Batty is set to play first Test in 11 years as England turn to spinners
ALASTAIR COOK refused to name his team on the eve of this First Test against Bangladesh but his reluctance to reveal hi s hand did not extend to the composition of his bowling attack.
England are still wrestling with who will partner Cook at the top of the order, with the indications from training in Chittagong today suggesting Ben Duckett has seen off the challenge of teenager Haseeb Hameed.
However, asked whether his team will open the series with three spinners, England’s captain was emphatic. “I think with the all-rounders we’ve got in our side, you’d be right to assume that on these wickets,” he said.
That is good news for Gareth Batty, the Surrey off-spinner who at the age of 39 looks certain to play his first Test in 11 years when play gets underway early tomorrow morning.
Batty’s story is a fascinating one, the man who has not represented his country since the final Test against Bangladesh at Durham in 2005 now ready to lend his experience to a spin attack that wi l l include the t r i e d - b u t - a s -ye t unproven Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.
Moeen, of course, has taken a leading role in a series once before, grabbing 19 wickets at an average of 23 to help defeat India on home soil in 2014. He has played 30 Tests now but the 29-year-old has struggled to hit those heights again, particularly when the pressure has been on in helpful conditions.
In the United Arab Emirates last year, for example, he took just nine wickets at 48.66. Bowling alongside Rashid for the first time in Tests during that series, the pair failed to exploit turning pitches, particularly in the final Test at Sharjah.
All three of Rashid’s Test appearances came against Pakistan in that series and although his leg-spin offers variety, he is still unable to consistently take subcontinental batsmen out of their comfort zone. On his debut in Abu Dhabi last October, he became the first English leg-spinner to take five wickets in a Test BANGLADESH:
T Iqbal, I Kayes, M Haque, Mahmudullah, S Al Hasan, M Rahim (capt), S Rahman, N Hasan (wkt), M Hasan, T Islam, S Islam
ENGLAND:
A Cook (capt), B Duckett, J Root, G Ballance,
M Ali, B Stokes, J Bairstow (wkt), C Woakes, A Rashid,
C Broad, G Batty First Test Tomorrow-Mon Chittagong Second Test Oct 28-Nov 1 Dhaka
Live on SS2, from 5am since Lancashire’s Tommy Greenhough in 1959. That second-innings return of five for 64 almost won England the match. Yet he failed to build on that start, taking just three more wickets in the rest of the series to leave him with a Test bowling average of 69.50.
In the absence of Graeme Swann, whose 20 wickets were key to England’s series win on their last visit to India in 2012, the selectors have opted for quantity rather than quality. There are four spinners in the squad for this series, with another Surrey player in Zafar Ansari joining Batty, Moeen and Rashid. It appears Batty, though, will get the nod for that third spinner slot and Cook admits the senior man’s experience will prove invaluable as England face up to the challenge of seven Tests in Asia in nine weeks, including the five in India that follow this tour.
Four of Batty’s seven Tests have come on the sub-continent, including his debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2003. He had a good season for Surrey, too, taking 41 County Championship wickets at 31.22. “We picked Gaz for his experience,” said Cook. “Talking to the umpires around the circuit and the selectors, asking them who’s been bowling well over as period of time, Gaz is the name everyone said.
“It’s great you can force your way back in at 39 and credit to Gaz. I’m really looking forward to picking his brains. We’ll need a guy of his experience because it’s going to be incredibly tough to play seven Tests in these conditions.”