Saqib Mahmood will make his long-awaited Take a look at debut for England in Barbados, changing Mark Wooden within the XI after Ollie Robinson was deemed an excessive amount of of a threat.
Saqib first appeared in a Take a look at squad again in September 2019 however, regardless of choosing up 9 ODI caps and 12 in Twenty20 cricket, this week’s conflict in opposition to the West Indies will likely be his first alternative to show his red-ball credentials on the highest degree.
Robinson has additionally been pushing for choice after recovering nicely from the again spasms that stored him out of the drawn first Take a look at however, having beforehand aired considerations over his conditioning and seen him wrestle with the calls for of five-day cricket, England have erred on the facet of warning.
Whereas that will say one thing about Robinson’s present inventory that captain Joe Root and interim head coach really feel Chris Woakes and Craig Overton are extra dependable choices after sending down 39 and 42 overs respectively final week, it might even be a response to Wooden’s mid-game withdrawal with an elbow damage.
Though Saqib just isn’t capable of constantly clear the 90mph barrier like Wooden, the Lancashire seamer is the closest to a like-for-like substitute and comfortably the quickest of these obtainable.
A canny purveyor of reverse swing who excelled with the white-ball in opposition to Pakistan in the summertime, Saqib has lengthy been tipped for the highest by team-mates and mentors at Emirates Outdated Trafford. Root, who watched the 25-year-old carefully throughout an extended exercise within the nets on Monday has additionally developed an appreciation of a participant who has greater than served his time in warm-ups, touring squads and as an unused Covid substitute in the summertime of 2020.
“He’s a terrific choice to have up our sleeve,” mentioned the England skipper.
“He’s very mature for a man who hasn’t performed an enormous quantity of worldwide cricket; he has an actual understanding of how he desires to function.
“He’s been very spectacular, he’s acquired a barely completely different trajectory and can give us some extent of distinction. He’s completed that when he’s performed in different codecs, he clearly has good management, particularly if the ball strikes with reverse swing.”
Saqib’s look accelerates the future-proofing ingredient of this journey – a acknowledged cause for the divisive droppings of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. He would be the 702nd man to play Take a look at cricket for England and the third debutant in as many video games after Sam Billings and Alex Lees.
He will likely be hoping for a smoother journey than Lees, the Durham opener who was dismissed for 4 and 6 by Kemar Roach.
“I feel the problem for any new participant coming into the workforce is to not make any drastic modifications. I feel being sturdy on what you understand serves you nicely for such an extended time frame,” was Root’s recommendation for the left-hander.
“Probably the most difficult issues about batting on the prime of the order, albeit I solely did it for a restricted period of time in Take a look at cricket, is the period of time you’ve acquired to suppose in your dismissals.
“It’s so simple to overthink and over analyse. So it’s about simply ensuring you might be completely clear about the way you wish to go and play and being as prepared for it and as assured as you may be.”
Root additionally provided a agency response to criticism from former West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, who mentioned the choice to play proper by to the final seconds of the fifth day in Antigua was disrespectful given the match state of affairs.
Root may have provided an early handshake however as an alternative opted to enter the ultimate over of the match, when a constructive consequence was all however inconceivable.
“I’ve seen these feedback and I feel it was barely unfair to say that,” he mentioned.
“I’ve an enormous quantity of respect for each workforce we play in opposition to. We are going to all the time attempt to give ourselves the perfect alternative to go and win each Take a look at match. I don’t suppose there was something improper with our method in any respect. Given the chance to do it once more we’d go about it the identical manner.”
