Who are the next England stars across all three formats?
Friday 8 April 2016 09:27, UK
What a difference a year makes. England headed into the summer of 2015 shrouded in uncertainty after a disastrous World Cup campaign and having failed to overcome a West Indies team lacking its star names in the Caribbean.
A year on, England have regained the Ashes, won a Test series in South Africa and transformed the way they play one-day cricket beyond recognition. Even after a dramatic defeat to the West Indies in the World T20 final, the future looks far brighter.
However, Trevor Bayliss will be keen to see England's progress continue, but which players will he be looking at to ensure it does? We look at some of the potential options across all three formats…
Jason Roy (batsman)
After establishing himself as a key member of the England limited overs squad in the past 12 months, Roy showcased his talent on the world stage in the World T20 - his magnificent 78 against New Zealand in the semi-final an obvious highlight. His next challenge is persuade the selectors that he worthy of a place in the Test side.
A career average of just over 37 in first class cricket is more solid than spectacular, but there were signs last season that the 25-year-old is progressing in the longer-format - he hit 810 runs at 47.64 in the middle-order as Surrey won the Division Two title. If Roy can reproduce that kind of form in the top flight he will be hard to ignore, especially with question marks over potentially three of the England top five.
Having opened in one-day cricket, he may be an option at the top of the order or at No 3, while his positive approach would make him a good fit for the England middle order, at 5 or 6, where he has impressed in the four-day game for his county.
Mark Stoneman (batsman)
The Durham opener has been a figure of consistency in recent seasons, overcoming seamer-friendly conditions at Chester-le-Street to score over 1,000 first class runs in each of the past three seasons, including a career best 1131 over the course of the 2015 campaign.
England, meanwhile, have been crying out for such dependability as their search for a long-term partner for Alastair Cook continues. Nick Compton, Joe Root, Michael Carberry, Sam Robson, Adam Lyth, Moeen Ali and Alex Hales have all been given the opportunity at the top of the order since Andrew Strauss' retirement, none of them able to make the position their own.
Hales is the man in possession as it stands, although he is far from guaranteed to start the first Test against Sri Lanka in May. Indeed, if Stoneman can start the season well, weight of runs alone could push him to the forefront of the selectors' minds.
Dawid Malan (batsman)
An aggressive left-handed batsman, Malan's ability has never been in doubt, the issue has been whether he was able to perform on a consistent basis. However, in recent seasons he has banished such concerns, averaging comfortably over 50 in three of the last four years.
A destructive force in Middlesex's middle order, the 28-year-old was in particularly fine form last season, averaging 67.66 in the Royal London One-Day Cup with a strike rate of 102.01. He made headlines last summer after smashing 18 fours and four maximums in a career best 156 not out against Middlesex at Lord's.
On the face of it, Malan, who impressed for England Lions this winter, looks an ideal fit for Eoin Morgan's exciting ODI side and could prove a good option for England, if called upon.
Zafar Ansari (all-rounder)
Ansari came to the fore last year, impressing with both bat and ball for Surrey to earn a call up to the England Test squad for the series with Pakistan in the UAE. However, a thumb injury picked up just hours later saw him miss the tour.
After surgery on his thumb, Ansari is hoping to be back in time for the start of the county season and force his way back into the England reckoning. It may have been the Test arena that he was earmarked for last winter but Ansari has also impressed in white-ball cricket and made his ODI debut against Ireland last May.
The left-hander averaged 54 with the bat and took 10 wickets at 25.30 with his left-arm spin in the Royal London One-Day Cup last year and it seems a matter of when, rather than if, he next gets his England shot.
Tymal Mills (bowler)
The left-arm quick has been on England's radar for three years, ever since troubling England's batsmen in a warm-up game prior to the 2013 Ashes series, regularly topping 90mph.
Injuries troubled Mills in the years that followed but last season he showed why many still consider him a future England bowler, taking 19 wickets at an average of 18.94 in the T20 Blast.
Still just 23, Mills would provide Eoin Morgan with a completely different option and offer the kind of raw pace that England's T20 attack has lacked at times. With Liam Plunkett almost an afterthought in the recent World T20, could Mills be the man to persuade the England set-up of the benefits of genuine pace in the shortest format of the game?
Sam Northeast (batsman)
The Kent captain lit up the T20 Blast last season scoring 641 runs at 49.30 with a strike rate of 152.98 as the Spitfires reached the quarter-final stage. Indeed, only James Vince and Michael Klinger scored more runs in the competition.
Northeast's most memorable innings came at Taunton as he smashed 114 off 51 balls although a certain Chris Gayle did his best to overshadow him, blasting an incredible 151 from 62 deliveries. Northeast had the last laugh though as Kent won the game by three runs.
England's middle order is certainly not short of big-hitters but, at 26, Northeast still has time on his side and if he maintains his 2015 form then he will feel he deserves the chance to show what he can do alongside the likes of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes.
Who do you think should be considered for an England call up this summer? Leave a comment below or tweet us @SkyCricket...
