After three rounds, all played in April, we should be talking about green seamers and low scores. The championship has provided twists and turns, boring draws and thrilling finishes.
We’ll start with the king, Sir James Anderson. Despite being 43 years young, he’s got 21 wickets at an average of 12 on some very slow wickets. Despite his age, he continues to ask questions, beat the edge, and bowl Lancashire into commanding positions. His control of line and length remains impeccable, his fitness hasn’t dropped, even in the field, and as captain, he hasn’t missed a beat. A true leader of a bowling unit. He will be sorely missed by England.
Ollie Robinson’s re-emergence continues. He’s bowled with control, again, like Anderson, he is now a county captain and has led his Sussex team to back-to-back wins, amongst off-field troubles at Hove. A tall, strong bowler who bowls a heavy ball and hits a constant length, forever challenging both edges of the bat. He’s put himself forward for England selection, a useful hand with the bat too. Could he be the Chris Woakes replacement? Fitness and attitude could well determine that.
Sam Cook continues to gobble up county scalps at 80mph. Another master of his craft, swinging it in and moving it away on batsman-friendly pitches. He’s asked a lot of questions whilst also being a stand-in captain. Cook’s first-class record is second to none, and the fact that he’s only played one test is ludicrous to me. Give him a run, and he’ll show you what he’s made of. He’s a true line and length merchant who has the heart of a lion.
Sonny Baker has shown he’s capable of high pace bowling on some placid early-season pitches. He’s rushed batters with pure pace, and unlike most England quicks, he has so far avoided injury. His most recent exploit was 5/62 against a very strong Somerset batting line-up on a sluggish Hampshire surface. This shows he can bowl aggressively, extract movement and bounce when called upon. He doesn’t seem to swing the ball, but relies on movement off the seam, and when bowling with the hard new ball, he gets plenty of that. Just ask Lewis Gregory, whose middle stump disappeared when he got one through his gate. Baker is an exciting prospect who should be pushing for selection if he can remain fit and manage his workload.
Matt Potts is another who continues to ask questions. He’s had two solid games for Durham, hopefully easing the nightmare he had in Sydney for England. Another hit the pitch bowler at a lively pace. He’s had Zac Crawley out twice LBW this season with pitched-up deliveries. He predominantly brings the ball back into the right-handers’ targeting the stumps and challenging the outside edge. He has plenty left to give, and I’m sure the wickets at Chester-Le-Street will help him.
Now, let’s talk about Archer…
Jofra Archer is currently bowling rockets in the IPL. He’ll no doubt return injured for the English summer, play a couple of tests for England, bowl about as quickly as my disabled grandmother in his second spell, and pick up another season-ending injury which will heal just in time for him to be picked up by another franchise team in the winter.
Oh, what a wonderful life our lord and saviour lives, all while being paid millions by the ECB. In my opinion, his ability to bowl fast is just limited by his glass body. His disinterest is also worrying; he bowled fast to Steve Smith when England were defending a low score in the second innings at Brisbane, but couldn’t reach over 85mph, let alone average it when it was 35 degrees, and Australia were making hay in their first innings.
When things aren’t going his way, he just seems to trundle in rather than bowl his heart out like a true fast-bowling lion.
It’s about time the ECB got some money back from an injury-prone, franchise-leeching charlatan.
