As many matches in the Specsavers County Championship enter their fourth day tomorrow (Wednesday), we take a look at a few of the seam bowlers pushing for England Test inclusion this summer and how they have fared.
James Anderson – Lancashire have clearly benefitted from Anderson’s return to their ranks, as the ‘Burnley Express’ took 3/29 when the Red Rose beat Nottinghamshire last month. Anderson has been back in the wickets in Lancashire’s clash with Somerset this week as well. He took three wickets in an over as Somerset were dismissed for 313.
Stuart Broad – Broad has been largely out-bowled by his Notts teammates Jake Ball and Harry Gurney (see below) during their encounter with Yorkshire at Trent Bridge this week. Broad is a certainty to play in the Test series versus Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but his form may be a slight concern to the selectors.
Steven Finn – As part of a dangerous four-pronged Middlesex seam attack, Finn’s workload has been shared so far this season, bowling alongside Tim Murtagh, James Harris and Toby Roland-Jones. Finn took 2/79 as the wickets were shared around in Middlesex’s match with Hampshire. And Finn will most likely be required on Day Four, as Middlesex push for the win.
Jake Ball – An unlikely candidate for England inclusion at the start of the season, but Ball’s wicket-taking exploits for Notts will not have been ignored by the selectors. Ball finished with 4/57 – including the prize scalps of Gary Ballance and Joe Root – against Yorkshire, to press his case for a possible England call-up.
Jack Brooks – Another outside bet for an England Test place, as the former Northants quick continues to go from strength to strength in Division One. Brooks has taken 192 wickets at an average of 25 for Yorkshire. With the absence of Mark Wood due to injury, can the selectors afford to ignore Brooks for much longer?
Harry Gurney – England are keen to find a long-term left-arm option to bolster their seam attack. And with Surrey’s Mark Footitt facing a lengthy space on the sidelines and new Yorkshire man David Willey finding his feet in Division One, Gurney might be the answer. He got rid of Yorkshire’s Alex Lees and Jonny Bairstow this week with his skiddy left-armers.
Liam Plunkett – The third seamer’s spot (in Wood’s absence) might very well become a battle between Plunkett and Finn. While Plunkett has impressed for England in the shorter format recently, he has not been taking too many wickets in Championship cricket this season. Just one scalp in the first innings against Notts and one in the second (so far), reflects the fact that Plunkett is slightly out of form.