Niall O’Brien and Adam Collins discuss pairing James Anderson and Stuart Broad, New England kids Ollie Robinson and James Bracey, and whether the host’s IPL contingent should play as they preview Trials against New Zealand on the Podcast of Sky Sports Cricket
Adam Collins expects James Anderson and Stuart Broad to play together in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s starting Wednesday
Will James Anderson and Stuart Broad play in England’s first test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s?
The closers rotated through much of the winter, only playing in tandem in one of England’s six events on the subcontinent: the pink ball day and night event against India in Ahmedabad.
However, journalist Adam Collins, speaking in a Sky Sports Cricket Podcast For a preview of the two-round series against the Black Caps, which begins Wednesday, he said he expects Broad and Anderson to achieve England’s XI at the Home of Cricket this week.
Broad was skipped from the first Test against the West Indies last July, but then bagged 29 wickets in five games averaging 13.41 en route to being named Test Player of the Summer, and feels that he and Anderson are still in the best. England attack at home.
“Anderson has stated that he wants to play all seven tests this summer and he can be quite persuasive when it comes to the selection,” Collins said, in a podcast that you can listen to in the player above.
“Broad started when he didn’t play the first tryout last summer and fair enough, too, based on the way he played the rest of the summer.
“I think they will both play. I would be very surprised if they didn’t have the opportunity to start the summer together.
“There is a decent argument that England could play two separate attacks in this series given that they are consecutive Tests and it is a long summer.
“Not just to manage [bowlers] but also to give everyone a try under their belt, but I don’t think England is approaching this in that way.
“Maybe with the third closer, but it seems pretty clear to me that Anderson and Broad want to start the summer by playing both games against New Zealand and, as senior professionals, I think their opinion will carry a lot of weight.”
Ben Foakes’ bizarre injury – the Surrey goalkeeper slipped in the locker room and tore his left hamstring – means that spotted James Bracey looks set to take the gloves against New Zealand, although Sam Billings is an option for England. who has been recruited into the team.
Bracey mixes keeping the wicket with batting at No. 3 for Gloucestershire in the County Championship, but former Ireland goalkeeper Niall O’Brien, who joined Collins on the Sky Cricket Podcast, says he hopes the 24-year-old bats will They beat lower in the order if you take the gloves.
“I know the character of the guy. He’s a pretty down-to-earth character and I think he’ll be fine,” said O’Brien, who played one test, 103 one-day internationals and 30 T20 internationals for Ireland.
“I just hope that if you’re going to keep that order, hit below the order as if asked to maintain it and hit at the top of the order, it will be a difficult task.
“I have watched him since he was at Loughborough University, so it goes back a good four or five years. He has worked a lot in the last 12 to 18 months since he was in and around England and I have noticed a great deal of difference in maintenance I still think there is a lot of work to be done.
“Staying in first-class cricket will be a totally different test than staying in a Test at Lord’s with the ball wobbling. Lord’s is probably one of the most difficult places to maintain.
“We’ve seen very accomplished goalkeepers come from overseas and really struggle with the wobbling ball and Anderson, Broad and Ollie Robinson wobble it. If Bracey keeps the wicket, it will be a tough test.
“He’s going to be under pressure like if you dropped someone like Kane Williamson early, it could be a huge moment. If he does that before his first test innings and incorporates it into his hitting, it could be very difficult.”
Bracey is in line to keep the wicket with Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow among England’s IPL contingent that is resting for the New Zealand series, a decision O’Brien disagrees with.
He said: “I’m not too happy about it. I think they should be playing in this test match. We all need free time in a busy summer, but I think the first test of the summer, a key match against a brilliant New Zealand on the side of Lord’s, there’s no reason these guys can’t be playing games.
“I think the fans deserve it and I would be interested to know what the players think. Is it a conversation between them and the ECB? Was it a joint decision or did they tell them they weren’t playing?”
Collins added: “Would the same time-out policy apply if it was a test match from India or Australia? Of course it wouldn’t have been.
“New Zealand has been ranked No1 in the world and is in the final of the World Trials Championship, but for some reason it is not believed to be in that upper group, at least on some subliminal level.
