THREE BOLTERS WHO COULD STEP OUT OF THE SHADOWS
England coach Trevor Bayliss may have been the one finally to end all speculation over Ben Stokes’ involvement in the upcoming Ashes, but it was Joe Root’s tacit if almost unnoticed acceptance they would have to do without him some days earlier that provoked more food for thought.
By the time Bayliss told reporters he “hadn’t got a clue” when Stokes might next be available following his arrest outside a Bristol nightclub and that he had written him off for the series, surely only those living on Button Moon still believed the Durham star still had a snowflake’s chance in hell of making the trip anyway.
What Root had said on arrival, therefore, no matter how trite it might have sounded on first hearing, was actually far more on point.
“It’s obviously disappointing Ben’s not going to be with us,” said his captain and close friend. “But it gives others opportunities to stand up, put their stamp on Test cricket and do something special.”
As they prepare for the first action of the tour, against Western Australia in Perth this weekend, those words should be in the hearts and minds of all his players, even, reflecting on his own disappointing experience there four years ago, simmering quietly inside the skipper, too.
But whereas, as Root is now established as one of the top four batmen in world cricket, a stellar series from him would not exactly qualify as a jaw-dropper, those who think England’s chances rest just as heavily on the performances of the less obvious might nominate three clear contenders for the job of providing England’s X (for unexpected) factor.
From the trio of “fringe” batsmen, which also includes Gary Ballance and Dawid Malan, could James Vince turn out to be the one who is more than the Aussies are bargaining for?
On hearing of his selection, some might have been tempted to ask the Hampshire batsman for his lottery numbers. With an average of 19 from his first seven Tests and a poor season in the Championship in which he averaged just 33, it was no surprise that he himself expressed huge surprise that England should take another punt on him.
No-one expects Vince to be able to grind it out like their last proper No.3, the much-missed Jonathan Trott, who himself landed from a clear blue sky to help win the 2009 Ashes with a debut century at The Oval, or like David Steele did against Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in 1975, when the prematurely grey, bespectacled “bank clerk going to war” stuck his front pad down the track and blunted the most hostile pace attack in world cricket.
But some astute judges believe that, with his elegant strokeplay, if the 26- year-old can set himself to bat like Geoff Boycott for an hour, he has the game to bat like a right-handed David Gower thereafter and if he survives the early swing of the Kookaburra, could do what Michael Vaughan did to Australia back in 2002-03, albeit in a losing cause, when the Yorkshire batsman made three sumptuous hundreds.
Some have already written Vince off and Vaughan cautions: “He has got to know that he will get a bit of stick from the Aussies. They will remind him that this is his last chance.”
Vince himself admits that, thus far, he has failed to stand up to the pressure of the spotlight.
“There are a couple of technical things,” he says, “but nothing major. It was probably more about dealing with off-pitch stuff, the scrutiny and analysis from the TV. The mental side as much as anything.”
Both teams will be waiting to see how he responds to the most hostile environment in cricket.
England’s newest opener, Mark Stoneman, will almost certainly be trying to draw his inspiration from the man with whom he will walk out to bat, England’s highest run-scorer, Alastair Cook.
Back in 2010-11, England’s only win Down Under in the past 30 years happened largely because Cook batted and batted and batted, making 766 runs, including scores of 235 not out, 148 and 189 and averaging 127.67.
Yet he concedes he was fortunate to be there in the first place, with former coach Duncan Fletcher only one of those who publicly stated he should not have made the plane.
So wretched had been his form during the previous summer that had it not been for a scratchy 110 in the penultimate Test of the previous summer against Pakistan at The Oval, not only would Cook have left out of that Ashes squad, he might never have played for England again.
“Rocky” Stoneman will not want for desire, not least because, now aged 30, he must have thought he might never play for them at all, especially when it seemed every other England qualified opener in the land was being given a go ahead of him.
“I’ve been out in Australia as a fan at the SCG watching Steve Harmison and Freddie Flintoff steaming in,” the Surrey batsman recalls.
“Things like that are the reason why I never gave up dreaming. When I was struggling I could have settled into trying to be happy with my lot as a county cricketer. But you always have that dream, the urge to push yourself.
“The challenge of opening the batting is probably the biggest there is against those bowlers in Australian conditions. But it’s what you live for as an opener, to get out there and test yourself like that.”
Chris Woakes may well surprise Australians with his all-round quality but with all due respect I doubt they will be lying awake fearing his presence.
Which brings us to the contender who, in character at least, most closely resembles the absent all-rounder England acknowledge as irreplaceable, the Somerset “former” tearaway Craig Overton.
Though, in these pages both Marcus Trescothick and David “Bumble” Lloyd have recently pushed the uncapped 23-year-old for a place in the starting XI, many oppose such a move on the grounds of inexperience. Fair enough.
Then again, much the same was said four years ago about a 22-year-old making his debut in the second Test at Adelaide, namely Stokes himself.
By the end of that match, during which the pair had stood toe-to-toe in the middle, Mitchell Johnson knew he had been in a contest. At Perth, Stokes smashed him and his colleagues for 120 runs of pure defiance.
Overton is no Stokes with the bat yet, or with the ball.
But, in Stokes’ now confirmed absence, if one of Overton, Stoneman or Vince can step out of the shadows and into at least one of his shoes, perhaps it would give England a live chance of retaining the Urn after all.
Come to think of it, why not all three?
From the trio of fringe batsmen, could James Vince turn out to be the one who brings more than the Aussies are bargaining for?