Former England assistant coach Paul Farbrace and batting coach Mark Ramprakash play the role of selectors and debate England's XI for Cape Town
Monday 30 December 2019 07:23, UK
England slumped to a 107-run defeat in the opening Test of their four-match series in South Africa, leaving a lot of questions to be answered.
Ahead of the second Test in Cape Town - live on Sky Sports Cricket from 7.30am on Friday, January 3 - former England assistant coach Paul Farbrace and batting coach Mark Ramprakash joined The Cricket Debate to discuss some of the major selection issues affecting the tourists.
Do they pick a spinner for the second Test? And who from their five-man seam attack would miss out if they do? Will Ollie Pope come back into the batting line-up? And what of Ben Stokes' role in the side?
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Mark Ramprakash: "At Cape Town the wicket tends to be a bit drier, so you'd think [Jack] Leach has a very strong case to play. If he's available!
"If not, where do England go? Matt Parkinson was not given an opportunity in the second Test in New Zealand, which many people who were out there felt he should have been. He doesn't know yet what international cricket is like. Have the England selectors got the confidence in Parkinson? If they haven't, what's he doing on the trip?
Paul Farbrace: "I agree with Ramps. He [Parkinson] should have played in New Zealand - there was a great opportunity to play him out there; they chose not to take it.
"I think he has to play. The ball needs to spin away from the South African right-handed batters, so if Leach isn't right, Parkinson has to play."
Ramprakash: "For me, [Sam] Curran makes things happen, he contributes - another young player who has shown temperament and character.
"[Jofra] Archer has just taken five wickets. I don't think he bowled particularly well mind you, but he has a point of difference. So then, who do you come to?
"You've got to look at that [Anderson and Broad], how fit they are, how well they are, what paces they're bowling."
Farbrace: "I would take Archer out and play a spinner. I think Curran has shown enough in this game to show he has got that little bit of something different, plus he's a more than capable batsman.
"I'm not saying that Archer is not a Test match bowler and that he shouldn't be playing a big part in England's Test revival over the next few years - I really want to see him do that - but my reasoning is, I don't think we should be playing him in every single game at the moment.
"He's a young man, with huge expectation on his shoulders, and so he needs to be managed carefully and properly. He needs looking after.
"You need experience in your team to aid the young players coming in. That's why I'd keep Broad and Anderson in, at this stage of this series, because it's also about trying to come back and win this series at the same time as developing the youngsters."
Ramprakash: I want to see progress. Pope has to come back into the reckoning. He's a young man, and he's not the finished article - so don't expect to see him rack up loads of runs - but he certainly has the potential to be very successful in international cricket,
"Even if he's not, you're still getting games into a young player who you believe in. A lot of safe decisions have been made in recent months.
"That's not to say Bairstow can't make it as a Test match batsman, because he can, but, to be fair to Jonny, I want to see him find some form.
"Pope got a hundred in the warm-up game, got 70-odd in his last Test match - I want to see some continuity and not chopping and changing. Play some young players."
Ramprakash: "Stokes is not bowling that much - he only bowled eight overs in the second innings. I'm not sure how fit he is on recent evidence. He bowled more in New Zealand, but he was always pulling up short in his follow-through, hobbling back to his mark. It didn't look like he was doing himself any favours at all.
"He's a pivotal player in the England side, he's a leader and he is absolutely, I think, a candidate for the captaincy.
"Joe Root and Chris Silverwood are paid the big bucks to get the big decisions right and they have not got the toss right here. We need Root the top-class batsman, so if he does not get the runs he would like in this series - I know he just scored a double-hundred in New Zealand - it could well be the England selectors rethink the captaincy if this series doesn't go their way.
"Stokes, I was worried about the volume of work he has, but if he's in the team as batsman only bowling a few overs, he becomes a very credible alternative for the captaincy.
"Things can change quickly. I'm not saying Joe is a poor captain - I don't think he's the finished article - but what is becoming apparent is that his batting average has dropped significantly, and if they're not strategically getting decisions right and keep losing Test matches, pressure mounts and at what point do you say we need to go in a new direction?"
Also discussed by Fraser and fellow guest, Mark Ramprakash, on The Debate:
Watch day one of the second Test between South Africa and England from Cape Town, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 7.30am on Friday, January 3.
