England facing selection posers
SECOND TEST: BUTTLER AND DENLY’S PLACES IN DANGER
England are set to keep faith with Jos Buttler despite defeat to West Indies in the first Test of a three-match series, but time may be up for Joe Denly. Captain Joe Root is set to return for the second Test starting tomorrow at Old Trafford after missing the four-wicket defeat in Southampton to attend the birth of his second child.
The England selectors have big decisions to make after again losing the game with the bat rather than the ball despite the controversial omission of Stuart Broad.
An under-par 204 in the first innings and the loss of five wickets for 30 runs on the fourth evening set the platform for the tourists to take first blood.
Denly and Buttler were involved in both passages and find themselves increasingly under pressure for their places – the former being squeezed by Root’s return and Zak Crawley’s fine 76 on Saturday.
England head coach Chris Silverwood, though, has only offered strong reassurance to one of the duo.
Buttler has a Test average of just 23.22 since the start of 2019 and now only one hundred in 75 innings’.
“I’m not gonna go down that road yet of putting Jos under pressure, because I don’t think it’s going to help him,” said Silverwood. “First and foremost we want to give Jos the best opportunity to succeed.
“But I’m sure he is asking the same questions. He looked brilliant coming into this game, in practice and everything and he looked very good in the first innings. He just needs to go and make those big scores now doesn’t he? He knows that as well.
“From our point of view it’s just making sure that he feels confident in the environment he’s in.”
There looks certain to be change higher up the order, though, with Denly’s knocks of 18 and 29 doing little to show that he can haul his performances up to the required standard for a longterm Test number three.
At just 22, Crawley is 12 years
Denly’s junior and by producing England’s top score of the match in tense circumstances in the second innings he appeared to make an irresistible grab for the shirt.
“We’re all desperate to see Joe do really well. We can see he’s trying hard, he’s training hard and he’s a great bloke, hence why we all went to see him do well. But obviously he’s under pressure a little bit,” said Silverwood. – AFP