5 things which happened to England cricket since Gareth Batty last played a match

Gareth Batty is making a comeback after 11 years

As England get ready to take on Bangladesh in the first Test of the 2 Test series, they will look to emulate their success of the ODI series where they beat the sub-continent side 2-1. England have recalled the services of 38-year-old Gareth Batty who will be making a return to international cricket after 11 years.

Interestingly, Batty played his last match against Bangladesh itself way back in 2005 where he took 1 wicket in the 2^nd innings after not bowling in the first. He has not enjoyed any success with the national side having taken just 11 wickets in 7 Tests at a low average of 66.

He was selected due to his good performance in the previous domestic season where he picked up 41 wickets.Considering the nature of the sub-continent pitches, England have given a lot of importance to their spin-bowling arsenal, that already has the likes of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.

The first Test begins tomorrow at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Bangladesh.

#5 England have had 4 Test captains

Pieterson has been involved in a lot of controversies with the ECB

Since Batty’s last Test way back in 2005, the England cricket team have had 4 captains over 11 years namely Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pieterson, Andrew Strauss and the current captain Alastair Cook.

Strauss enjoyed reasonable success captaining the English side to 26 wins in 51 matches in charge. Flintoff had a short, unforgettable stint as captain where England managed to win only 2 out of the 11 Tests he was in charge.

Kevin Pieterson had an even shorter stint as he captained the side only for 3 Tests and 9 ODIs. He retired from the game in 2012 following a dispute with the coach and the England Cricket Board. Although he retracted his retirement soon after, his relationship with the ECB and teammates took a turn for the worse, and he has not featured for England since then.

Alastair Cook who is the captain of the current Test side has been in charge for 52 test matches. He also is the highest ever run getter for the England side having amassed 10000 plus runs.