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Thursday 10 January 2008

Cold Snap

Frost has returned to Edgbaston.

Sorry, forgive the puntastic opening to this article, the actual news is that former Warwickshire wicket keeper, Tony Frost has been tempted out of retirement. It appears Giles was keen to bring in some experienced cover, with Tim Ambrose appearing to be on the verge of getting his chance in the England set-up.

That would leave the only other wicketkeeper in the squad as 19yo academy player, Richard Johnson. Who was granted a full contract at the end of last season. Rather than hunt around for a backup, Giles has raided the ground staff and persuaded Frost to reverse his retirement.

It could be a sensible decision, but only if Ambrose does not become first choice for England. Frost spent last season playing in the Warwickshire league and I believe he will be able to provide cover for the odd game. However he is 32 and has not played any first class cricket since 2006, he also retired in the first place partly due to injuries. I would not be comfortable in him playing virtually every one day and first class match in the event Ambrose becomes first choise for England.

The forthcoming England tour of New Zealand will have a say in Warwickshire's season, as we will have a much better idea following that of Ambrose's immediate future in the England set-up. It is likely that the squad for the return fixtures against New Zealand in England will be announced following the first couple of Championship and Friend's Provident Trophy games. It is likely that any Warwickshire players featuring for England in both Tests and One-Dayers would only then be avaliable for the Twenty20 at the begining of July and for a brief period in the middle of August.

If; and with the selection policy on wicketkeepers, it is a big if, England pick Ambrose for the summer it will almost certainly mean first team cricket for Richard Johnson at some point next season.

Lastly in the course of researching this article (believe it or not I do spend a few minutes checking my facts!) I found that Cricinfo have got ageing former Surrey seamer Richard Johnson (age 33) in the Warwickshire squad, rather than young academy wicket keeper Richard Johnson (age 19).
Posted by Simon at 16:21
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm not convinced that the tour of New Zealand will provide very firm answers to who will be chosen to keep wicket for England next summer. Under Moores, the parameters for success for a keeper seem pretty opaque. Whether Ambrose or Mustard is picked as the keeper, it seems unlikely that, just on the basis of that tour, they will make a more conclusive case - either for or against their continued selection - than Prior has so-far done.

So it is currently pare-1-from-2 as far as the England keeper goes. By next summer, Prior and others will be in contention and I suspect Ambrose/Mustard's deeds in NZ will have provided some answers, but also left plenty of things still unanswered. So it'll be pare-1-from-3/4/5+.

So there's very little to tell whether Ambrose will be available, unless he is a huge success in NZ.

If Ambrose is on England duty next summer then I would like to Johnson blooded, with Frost there as the back-up (playing say 1 game in 5) that I'm sure Giles intends. Wasn't the reluctance to blood younger players a major criticism of last season's management?

11 January 2008 at 15:32

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