It is the question underpinning every international squad: should selection be seen as an art, or a science? “You’re trying to balance the two out all the time,” Rob Key, England’s managing director, said after unveiling a 16-man Test squad to tour India in early 2024. “In this, it’s more of a feel.”
Instead, England have turned to the underlying numbers, looking at the attributes that have correlated with success in recent Test series in India rather than measuring players’ output by averages alone. “Test cricket out in India has been of a certain style of late,” Key said.
“The way Indian spinners bowl is different to your classical English spinner at times: a bit more side-on, get it up, use flight as much as anything. Someone like [Ravindra] Jadeja fires it into middle stump pretty quickly. It’s a different style of bowling to what we’re used to in England.”
Bashir and Hartley are both 6ft 4in and data from the iHawk cameras worn by umpires in domestic cricket confirmed that they use their height in their actions. “Without sounding like an analyst, he’s got one of the higher release points in the game,” Key said of Bashir.
“We have been trying to earmark the spinners we think will be most useful in India… you almost have to disregard what’s happened in county cricket, because it’s a very different style of bowling, and try to work out who will be the best players for what we will come up against.”
Bashir has emerged from left-field. He impressed Key and Brendon McCullum on an England Lions camp in the United Arab Emirates, taking six wickets in a tour match against Afghanistan A. “His ceiling is really high,” Key said. “He’s very raw, he’s going for experience as much as anything else, albeit we won’t be afraid to play him if required.”
Key’s comments hinted at another obvious similarity between Hartley and Bashir: they are 24 and 20 years old respectively, and are unlikely to have any qualms with starting the tour as back-up spinners. Neither do they have any commitments in franchise leagues which clash with the Test series.
If selection were based on county form alone, Dawson’s 49 wickets at 20 for Hampshire would have made him certain to tour. But he is eight inches shorter than Hartley, and bowls at a slightly slower pace: “I just feel like the style of bowling that Hartley has actually puts him ahead of him [Dawson], to be honest,” Key said.
Jacks, meanwhile, is in England’s plans heading into next year’s T20 World Cup, and is set to bat at No. 3 in Barbados on Tuesday night. “You’re making a decision… is it better for them to be going around carrying drinks throughout India, or can they go and play franchise cricket when we’ve got a World T20 coming up? That was the decision around Will Jacks,” Key said.
In March, Australia ran India as close as any team has in their own conditions in the last decade, with two inexperienced spinners – Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann – both impressing; England’s gamble is that their own rookies can do the same. “This is one of the toughest assignments you can have,” Key said, “and it’s also one of the opportunities to do something great.”
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
