England's Test selections as confusing as their performances

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Keaton Jennings has come to a cropper against Philander

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England slumped to a shocking 340 run loss to South Africa at Trent Bridge in Joe Root's second Test as captain. The dynamic no.3 batsman has had a tough start to his captaincy career with his first few weeks producing mixed results. Perhaps Root's biggest agony would be the words of his hero and mentor, Michael Vaughan. 

"Maybe it's a lack of respect about what the game is", Vaughan had quipped in commentary after England's embarrassing loss at Trent Bridge. Root, whose father and Vaughan share a bond and are family friends, was understandably shocked by Vaughan's comments which he termed as "unfair".

But was it really unfair?

England have made a tactical switch in their limited-overs cricket since the 2015 World Cup and the results are for everyone to see. But has Test cricket taken a backseat in the meantime?

England have lost seven of their last ten Test matches, an appalling record for a team that used to take pride in the brand of Test cricket they played a few years earlier. But the void left by the stable Jonathan Trott and opener Andrew Strauss hasn't been filled yet. 

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Andrew Strauss's era has seen an increased concentration on limited-overs cricket

To put things into perspective, Alastair Cook has had 11 opening partners since Andrew Strauss retired and none of them has formed a potent opening stand with Cook. England's top-order has constantly struggled to put up a steady platform and the likes of Johnny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes are left to do the repair job.

In Trent Bridge, Ben Stokes went for a rash shot after he faced eleven dot balls, underlining Vaughan's statement regarding patience as a virtue in Test cricket. 

This brings us to another fundamental question. How good as England's selectors and selections been in Test cricket?

"They won (the first Test at Lord's because of Joe Root...the ones they've won before have been because of Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad in Johannesburg", Nasser Hussain was quoted as saying in Sport24. 

He sure has a point. A look at England's last few debutants in Test cricket reveals the debacle that Test cricket selections have been in the country.

Moving back in order the list reads, Liam Dawson, Keaton Jennings, Haseeb Hameed, Zafar Ansari, Ben Duckett, Jake Ball, James Vince, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Adam Lyth, Jos Buttler, Sam Robson, Chris Jordan, Moeen Ali.

The list looks quite familiar at first glance. There are quite a few talented players here and many of them are known for their exploits in limited-overs cricket.

Let us leave out Liam Dawson, Keaton Jennings, Mark Wood and Moeen Ali from this list since they are currently in the Test squad although the first three are yet to churn out consistent performances. 

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Many like Hameed have played less than 4 matches

Now, let us take a look at the same list with the number of Tests each has played. 

Haseeb Hameed - 3, Zafar Ansari - 3, Ben Duckett - 4, Jake Ball - 3, James Vince - 7, Alex Hales - 11, Adil Rashid - 10, Adam Lyth - 7, Jos Buttler - 18, Sam Robson - 7, Chris Jordan - 8.

The numbers are shocking. For a top tier Test team, none of their debutants since 2014 have played more than 18 Tests.

Even more shocking is the fact that Buttler, Hales and Rashid, who are the only three to play in more than 10 Tests have been given a longer rope only because they have quite a good reputation in other formats and not because their numbers were decent. They weren't by any stretch of the imagination. 

"The selectors are going to have to have a good long look at themselves because of their record in the last two years -- two years ago it was one-day cricket, now in Test match cricket -- their selections have been abysmal," Hussain had added as quoted in Sport24.

The other question asked is about Gary Ballance, who made a return to the Test squad for the third time. Root has openly admitted that his Yorkshire-mate, Ballance, was back in the scheme of things at his recommendation.

A fractured finger, however, would mean that Ballance will play no role in the third Test, although given his current form, he might not have made it to the squad in the first place. His selection has been another abysmal call from the selection panel. 

On the bowling front, South African batsmen seemed particularly pleased to face Mark Wood, meaning that England will most likely replace the quick bowler at The Oval. But who would replace him?

There is Toby Roland-Jones, who has twice been called up to the Test squad without being handed a debut and there is Jake Ball, another failed Test experiment. They could go the unconventional way and pick Tom Curran but the young tearaway could still be a season or two away from being ready for red ball cricket at the highest level.

Roland-Jones should ideally get to play with Woakes still nursing an injury but with this panel, anything could happen. 

"I definitely feel older -- it's been a tough week," Root had commented after the Test as revealed by NDTVSports.

Unless he takes a cue from his counterpart, Faf du Plessis, and turn things around quickly in the company of the "abysmal" selection panel, he could well be really old by the end of the series. 

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