Andy Flower has confirmed that for his first squad as England team director (that’s head coach to you and me) Ian Bell, Michael Vaughan, Owais Shah and Steve Harmison have been left out for the first test against the West Indies at Lord’s. Durham’s Graham Onions and Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan have been called up. Essex’s Ravi Bopara will bat at three.
That might mean I’ll have to change my fantasy teams. Congratulations to Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan. Onions in particular has been knocking on the door for selection for a while. Another England selection for Durham, which is huge credit to Geoff Cook and his staff at Riverside.
Speaking on Radio Five Live, National Selector Geoff Miller said that Ian Bell “Has to keep playing like he is” (Bell is in good form so far this season) to get back into the England squad.
My gut reaction about Ian Bell is that he’s not a test match number three. Five or six certainly. It’s an aura thing, I’m just not getting as huge a presence at the crease as say, Robin Smith.
The bowling attack does look inexperienced: James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graham Onions, Tim Bresnan. Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar are in the squad but Lord’s in May doesn’t strike me as a good hunting ground for a spinner. I’d expect the ball to seam plenty and maybe swing a bit.
Well, as a Durham fan, I was disappointed to see Onions called up. Although the rate he’s getting through somerset (currently 64-7, with Onions 5-30 as I write) means it’s very understandable. And, on the bright side, it means we get to keep Harmison (who I think is well suited to the county game; for some reason he seems to misfire more at international level).
I’m narked because he’s in my fantasy teams!
As are a couple of Somerset players 
There will be changes for the next game… Picking someone who’s been doing well and is in form is a sensible idea, something England should have done on the last Sri Lanka tour over here. Jon Lewis swung the ball all over the place as the MCC knocked the Sri Lankans over yet he wasn’t picked for the test. If memory serves the Sri Lankans hung on for a draw and look what happened afterwards. Kabir Ali has never been the same since Jayasuriya took him to the cleaners.
So my wishes for success go to Graham Onions. As for Harmison, I really don’t know. The damage he did to Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer at Lord’s four years ago was the sort of stuff I want to see from a spearhead. The West Indies did it to us enough times! As a spectator he is frustrating, when he’s on fire he’s damn near unplayable and when he misfires it might as well be me bowling.
Whatever Geoff Cook and the crew at Riverside are doing, it’s definitely bearing fruit with the number of Durham players who have been picked for England. That has to be a good thing. What’s happened to Liam Plunkett? He looked set for the position Stuart Broad’s got.