England's scrambled selection strategy undermines undoubted class within

NICK HOWSON: Cricket selection panels are horribly archaic. They do often work. But when there are failures, the system must surely be reviewed

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Pass the Buck was a rather dreadful game show of the late 90s. Contestants would take it in turns to list off items from a chosen category. Answer correctly and the game would move on to the next player. An incorrect answer or the failure to reply in three seconds would see you eliminated. The game would end when only one player remained.

Nowadays, the game is exclusively reserved for university pre-drinking (so I understand). But look a little deeper, and there are shades of the England and Wales Cricket Board about the way the spotlight continually shifts until someone gets it wrong. Just without Fred Dinenage or Eamonn Holmes lurking with a horrible tie.

The burden of the selection of central contracts, overseas tours, World Cups, specialist training camps, and starting XIs always seem like the proverbial hot potato. There is a willingness to pass it on before being burned by the responsibility.

In normal circumstances ahead of a home international summer, the ECB's raft of scouts provide feedback regarding the form of players across the country. National selector Ed Smith, with the help of James Taylor and coach Chris Silverwood, would then put together a squad based on those recommendations and their own feelings - naturally with England's recent fortunes ringing in their ears.

After that group assembles, selection for the Test is then dictated by the head coach and the captain, which this week will again be Joe Root. Three stages later we finally have an XI. It's that bread recipe that you start before realising the fermentation process takes 48 hours and two spells in the oven.

"Can you recall an England top four without at least one established great?"

It is a multi-dimensional process that lacks accountability and is hugely over-complicated. 'A camel is a horse designed by a committee' comes to mind. The selection of the England cricket team is the ultimate over-thought vanity project in British sport.

Just for a minute imagine Sir Alf Ramsey or Sir Clive Woodward answering to a commission. These two legendary World Cup-winning coaches selected on instinct, talent, and temperament. Not recommendations, scout reports, or while situated around solid oak tables. Indeed, Ramsey reformed the selection process of the England football team during his tenure.

Misbah-ul-Haq's appointment as chief selector and coach of Pakistan was met with widespread condemnation last September. But at least there is no confusion over whose team it is. The buck stops with him. We'll wait and see if other major cricket boards follow suit.

The summer of 2020 has presented a fresh set of challenges. Separate training bubbles and the need to play as much broadcastable cricket as possible leading to an intense schedule has changed the landscape. And for that, the selectors deserve a degree of slack. While some players will have been unaffected by the limitations, think Rory Burns and Eoin Morgan, others will become elusive answers on Pointless and Sporcle. I'll leave you to decide who they might be.

^{Ed Smith, James Taylor, Joe Root and Chris Silverwood all have a hand in selection}

Yet, there are still areas of legitimate concern. A feeling that England, despite the raft of commissions required to pick a cricket team, are selecting based on random and increasingly irrelevant rationale. And that criticism even takes into account the obvious constraints.

Joe Denly splits opinion. One of the nice guys of English cricket. A hard worker. Down to earth. You'd bring him home to meet your parents. He'd smile when your mum makes that corn beef hash, again.

Speaking earlier this week, Silverwood supported this sentiment. "We're all desperate to see Joe do really well," he said. "You can see that he is trying hard and training well and he's a great bloke, hence why we want to see him do well. He's probably feeling the pressure a little bit."

The other side of the coin is Denly is a top-order batsman whose age is higher than his Test average. For all the willingness to do well, the desire to see England's batting line-up flourish with the Kent man at the epicenter, there is a crucial missing ingredient. Substance.

And yet Silverwood appears to be caught up in the sentimentality of it all. This is not your village 3rd XI, which can indulge and reward a plucky grafter, at least I don't think it is.

^{Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Clive Woodward selected based on instinct}

There are similar levels of indulgence surrounding Jos Buttler. Smith's No.1 buzzword since being enlisted as national selector is "talent" and it was the major justification for the Lancashire keepers' return to the fold in 2018.

As is well documented, his staggering white-ball form has not accompanied him into the Test arena. Since his red-ball return two years ago he averages less than Denly, from nine more Tests (29.21 compared to 29.53). It is worth noting that his glovework has been near-faultless - though not spectacular - until he dropped Jermaine Blackwood during the West Indies chase at The Ageas Bowl.

Buttler is cuddled in this team, albeit in a different way to Denly. But the damage is the same. There is an argument that dropping him from the team means he won't play international cricket at all this summer given he is not part of the white-ball group. Moving him from one group to another is not ideal - though Saqib Mahmood will.

You could insert the caveat that the COVID-19 pandemic has starved England of alternative options, that we're lucky to be playing any cricket at all and without any first-class cricket to gauge a player's form everyone starts on a (relatively) level playing field. This summer is a free pass.

But that is an exaggeration. Among the Test reserves are James Bracey, Ben Foakes and Dan Lawrence. Zak Crawley had enough credit in the bank, too. And while getting Test cricket on in the current climate is a remarkable feat from the ECB and West Indies Cricket, let's not allow the summer to pass while we get all misty-eyed. It's time to do battle again.

^{Joe Denly and Jos Buttler are in the firing line}

And then there is Stuart Broad. Included in the 13 but not the matchday XI in Southampton. Statistically the second-best England Test bowler of all time. Come the eve of the match, he is omitted due to the longing for pace. As Nasser Hussain stated, had this been the start of an Ashes series, would the Nottinghamshire seamer still have had a watching brief? This was a case of looking at the bigger picture, with tactical explanations feeling like an excuse.

Fortunately for England, the 34-year-old has been fired up by the omission. The Windies top order now likely have to face a fully-charged Broad at Old Trafford.

Other players, confused by the structure of the selection process, disillusioned by decisions and angered by sentimentality might not take it in quite the same way.

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