New Delhi, August 23: Former England cricketer Mark Butcher has cautioned against disrupting the strong pace quartet to accommodate all-rounder Sam Curran in the team.
Following the retirement of Test captain and legendary all-rounder Ben Stokes, England faces a significant challenge in filling his all-round role.
Recently, Curran was ruled out of the remaining matches of England’s summer season, and he was considered an ideal candidate to replace Stokes. However, Butcher stressed that this should not come at the expense of the pace attack comprising Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, and Gus Atkinson.
According to ‘Wisden’, Butcher stated, “In terms of the quartet, they possess all the necessary skills for different types of pitches. Therefore, you wouldn’t want to bring in a player like Sam Curran and disrupt that quartet to strengthen the batting, as this would weaken your bowling and bring in a spinner who is less likely to take eight wickets or dismiss lower-order batsmen quickly.”
In the first match of the three-Test series against Pakistan in Leeds, these pace bowlers delivered an outstanding performance, leading the team to victory by an innings and 103 runs. The former Test cricketer suggested introducing a spinner who could bat at number seven, ensuring no changes to the pace attack.
Butcher further elaborated, “I believe that having four seamers should always be ‘Plan A’. This is how we perform at our best. They should look for someone like Shoaib Bashir. We have previously discussed a spin-bowling all-rounder, someone who can bat at the seventh or eighth position and also bowl spin. The only way to include a specialist spinner in the lineup is if they can bat and not play at number eleven.”
This approach would provide England with several options. Their number one Test spinner, Shoaib Bashir, is not a number seven batsman and typically plays when a spinner is included in the team. England is also eyeing Dan Lawrence, who bats in the middle order and occasionally bowls off-spin.
Will Jacks is another option, but he was unable to secure a place in the team for the first two Tests against Pakistan due to Lawrence’s presence. The likelihood of Jacks being fit for the third Test is low, as a statement from the ECB indicated that England would monitor his recovery process and assess his availability ahead of the (white-ball) series scheduled for September.