Brook books a place in Key’s Test squad
YORKSHIRE BATSMAN COULD MAKE DEBUT AGAINST NEW ZEALAND
YORKSHIRE’S Harry Brook has been called up for the first Test of England’s new era along with fellow debutant Matthew Potts of Durham.
The pair of 23-year-olds have been named in a 13-man squad for next month’s Lord’s clash against New Zealand after director of men’s cricket Rob Key convened a selection panel alongside recently appointed captain Ben Stokes and incoming head coach Brendon McCullum.
Despite the overhaul in leadership it is a largely familiar group, featuring 10 players who travelled to the West Indies in March plus the returning duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who boast a combined 321 caps.
Yorkshire batter Brook, who made his T20 debut in January, has been rewarded for a prolific start to the LV= Insurance County Championship season during which he has raced to the top of the Division One run-scoring charts with three centuries and an average of 151.60.
Potts plies his trade in the second tier, but with a raft of injuries in the fast-bowling ranks his 35 wickets at 18.57 represented an irresistible case.
England are missing Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood and Yorkshire’s Matthew Fisher, but Key believes the Sunderland seamer can make the most of the opening.
“I like the look of this Matt Potts. I’m pretty excited by what he offers,” he said. “Out of the injury problem that we’ve got at the moment, some good will come out of that, and it may be him. We see him as a point of difference.
“Ben Stokes has seen him close at hand, I’ve seen a lot of him on the stream and the scouts have seen a hell of a lot of him.
“They understand his character, and that’s the one thing that really stood out when people are talking about him.
“There’s a lot of people who can run in and get the ball down there at various different paces but it’s the character really.
“You see the way he runs in, the way that it looks like if you’re facing him, you’re in a proper contest. These are the picks I get really excited about.”
While the portents are good for Potts to debut at Lord’s on June 2, Brook may find himself edged out of the XI.
With Ollie Pope set for a risky promotion to No.3, Joe Root fixed at No.4 and Stokes opting for a spot at six, there is only one middle-order berth up for grabs. Provided he returns from the Indian Premier League ready for the rigours of Test cricket, that will go to Jonny Bairstow.
Key, meanwhile, made a point of showing faith in Pope. A dominant performer for Surrey over several years, he has struggled to impose himself over the course of 23 mostly underwhelming Tests and was reduced to 12th-man duties in the Caribbean. Now he has been handed a promotion to an unfamiliar role at first drop.
“If you ask who is the best you’d probably put Joe Root down as all of those. But after that we feel Ollie Pope is the man,” said Key.
England have kept faith with Alex Lees and Zak Crawley, the incumbent opening partnership, as well as retaining Craig Overton and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes for what should be his first home Test.