With the Ashes gone after three Tests, thoughts naturally move towards the future.
Chris Silverwood’s dual role as head coach and national selector is under scrutiny and should a new regime be introduced, it’s possible that they’ll seek to blood in players not yet tested at Test level.
Here’s a quick look at some of the most likely options:
Tom Abell
4,957 first-class runs at 32.61
53 first-class wickets at 29.54
The Somerset captain is one of a number of batters on this list whose numbers wouldn’t have come close to meriting consideration a decade back, but due to a dearth of standout options and the standard of some county pitches, he shouldn’t be ignored. Abell has built a reputation for scoring clutch runs and he does so at one of the lowest-scoring grounds in the country. Dawid Malan’s decent showing at No. 3 since his recall in the 2021 summer blocks Abell’s most obvious path into the team for now.
Rob Yates
1,656 first-class runs at 31.84
Yates was instrumental in Warwickshire’s County Championship triumph, scoring four hundreds over the course of the season including scores of 77, 132* and 113 at the backend of the season against Division One opponents Hampshire, Somerset and Lancashire. His fourth innings 120* in a battling win over Essex earlier in the summer was one of the performances of the 2021 domestic summer. His average is dragged down by a higher than ideal number of single figure scores, but at 23, Yates has already shown that he’s capable of cashing in once he gets his eye in.
Tom Haines
2,008 first-class runs at 34.03
Haines, who turned 23 this winter, was the leading run-scorer in the 2021 County Championship. A left-hander with a solid, uncomplicated technique, he would be entitled to feel unfortunate not to make the England Lions squad for their trip to Australia.
Jake Libby
4,176 first-class runs at 35.09
The most consistent run-scorer in the county game over the last two summers, Libby has enjoyed a remarkable career renaissance since his move to Worcestershire. Since moving to New Road, Libby averages 56.17 in first-class cricket. Another season of heavy scoring could see the 28-year-old enter the frame.
Alex Lees
7,078 first-class runs at 34.86
Lees was tipped for England honours as a youngster at Yorkshire only to drop off the radar somewhat before making the move up to Durham where he has rebuilt his career – he averages 39.68 in English first-class cricket since the start of the 2019 summer. Recalled to the England Lions set-up this winter, it’s clear that he’s under consideration among the current selection set-up. Given the struggles endured by Haseeb Hameed, Rory Burns and Zak Crawley in Australia, it’s not impossible that Lees finds himself in the England squad for the upcoming tour of the Caribbean.
Josh Bohannon
1,935 first-class runs at 43.97
Tellingly, Bohannon is the only batter on this list to average more than 40 in first-class cricket. The 24-year-old, whose ascent into the Lancashire first team was more under the radar than some of his more high-profile county age-group teammates, was one of the breakout stars of the 2021 summer. Like Abell though, his immediate pathway into the England XI is blocked by Malan.
Joe Clarke
5,609 first-class runs at 37.64
Widely regarded as the most talented uncapped batter in the country, Clarke had a mixed red-ball season in 2021, passing 50 on eight occasions but only reaching three figures once. Ollie Pope’s loss of form and Jonny Bairstow’s failure to capitalise on any of his numerous opportunities in the side in 2021 could see the No. 6 spot possibly open up for a stroke-maker in the mould of Clarke. Clarke has amassed 18 first-class hundreds before turning 26; few in English cricket boast such a record.
Matt Parkinson
102 first-class wickets at 23.35
On paper, it seems extraordinary that a spinner with Parkinson’s record finds himself outside the England squad. It seems that the current England leadership group aren’t fully sold on Parkinson. He has spent plenty of the last 18 months in various bubbles with the England senior group but finds himself out of both red- and white-ball squads at the moment.
Saqib Mahmood
70 first-class wickets at 27.92
Mahmood has made a decent impression in his white-ball excursions for England but is still waiting for his maiden Test appearance. A skiddy right-arm quick who rushes batters, his first-class record is good and you sense that he has the raw skills to succeed away from English conditions as well as at home.
Brydon Carse
95 first-class wickets at 29.62
Probably the quickest active English bowler yet to play a Test, Carse, like Mahmood, was impressive for England’s hastily assembled ODI group that humbled Pakistan last summer. Mark Wood will be 35 at the start of the next away Ashes series and both Olly Stone and Jofra Archer have endured horrific injury runs of late – it is possible that Carse, 26, will be groomed to be an express overseas option in the mould of Wood. That said, it’s worth noting that Carse himself has struggled with injury in recent times.
Liam Norwell
325 first-class wickets at 25.23
For a while Norwell was one of the unsung heroes of county cricket, regularly one of its better performances without winning widespread acclaim. That changed in 2021 when he spearheaded the Warwickshire attack that won the County Championship. A seamer who relentlessly challenges the front pad – not dissimilar to Scott Boland – he won England Lions recognition this winter, taking 5-58 against Australia A.
