Hussain: England selection policy has been abysmal

Former England captain Nasser Hussain says the failure of recent Test call-ups is a “sad indictment” of county cricket and a reflection of “abysmal” selection.

England crumbled on day four of the second Investec Test against South Africa.

Once again that exposed big problems in their top order, which has seen a rotating cast around mainstays such as Alastair Cook and Joe Root for the last couple of years.

Keaton Jennings and Gary Ballance both struggled again and find themselves under the spotlight ahead of the next match at the Oval, but Hussain believes the issue runs deeper than a pair of batsmen struggling for touch.

“The lads who are coming in aren’t doing anything,” Hussain said.

“They won at Lord’s because of Joe Root ... the ones they’ve won before have been because of Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad in Johannesburg.

“The selectors are going to have to have a good long look at themselves because their record in the last two years, their selections have been abysmal.

“Name some lads who’ve come in: (James) Vince, (Ben) Duckett, (Gareth) Batty, (Zafar) Ansari...I can name a long list but no-one’s coming in and doing well.

“It’s a sad indictment of county cricket that all those lads are getting runs and wickets in county cricket but every time they’re picked for England they’re not.”

Hussain was particularly alarmed by what he saw from Northamptonshire batsmen Duckett, who was dropped after a chastening time in the sub-continent over the winter, and Ballance’s return after being twice dropped under head coach Trevor Bayliss.

“Duckett scored so many runs then played Ravi Ashwin in India and there was a glaring technical issue - exposing his stumps to the offspinner. No-one picked up on that in county cricket. No-one. Selection is not just about saying ‘Gary Ballance has 1,000 first-class runs so Gary Ballance plays’.

“Speak to umpires, speak to bowlers, has he changed? He hasn’t changed a thing and we’re getting exactly what we got the last two times.”