Daily Mail

Gubbins is the man to step in for flop Keaton

- NASSER HUSSAIN at Old Trafford DAILY DOSSIER @nassercric­ket

THE WAY the third day panned out in Manchester confirmed what an absorbing series this has been — but it’s been a series in which you’d rather be a bowler than a batsman.

This is an era where we’re constantly told Test cricket is under threat but the last few weeks have been gripping — mainly because the pitches have had something in them for seamers and spinners alike.

The highest total in the series has been England’s 458 at Lord’s and if Joe Root had been caught early on in his 190, as he should have been, they would have struggled to reach 300.

That kind of score has been the pattern, and it’s been great to watch.

My gut feeling is that the difference between the sides in the end will be the depth in England’s batting. When they lost their fourth wicket in the second innings with the score on 72 yesterday, out walked Ben Stokes to join Joe Root — and you just sensed that their best batting was yet to come.

When you’ve got Jonny Bairstow coming in at No 7 and — as we saw yesterday afternoon — Moeen Ali at No 8, you become a tough team to bowl out. Even Toby Roland-Jones at No 9 is a handy operator.

It means England have been able to repair top-order damage better than South Africa and it means they have been able to carry the likes of Keaton Jennings and Dawid Malan.

Both sides have been flaky and vulnerable with the bat, but you just feel the holes in South Africa’s lineup since they lost Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers have been harder to plug. They have some pretty decent players in the lower order, too, but they’re not quite in England’s class.

None of that means, however, that England don’t have issues, because they clearly do. The selectors have to be very clear that the side they choose against West Indies will be the one they want for the first Ashes Test at Brisbane on November 23.

For that reason, I think they should drop Keaton Jennings. He needs to go back to county cricket and rediscover the rhythm of batting, which you can lose sometimes at Test level. Mark Stoneman has looked a decent player whenever I’ve seen him for Durham and Surrey, but I’ve also enjoyed what I’ve seen of Middlesex’s Nick Gubbins (left). He looks good off the back foot and plays the ball above his waist well. To me, he looks very organised. The selectors have to be smart: You’re looking to fill key positions at the Gabba, not take relatively easy runs off West Indies. Go back to the selection of a guy like Ben Duckett in India, for example, and they should have been aware that he had a flaw against off-spin. How did that weakness get through the system?

They have to make sure they’re talking to the right people to get all the informatio­n they need. Gubbins may not be scoring thousands of runs, but I like the way he’s been scoring them. Whoever the selectors go with, they have to be smart. It’s time for them to earn their corn.

 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom