2 minute read

England always say they want competition for places, but whenever they actually have it, everyone gets all impatient and demands that they hurry up and make the change right now. Somerset’s James Rew will wind up in England’s Test team eventually. Is there any harm in waiting for the right circumstances to unfold? We know it’s kind of gone out of fashion a bit lately, but you all remember waiting for things, right? 

The situation is this: It is increasingly obvious that James Rew is too good for county cricket, but he generally bats at number four or lower and those England places are all very filled right now. 

You’ve no doubt heard of Joe Root; and Ben Stokes is the captain; while Jamie Smith is the one person who’s scored more runs than Rew so far this season. Harry Brook lost some of his shine over the winter, but England don’t generally drop batters who average 55 in Test cricket. 

Those places are filled.

Jiggly guff

If you’ve already concluded Rew needs to be in the side and you’re hiking your way towards that destination, the awkward facts above propel you towards the timeless fallback of ‘jiggling things about a bit’.

England are going to drop a batter (Zak Crawley) and here is a batter they want to pick. This shouldn’t be a difficult equation.

But actually it is, because if you think about it for two seconds, you realise that one way or another, someone would have to take a Dan Lawrence style hit to accommodate him. 

Jacob Bethell has hit 100 per cent of his first-class hundreds batting at three for England. He had not previously been a number three, but they’ve decided he’s malleable enough to become one. You could argue that it wouldn’t be that big a difference to instead mould him into an opener, but why should he recommence the moulding process to accommodate someone else who isn’t a number three either? 

Jamie Smith could move up the order because he’s been batting at three for Surrey, but Smith doesn’t have to keep wicket for Surrey and also he was specifically picked for his ability to ramp things up when batting with the tail. 

Finally, Rew could open, but this is an unappealing option given he’s never done it before.

Clamour!

The BBC has said England have a “dilemma” here. But this isn’t a dilemma, is it? If a small Edison cap lightbulb blows and you have a bayonet bulb in the drawer, that’s not a dilemma. That’s having a spare of a different thing.

And it’s worth stating that having a spare is actually useful, because sooner or later every lightbulb blows. When the next bayonet pops, England will be delighted to have an immaculate, unsullied replacement ready to go, rather than something mangled and possibly broken because they previously tried to mash it into the wrong fitting like an impatient moron.

Conclusion

Nothing is spoiling here. James Rew is only getting better and England’s middle-order incumbents should also be driven forwards by his breath on their necks.

It’s always good to have something in the freezer.