replacing them with a fifteen year old with access to chatgpt, and seeing if it does a better job.
What exactly are Foakes limitations as a batter? I know he doesn't Bazball it but everytime I've seen him play for England he seems to do alright. Test average of 30 so thought I'd check his FC stats 8500 runs @ 38...
Given he's probably the most gifted gloveman for England I think I remember in my lifetime why can't they just pick and stick with him for a decent run?
Foakes is a middle order accumulator who bats at five, but for most of his England career that place has always been occupied by someone far more established than him, and he's ended up batting down at seven.
And I think even in the pre-Bazball era there was a preference for an England keeper to be a swashbuckler who was going to come in at seven and either take a game away from the opposition, or counterattack with the tail, which Foakes isn't. Ever since he retired we've kind of been desperate for another Matt Prior, who himself always James Foster and Chris Read out of the England reckoning despite both being far superior keepers.
You don't need to be "the most gifted glove-man in the country" to do a serviceable job behind the stumps in England or most of the world for that matter other than some parts of the subcontinent. Batting has more weight in these conditions where you just need to be "good enough" as a keeper.
Foakes averages 40 in England, though. Foakes has been deprived of a decent stint in the side to establish himself; was dropped shortly after enjoying his best periods with the bat; has played half his career on tricky pitches in the subcontinent; and was most recently brought in for a tough away series in India where only one of England's batters averaged 40.
The only reason he doesn't keep is because Foakes is possibly the best glove man in the world. He has a lot and does so in other formats, and is a perfectly good keeper.
The real question is whether he can combine the two and continue to bat at the level he's playing at.
It's also a shame James Rew had a poor start to the season. Not kicked on like hoped.
I feel sorry for Foakes on one level but I also think there's lot of England fans overlooking that he averages 29 with the bat. His record against everyone except SL is really pretty bad. There's not many teams picking keepers with his kinds of returns with the bat these days.
The bigger shock for me is picking a part time keeper over the other Ollie Robinson. That's the bit I don't get.
His average is basically fucked by playing 1/3rd of his career in India though. He's played just 6 games in England where he averages 40.
It's basically a self fulfilling prophecy where they pick him in the hardest places to bat because they need his keeping but that then hurts his batting average, and then they don't pick him against easier teams because they cite his average as being low.
He couldn't really win unless he made some clutch 100s in India.
His first tour of India was a hiding to nothing but this tour there were decent batting conditions for a bloke who's reputation is a spin specialist, and he was absolutely dire.
No England batter other than Zak Crawley was even able to average 40. The team as a whole only passed 300 three times in ten chances. Foakes' reputation is as a specialist *keeper* to spin. And he had an integral century partnership with Pope in the first Test to stave off an England collapse and secure their only win in the series.
[Looking at this he seems to have only struggled in India where he's played 8 matches and in the West Indies where he played 5. The rest are decent and on pacier pitches](http://www.howstat.com/cricket/statistics/Players/PlayerOpponents.asp?PlayerID=4832)
This is a very confusing selection again. Foakes being judged on a really tough away India tour and at the same time why not Robbie? What next? Louis Kimber short tracked?
It has to be some thing to do with team culture or something, because it seems so ridiculous to just drop him like this. Maybe it's because he's one of the only ones who doesn't like Golf lol
Don't rule out the possibility that the England selectors are being paid to sabotage the team. That is a far more logical explaination for *gestures to everything*
Why has Foakes been dropped? Fair play to Jamie Smith but Foakes is only 31 and hasn't done much wrong. I get that he doesn't adopt the typical aggressive style McCullum likes but this seems really unfair.
Handy with the bat doesn’t average 29, it’s the wrong decision if we just look at the gloves.
But Ben hasn’t taken his opportunity well enough with the bat, I think the selectors are wrong but acknowledge he didn’t make a strong enough case
Foakes averages 40.3 in First Class outside of tests. Jamie Smith averages 40.8. There's no difference between them
Also in test: Carey averages 31. Wriddhiman Saha 29. Joshua daSilva 26. Tim Paine 32. Buttler 31. Dickwella 31. Watling 37. Blundell 36. Dowrich 29. Litton 35. Wade 29. Most keepers don't average very high. That's why keepers like Pant and Rizwan and hyped like they are.
And Foakes has played 57% in India and West Indies. The 4 series he's played there had:
- vWI: Only ONE English batsman averaged over 30.
- vWI: Only two english batsman averaged above 35.
- vIND: Absolute minefields where Axar had 27 wickets at 10.5, Ashwin had 32 wickets at 14.7
- vIND: England's best batsman being Crawley, with an average of 40 being the BEST.
3/4 of these were horrible for batting. And the fourth wasn't good.
He averages 47 outside of India and West Indies. I did not type that wrong. Batting average of 47.
England play him almost exclusively on the most difficult to bat surfaces. And then refuse to pick him because his average is low. Truly Hilarious. It's not even 'harsh' it's just unfair/stupid.
^(No wicket-keeper would have averaged over 35 in place of Ben Foakes, except perhaps only Sangakkara. And you can't have the standard for a test batsman, even a top order player, be at Sangakkara's level, let alone a wicket-keeper who bats at #7)
He’s still on the lower end of the norm. It’s not good enough to make his place secure.
I’d rather he stay but as he hasn’t performed it’s a selection choice.
That 29 average doesn’t even do justice to how bad he was in India with the bat. Went absolutely nowhere and just crumbled with the tail what felt like every innings. Felt like we left runs out there every time.
Phenomenal with the gloves which nobody can argue, but at the same time he definitely didn’t do enough with the bat. We can argue his replacement, but I don’t think dropping him is unjustified. Not like Smith is going to be keeping to mostly spin on minefields this summer.
It probably has a lot to do with Foakes averaging less than Bairstow (who was complete shit) on the India tour. If Foakes had put up a good innings or two and averaged 30+ I think it would be a different conversation.
Bairstow dropped - good
Foakes dropped - bad
Smith called up - good
No robinson call up - bad
Cc form being rewarded - good
Cc form player being shoehorned out of position - bad
Yesn't
I mean there is Rocky Flintoff who’s just signed his first professional contract! He’s an all rounder but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him make his debut as a teenager
It's not Bairstow and his wooden leg. It's not Salt and his Roy as Ashes opener vibes.
It's also not the best keeper in the country, or the obvious best keeper-bat in the country.
Jamie Smith is a brilliant batter and would almost certainly have been in the England team sooner or later. I'm anxious for his keeping being exposed to Test pressure, and I'm sorry for Ollie Robinson. But I'm also excited to see what Smith does, and to see him develop.
I reckon I could name more than ten keepers in the CC who are better than Smith, and three or four who do the combi keeper-bat better than him.
But he is a phenomenally talented bat. It's a problem that we can't really solve while Root and Stokes continue to play, so it's kinda not really a problem?
507 runs @51 not keeping beats 744 @83 and keeping, wild. Robinson also comfortably ahead on strike rate. Can only assume this decision was swayed by T20 performances, or Stokes doesn't get on with Robbo
It feels less like Robinson’s face doesn’t fit, and more like Smith’s does, he’s been an England cricketer in waiting since he debuted for Surrey pretty much.
Root's four years younger and wasn't selected for his ability to bat *while keeping*. I am glad Smith's getting a go but feel bad for OGR who was Lions keeper and couldn't have pushed his case any better since
I don't disagree - but some players who grow up with big reputations always get picked quickly, while others without the big rep need more seasons of excellence behind them.
My point wasn't that I agree with this selection necessarily, but that it's the way it's always been and not surprising or wild. Vaughan, Flintoff, Key, Bell, Root, Stokes, Brook, Cook, Broad, Crawley etc all got picked after one or two half-decent seasons: the likes of Compton, Collingwood, Trott, Prior, Strauss, etc all had to earn their places with several years of performances. It's always been the way.
Alternatively Stokes taking more players off Surrey to aid Durhams title charge…the man knows where his priorities lie and it’s with Durham winning the greatest league in any sport to have ever existed.
Hard to argue with this. I suspect they just wanted Smith in the team at all costs and couldn't drop Root or Brook. Still feels like the best WK/bat in the country has missed out.
Smith is probably ahead on the vibe stakes, but OGR is pretty Bazball too. And he's definitely the better keeper at this moment.
Also feels like we could be at risk of a Bracey repeat if he doesn't come off straight away. A couple of low scores and missed sitters and the press will be howling.
> Also feels like we could be at risk of a Bracey repeat if he doesn't come off straight away. A couple of low scores and missed sitters and the press will be howling.
The Bracey thing was a perfect storm, I don't think the same circumstances exist now for Smith.
Got to say I’m both surprised by this and simultaneously not at all surprised.
One would have thought that Stokes seeing what Ollie Robinson has been doing - plus him having the second best batting stats in the whole country and being a much better keeper would have given him the edge.
But no… once again England are shoe horning in players and creating an unbalanced team because?
Really like J Smith as a player a lot - but I’m not aligned with the thinking here at all.
I feel like that is what it could be. They could have selected both options for this summer to try them out and they are giving Jamie smith the first shot at sealing that spot in the team.
Full article:
England to name Jamie Smith as wicketkeeper for West Indies series
Exclusive: Surrey to get nod ahead of county team-mate Ben Foakes thanks to his superiority with bat, both in red and white-ball formats
England are set to hand the Test wicketkeeping gloves to Surrey’s Jamie Smith for next month’s series against West Indies at the expense of his county team-mate Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow.
Smith will keep wicket and bat at No 7, even though Foakes is Surrey’s regular Championship wicketkeeper.
England appear to have concluded that Smith’s batting form in both red and white-ball cricket is irresistible. He averages 50.7 and strikes at 76.9 batting No 4 in the Championship this season and has 285 runs in the Vitality Blast at a strike rate north of 200.
Both Foakes and Bairstow were in the XI for all five Tests against India earlier this year, but both have been dropped as England look to regenerate their side and push towards next winter’s Ashes. The squeeze has been put on by the return of Harry Brook, who missed the tour following the death of his grandmother.
Foakes kept beautifully in India but struggled to make a mark with the bat, barring 47 in Ranchi. England have looked for their No 7 to be a more aggressive player.
Bairstow was chosen ahead of Foakes to keep in the Ashes last summer, having staged a remarkable recovery from the awful broken leg he suffered nine months earlier. While he missed a couple of chances earlier in the series, he finished with an average of 40. The 34-year-old played as a specialist batsman in India but failed to reach 40. Despite a golden run just after Ben Stokes took over as captain, Bairstow’s best returns in Test cricket have tended to be as a keeper-bat at No 7, where he averages 40.
Smith has kept in Championship cricket this summer when Foakes has been injured, and is first choice in Surrey’s Blast team. He has also beaten off competition from Phil Salt and Durham’s Ollie Robinson, who is batting brilliantly this summer.
England have also selected two uncapped fast bowlers in the squad, Surrey’s Gus Atkinson and Nottinghamshire’s Dillon Pennington. Atkinson has played both white-ball formats at international level and toured India earlier this year with the Test squad, while Pennington has 29 Championship wickets for Notts since moving from Worcestershire in the close season.
Smith, who has played ODI cricket for England, will turn 24 on the third day of his first Test match at Lord’s next month, which will also be Jimmy Anderson’s last in Test cricket.
Article trying to frame this as a Foakes v Smith thing when to anyone who knows the County game it’s clearly a Robinson v Smith thing is beyond bizarre
>He has also beaten off competition from Phil Salt and Durham’s Ollie Robinson
Should really say he's beaten off Cox. Not sure how Salt has come into this
Presumably Cox is still hampered by the injury stopping him keep, unless Essex think that Michael Pepper is the better keeper? (tbf Cox is a gun fielder)
It was always a really tough one but I’m really happy for Jamie. He’s a quality batter and a quality keeper, only kept out of the gloves at Surrey by the best in the world. Of course I feel sorry for Ollie Robinson, who possibly couldn’t have done any more at Durham. It got to the point when I was working it all out where I couldn’t decide which of the two was the one to take forward. They are two amazing players and I look forward to their competition for that spot in the England side over the next 10 years.
Aside from all the selection chat, anyone still feel a wince when they read the line “Jimmy Anderson’s last test match”. I’m still just not ready. 21 years, the greatest we’ve ever produced and I’m just supposed to be okay when I read that?
I agree Robinson should be ahead of Smith (keeping at least) but Cox isn’t keeping so that’s off the table. Long term Brook, Smith, Cox, Robison (wk) would be a sexy middle order
Yes but it doesn’t compliment the tail which is the issue. We leave runs on the table because he’s running singles and grinding out overs when we need someone to have a go and hit 50 before we run out of wickets
I’m a big fan of Foakes but he does have his weaknesses batting. You can’t put him at 7 because he cannot bat with the tail. IMO we should push Stokes down the order and have Foakes come in earlier.
All the others have the shots and ability to get into T20 sides, many of them England. Foakes simply doesn’t. It’s not a sign he’s a worse batter, he’s just not an aggressive one.
Foakes hasn't scored enough in tests recently and has been poor in the championship so far this summer. He only has himself to blame.
Jamie Smith is perfectly good enough with the gloves, he just doesn't get to show it when Foakes plays in his team.
The real decision was whether they wanted Smith or Robinson. My guess is they just wanted to get Smith's batting talent into the team. Robinson will get a chance soon I'd wager
*Hey JB, don't say you've gone*
*Say you've knocked off for a smoko*
*And you'll tour Ashes la-ater on*
*Hey JB, Hey JB*
- with apologies to John Williamson
Jesus glad they did away with Foakes. Simply does not belong in a modern era Test team. Not good enough with the bat, as is.
Excited to see what Jamie Smith can do, but him not being the first choice keeper for Surrey is fairly concerning. If he comes on and grasses chances early it's going to be problematic.
I wouldn't say he's not good enough, he's spent his England career batting out of position and being expected to fulfill a completely different role, and then criticised when he doesn't and not given an extended run. Really he's been messed around too much for anyone to know if he's actually capable enough.
His role in the team is to bat number 7. And he's not good enough at that. You can't bat him up the order because why would you shift Brook and Stokes down?
Well, yeah. You could make a cogent argument that he's the wrong man for what England want in a wicketkeeper, but I don't think that's the same thing as not being good enough. See when Root struggled (relatively speaking) to make runs at first drop, you wouldn't say that he wasn't good enough, he was being expected to be something that he wasn't.
Picking Surrey’s *2nd* keeper, great. Like picking Dom Bess over Jack Leach (when they were both Somerset) because Bess can bat batter.
There is a case for dropping Bairstow, given his limitations as a keeper and poor form. There is a case for dropping Foakes, given his limitations as a batter. There is a case for giving Smith a run in the team as a specialist batsman. What I cannot for the absolutely life of me understand is how anyone professionally employed to select cricket players could think the solution to the problem of England's test wicket keeper after years of having to choose between a part-timer who is good at batting and a keeper who is a meh batsman is an uncapped decent batsman who doesn't keep for his county when there is an actual proper wicket keeper in form in county cricket with a higher current batting average. I think there is a far stronger case for sacking the entire selection board and replacing them with a fifteen year old with access to chatgpt, and seeing if it does a better job.
What exactly are Foakes limitations as a batter? I know he doesn't Bazball it but everytime I've seen him play for England he seems to do alright. Test average of 30 so thought I'd check his FC stats 8500 runs @ 38... Given he's probably the most gifted gloveman for England I think I remember in my lifetime why can't they just pick and stick with him for a decent run?
Foakes is a middle order accumulator who bats at five, but for most of his England career that place has always been occupied by someone far more established than him, and he's ended up batting down at seven. And I think even in the pre-Bazball era there was a preference for an England keeper to be a swashbuckler who was going to come in at seven and either take a game away from the opposition, or counterattack with the tail, which Foakes isn't. Ever since he retired we've kind of been desperate for another Matt Prior, who himself always James Foster and Chris Read out of the England reckoning despite both being far superior keepers.
You don't need to be "the most gifted glove-man in the country" to do a serviceable job behind the stumps in England or most of the world for that matter other than some parts of the subcontinent. Batting has more weight in these conditions where you just need to be "good enough" as a keeper.
Foakes averages 40 in England, though. Foakes has been deprived of a decent stint in the side to establish himself; was dropped shortly after enjoying his best periods with the bat; has played half his career on tricky pitches in the subcontinent; and was most recently brought in for a tough away series in India where only one of England's batters averaged 40.
The only reason he doesn't keep is because Foakes is possibly the best glove man in the world. He has a lot and does so in other formats, and is a perfectly good keeper. The real question is whether he can combine the two and continue to bat at the level he's playing at. It's also a shame James Rew had a poor start to the season. Not kicked on like hoped.
That will be the end for Bairstow hopefully. Feel bad for Foakes, we fumbled his career so horribly.
We’re literally replacing foakes with his own backup keeper. Man cannot catch a break.
I feel sorry for Foakes on one level but I also think there's lot of England fans overlooking that he averages 29 with the bat. His record against everyone except SL is really pretty bad. There's not many teams picking keepers with his kinds of returns with the bat these days. The bigger shock for me is picking a part time keeper over the other Ollie Robinson. That's the bit I don't get.
His average is basically fucked by playing 1/3rd of his career in India though. He's played just 6 games in England where he averages 40. It's basically a self fulfilling prophecy where they pick him in the hardest places to bat because they need his keeping but that then hurts his batting average, and then they don't pick him against easier teams because they cite his average as being low. He couldn't really win unless he made some clutch 100s in India.
His first tour of India was a hiding to nothing but this tour there were decent batting conditions for a bloke who's reputation is a spin specialist, and he was absolutely dire.
No England batter other than Zak Crawley was even able to average 40. The team as a whole only passed 300 three times in ten chances. Foakes' reputation is as a specialist *keeper* to spin. And he had an integral century partnership with Pope in the first Test to stave off an England collapse and secure their only win in the series.
That makes sense, but he is out because he largely refused to adopt the team's ideology.
[Looking at this he seems to have only struggled in India where he's played 8 matches and in the West Indies where he played 5. The rest are decent and on pacier pitches](http://www.howstat.com/cricket/statistics/Players/PlayerOpponents.asp?PlayerID=4832)
he's got so much cult for some reason
This is a very confusing selection again. Foakes being judged on a really tough away India tour and at the same time why not Robbie? What next? Louis Kimber short tracked?
It has to be some thing to do with team culture or something, because it seems so ridiculous to just drop him like this. Maybe it's because he's one of the only ones who doesn't like Golf lol
Don't rule out the possibility that the England selectors are being paid to sabotage the team. That is a far more logical explaination for *gestures to everything*
Hasn't scored enough in tests recently and has been poor in the championship so far this summer. He only has himself to blame
Pick your best keeper
You don't need a keeper to be more than average in England.
We could've won the Ashes had Bairstow not been keeping.
Well yeah but Bairstow wasn't average, he was abysmal.
Bairstow wasn't average though.
Robinson played just a single match
Wrong Robinson
Yeah but imagine the banter when they accidentally name the wrong Robinson as keeper
I mean, he bowls off spin and medium pace, bats ok so why not keep too?
Plus he’s a bit of a cock so he’ll fill Bairstow’s shoes well
Why has Foakes been dropped? Fair play to Jamie Smith but Foakes is only 31 and hasn't done much wrong. I get that he doesn't adopt the typical aggressive style McCullum likes but this seems really unfair.
Best glove man in the world and handy with the bat
Handy with the bat doesn’t average 29, it’s the wrong decision if we just look at the gloves. But Ben hasn’t taken his opportunity well enough with the bat, I think the selectors are wrong but acknowledge he didn’t make a strong enough case
Foakes averages 40.3 in First Class outside of tests. Jamie Smith averages 40.8. There's no difference between them Also in test: Carey averages 31. Wriddhiman Saha 29. Joshua daSilva 26. Tim Paine 32. Buttler 31. Dickwella 31. Watling 37. Blundell 36. Dowrich 29. Litton 35. Wade 29. Most keepers don't average very high. That's why keepers like Pant and Rizwan and hyped like they are. And Foakes has played 57% in India and West Indies. The 4 series he's played there had: - vWI: Only ONE English batsman averaged over 30. - vWI: Only two english batsman averaged above 35. - vIND: Absolute minefields where Axar had 27 wickets at 10.5, Ashwin had 32 wickets at 14.7 - vIND: England's best batsman being Crawley, with an average of 40 being the BEST. 3/4 of these were horrible for batting. And the fourth wasn't good. He averages 47 outside of India and West Indies. I did not type that wrong. Batting average of 47. England play him almost exclusively on the most difficult to bat surfaces. And then refuse to pick him because his average is low. Truly Hilarious. It's not even 'harsh' it's just unfair/stupid. ^(No wicket-keeper would have averaged over 35 in place of Ben Foakes, except perhaps only Sangakkara. And you can't have the standard for a test batsman, even a top order player, be at Sangakkara's level, let alone a wicket-keeper who bats at #7)
Keepers average around 28 to 33 though even in the modern day, not too bad compared to the norm.
He’s still on the lower end of the norm. It’s not good enough to make his place secure. I’d rather he stay but as he hasn’t performed it’s a selection choice.
That 29 average doesn’t even do justice to how bad he was in India with the bat. Went absolutely nowhere and just crumbled with the tail what felt like every innings. Felt like we left runs out there every time. Phenomenal with the gloves which nobody can argue, but at the same time he definitely didn’t do enough with the bat. We can argue his replacement, but I don’t think dropping him is unjustified. Not like Smith is going to be keeping to mostly spin on minefields this summer.
They want great with the bat and handy as a keeper.
Hasn't scored enough in tests recently and has been poor in the championship so far this summer. He only has himself to blame
It probably has a lot to do with Foakes averaging less than Bairstow (who was complete shit) on the India tour. If Foakes had put up a good innings or two and averaged 30+ I think it would be a different conversation.
Bairstow dropped - good Foakes dropped - bad Smith called up - good No robinson call up - bad Cc form being rewarded - good Cc form player being shoehorned out of position - bad Yesn't
Yesn't basically describes most of Bazball era England's decisions tbf
You missed “select random teenager with no experience”
Is there a random 17 year old keeper who bats baseball style? Won't put it beyond these lot to throw a kid a test cap
I mean there is Rocky Flintoff who’s just signed his first professional contract! He’s an all rounder but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him make his debut as a teenager
He'll be on ice till Stokes retires in 2-3 years, 4 maybe
Josh Hull into the side by August it is
Cc?
County cricket
It's not Bairstow and his wooden leg. It's not Salt and his Roy as Ashes opener vibes. It's also not the best keeper in the country, or the obvious best keeper-bat in the country. Jamie Smith is a brilliant batter and would almost certainly have been in the England team sooner or later. I'm anxious for his keeping being exposed to Test pressure, and I'm sorry for Ollie Robinson. But I'm also excited to see what Smith does, and to see him develop.
I reckon I could name more than ten keepers in the CC who are better than Smith, and three or four who do the combi keeper-bat better than him. But he is a phenomenally talented bat. It's a problem that we can't really solve while Root and Stokes continue to play, so it's kinda not really a problem?
507 runs @51 not keeping beats 744 @83 and keeping, wild. Robinson also comfortably ahead on strike rate. Can only assume this decision was swayed by T20 performances, or Stokes doesn't get on with Robbo
It feels less like Robinson’s face doesn’t fit, and more like Smith’s does, he’s been an England cricketer in waiting since he debuted for Surrey pretty much.
Root in 2011 averaged much less than Varun Chopra - another talented young player.
Root's four years younger and wasn't selected for his ability to bat *while keeping*. I am glad Smith's getting a go but feel bad for OGR who was Lions keeper and couldn't have pushed his case any better since
I don't disagree - but some players who grow up with big reputations always get picked quickly, while others without the big rep need more seasons of excellence behind them. My point wasn't that I agree with this selection necessarily, but that it's the way it's always been and not surprising or wild. Vaughan, Flintoff, Key, Bell, Root, Stokes, Brook, Cook, Broad, Crawley etc all got picked after one or two half-decent seasons: the likes of Compton, Collingwood, Trott, Prior, Strauss, etc all had to earn their places with several years of performances. It's always been the way.
Should check their handicaps and all. Bet Ollie doesn’t like golf and doesn’t like BBQs. It’s a joke.
On T20 performances they would pick Salt surely
Swayed by, not based upon
Pros: Bairstow’s test career over Cons: Looks like Foakes is back to only having subcontinental duties
We can never rule Bairstows test career and definitely over, back to Yorkshire, slap around some division 2 attacks and he’ll be right back in there…
With Benjamin Stokes as captain, it's high time Durham gets some favouritism over the Surrey mafia. It should've been Ollie Robinson.
Guys, having two Ollie Robinson’s is very confusing.
We're talking about the one born on the 1st of December.
DEAR LORD I HAD NO IDEA
Alternatively Stokes taking more players off Surrey to aid Durhams title charge…the man knows where his priorities lie and it’s with Durham winning the greatest league in any sport to have ever existed.
As long as Surrey don't lift another title again, I can support this theory.
Counterpoint - OGR left Kent, therefore it is impossible for Blob Key to consider such a county traitor as an acceptable selection
Hard to argue with this. I suspect they just wanted Smith in the team at all costs and couldn't drop Root or Brook. Still feels like the best WK/bat in the country has missed out.
Really like Jamie, think he’s a top player. But I am beyond shocked that Ollie Robinson didn’t get the call up. Genuinely staggered
Smith is probably ahead on the vibe stakes, but OGR is pretty Bazball too. And he's definitely the better keeper at this moment. Also feels like we could be at risk of a Bracey repeat if he doesn't come off straight away. A couple of low scores and missed sitters and the press will be howling.
> Also feels like we could be at risk of a Bracey repeat if he doesn't come off straight away. A couple of low scores and missed sitters and the press will be howling. The Bracey thing was a perfect storm, I don't think the same circumstances exist now for Smith.
That's the thing about selection. No matter who they pick, someone will be unhappy. Gives us something to moan about innit.
Yeah, but also it's not Bairstow. The happiness at that outweighs the moan.
Every cloud
Was caught off guard by the flair, but that is superb work.
Got to say I’m both surprised by this and simultaneously not at all surprised. One would have thought that Stokes seeing what Ollie Robinson has been doing - plus him having the second best batting stats in the whole country and being a much better keeper would have given him the edge. But no… once again England are shoe horning in players and creating an unbalanced team because? Really like J Smith as a player a lot - but I’m not aligned with the thinking here at all.
But him in the t20 team. He’s got no business being anywhere near the test squad wtf.
Robbo robbed S*rrey mafia at it again.
I bet it was the other Robbo who orchestrated it. Very up for a Highlander type deal for those two.
The wait to see 2 Ollie Robinsons (born in Kent, on the 1st of December) in the same team goes on.
c. O Robinson, b. O Robinson robbed.
Same name, same birthday wtf
They both started there careers in Kent as well
Replacing Foakes with him A Surrey for a Surrey
Surprised that Ollie Robinson hasn't been given a chance, but I also wonder if Ollie Robinson will still be called up?
I feel like that is what it could be. They could have selected both options for this summer to try them out and they are giving Jamie smith the first shot at sealing that spot in the team.
Full article: England to name Jamie Smith as wicketkeeper for West Indies series Exclusive: Surrey to get nod ahead of county team-mate Ben Foakes thanks to his superiority with bat, both in red and white-ball formats England are set to hand the Test wicketkeeping gloves to Surrey’s Jamie Smith for next month’s series against West Indies at the expense of his county team-mate Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow. Smith will keep wicket and bat at No 7, even though Foakes is Surrey’s regular Championship wicketkeeper. England appear to have concluded that Smith’s batting form in both red and white-ball cricket is irresistible. He averages 50.7 and strikes at 76.9 batting No 4 in the Championship this season and has 285 runs in the Vitality Blast at a strike rate north of 200. Both Foakes and Bairstow were in the XI for all five Tests against India earlier this year, but both have been dropped as England look to regenerate their side and push towards next winter’s Ashes. The squeeze has been put on by the return of Harry Brook, who missed the tour following the death of his grandmother. Foakes kept beautifully in India but struggled to make a mark with the bat, barring 47 in Ranchi. England have looked for their No 7 to be a more aggressive player. Bairstow was chosen ahead of Foakes to keep in the Ashes last summer, having staged a remarkable recovery from the awful broken leg he suffered nine months earlier. While he missed a couple of chances earlier in the series, he finished with an average of 40. The 34-year-old played as a specialist batsman in India but failed to reach 40. Despite a golden run just after Ben Stokes took over as captain, Bairstow’s best returns in Test cricket have tended to be as a keeper-bat at No 7, where he averages 40. Smith has kept in Championship cricket this summer when Foakes has been injured, and is first choice in Surrey’s Blast team. He has also beaten off competition from Phil Salt and Durham’s Ollie Robinson, who is batting brilliantly this summer. England have also selected two uncapped fast bowlers in the squad, Surrey’s Gus Atkinson and Nottinghamshire’s Dillon Pennington. Atkinson has played both white-ball formats at international level and toured India earlier this year with the Test squad, while Pennington has 29 Championship wickets for Notts since moving from Worcestershire in the close season. Smith, who has played ODI cricket for England, will turn 24 on the third day of his first Test match at Lord’s next month, which will also be Jimmy Anderson’s last in Test cricket.
Article trying to frame this as a Foakes v Smith thing when to anyone who knows the County game it’s clearly a Robinson v Smith thing is beyond bizarre
So Jamie Smith avgs 50.7 at No. 4, but he'll bat at 7? Root is not getting dropped or pushed down the order, so hope Smith makes No.7 his own.
>He has also beaten off competition from Phil Salt and Durham’s Ollie Robinson Should really say he's beaten off Cox. Not sure how Salt has come into this
Presumably Cox is still hampered by the injury stopping him keep, unless Essex think that Michael Pepper is the better keeper? (tbf Cox is a gun fielder)
You're right I just wanted to say he's beaten off Cox
Yeah, I’ve read/been told (can’t remember which) that Cox keeping is off the table until August so that’s the reason on that front
Middle order of Brook, Smith, and Cox would be dreamy
u/Nark_Narkins first ever Dillon for England could happen
Huge if true. Cannot wait for it to happen
Buzzkill Benny
We're so back
Free from Bairstow, thank god
It was always a really tough one but I’m really happy for Jamie. He’s a quality batter and a quality keeper, only kept out of the gloves at Surrey by the best in the world. Of course I feel sorry for Ollie Robinson, who possibly couldn’t have done any more at Durham. It got to the point when I was working it all out where I couldn’t decide which of the two was the one to take forward. They are two amazing players and I look forward to their competition for that spot in the England side over the next 10 years.
Stupid sexy Foakesy gone. Pain. Bairstow 100 and out? I never thought I would see the day. He still has a chance of coming back no?
Let’s hope not.
Haven't we been saying that for years? LOL
Aside from all the selection chat, anyone still feel a wince when they read the line “Jimmy Anderson’s last test match”. I’m still just not ready. 21 years, the greatest we’ve ever produced and I’m just supposed to be okay when I read that?
Very harsh on Foakes but Robinson and Cox should be ahead of Smith.
I agree Robinson should be ahead of Smith (keeping at least) but Cox isn’t keeping so that’s off the table. Long term Brook, Smith, Cox, Robison (wk) would be a sexy middle order
Call me old fashioned but doesn't Foakes batting compliment and contrast the rest of batting. Which I believe is a good thing
Yes but it doesn’t compliment the tail which is the issue. We leave runs on the table because he’s running singles and grinding out overs when we need someone to have a go and hit 50 before we run out of wickets
Funny that Foakes would have been a mainstay in the Matt Prior era when we had the likes of Swann and pre-collapse Broad
So can we say Happy Retirement Johnny Bairstow now??
God I hope so
Oh please be true!! The guy has had basically 2 good years in test cricket, and somehow had a 12 year career out of it .
Is there any reason why foakes doesn't want to adopt the team's ideology?
I’m a big fan of Foakes but he does have his weaknesses batting. You can’t put him at 7 because he cannot bat with the tail. IMO we should push Stokes down the order and have Foakes come in earlier.
All the others have the shots and ability to get into T20 sides, many of them England. Foakes simply doesn’t. It’s not a sign he’s a worse batter, he’s just not an aggressive one.
I love Smithy so much But his keeping is well below international standard
I really hope they haven't ignored Cook again. Would be an absolute joke unless he's still injured
but he retired from cc last summer and hasn't played a test since 2018? /s
I hope he’s still turning out for his local team somewhere!
Wonder if they want to give him time to get fit and also he’s not getting ahead of Anderson for that first game
Also says that Leach and Robinson will be dropped and Bashir is in
No way stokes drops leach
He has
Jamie Smith is a gun, and will do well.
Who’s the spinner picked? Is leach back or Hartley getting a run?
Would rather Bashir gets a go than Hartley, passes the eye test more
Reports are saying it will be Bashir
Bit hard on the BBL's finest keeper, Sam Billings, not getting the nod.
As an Indian, I like foakes as a better and a keeper. His glove work is really good. And he seems good defensively as a batter
Oh, so bairstow can be dropped ? Finally, about time.
Foakes is excellent behind the wickets. Especially on those turners in India. I would not have dropped him tbh.
Foakes hasn't scored enough in tests recently and has been poor in the championship so far this summer. He only has himself to blame. Jamie Smith is perfectly good enough with the gloves, he just doesn't get to show it when Foakes plays in his team. The real decision was whether they wanted Smith or Robinson. My guess is they just wanted to get Smith's batting talent into the team. Robinson will get a chance soon I'd wager
How does Robinson get into the side until Root retires if Smith is the keeper? Unless they fancy Smith to move to 3, which I doubt they do.
Few more bad games from pope and smith might play at 3
I really thought PPL were taking piss on stokes as foakes , lol it's a whole different player
Wait until you learn about Woakes too.
I know about Chris woakes
*Hey JB, don't say you've gone* *Say you've knocked off for a smoko* *And you'll tour Ashes la-ater on* *Hey JB, Hey JB* - with apologies to John Williamson
As an Indian, dropping Foakes on the basis of an India tour is definitely one of the choices you can make
Jesus glad they did away with Foakes. Simply does not belong in a modern era Test team. Not good enough with the bat, as is. Excited to see what Jamie Smith can do, but him not being the first choice keeper for Surrey is fairly concerning. If he comes on and grasses chances early it's going to be problematic.
I wouldn't say he's not good enough, he's spent his England career batting out of position and being expected to fulfill a completely different role, and then criticised when he doesn't and not given an extended run. Really he's been messed around too much for anyone to know if he's actually capable enough.
His role in the team is to bat number 7. And he's not good enough at that. You can't bat him up the order because why would you shift Brook and Stokes down?
Well, yeah. You could make a cogent argument that he's the wrong man for what England want in a wicketkeeper, but I don't think that's the same thing as not being good enough. See when Root struggled (relatively speaking) to make runs at first drop, you wouldn't say that he wasn't good enough, he was being expected to be something that he wasn't.
Ah alright I get what you mean