Colly unsure if opening spot will be set in Stone
EX-DURHAM BATTER’S TEST CALL-UP IS BITTER SWEET FOR CAPTAIN
IF Mark Stoneman had told Paul Collingwood at the start of the summer he would have to miss his testimonial game because he would be making his England debut, Durham’s captain would have been absolutely delighted. As it is, he has mixed emotions because it comes at the expense of Keaton Jennings.
Today Stoneman, from Sunniside, will become the 12th opener England have tried in Test cricket since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012 and the ninth graduate of Durham’s 21-year-old academy to wear the Three Lions (Collingwood broke into Durham’s first team before it opened).
Despite promising moments, none of the previous 11 have been able to nail down a spot as Alastair Cook’s opening partner.
Even though he has been banging the drum for at least four years for the selectors to look at Stoneman, Collingwood admits he cannot be sure if the 30-year-old left-hander will either.
He said: “Keaton has had an opportunity and I am 100% sure he will have another one in the future,.
“He is the first to admit he did not quite take his chance, whether that was down to South Africa’s bowling or whatever.
“Rocky has the opportunity now and of course we wish him well because he is a product of Durham County Cricket Club.
“When someone has been at the club for that long you want him to do really well when he has his chance.
“We all know he is an attacking player and he will stick to his strengths.
“He is certainly good enough technically.”
Stoneman was due to be playing alongside Graeme Swann, Phil Mustard, Tim Bresnan, Ryan Sidebottom, Graham Onions, Stephen Harmison, Shaun Marsh, Scott Borthwick, Liam Plunkett, Ashley Giles and Jonathan Trott in Sunday’s Newcastle v Sunderland Twenty20 game at Chester-le-Street for Collingwood’s testimonial.
Instead he will be in Birmingham, the oldest specialist batsman on England debut this century, while Durham’s Jennings plays in the testimonial.
Stoneman has earned his chance. Having passed 1,000 runs in each of the last four seasons, it was frustrating for Durham he never even made an England Lions squad.
It will be equally annoying to some he has been handed his chance after less than a season playing in the south for Surrey.
Since moving to The Oval, Stoneman has done everything he could to earn his chance.
Enjoying the flatter pitches of his new county, he averages 59 in this season’s County Championship.
His three centuries include a career-best 197, while 144 not out in July’s One-Day Cup final at Lord’s – the second-largest score in the showpiece until Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales trumped it in the second innings – showed a big-game mentality.
Although England have to be careful not to look at it only in that light, the three-match series against West Indies starting at Edgbaston today is the last chance to claim places – most notably at two, three and five in the batting order – for this winter’s Ashes tour.
Married to an Australian, Stoneman has spent most of his winters as a professional cricketer Down Under but the great unknown will be how he acclimatises mentally to Test cricket, not technically to antipodean pitches.
Collingwood, one of only three English double centurions in an away Ashes Test, added: “I am not sure if playing in Australia in districts cricket is much preparation for an Ashes tour but the fact is you never know if someone is ready for international cricket until they step up.
“Keaton is a very good player technically but you never really know how a player will do because the emotional pressure is different. Rocky certainly has a lot of skill.
“Before anyone can start thinking about the Ashes, Rocky will have to deal with a pink ball which will go around corners for the first ten or 15 overs.”
Collingwood, part of England’s coaching staff this winter, has been very critical of the pink Dukes ball which will be used in this week’s day-night Test.
If there is mental pressure on Stoneman as his technique and temperament are put under an unforgiving microscope, there will be pressures of a different kind for Jennings.
He, his friend Stoneman and Haseeb Hameed are probably fighting over two Ashes spots.