Gubbins fires again to boost Test hopes

The last word from Trevor Bayliss at the end of an exhausting winter was to challenge county batsmen to push for England selection.

Bayliss will have been disappointed by the response but at least Nick Gubbins has emerged as a contender for a Test call-up next week. The England coach and new chief selector Ed Smith will meet on Tuesday at Lord’s to pick the squad for the first Test of the summer against Pakistan and, with an innings of 99 at Lord’s yesterday, Gubbins has heeded the call.

He followed up his 107 against Sussex at Hove last week with an assured performance of a player in form but was given the freedom to play his cover drive and square cut by a Gloucestershire attack who struggled in the morning to apply pressure. Gubbins hit 40 runs in his half-century through boundaries but had to work harder after lunch when Gloucestershire bowled better lines, or perhaps a Division Two attack not used to playing at Lord’s started to attune to the slope.

This is only Gubbins’s second match of the season and it may be deemed not quite enough cricket to justify a Test call, but England like his attitude and, with Haseeb Hameed out for a duck for Lancashire, and Mark Stoneman again falling cheaply for Surrey, there are not many other options.

The Lions tour to the West Indies in the winter was an education for Gubbins. He struggled against the turning ball but his determination to work on his failings impressed coach Andy Flower and England place a lot of importance on character. Centuries in the North v South matches that followed in front of Andrew Strauss were the kind of performances under pressure that carry weight and Gubbins has not allowed a hamstring injury that delayed his start to this season to upset his rhythm.

He should have made a big hundred here, but one short he was undone by extra bounce and pace from Gloucestershire’s Australia bowler Daniel Worrall. Umpire Jonathan Blades, on secondment from the West Indies, took an age to make the decision before correctly giving Gubbins out gloving behind. He walked off with the disappointment of a batsman out first ball.

Dawid Malan has acquired the air of a Test player who now looks a class apart in county cricket and made 76 before being beaten by one that kept low from the Nursery End. Eoin Morgan’s first bat in white clothing for nearly three years was comfortable until a copycat dismissal, also lbw for 76.