Global cricket structure and fitness

Yeah, gone! Gone he gets his fairy tale ending! An epic way to go to a test match 100! The London Spear the first time winning! The most remarkable thing you'll probably ever see in cricket. 6 04 and final test wicket for Stewart Fall. It's India who win the T-20 World Cup. England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hop e this week's Sky Cricket Podcast is a beautiful morning here in Hertfordshire where I am the morning after the first round of of championship games, so we'll reflect a little bit on those, but it it feels like uh the start of well spring proper or summer at least. How are you, Nas? I'm good. Essex is not only bathing in sunshine, but bathing in the fact that they won in three days down at Hampshire. So the mighty Essex Ath uh are winning back on winning ways. Lancashire couldn't quite get over the line. I don't know if you're watching the drama at the end with that veteran James Anderson trying to get him over the line against North Ants. Um but uh a few draws, uh but some things never change. Essex just continue to win. That's your other side, isn't it now for obvious reas ons ? Lancashire almost getting over the lines. Uh over the line. I mean the lots of lots of good performances. Two two things that struck me. Um I mean we could go, you know, we could go through lots of individual performances which we may touch on in a bit, but the number of wickets that fell to leg spin in the week, which I thought was interesting, um and how slow the pitches are inevitably um and this is not a criticism of Gundrosman at all, um, because on April the third, I don't know how you get a pitch ready for for championship cricket, but slow pitches hide a multitude of sins and it's really pace and bounce that that sorts the good players from the less good players out. So um that's always a frustration to me at this time of year. You know, i o we often think early April it the ball should be nipping around everywhere. In fact, you know, uh the stats show that in recent years quite a lot of runs have been scored at these stages, and that's principally because the pitches are are so slow and so I find that a bit of a bit of a frustration. I went to Somerset actually for the opening day on the Friday. And that was a decent enough surface. An Ollie Stone bowl quite sharply on that day. James Roo played pretty well. Tom Abel got a hundred. James Roo then got a hundred in the second innings, but he's now got twelve championship hundreds at twenty two. How many did you have by the age of twenty two, do you reckon? One? No, but I saw you I know why you're bringing this up because I saw your name on a list and you're you had done very well. I genuinely haven't seen that. And then just completely faded away after the age of 22. I was the other way around. I was a slow starter, but then just with age just couldn't they could not stop me getting hundreds. after that Um, your pitches, your point on pitches is a valid one, actually. Everyone does go on about April, why you're playing in April, it nip nips around and whatever. When actually, if you look at scores, and I think everyone got three hundred in their first innings. There were a couple of massive scores, Derbyshire. Um there's the other point actually. I don't know if you've noticed the playing regulations on pitches that if it's below average, you lose all your points. It was not like the days when um we played at South End and we prep we had we got done points for a pitch. You now lose all your points. So there is a bit more pressure on on the ground staff to make sure and does that work against spin? I mean some are said they've got some of the great games there on pitches that have spun you've got to be a bit careful. What counts as below average does a game that 700 plays six hundred. Does that count as below average if there's not enough pace and bounce? I I'm also not for just obliterating points. You know preparing a pitch is not uh i y you you don't always get it right and sometimes you can get it wrong and I think it would be a harsh penalty on players if, you know, just for a a one off mistake, you know, a club could have had a uh a whole litany of of decent pitches over a period of time and suddenly, you know, get one wrong and and you can be you can be penalised. So I'm not entirely sure about that rule. But and also because I'm not sure well I know how they define a below average pitch because I've seen the definitions, but I've yet to see a pitch seven hundreds play six hundred get penaliz ed . Yeah, valid point. Very rarely do I say that, but uh valid point. One thing why do you think leg spin? I mean Crane uh ball i he's balsam beauty's in that game. Harrison has gone well. I know someone we're gonna come on to it. We're gonna be um floating some questions in um about future players and spin, but Harrison bowl nicely and Matt and Critchley. I mean five for nothing with a big hundred as well. Why the emergence of spin? Maybe just a bit of mystery if it's slow for the Seamers, it's slow for the spinner as well. Um nice to see leg spin. Two great two great leg spinners on this pod. It's nice to see leg spin coming back. Well I I mean I d why is a more difficult question, but I think just you know, in in pitches uh in games where the games are going quite deep and and quite a high s high scores, then obviously you need a bit of spin, but good to see the wrist spinners around. M Mason Crane's improved definitely, improved last year. Looks like Glamorgan will try and prepare pitches for him and Kelleway . Um that's their strength, so why not? Calvin Harrison I've always had a uh decent regard for 'cause he he catches brilliantly at sli p, he bats. I think he's got a very good fundamental action. Critchley, obviously good all round cricketer. And then you've got Ryan Armand. He's the one who's actually played test cricket. But I see him more as a batting all rounder than a bowling all rounder actually. Um but those four were in the wickets, twenty odd wickets between them in the opening round of games. And yeah, I mean if you like watching leg spin as we do, that was a a good thing. But you're right we. We we're we're out of ideas. So we can get on shall we get on to the questions because you're answering the questions. And I can I ask you something. It is week one of the summer, and our work experience boy, who has now been promoted somehow after that winter of been tangoed, he has now been promoted to s producer of this podcast. Do you think it's a worry that after week one we'd gone so quickly to shall we just answer questions? Yeah. He's a bit of a bas ball producer. He he's one track really and and then has run out of ideas very quickly. Um so he said, What should we do? It's the old it's the old line, isn't it? When you're out of ideas, throw it open to questions, which we have done and we've got plenty. W the f William in Bristol, now I always get slightly uh uh my antennae picks up when it comes from William in Bristol because I reckon this might be Benedict's lad every time we think every time we do kids kids coaching clinic on a Sunday morning. It's William from Bristol batting and bowling again. William, what have you got for us? How much would they have bid for the other in the recent hundred auction two pounds fifty for you. Yeah. Well it it got we get this a lot don't we actually about people ask about how you compare eras . You know the game has changed fundamentally since we played in terms of batting power, uh skill, you know, the the the options at your disposal with reverse sweeps and switch hits. But you can only really judge people in the era in which they played it, you know, if you if you were 21 now, you'd be a you'd be looking to be a different player. I'm I'm not saying you could necessarily be um you know picked up for two million in the IPL, but you'd be in the gym, you'd be pushing weights, you'd be range hitting, you'd be looking to hit sixes, and that in consequence would make you a very different player. So my my view is you can only ever judge people in the era in which My view is more a financial. I mean, we had James Coles on last week uh for what, three hundred night, whatever he got, four hundred grand. That's like a hundred grand a week for the hundred . And you think of someone like Graham Gooch who went off fending off the West Indies great fast bowlers for three months and probably got two pounds fifty after he'd paid for all his uh expenses after that. So that is where the game has changed really uh and good luck to him that's what I always say. Um William, good luck. Um to anyone 's my planning I mean good luck, but those with those incentives being so skewed it is gonna yeah. Fundamentally affects it. It's already changed to getting that . Michael Ray, how do you think Ben Stokes' approach to captaincy will change going into the summer? I actually think the Stokes uh question is one of the most fascinating for the summer. We've got a question further down. We might as well take 'em both together because uh somebody else let me find it. Somebody else says, you know, does Ben Stokes still um still get in the side as a batter at number number six. The tweeting bluebird, do you think Ben Stokes still warrants his place in England's top six? So there's a lot of questions around around Stokes. But it is fascinating because obviously him and McCullum started to diverge a little bit in the ashes in terms of what they were saying publicly, Van Stokes, you know, looking for a more resilient style of play, if you like, and and McCullum backing , you know, his expansive style of play. Um and then you've got Stokes' batting, which nobody in the Ashes averaged fewer or scored at a slower strike rate than Ben Stokes . Um and then his fitness as he you know gets to mid-thirties and comes towards the end of his career. So all kinds of issues there. And in terms of the batting, I know he's not playing yet because of the broken cheekbone. He's not received the the clearance to play yet. But I hope he plays as much as he can once he's given the clearance, because he's been somebody who doesn't like to play outside of test matches. And I just think you lose the rhythm of batting. If if you're only netting and then you're only playing test matches, you know, that's all very well. But you actually do need to play some cricket. So I think he's played six championship games since he started as England captain in the last four years. So I hope he plays as many as he can before the first test. And then in terms of his leadership, I mean it's not going to change fundamentally. You can't as a cat, you have to be authentic, don't you? You have to be who you are. But I think it will be more balanced in terms of how they speak and how they approach again. Clearly, it there'll be some changes after the ashes. And then that partnership with McCullum, which is so important, I can't believe that they would have kept both in place if they hadn't taught to each other and each was not happy, you know, working with the other as they go forward. So they've never fallen out, but they started to diverge in views. Um, and they'll have to be on the same page come the start of the international summer. Yeah, uh my thought is with all of this, just take yourself back to before the ashes. The the ashes was basically a shamozzle across the board. Across the board, it was a shamo zzle from management, from captaincy, which we're talking about here, from players, from preparation, but you have to try and if you go down that road, you'll let everyone out and everyone that's getting runs in the first week of the county championship in. Just make decisions on each individual play. I said last week, Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, in my opinion, you go back six months, they are fantastic cricketers. They are still fantastic cricketers and they've got to show people they are that. Smith did that this week with a second innings hundred, batting at three, to save a game. But going back to the question, Stokes, go back six months. It what were we raving about Stokes the captain? Have we always been? Yes, we have. We have been, both of us think the Stokes has been probably one of, if not the best captain. Just purely old-fashioned captaincy on gut feel and tactics and man management and empathy. He has it all. But he had a poor ashes. But he's not the first England captain to have a poor away ashes series as captain, as we know. The one thing he could probably bring right now is clarity because of that word aut authenticity. You know, McCullum's come in, McCullum stayed on. What is going to be the messaging, not only to the team, but to county cricket? The messaging before was you have to play a certain way to come in. What is the messaging now? I think the biggest things to two things. One, Stokes, take care of your own game because it has fallen off because of all those injuries. The best thing Ben Stokes could do is go back to batting the way he used to and getting runs. But the second thing as a captain is absolute clarity. And my message would be the biggest thing you any player can do is you're going to be judged on runs and wickets and catches. Nothing else. Nothing about how you play and run towards danger and all that. You are now going to be judged on runs, wickets, and catches, and nothing else. We had um a lot of questions actually that not included the specific ones, just about I mean your point about they've all survived after a shambolic winter. Um a lot of people saying, you know, why or where's the accountability? I mean they two're separate things that I think they're as a group, coach, uh captain, director of cricket to to all be in place after that winter is extra they're extraordinarily lucky to be given the chance to put things right, which is not to say that necessarily it was a bad decision to show faith with them because people can mess up and once they if they realize that they've messed up, then they they can look to put things right. But there are very few walks of life, I think, where you'd you'd have a a winter like that with so many things going wrong where you'd be given the chance to put things right. Um Chuck Shu, if McCullum was your coach , how would you have batted and captained the side? Well, first of all, I'm not sure if McCullum was coach, I might necessarily have been picked in the side and certainly not to captain it. Well he wasn't uh Stokes said that when I asked him, would you pick Appherton and Cook? He said no. Good point. But one thing that fascinated me in the winter, actually, and it just shows again how far the game has changed. When do you remember when Harry Bro ok uh was pushed up to number three in the World T twenty, T twenty World Cup? They was pushed up to number three against was it Pakistan, I think, wasn't it, up in um Candy? And at the end of that game, because Brooke got a hundred , um , you know, I I asked I had to do the postmatch and I asked him uh how did that decision come about and he said oh Brendan um put it to me in the morning that he thought I should move up to number three. And it just struck me then how much has changed in that captain coach Shannara. And that maybe particularly with Harry Brooke, who's young and not necessarily that experienced at leadership, but the thought that you could make such a fundamental change like that and the captain could be told by the coach that you're moving to number three without seemingly the captain having any input or hav ing said anything about it just shows you how far the authority of the captain has kind of diminished in the time that that we we have been we've stopped playing because you know, back in our day, the captain basically made the decisions. You made the decision on the team. When you got to the match, the selectors would pick the squad or whatever. But when you got to the match, the captain made the decision on the team, he made the decision on the batting order. Um you'd obviously work with a coach, but you'd make the key decisions on the field. Um and there he was saying that that fundamental change came from the coach and the captain had no impact So what I'm my at my long-winded answer to that is, you know, when I batted and captained the side, I I did it the way I did it because that's how it was. The captain ran the show. And now I think it's probably quite different. Yeah, I mean I I I I think I would have batted uh the same way under any coach. We had a variety of coaches. For me, it was how was I gonna get runs? That was as simple as that. You know, you you only get you only stay in the side by getting runs and you don't you don't sudden you know, you'd I'd hate to be my in my career and go, I tried to bat the way the coach wanted to meet to bat because in the end , although you may not some listeners and viewers may say, Well hold on, that doesn't happen in this regime. If you don't get runs, you get axed. Some people have stayed in the side, um, playing the way that they wanted. Um, so for me, it was always about batting the way, best way to get runs. Captaincy the same on gut feel, how you want to captain the side. But I will say, and this goes back to my point about clarity, I do say in a dressing room, it is very important that the coach and captain are singing from the same hinge . The one thing Duncan said to me, as the first moment I met Duncan, he said to me, We need to have clarity, we need to be backing each other. We can row behind the scenes about certain individuals and the way we want to play, but in front of a team, we need to have absolute clarity. So and that was an issue in the winter, wasn't it, with Stokes? It looked like Stokes wanted to go in one direction with value your wicket over my dead body sort of batting, back to old school. And McCullum, you felt, well, we've got all this way to the ashes. We're going to be judged on the ashes. And at the last minute, we're moving away from that. And that was mixed messaging, definitely in the latter stages of the ashes. So however you want to be you want to captain, you do have to have a coach beside you struggled at times. It wasn't so much a coach, you had like uh Raymond Illingworth, who was from a different era. Um, it was blatantly obvious that you were both in different directions, and that for a team is real mixed mess for English cricket, actu ally is mixed messaging . Yeah, I I was quite I was gratified in terms of taking responsibility for your own game. I was quite gratified when I chatted with Acer Tribe last week who's one of the young players who's got a lot to play for, could potentially be an opening batter. I was asking him, you know, about some of the little changes he'd made to his game in the winter. And he's he he was somebody who said, look, I, you know, I very much take the responsibility for my own game. I chat to players around me. I will work with a coach. In this instance, he was working with Neil McKenzie, who's the Lions batting coach, but he said, I will always make a change for what I believe to be right, uh rather than you know, taking on board stuff that might not work for him. I mean, you always try things and some things don't work, but I think that is a vital thing for any young player, is it your game , it's your career. You've got to take responsibility for the decisions that uh have an impact upon it. Um can I just ask you about something? I think we've had a couple of questions in on this. Uh on the Liam Livingston stuff. There's two facets of the Livingston stuff and the quotes and the articles that he made. The first one was about Key saying, I've got, was it a hundred different things to do? And uh when he left him out. And I'm so fussed about that. There's been a lot of cricketers and sports people that have been left out over time that's not that they're not happy about it. Um it was the second part about it, about the coach, coaching staff saying, Don't stress, don't worry, don't lose any sleep about it. Um, let's get back to the hotel or whatever. I do think there's a lack of, and Mo and Ali touched on this when we had Mo on the pod, that he he would like to get into coaching. He sees maybe he likes the tech nical side. I do think you still you do need the technical and Marcus Triscothic would say I do a lot of technical coaching with it. But I I I do think coaching in this England setup has become a bit of a vibe. This is how we play and enjoy it and love it and uh let's go with it. And if you have any problems, let's go harder, run into danger. I think sometimes you look look at Zach at the moment, Zach Crawley. I don't know if you've seen his dismissals of late. He keeps getting out to the ball, nipping back in. Now there is a technical issue there that uh Potts found out this week. Nip it back in LBW. I think that's three in three that he's been done like that in in a warm-up game as well. That's a technical issue. And I do think even at the highest level you do need some technical coaching. Well, I m my own view is the best technical coaches should work lower down with uh you know younger players England under nineteens, uh you know, Lions, the the the emerging players if you like. That's where you want your real fundamental technical work to be done. You don't want to be changing fundamental aspects of your technique in the two or three days prior to a test match. And I do believe that players as a to reiterate my point that players have to take responsibility for their games and and the what what's happened in the game as more money's come into the game and there's been a whole kind of mushrooming of of coaching staff aro und setups is that players have lost the art of taking responsibility for their games and are too reliant on being spoon fed by coaches, might sound a slightly old-fashioned view, but I still I don't believe it is actually because I believe that when you're out in the middle, you have to problem solve yourself, you have to adapt, you have to work things out for yourself . And therefore, the part of the role of a coach is to get players to the point where they are self-sufficient uh and where they are not being spoon fed and um nanny'd around the setup. Um so yeah, I mean maybe we have slightly different views there. I don't know. In uh we we had a few questions uh actually as well about you know why didn't you ask when we had Rob Key on the podcast about Liam Livingston? I simply forgot. I mean, sometimes we don't always get it right. It was I had it written down specifically to Rob about that. And then, you know, it just slipped my mind and we didn't we didn't ask. We should have asked, but we didn't right on that. We left out we left the stand and we walked down. I got the bottom. I went, we didn't do the Livingston question. I wants at you. And you just had that emoji with your hands over your face. That was it. Yeah, we forgot. Sorry. Um okay, a lot of questions around England's test team, selection, balance, direction. Um Sotiyan Chantur for England to become complete side that's more consistent in test cricket is the bowling or batting that needs an uplift. Well, in in terms of the winter, but both is is the the the fundamental and catching uh all aspects of the game. But I do think generally that the batting looks I mean, if you think of it, Bethel, uh, Root, Brooke, and Stokes are locked in there and probably Ducket as well at the top of the order, although we come to that question about the openers . If I have one overriding kind of memory of the ashes, it was seeing England bowl short and wide to somebody, whether it was Travis Ed or whoever . Um so if I just pick out one thing, it would be post Anderson Broad and Wokes. This will be the first summer that England go into a test match summer without any of those three for a obviously a long, long time, then it's the quality, consistency, and skill of the bowling um that in the end will determine how successful England are this summer. Yeah, there's talent in that batting. I mean, you know, I mean was it you that was saying Ducky about six months, nine months ago was could be in the list of best format, all format batters around the world. And you've got Bethel who is a wonderful talent, as we saw in Sydney and has seen across formats now. He's got a fifty over hundred, he's got T twenty hundred , uh, and then you got one of our the greatest batter we've ever produced, Root. Rook average is fifty-five, Stokes , I'm still a fan of Jamie Smith. So there's talent in that batting lineup, but they've got to be ruthless in the batting. There's games that they've let slip, whether it be Perth, whether it be the Oval, there's a long list of games that they've just left slip because of some dopey batting when they needed to be ruthless. Um and however many times they've said they're gonna reset, they sort of slip back into when you've got the game by the neck as a batting unit, don't let the opposition back in. And at times they have. So that needs to be sorted. And you're right with the bowling that, you know, for for all the Rob Key and talking about pace, all I'm interested in is what pace are you bowling? You know, three of England's finest wasn't all about pace, Broad Anderson. They were quick enough, but Broad Anderson wokes is about skill and accuracy. So whether they need I mean they've got obviously they've still got the likes of of tongue, you know, Gus Atkinson is still a very good cricketer, um obviously Joffra's there, but whether they need a uh a line bowler, uh you know, an accurate bowl. Th wouldere it be Ollie Robinson who was in the wickets this week, Sam Cook, who was in the wickets again for Essex this week. Now, whether that pace, again, county cricket, international cricket are two different things. So they may just need one accurate um uh and obviously a spinner. Let's get on to this. There is a question about spin there. This yeah, that it's gone. And there is a question about spin. I'll ask you about spinner what it is a good I saw Simon Wilde write about in the Times. He'd been interviewing uh Graham Swan. Where are we with England spinners at? Who would you pick this summer? Who would I pick? Um gone straight in. Um well with all the the questions about selection, I'd actually just hang fire a little bit if I could, because I think what's really important and really exciting actually is that there are six rounds of championship cricket before the first test. And there are some areas of this team that are open up for grabs. One opener for sure, I think. Uh spinner, uh possibly wicket keeper, although maybe not, and then some bowlers. So I mean six rounds of championship, let's see where we stand in in a month's time. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying look, there are some places up for grabs here. We're actually going to look at performance. Not that you just totally go on who's the top wicket taker by then. You you know, you you want to make sure that you think they're gonna thrive at the highest level. But I don't think there's anything wrong either with saying, you know, there's plenty of plenty at stake here. Let's see um who's really in form at that time. But in terms of spin, I mean I suppose there's there's two as there's two aspects, aren't there? We we touched on the wrist spinners, uh which is a really interesting part of the game at the moment. And you could you could go for one of those a crane or a Harrison Reynama Critchley or you go for a kind of you know your your classic English style left arm finger spinner who you know is gonna do the job because the seamers are gonna be uh taking the vast majority of wickets in English conditions and maybe who can get a few runs down the order as well. So somebody like I don't know Liam Patterson White comes into contention from Nottingham sure or Tom Hartley. Um Jack Leach is still as good as a finger spinner as there is around. And then you've got the Shoei Bashir question, which was one of those issues from the winter where they invested so much time in him and then then gave up on him right at the last the last minute and he's gone to Derbyshire so he had a long bowl in a in a high scor ing uh game there. But it is a live it is a live question. Uh how do you see it ? I think there's I was looking at the stats and they're all average and and you shouldn't go on maybe just their averages and just on stats. They they're all around about thirty three, thirty-f,our the names that you mention there. Carson at Sussex, I think, is a is a good cricketer. I I do think you do need they got what home series and then they're away in South Africa in the winter. Um I do th I think it's like the wicket keeper. We've had a question in about the wicket keeper. Do you go back to the old fashioned wicket keeper that just caught the ball, Michael Holding, always wanted his wicket keeper to catch the ball, or the modern way. You don't want one that drops the ball, do you? But you want one that nowadays you want one that gets runs as well, Michael. That's my point. And the same with your spinner. I do think that I in England, and we moved, I moved away from Tufers, who I really rated as a bowler, love toughers as a bowler, to Ashley Giles, who was more complete cricketer. So I do think uh in in English cricket, you need that complete cricketer. So I'm more of that sort of, you know, I think Calvin Harrison, I think he's batting three and four in the championship game. He's got first class hundred. So it's not like all those names we've mentioned, a lot of them actually. Uh Coles, he we spoke to him last week about playing that role, Dawson. I quite like that sort of cricketer, unless your spinner is just world class. And Swan used to get some very good runs. But Swan was a good example of that. He was a a world-class spinner. So if it's 50-50, I'll always go for for the the the spinner will get your runs as well. Are you a fan of Fantasy Premier League? If the answer is yes, then make sure you check out the Sky Sports Fantasy podcast. Whether you're a hardcore player or someone that takes a more casual approach, there's something for ever yone. I'm James Savundra, and every week I'll be joined by one of the best FPR managers in the game. They'll give you all the tips and advice you need to beat your mini-league rivals. They'll give you top transfer advice and provide you with important information like the best time to use your chips. So make sure you tune in to the Sky Sports Fantasy Podcast. It's available now on skysports.com or wherever you get your podcasts . I mean one of the other areas that suffer grabs is I think there's going to be a a change to the opener. How how long will England stick on Crawley and Duckett before moving on and who name check some of these people by the way? They've gone out of their way to like art write in. Okay. So uh Seb Gladwell asked the question about the spin. Thank you, Seb. Um and uh Ashwin Kumar has asked about Crawley and Ducky. I think Crawley's gonna lead uh need a mountain of runs to keep his place. Um I think they'll stick with Ducket uh and they should. Um who are the options? You've got two up at Durham, Emilio Gay, got a hundred this week, uh young Ben McKinney, uh Tom Haynes at Sussex, Asa Tribe, uh Glamorgan . Um I wonder about James Rube you know it's gonna be very difficult to get in that middle order. He batted four in the first innings and three in the second innings at Taunton. I wonder whether um them they might think about him um are you old school? Um an opener is a special ist position. You know, could you could you open with Rue? Could you move Bethel up to open and have Rue at three? He's getting to a stage, James Rue, where his argument for for being in the side is is almost like a it's a non negotiable. He's getting so many runs. Um you've got to almost try and find a way of getting him in. But you make the point that that middle order, how do you get him in? Would would you move it or would you bring in a specialist opener? Well the middle order's locked in. Um but uh I I wouldn't I I don't think it's a completely specialist position in the sense that people have become good openers started in the middle order and and vice versa. But I what I wouldn't do is if a person is has batted at number four for the first six games of the Counts Championship season. I wouldn't say right, you're getting runs, come and open the batting for England. I think if you're gonna open for England you need to be opening for your county. Uh simple as that. Sorry, just to b before you come back in, a couple of that we didn't mention are the th those who've been tried a little bit and and discarded, people like Haseeb Hamid and Dom Sibley, who would not be without a chance if they um barged down the selectors door in the early part of the season. But I think you've got to be opening for your county, haven't you? To to open for England. And I wouldn't be moving Bethel from three at all. No. Right. Well, I mean they tried that with Dan Lawrence, didn't they? Dan Law rence came in and and he opened that that that didn't work out. But it it is a problem. I mean you keep telling me how difficult a place opening the bat I' Ace Tribe, I've seen him and I've seen him on the stream and I've seen footage of him. He's got lovely balance at the crease when he clips through the leg side. I don't know how he came across as an individual. That's an important thing as well. Never underestimate character and and and the stuff that you were spoke spoken about when you've talked to him. You know, that's why you do need people to be going round, not just sitting on streams watching. Go round and speak to the directors of cricket. And what is the individual like that? An interesting thing point that you make and it's worth pointing out actually. I see a lot of stuff quite a lot of criticism on the back of when it emerged that McCullum's not going to be over until I don't know when it is the middle end of May or whatever. And obviously they can watch every ball on a stream. But it's worth it's worth making the point that actually England's scouting and selection network is much more is much more in depth than simply Key and McCullum and Stokes looking at streams. They've got scouts at every championship g ame, and those scouts will be writing detailed reports about they'll have a long list of players for openers and spinners and in various positions, and those scouts will be sending in detailed reports. So it's and that system has been in place, it predated McCullum and Key, and it will be in place long after McCullum and Key depart. And that's the point of it really , that it is a system that is not going to be derail ed by if you make changes or if you sack the director of cricket or the captain or the coach. It's there embedded and it's just worth making the point for people who don't know that it is a very detailed setup that England have and it's been there for a long time. Um and people shouldn't or won't fall through the net if you're if you're young enough, good enough , um you'll you'll be seen, you'll be watched, you'll be reported on. Now it's still it's still always for the likes of Key and McCullum to make their choices and go with the players that they want, and that's always been the case. That you know, director of cricket and captain and coach will will go in a certain direction, that's their right, but every player um will be watched um and and will have a Yorkshire and other counties and selectors about Vaughn and he was averaging thirty three or whatever. And they kept saying, Oh, he's he looks a pretty player, but he keeps getting out. But they all kept saying that he's got something about him this, lad. And the moment that was always when I heard that about a player, when someone was slightly below average, what they should, but he's got something about him. That was the moment. Same with Fletch with Trez when he saw him get runs. It is that watching not just the runs they get, but how they get 'em, what they're like. You know, you were there when Vaughn and Triscotic came into the dressing room. Were they high maintenance in any way? Did they seem like they knew their game? One may look at you, one may look at Stuart and try and pick up things, but they were ready for Test match cricket. And that's the question you've got to ask. How will they, when they step up and be under the limelight uh of us analysing their technique and everything, how will they cope with that? And that's why it is good to talk to people about the individual and the character, not just the stats . Uh Darren Stott says, should all England players play all the championship championship matches before the first test? Um well fundamentally they should be playing. Uh we made that point on last week's podcast about the Sheffield Shield and Alex Carey and Scott Boland, who played all the Shield games outside of the Tess. So fundamentally England cricketers should be playing. Um, in terms of the bowlers, whether you play all six county games. I mean, speaking to Stuart Broad last year, he'd always I mean he's pretty experienced cricketer, he knew what he needed to do to get ready, but he'd work back from the first test and make sure I think he wanted to play three games and make sure his loads were just about right, maybe having the week off before the first test. So the bowlers are slightly different, uh, but I do think you want your England players playing as much championship cricket as they can because it's good for them, keeps them grounded, keeps them humble, and good for the Talking of Stuart Broad, we have a question in from Stuart Broad of Nottingham. Uh will Athers update his dress sense this season or just stick with the same shirt and jumper yet again. That's from a Stuart Broad, second best ever England cricket bowler after James Anderson by some distance from Nottingham. I was uh amused by the fact that he said shirt and jumper in the singular, not plural. But you know, that shirt and jumper's been keeping me going for thirty years. Why why change a good thing now? We haven't seen much of Broadie recently. Oh no, I wonder why. Um okay. Uh we've had quite a lot about um next generation players. So uh till five six seven five, who's gonna be the next up and coming players? Lee Penfell, which Young County player, should England fans watch for the future test selection? Um, so quite a lot about those. I mean, I guess there are two bands here, aren't there? There's the the guys who are just about ready to step in now, and you'd put people like James Rue and James Coles, they're they're in that uh position, aren't they? They're they're pushing right now, and if there's an injury or you know, whatever, there's uh there's openings, they're they're ready to go. And then you've got players a bit younger who you're thinking, well, in two or three years time, they might be uh absolutely re ready to go and and very exciting. And and they're often the ones that are the start of the season night now, which is an optimistic time, that you look at and think, yeah, keep keep your eye on him. I I just there's one young lad I watched a bit uh of the Middlesex stream. Uh couple of good young Seamers, haven't they ? Yeah, they've got they've got two good young Seamers. Um um and uh on the f last day Seb Seb Morgan who's played for England under nineteens, he's only eighteen, I think. Um but he got four wickets and he'd somebody I'd be keeping an eye on of not not I'm not saying you know ready now at all. Um this is again the like three, four, four years time. Um but yeah, I thought he looked skillful and he kept coming in on a very slow pitch at at Lords . Um and uh Thomas Roo is Thomas Rue is in that position as well. I was down at Somerset Friday, as I said, and they're all talking about Thomas Roo, who's still at sixth form, got some exams to do, uh has just pocketed eighty grand in the hundred, so it'll be the envy of all his mates at school, I'm sure, but uh that that you know, he's another one in that position where, you know, really exciting uh for for the next few years I was I was gonna name those two actually and proof that cricket is in the blood, T homas Roo, um the way he batted in that under 19. You said to me last year, we keep going on about you know James Roo, his brother looks a better player. Every time I put on my T V or my phone or whatever, the Roo brothers, they just get runs for fun. Batting's not that easy. And young Charlie Allison Essex, I've not done everything. Yeah. He's a good cricketer actually. And and that again, cricket's in the family. I know Ben, his brother very well. I've worked with Ben quite a bit and we saw him last year. Yeah, last year in the final, uh um fifty over final at Trent Bridge. So um Charlie Allison who's made a good start back. And he they tried him up the top of the order. It didn't work. They moved him into the middle order. Um and he's he's getting some very useful runs. Um well the showpiece event of the summer uh uh is the women's T twenty World Cup really. June and July. It's g it's getting um, you know, the kind of key summer months there. And we've had a couple of questions in Adit Chakrabart. You guys feel England w'omens's start us firm favourites in the up and coming home World Cup in June? Or could it be anyone's game on any given day, including the final at Lords and Hannah Davis said who will be the breakout start uh for England women in the huge summer coming up. I mean two thousand nine wasn't it that England won uh the T twenty World Cup when it was on home soil. And I I suppose for the hosts it's a it's a combination. You there is a an advantage in terms of knowledge of conditions, being in your being in your uh home conditions, getting all the support um that you'll get. But also with that comes a little bit of added pressure, which there will be uh on England this summer. Um I don't for myself think you can move away from Australia as as favourites, but England um will surely be helped by being at home, albeit with that uh little bit of added scrutiny and pressure and Davina Perrin, I thought just on the back of that innings was it in the um not the finals day but the the one the day before that when she got that hundred at the oval, I was uh absolutely blown away by the style um and just manner of her play on on that day. So um think she's gonna have a very big summer. Um yeah, firm favourites, I I don't think any any side apart from Australia going into any tournament for the last uh ten years at least, if not more, uh firm favourites are are always Australia, albeit they've just had a fifty over World Cup in India, which they lost. They didn't win the last T twenty World Cup. New Zealand won that. Uh so I don't think England are firm favourites. I think Australia are that. And then you've got India, um the uptick in India and with the WPL the direction they're going in I'd have them as second favourites and then England as uh just after that so um I I do think England are a very, very strong side, but their problem is that they beat sides below them in the table and then they get to a knockout game. I think that's where England and the concern, even if it's not quite a knockout game that there was the game in Dubai against uh West Indies, which was an effectively a knockout game because if they'd lost they were out, but it was a group stage game. When it gets down to a bit of jeopardy, they seem to fluff their lines or the standard improves and it's Australia or India or South Africa. So that's that's the test for Charlotte Edwards and her team, especially at home. But they're a very, very talented squad of players. Um like out I'm gonna go it's not breakout because she's been around for a while, but that's only because how good she was when she was young and that's Alice Capsy. I I just see I I do a lot of women's cricket and I see the the women around the traps and I see them in gyms and I see them outside and and I and I and I keep an eye and Alice I think the penny has dropped with Alice Capsey. I think she's suddenly realiz ing what a talent she is and how to make the most and it happens to all young cricketers, they burst on the scene, men and women, and a lot is thrown at them, money deals, and you're the star, and and it takes a bit of time to cope with all of that. And I think she is and I I and I think she's a very, very talented cricket. One thing I'd say about the England women's side, if you look at look at Mealy Kerr for example, given the captaincy in New Zealand, the stats have just gone through the roof. Look at Phoebe Litchfield, uh, Georgia Vol, uh, Annabelle Sutherland. I'm aiming a lot of Oddies, Aussies here, but they go like that. They they grab their opportunity and the improvement goes through the roof. I'd say some England cricketers, women, have sort of plateau ed. Um uh and I think ch uh Alice Capsey be one that I'd really like to see now um really show everyone the talent that she is. We had a few questions about global game and ICC and the future and structure of cricket, which you know people's eyes glaze over a little bit. Some of these questions, but they're all fundamental to the game. So Spike asked, is there too much international cricket being played? And could the calendar be simplified so people can understand it? I mean, you know, it's a the calendar is a mess. Um but I as I've said before on this podcast, I think it's too late in the day that this was a question that needed to be tackled ten years ago at the start of of franchise cricket and cricket now is in the grip of private investment and and franchise cricket and it's I I don't see it changing unless the players uh unless the players really make their voice heard and and so far the players have shown it. Well what did you make of the other question? Just find it for us uh about the European League or whatever. Uh is the England team not competing in the Euro Cup. This was from Shub Shubamali eight seven one. Why is England team not competing in the Euro Cup? They have plenty of time and players. At least they could send their B team. It would be still good. Why not assist the Associate Nations by joining the Euro Cup. I mean, Richard Gould recently said, um, nice idea, but we're chock full. Our calendar is chock full. I mean, I guess d two issues for England. One, the calendar is chock full. Um but if you're not sending your main team and you're sending um you know a lions team or a B team or whatever, then you're removing players out of uh domestic cricket. So I I I sympathise on on both counts. You y you know, um y you wanna help European nations get stronger, but there are issues for England in terms of when it would be played and and and the calendar. Yeah, I I mean those two questions are linked. Well, you've got one question coming in. Are we playing too much cricket? Is the calendar year so confused and congested? And someone else saying, Can can we add to it and play the Euro tournament Cub. It would be a lovely story. We you know we we were there for the Scotland game and the history of the island games and uh uh etc Netherlands and the what they beat us twice in T twenty tournaments it'd be a lovely story, but it's fitting it in and having county cricket. And you can't do it in the winter unless you went off to the we can't do that at the moment, Dubai or whatever, and play it there. So the other one obviously is um Nepal. We were there for the game in Mumbai and that would be a good thing to do. Go and play. We played a test against Zimbabwe. Those sides that you feel are on the up, and I feel Zimbabwe cricket is on the out and needs some help. So there there's a an area if you need to get on your and a pal is definitely on the sending a lions team to Nepal or I'm not sure but um I think that's right. Sometimes you just ask yourself is it the right thing to do and I think that would be the right thing to do. Catmandu, here we come. Um if you could R Rohan Prabhudasai says if you could bring a former player into the current England team, who would it be? Of recent players, I'd go Graham Swan, actually. I think England um uh you know if they could if they could if you could say now give us a a spin bowler who can be in this team for ten years and be absolutely top class. I think that's what they might take now . Um and therefore of recently retired players he might be the one that I'd take. Well the other area they're obviously missing is an opening batter. So I'm gonna go for someone I get on really well with. I've played a lot of cricket with. Many of those, by the way. We do a lot of work together. He's my old mate. So I'm gonna go with Graham Gooch, not Michael Affin . Graham Gooch, I mean he was one of the greatest players I've ever played with. Uh loved playing for England. Um so they need an oatnup, bring back Gucci . If you could r James Ashby, a bit of kind of nostalgia here, if you could relive an over batting matchwinning, spectating or commentating, which would it be and why? I think I would take myself off to Sabina Park nineteen eighty six when Patrick Patterson was bowling. Um I'd quite like to be commentating on that particular day, I think. Hi West Indies um was it nineteen eighty six, I think it was. Um brilliant, right at the top of their game, mid-80s, passionate crowd, full house, Sabina Park and Gucci, who you mentioned just now, said that was the fastest bowling that he ever faced. He said it was the only time that he was slightly fearful that he might get hit and hurt and not have a lot that he could done have done about it. I could relive uh one I would say the Stokes day at Headingley . believe that England won that game from that situation. So maybe take thankfully for the viewers, take myself out of the commentary box and go and sit in the Western Terrace and that scene at the end when when Stopes cut away, cuts it for four To be in that Western Terrace and watch that day of Stokes and Leach, obviously. I I I think I'd like to do that. But as a cricketer, I would say maybe uh just another a session of shame um our old mate warn. I feel a bit nostalgic talking about it, but I don't I don't know if we he was just so special just to have a another session of batting. I wouldn't last a session, but of just watching Shane go through his magic again would be brilliant. Final question. Jake Adam, what were your bleep test scores, lad s. You actually you were fitter than me. You before your glass back and you went in the back. You were a lot fitter than me. So I was worse than you. I was mid-table mediocrity. I'm we shouldn't name names here, but the best ones were Nick Knight, was about as fit as they come. Dermot Reeves, from what I remember. Graham Hick was like a machine. They were the elite. Then there was the likes of you, Chris Lewis. There were some really well, I was gonna say really good athletes, but I've done I've not got you in that sentence. And then there was mid-table mediocrity like me. I'm not gonna name the old Actually, you know what I remember is I can't remember which tour it was, but the minimum requirement was fourteen. Yeah, you had to get past fourteen. Which I don't think he's uh I think it was I they don't do bleep tests now, they do a slightly different variation of it, but I think fourteen was quite a reasonable effort. But the the people always look back and think that we weren't very fit when we played. I don't think that's actually true. I think what's changed, I think we were kind of aerobically pretty fit in terms of running and but the weights, that's where it's changed. The physique of cricketers now, particularly batters, is totally different to how it was. We I mean, you know, we did weights, but not it wasn't a a big part of your routine. And now of course with, the six hitting and the re quirement to whack the ball over the rope in T20, I think that is what has changed. I I would imagine aerobically, we're not far apart, but in terms of strength and conditioning. Um and coming in, it was coming in. We were in the gym, and I I was like on the treadmill doing like six or whatever walking uphill like you do, and Callison Boucher came in and and Callis Boucher were lifting massive weights in the gym and I was like, what are they doing weights for? And it it was just coming in uh around about then. So um yeah, the the fitness level, I mean that nowadays when you walk around the pool and the England team are staying in the same hotel and they get their shirts off they are absolutely chiseled there and that it's a you know it it is a game something that was mentioned about the ashes that maybe one or two weren't as fit as they needed to be. You're playing professional cricket for your professional sport for your country and you need to be as fit as you can be and and hats off to them, most of 'em are um grand. Well that's questions this week. Thanks very much. We haven't obviously managed to get through all of them and we haven't included all of them, but we are grateful for those who took the time out to ask the questions. It's something we do maybe once or twice a year, but it's always enjoyable to get a sense of what you're thinking and and and to give a response to it. Hopefully um our work experienced producer will come up with a decent idea for next week so we don't have to scrape the barrel again. Um I'm gonna I'm nipping to hove actually Friday to watch a bit more championship cricket, which will be fun because I think we've got two or three days of good weather coming. And then we're doing a championship game, aren't we? It's Essex, Surrey, not the following week, but the week after that. So that'll be the fourth round of county games. By which time we should have a pretty good idea of which sides are looking strong for the summer and which players are really uh knocking on the selectors' door. So there's I think some really interesting months ahead. Essex, we've got Somerset at home. I might pop in because yeah, I saw your article on Somerset. You really milked those Somerset members. They all love you now. So I'm gonna go I'm gonna go and put 'em right about the real Michael Atherton. Good. Good to see you. We'll catch up