England's Ashes squad is very risky

England have taken a big risk by punting on unproven, unreliable or out of form quicks while also overlooking a solid back up opener for their Ashes squad.

The English selectors inexplicably snubbed Graham Onions, who has taken 143 first-class wickets at an average of 19 the past two seasons, in favour of a trio of towering paceman.

Steven Finn has a woeful record against Australia, Boyd Rankin was selected largely on the back of recent ODI efforts and Chris Tremlett has endured an ordinary county season.

Together with Stuart Broad they give England four quicks who are close to or in excess of 2m tall.

The Poms are manifestly banking on the ability of these beanpoles to unsettle the Aussie batsman with the extravagant bounce they are likely to extract from the hard decks down under.

But should James Anderson get injured, England will be left with an attack lacking variety and consistency.

Finn has conceded an extraordinary 4.4 runs per over in his four Ashes Tests, while Rankin’s career economy rate in first-class matches is very poor at 3.7rpo.

Tremlett, meanwhile, will not have played a Test in almost two years by the time the series starts and has averaged 33 at county level this season.

The spectre of his efforts in the 2010-11 Ashes appears to have convinced the English selectors to pick him ahead of a dependable operator like Onions.

But the ageing seamer has lost a yard of pace since that series while struggling with injury. He is not the bowler he was.

Finn has shown little to no improvement since the last Australian tour and the men in the baggy green caps will be delighted he has been selected once more.

In four Ashes Tests he has averaged 36 with the ball and has badly let down his fellow bowlers by being unable to maintain a consistent line and length.

He was dropped after the third Test of the 2010-11 Ashes because of the way in which he continually relieved the pressure built up by the other bowlers.

In the meantime he has not augmented his economy and was in fact even more expensive in the recent Ashes, conceding 4.7rpo in the first Test before being dumped again.

Former Ireland quick Rankin has won his spot seemingly as a result of his impressive displays in the recent ODIs against Australia more so than on county form.

The 29-year-old operated with venom in the ODIs, regularly hitting speeds above 140kmh and getting sharp lift.

But, like Finn, Rankin has a habit of being wayward at first-class level and could be a liability on the true Australia wickets.

The overwhelming success of the English quicks on their last Ashes tour down under was built on their ability to suffocate the impatient Aussie batsmen.

The likes of David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin love to impose themselves on the bowlers and score freely from the start of their innings.

They can be coerced into playing rash strokes by a string of tight overs.

For that reason it is surprising that England have put all their eggs in one basket by not including a backup quick who can bowl long, tight spells should Anderson get injured.

The puzzling makeup of their pace battery was not the only risky move by the Poms.

Nick Compton was overlooked for the less-credentialed, untried Michael Carberry as reserve opener.

This was a particularly crucial selection given the manner in which Joe Root was confounded by the Aussie quicks in England.

The 23-year-old scored 16 or less in seven of his ten innings for the series as Australia denied him anything short or wide.

The Aussie strategy was very similar to that which cowed his opening partner Alastair Cook who is also a back foot player who scores a high proportion of his runs square of the wicket.

It has been suggested by some that Root will enjoy the greater pace and bounce offered by the Aussie wickets.

But that will only be true if Australia falter in the execution of their effective strategy and begin to offer him balls to carve through point and gully.

In fact, if the Aussie quicks continue to bowl full on or just outside off stump, Root may find it even more challenging in Australian conditions.

Regardless of the fact he plays with soft hands, he will not have the luxury of edges falling short of the slips as regularly as they did on the low, slow English tracks.

Root’s batting was so painful late in the recent Ashes that he scored at the staggeringly slow strike rate of 31 over the final three Tests of the series.

Ironically, he won his spot at the top of the order because of concerns about the docile batting of Nick Compton.

Yet Compton, to that point, had formed a solid opening combination with Cook, whereas Root and his skipper had to wait until the fifth Test of the recent Ashes to finally register a 50-run stand.

Compton has been in solid touch in county cricket, averaging 47 this season, and played a couple of impressive innings against the touring Australians.

The obdurate right-hander made 79 and 81 against the Aussies in the space of a week.

Carberry has had a far less impressive county season averaging 40 in the weaker division two competition, where he is only the 33rd highest runscorer.

Australia will be more than happy that neither Compton nor Onions will make the tour.

England’s Ashes squad
Alastair Cook
Matt Prior
James Anderson
Jonny Bairstow
Gary Balance
Ian Bell
Stuart Broad
Michael Carberry
Steven Finn
Monty Panesar
Kevin Pietersen
Boyd Rankin
Joe Root
Ben Stokes
Graeme Swann
Chris Tremlett
Jonathan Trott