England announced their 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia on Wednesday. There aren’t many surprises in the squad but it has to be said that the inclusion of both Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid gives a new dimension to their spin department. Pramod Ananth believes England have chosen the best possible team and given themselves an excellent chance to regain the urn.
England put on an excellent show against New Zealand in the recently concluded Test series. Most of their key players fired, and some newcomers have made life a touch easier for them. Alastair Cook, who was under serious scrutiny ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has responded well ever since to silence his critics. His last 10 innings read 11, 13, 76, 59*, 105, 4, 16, 162, 75, 56. On the other hand, this could be a make-or-break series for Ian Bell, whose last six innings read 0, 0, 1, 29, 12, 1. Bell has been the lone blot on the England batting line-up this summer. Though he managed to score a big hundred against West Indies at the Caribbean, he has not fired since. Ashes 2015 without sledging will lack flavour
But England have stuck with Bell, probably hoping that his wealth of experience will come in handy. Even Gary Ballance has been a disappointment, with just 59 from his last five innings. England selectors see a lot of potential in him and have given him a nod again. Others in the middle order have done reasonably well: Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler have all chipped in with valuable runs.
Mark Wood picked up nine wickets in his first two Tests and seems a bright prospect. With England boosted with Rashid’s return to form, they finally have a genuine spinner, who they can look to pick up crucial wickets. England also have decent part-time spinners like Moeen and Root at their disposal.
It is highly unlikely that Moeen and Rashid will play together. Rashid has proved that he can be handy with the bat as well and he should in fact the nod ahead of Moeen. However, the inclusion of both may mean that a slow, low pitch may await the teams at Cardiff.
Alastair Cook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root , Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Adil Rashid.
(Pramod Ananthis a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
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