the times | Tuesday May 17 2022 57
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would step down from that post if
appointed by England. He was previ-
ously the head coach of New South
Wales and worked as a consultant with
Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian
Premier League, after which he had a
stint in county cricket as head coach of
Glamorgan, leading them to the one-
day cup final in 2013. He then had a
short contract with Ireland in 2015
before taking his present job.
The ECB had identified the relation-
ship between the Test and white-ball
head coaches as being of paramount
importance given that they will work
closely together in selecting squads and
managing the workloads of the
multiformat players such as Ben Stokes
and Jonny Bairstow. Previously when
Whatever the reasons, batsmen have
had the whip hand so far.
All credit, then, to Potts, whose
performances have stood out. The
two old stagers, Broad, 35, and
Anderson, 39, have been canny
enough to keep plenty in reserve,
having played only five matches
between them. In the second innings
of the Roses match Anderson
accounted for Joe Root (who made
a sublime hundred in the first
innings). With Root’s stumps splayed
everywhere, one suspects it was a
wicket that gave Anderson more
pleasure than usual.
As for Mahmood, a summer of
frustration awaits. The road to full
fitness after a spinal stress fracture is
a long and lonely one, and the only
consolation is that there have been
many fine bowlers forced down that
unfortunate path before him, and
many who have emerged stronger
and better than before.
Durham’s 23-year-old seamer,
Matthew Potts. It is never a
hindrance to perform in front of the
England captain, and since Stokes’s
return to the Durham side, against
Worcestershire, Potts’s form has
been as impressive as it was before.
He is the season’s leading bowler,
with 35 wickets and four five-wicket
hauls, including his most recent
return of seven for 40 in Durham’s
win over Glamorgan. He looks strong
and slippery, and, having been on
standby for the Caribbean tour, was
already in the selectors’ thoughts.
So far it is a summer that has
brought unusual toil for seamers after
some bountiful seasons in the recent
past. It has been a dry spring; word
has gone out from the authorities that
flatter pitches are to be produced and
rumours abound among the bowling
fraternity that this year’s batch of
Dukes balls are going softer and more
quickly out of shape than before.
been diagnosed with a stress fracture.
Chris Woakes has shoulder and knee
injuries after a heavy winter and is an
unlikely starter. Sam Curran is
coming back from a stress fracture
and Craig Overton has been troubled
by a knee injury, although he has
returned to action for Somerset.
The name that will take up some
discussion is Ollie Robinson, whose
appearances for Sussex have been
scarce this summer, but who has no
injury as such. Robinson made his
seasonal bow against Middlesex and
bowled well, but then suffered from
food poisoning in his next match and
ended up bowling off spin for a time.
Having been criticised publicly for his
lack of fitness by England’s coaches
during the Ashes, he has bowled only
59 overs this summer. Sussex play
New Zealand at Hove on Friday, two
days after the squad is announced.
One bowler sure to be in
contention, hitherto uncapped, is
Running out of options
Of the 13 seamers England have
used in Tests since the start of 2018
only three are fit — and that includes
all-rounder and captain Ben Stokes
Latest
Test
Test
wickets
Stuart Broad 2022 537
Status: Fit to play
James Anderson 2022 640
Fit to play
Ben Stokes 2022 174
Fit to play
Chris Woakes 2022 130
Shoulder and knee injuries
Mark Wood 2022 82
Recovering from elbow surgery
Sam Curran 2021 47
Only available for limited bowling after
back stress fracture
Jofra Archer 2021 42
Slowly returning after elbow surgery
Ollie Robinson 2022 39
Lacking match fitness after tooth
abscess and food poisoning
Craig Overton 2022 21
Injury scare in last match
Olly Stone 2021 10
Recovering from back stress fracture
Saqib Mahmood 2022 6
Just suffered back stress fracture
Tom Curran 2018 2
Recovering from back stress fracture
Matt Fisher 2022 1
Stress fracture in his back
Injuries pile up
but old guard
are raring to go
I
f ever there were any doubt that
James Anderson and Stuart
Broad would feature early this
summer, it evaporated yesterday
with the news that Saqib
Mahmood, the promising 25-year-old
Lancashire seamer, who made his
Test debut in the Caribbean on
England’s most recent tour, will
miss the remainder of the season
with a stress fracture of the spine,
lengthening England’s already
sizeable injury list.
It is desperate news for Mahmood,
whose talent has been coming to the
boil in limited-overs and first-class
cricket, and for Lancashire and
England, who will be without his
services all summer. Having played in
only one of the county’s early-season
fixtures, Mahmood missed the recent
Roses match with back stiffness.
Scans revealed a stress fracture, an
injury that young fast bowlers
permanently live in fear of, and no
time frame has been put on his return.
The opening Test of the summer is
a little more than a fortnight away,
and with New Zealand’s non-Indian
Premier League players having arrived
in the country, and England’s selectors
set to name a squad tomorrow, it is
looming into view with nothing less
than an injury crisis on the bowling
front. At least in Broad and Anderson
there are two experienced performers
fit and bursting to return, and with
a point to prove, having
been omitted in the Caribbean.
After Rob Key, the managing
director of England men’s cricket,
Ben Stokes, the new Test captain,
Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance
director, and James Taylor, the ECB’s
chief scout, have said their hellos to
the new Test coach, Brendon
McCullum, the main point of
discussion in their first selection
meeting will be the make-up of
the bowling attack and who will
accompany the old-timers. Mahmood
is only one of a number of would-be
candidates who will be unavailable.
Long-term injuries include Jofra
Archer (elbow) and Olly Stone (back).
Mark Wood’s tour to the Caribbean
was cut short with an elbow injury,
which will preclude his involvement
in the New Zealand series. Matt
Fisher, the Yorkshire seamer, who
accompanied Mahmood in the
Caribbean, has been absent from his
county’s recent games and has now
Mike Ather ton
Chief Cricket
Correspondent
CHRIS WOAKES
INJURED
England v
New Zealand
First Test
June 2-6, Lord’s
TV: Sky Sports
Cricket
SAQIB MAHMOOD
OUT FOR SEASON
OLLIE ROBINSON
LACKS FITNESS
continued from back
into high-calibre international coach-
es. The ECB has advertised a number of
short-term specialist coaching roles
with the England Test and white-ball
teams and is encouraging applications
from county coaches. Marcus
Trescothick, James Foster and Richard
Dawson are already employed by the
ECB as specialist coaches and are likely
to remain with England in the summer.
Meanwhile, the selection panel of
Key, McCullum and Stokes, the Test
captain, will meet today — with
McCullum joining over videolink — to
pick the squad for the first Test of the
summer, against New Zealand, which
begins on June 2 at Lord’s. The panel
will be advised by Mo Bobat, the ECB
elite performance director, James Tay-
lor, the ECB’s chief scout and David
Court, the head of player identification.
England turn to Australia women’s coach
the coaching job was split between
Andy Flower and Ashley Giles there
was some tension between the two over
selection matters.
Mott and Brendon
McCullum, the new Test
head coach, have a good
relationship and have
similar ideas about per-
sonal responsibility and
style of play. The
views of McCullum
and Eoin Morgan,
England’s white-
ball captain, were
influential in the
decision to ap-
point Mott.
Collingwood,
who stood in as
England’s head
coach for their
T20 and Test tours
to the West Indies this
year, now looks to have
missed out on the top
job, but the former all-
rounder, 45, is likely to
stay within the England
coaching set-up.
There had been some
concerns within the ECB
about appointing two over-
seas head coaches — McCullum
is from New Zealand — but, as The
Times revealed yesterday, Key, the
ECB’s new director of men’s cricket,
is keen to also identify homegrown
candidates that can be developed
Mott has a good relationshp with
new Test head coach McCullum
b was split between
nd Ashley Giles there
n between the two over
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Brendon
ew Test
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to the
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rounde
stay wi
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There
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about appo
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Times revealed y
ECB’s new directo
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Mott has a good
new Test head c
Opener Crawley ‘not out
of form, just out of runs’
Zak Crawley’s county coach has
insisted that the England batsman is
not out of form but “just out of runs”
going in to the Test summer and has
backed him to come good (Geoffrey
Dean writes).
The opener’s tally for the season
stands at 156 from eight innings and
this week’s round of County
Championship matches will be his
last before the first Test against New
Zealand at Lord’s, starting on June 2.
“It’s easy to confuse out of form and
out of runs,” Matt Walker, the Kent
head coach, said. “He’s working
harder than anyone to get it right —
he just needs to get in and take the
opportunity.
“He’s training well, he’s hitting the
ball beautifully in practice, he looks
balanced. I think now he’s just staying
patient, staying calm, and the runs
will definitely come.”