When Andrew Strauss hit his career-saving hundred against New Zealand we were a bit worried. It’d be best if you read that article, but if you really can’t be bothered we’ll try and bluntly summarise.

New Zealand aren’t one of the better Test sides and Andrew Strauss’s performances might have been misleading. Same for Tim Ambrose (with the bat).

Before the New Zealand tour Strauss had been averaging in the 20s for about a year. Unless he has a great innings today, he’ll have averaged in the 20s again in this series. Did anything change in the meantime? We’re not damning him, but we are wondering.

Same with Tim Ambrose. It seems like England wicketkeepers’ Test lifespans just depend on who they play against.

We’d like to think that England’s selectors have some great insight and identify players accordingly, but it all seems a bit ’suck it and see’. That approach wastes Test experience. Test experience is a valuable commodity.

Tags: Andrew Strauss, England, Tim Ambrose by King Cricket
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Jonathan Agnew will be astounded to hear that Tim Ambrose hit a hundred yesterday, despite not having grown an inch over the winter. He hit 156 not out against Leicestershire.

One of England’s multitude of wicketkeepers needs to make a definitive case for the Test spot. As the current England wicketkeeper, Ambrose is well placed to do that and a hundred like this won’t exactly harm his chances.

But what strikes us is that while they all know that batting is half their job, all of them seem content to bat a fair way down the order. Ambrose bats at six, so does Matt Prior, so does Geraint Jones, so does Chris Read, so does Steven Davies, so does Phil Mustard in first-class cricket, while James Foster bats at seven.

A couple of years back, Paul Collingwood was being dismissed as a bits and pieces cricketer. He saw that he wasn’t going to prove anyone wrong batting in the middle order and asked if he could move up to three. Everyone thought he was mental, but he hit six hundreds that season, which proved he was adept against a newish ball, but also that he was a gosh-darned determined little blighter.

Jon Batty usually opens the batting for Surrey. Good for him. He’s made two huge errors during his career, however. Earlier in his career, he made the mistake of becoming Surrey’s wicketkeeper straight after Alec Stewart. More recently he’s made the mistake of being 34.

Tags: England, Tim Ambrose, county cricket by King Cricket
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Jonathan Agnew wrote today: “Tim Ambrose might be one of the shortest men currently playing Test cricket, but this man can bat.”

We’d go further than that. We’d say, ‘Tim Ambrose might have attended Merewether Selective High, but he managed to hit two sixes’.

We like a good non-sequitur.

Before this Test series, we had a concern. Matt Prior had been dropped and yet another wicketkeeper had been handed the gloves. We’d been thinking that England wicketkeepers’ lifespans largely depend on who they play against.

Chris Read and Geraint Jones were both brought back and then dropped again during one Ashes series. Matt Prior had a comfortable introduction against the West Indies, but then got progressively worse against India and then Sri Lanka. Whoever the next wicketkeeper was would surely make the position his own given two consecutive series against New Zealand. But would this give a false impression of his worth?

Now we’re thinking: who cares? At least he’s scoring some runs, unlike the six men above him in the batting order. And he’s been catching the ball.

New Zealand v England, second Test at Wellington - day one
England 291-5 (Tim Ambrose 97 not out)

Tags: England, New Zealand, Tim Ambrose by King Cricket
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