Five English players to watch in 2011

Right, it's that time of the year again- Time for me to condemn five of England's most promising young cricketers to a career of mediocrity-

1. James Vince. Duncan Fletcher compares Vince to Michael Vaughan. Ie, he's a tall, elegant batsman with a good range of shots.

2. Danny Briggs. Left arm orthodox bowler. An outside chance of an ODI/T20 berth this Summer as Swanny's backup.

3.Jos Buttler. Dashing keeper batsman from Somerset. Broke all kinds of records as a schoolboy.

4. Jonathan Bairstow. Another keeper batsman who's batting alone could attract the attention of selectors. Yet to make a first class hundred, but once he gets his first, you sense the floodgates will open.

5. David Payne. Left arm medium fast bowler from Gloucs. Tall, but no great pace. If he's added a yard since I last saw him in the under 19 World Cup, he'll be a handful.



They may as well all look for another job, now.

Henry wrote:Right, it's that time of the year again- Time for me to condemn five of England's most promising young cricketers to a career of mediocrity-

1. James Vince. Duncan Fletcher compares Vince to Michael Vaughan. Ie, he's a tall, elegant batsman with a good range of shots..................

I dunno, how many positives can he take from a lost game?

I'll be looking out for Scott Borthwick, Durham's young leggie. The selectors rate him apparently.

Basil wrote:I'll be looking out for Scott Borthwick, Durham's young leggie. The selectors rate him apparently.

One of the Telegraph journos (Pringle, Steve James, someone else? I forget) also had him as their "young player to watch in 2011" as well, but with the proviso "he needs to leave Durham and join a county that select spinners".

Fact is, he won't play for Durham. They prepare green tops up there, and a batting all-rounder who can do a solid job with the ball (Blackwell) is more than sufficient for their needs.

Henry wrote:Right, it's that time of the year again- Time for me to condemn five of England's most promising young cricketers to a career of mediocrity-

1. James Vince. Duncan Fletcher compares Vince to Michael Vaughan. Ie, he's a tall, elegant batsman with a good range of shots.

2. Danny Briggs. Left arm orthodox bowler. An outside chance of an ODI/T20 berth this Summer as Swanny's backup.

3.Jos Buttler. Dashing keeper batsman from Somerset. Broke all kinds of records as a schoolboy.

4. Jonathan Bairstow. Another keeper batsman who's batting alone could attract the attention of selectors. Yet to make a first class hundred, but once he gets his first, you sense the floodgates will open.

5. David Payne. Left arm medium fast bowler from Gloucs. Tall, but no great pace. If he's added a yard since I last saw him in the under 19 World Cup, he'll be a handful.



They may as well all look for another job, now.

1. He's not all that. Looks a lot better than his scores.

2. Coming along well. This time last year it seemed like Liam Dawson was the young Hants SLA to watch. No more.

3. Interesting one, as Kieswetter must sense he's in with a sniff of making the England set-up in all format - which would give Buttler more playing time with Somerset, but until then he's going to be compromised as I doubt Kieswetter will be looking to give up the gloves at a time when he's trying to impress the selectors. Seems a bright prospect though.

4. No idea what his keeping's like. The fact that Gerry Brophy still guard the timbers would suggest it's nothing special. Good batsman, though.

5. Kept an eye out for him last summer, having been impressed by him in the U19 WC. Didn't play at all. What a c*ck-tease. Included in this winter's ECB Fast Bowling Programme, so someone rates him. Just not Gloucs.

1. He's not all that. Looks a lot better than his scores.

A bit like Vaughan from 1993 to 1999 then. Fletcher could be on to something....again.

I'll tip Surrey as my five to watch.

1. Stuart Meaker. England definitely fancy him - would've picked him for the Lions against Bangladesh last summer, but for picking up an injury that very week, they've since awarded him the inaugural Howard Larwood Fast Bowling Scholarship (or something), which has sent him to Australia and then, I think, on to India to work with Dennis Lillee. If he starts the season well, I can see him getting fast-tracked into the set-up pretty quickly.

2. Matthew Dunn. 18. Another Surrey speedster. Just signed his first senior contract. Already clocking 90mph+. Made his FC debut last season against the touring Bangladeshis. Took 3-48.

3. Jason Roy. Highly-rated batsman at all levels, broke into the Surrey side last season - and became the first ever Brown Cap to score a T20 hundred. http://www.kiaoval.com/news/jason-roy-writes-headlines-lions-win-beckenham?video=true

4. Rory Hamilton-Brown. He can bat. Aggressively. He can bowl his offies. Reasonably. And he must have something about him to be captain at 22. Really punchable face, though.

5. Chris Jordan. If he's fit again.

I'll add a sixth, but not from Surrey.

6. Lewis Gregory. Somerset's England under 19 captain and genuine all-rounder. Batted four on the U19's most recent tour, scoring good runs. Took a three-wicket maiden on his Somerset debut last summer in a one-dayer against the senior Pakistan team - minus a few match-fixers - (4-49)

Henry wrote:

1. He's not all that. Looks a lot better than his scores.

A bit like Vaughan from 1993 to 1999 then. Fletcher could be on to something....again.

I doubt it. He's just slim and bats nice and orthodoxly. That's all. No great quality to him. IMHO.

1. Stuart Meaker. England definitely fancy him - would've picked him for the Lions against Bangladesh last summer, but for picking up an injury that very week, they've since awarded him the inaugural Howard Larwood Fast Bowling Scholarship (or something), which has sent him to Australia and then, I think, on to India to work with Dennis Lillee. If he starts the season well, I can see him getting fast-tracked into the set-up pretty quickly.

Phurt. He was one of my ones to watch in like.....2008.

Do you have to stop watching them once the year is over? Never to be mentioned again...

Yes. It's like the Wisden Cricketer of the Year. Can only be named once.....

I probably mentioned Chris Jordan and RHB as well. Jordan seems to be a bit Mohammad Sami-like in that he's quick but not tall and seems to skid on to the bat nicely. RHB is undoubtedly talented but probably a fair way down the pecking order. Although he was talked up a lot as an under 19s player so if any of the England selectors remember him from those days, he might be considered for the number six spot in the shorter forms.

Did someone 'do' Hales? Continues to impress.

Rob Newton. Haven't really seen much, as I didn't go much, but the old chaps have a heart-attack-inducing wank about him.

David Griffith, accuracy at 88-90MPH. Nort bayd.

Brass Monkey wrote: Did someone 'do' Hales? Continues to impress.

Rob Newton. Haven't really seen much, as I didn't go much, but the old chaps have a heart-attack-inducing wank about him.

David Griffith, accuracy at 88-90MPH. Nort bayd.

Oh yeah, Hales. To be honest, it's early and I haven't given county cricket a single thought since about September. Frankly, I was impressed that I could come up with five cricketers. Six, in the end.

They rate Griffiths down here. Don't know what happened to him last season, though, as they only got five games out of him.

Newton I know nothing about, but having looked him up, his middle name is Irvine. Which makes him a Rob I. The Rob I? We may never know...

No one that matters seems to rate Hales, though. Hasn't been selected for any Performance/DevelopmentLions/Hyeenas squad ever as far as I can remember.

Dello wrote:
Newton I know nothing about, but having looked him up, his middle name is Irvine. Which makes him a Rob I. The Rob I? We may never know...

Of course we f*cking know, if you wanted to see Rob I then type Robert Irwin into google and you'll see his big fish-lipped face.

Henry wrote:No one that matters seems to rate Hales, though. Hasn't been selected for any Performance/DevelopmentLions/Hyeenas squad ever as far as I can remember.

I'm not some dribbling mungbean, I don't need to take my direction of some tea-soaked cucumber muncher - I've seen plenty of him and rate him exceptionally highly

As do I. But will he be picked for England in the near future?

Henry wrote:As do I. But will he be picked for England in the near future?

Depends how bored A Giles is with IR Bell's technique.

Brass Monkey wrote:

Dello wrote:
Newton I know nothing about, but having looked him up, his middle name is Irvine. Which makes him a Rob I. The Rob I? We may never know...

Of course we f*cking know, if you wanted to see Rob I then type Robert Irwin into google and you'll see his big fish-lipped face.

http://www.sexskillsforchristianhusbands.com/bio.html ?

Robert Irwin is a nationally-recognized author and speaker. He has been asked to appear as a Sexual Expert on radio (The Danny Fontana Show [Inspiration Network]), television (The Discovery Channel) and has been published in many magazine (Men's Health) and newspaper (The Pittsburgh Post Gazette) articles.

Dello wrote:
http://www.sexskillsforchristianhusbands.com/bio.html ?

http://www.hypno64.co.uk/

Check out the about me section.

Hypnotherapy eh? He won't get me.

*barks like a dog*

Henry wrote:
1. James Vince. Duncan Fletcher compares Vince to Michael Vaughan. Ie, he's a tall, elegant batsman with a good range of shots.

Quite nice to watch but over-rated and can't play spin for sh!t.

2. Danny Briggs. Left arm orthodox bowler. An outside chance of an ODI/T20 berth this Summer as Swanny's backup.

Almost a Vettori clone, except of course he can't bat so is a bit one dimensional.

3.Jos Buttler. Dashing keeper batsman from Somerset. Broke all kinds of records as a schoolboy.

A dasher. Technique doesn't really look all that and always seems to get in single figures when i've seen him but highly rated by others.

4. Jonathan Bairstow. Another keeper batsman who's batting alone could attract the attention of selectors. Yet to make a first class hundred, but once he gets his first, you sense the floodgates will open.

Average as a keeper I think but quite a powerful bat. When i've seen him looks to be a bit of a legside hooray henry. A bit ginge though.

5. David Payne. Left arm medium fast bowler from Gloucs. Tall, but no great pace. If he's added a yard since I last saw him in the under 19 World Cup, he'll be a handful.

Needs a yard of pace or he'll end up being a poor mans left arm version of Chris Woakes. And he plays for Glos so can't be that good.

I'll be back with some of my own when I've got time later today

Dello wrote:Hypnotherapy eh? He won't get me.

*barks like a dog*

The other week I signed up to Pakpassion, I dunno what came over me - I reckon he 'did' me with subliminals.

Ooh, ooh Lever, rate mine, rate mine.

"I am a fully qualified and insured Hypnotherapist who is also skilled in Past Life Regression and Shamanic healing."

F*ck me sideways. Does he also shill snake oil?