Why England should not select Simon Kerrigan

Even as a lifeless Trent Bridge pitch was being put out of it’s misery by a Dhoni declaration, England were already looking towards their next fixture.

It’s the nature of the beast when you’re compressing five gruelling Test matches into a mere 41 days.

Simon Kerrigan was flagged as an inclusion before the Test had even finished, with the announcement of his left-arm spin being an addition to the squad no doubt evoking different reactions from different corners of the cricketing world.

Australians would have no doubt been perplexed about his selection. Most likely, the majority of us will only remember Kerrigan’s eight doomed overs at The Oval last year, in which a rampaging Shane Watson smacked him severely around the park. This led Cook to largely ignore him with the ball for the remainder of the Test.

The Indians would probably have been licking their lips at the prospect. Given the adeptness of which their batsmen play spin, especially at home in more trying conditions, a seemingly non-threatening spin addition would be a boon more than a worry. His county stats, even at a glance, don’t point to any particular readiness for Test cricket.

The English for the most part would have shared the concern that I did. Not for Kerrigan’s possible performance, but for the possible damage to his psyche and position in the national setup if another disaster were to occur.

Kerrigan is the most likely candidate to take Graeme Swann’s spin mantle currently playing in the first-class county system. He’s a bright medium-term prospect at 25 years of age and can bowl with surprising aggression and guile when his tail is up.

If you’re an avid (or even not so avid) county watcher then no doubt your mind will turn to Kerrigan’s performance for Lancashire against Hampshire nearly three years ago.

In the second Hampshire innings of that match, Kerrigan ran absolutely rampant. With Hampshire chasing 360 he stopped them dead, taking 9/51 off 37 overs and change and leading Lancashire to a 222 run victory.

Lancashire went on to win the County Championship that season.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but Kerrigan has 10 other five or more wicket hauls to go with that performance in his 66 first-class games to date.

Apart from the mental reasons and long-term picture, it’s plain to see that Lord’s has been far from a haven for the tweakers in recent memory. While Swann had success, Monty Panesar and Ashley Giles averaged near enough to 40 with the ball when playing Tests at Lord’s.

There will no doubt be a rebound from the groundsmen to produce a pitch with a pinch more zest than the Trent Bridge outing, but it’s likely to provide pace and bounce for the seamers more than assistance for the spinners.

The argument that ties it all together is the county performances. There were signs that the pressure had already started to nibble away at Kerrigan in his first bowling innings after being added to the squad; he bowled ten overs for the innings, conceded 37 runs and went wicketless as his side’s other bowlers dismissed Nottinghamshire for 261.

His 28 wickets @ 35.57 for the season to date are solid but hardly banging the door down (even if you take into account he’s playing division one).

The cupboard is hardly full, but neither is it bare.

Michael Vaughan has been championing the cause of Gareth Batty, a 36 year old off-spinner who has taken 28 wickets @ 21.75 to date this season. The records of a fellow 36 year old, Dean Cosker (32 wickets @ 24.93) and the much younger Adam Riley (32 wickets @ 28.37) are even more impressive.

It appears simple enough. The only other English spinners well known around the world would be Monty Panesar and James Tredwell.

Panesar’s indiscretions and middling form indicate that he is currently not up to Test cricket. James Tredwell toils away with a healthy economy rate in the shorter formats, but hasn’t given a yelp in the longer game.

Kerrigan, however, shouldn’t be thrown to the wolves. Although it’s frowned upon to use another player as a human shield of sorts to protect a younger player (see the Australian selectors using Rob Quiney to protect Phil Hughes from the Proteas pacemen as a fine example), for the sake of England’s spin future it makes perfect sense.

Batty and Cosker (a left-armer himself) are extremely seasoned campaigners with nearly 500 first-class games between them. Batty tasted Test cricket for seven matches between 2003-2005 and didn’t perform particularly well, but a lot of water has gone under that bridge given the time elapsed. He’s also handy with the blade.

Cosker is in excellent form and a situation like this would surely be close to his last chance for having a crack at the highest level after bowling 43,699 balls in first-class cricket. A journeyman given a big spark can be a dangerous weapon.

Moeen Ali, realistically a part-timer, has battled dutifully and has taken a couple of important wickets at Trent Bridge. But he needs to be comfortable with being an option, and not the go to man. Stuart Broad and James Anderson will be lucky not to cark it with the schedule as packed as it is – if they’re forced to go on without a proper spin option, that is.

Sam Robson and Gary Ballance have come out in support of Kerrigan’s inclusion – but they’re not who matters. Alistair Cook is very touchy with spinners who aren’t named Graeme Swann (see Panesar’s one over spells in the Australian Ashes) and it seems clear that not enough time has elapsed for Cook to throw the ball to him as a man he can trust – especially given his conservative nature.

Cook’s comments seemed to echo this – the best thing he had to say about Kerrigan was that “he’d been great in the nets”.

As much fun as the last Summer was and as delicious as the English press have been, a strong England realistically is good for cricket. The spin puzzle is an important part of that.

Kerrigan is 25. He has plenty of time to get it together. When you factor in his past and then see he’s not even the best option currently, it’s simple enough what you need to ask.

What’s the point?