It's over thirty years apparently since a test team batting first at Edgbaston and posting a score of 300 plus has gone on to lose the match, but then we never used to have a cricket governing body that prioritised glitz over substance and the applause of the ignorant over the knowledgeable. I've been pondering why James Bracey was ever considered worthy of being included in a test team, based on previous 'achievements', and the evidence is not immediately apparent, with a batting average of 30 this season in seven innings, no century since 2018 and he wasn't even wicketkeeping for Glos in those days!
We seem fixated by wicket-keeper batsman, presumably because they know the batting line up is likely to fail so need to play seven batsman, only four bowlers so no room for spin.
To give him his due, Bracey has scored a century this year, 118 against Somerset at Bristol on 16th April. The ESPN reporter wrote
Combining solid technique, sound shot selection and a high degree of concentration, 23-year-old Bracey enhanced his England prospects by contributing 118 in an innings spanning 12 minutes short of six hours.
Not the Bracey we have seen during the last three days, so was he selected on a single performance?
I looked back at the County Championship matches that ended at the end of May (only chosen because they were largely uninterrupted and easy to go through on the BBC website). Six centuries, three by players not qualified for England, one by a discard and two by the relatively inexperienced (who I wouldn't want to throw in at the deep end). It is centuries, and big centuries at that, that win Test Matches, not 40s or 50s. With upcoming series against India and Australia it is difficult to see where the runs will come from, and, should some of those that we have thrust into the limelight of late have a hard time against these two test nations, they may never recover. The only good thing is that we must have a fair chance of making it competitive in the Women's Ashes.
As a Kent supporter, the idea that Sam Billings was any sort of reserve for the Test Team appalls me, he is a white ball cricketer who is pretty good at motivating others. That's it.
Quote from
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...loucestershire-group-2-1244228/match-report-2
