England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 01 September 2008 / Leave a comment

England's summer started well and is finishing well with a young all-rounder cementing his place for future tests, says Frank Gregan.

In a summer of miserable weather, there have been some bright spots for English cricket. Winning the test series against New Zealand 2-0 and the hammering currently being dished out to South Africa in the one day series are the pick of the results but even more encouraging is how the new regime has hit the ground running.

Kevin Pietersen may not have been everyone's choice as skipper but the man with the Midas touch is enjoying a great honeymoon period. English supporters are almost frightened to heap praise on KP, fearful of the fall that invariably lies in wait for English sporting heroes who enjoy a rapid rise in popularity. Let's hope he manages to avoid the three P's. Pot, Pole dancers and Pedalos!

It's not only Pietersen who has a new found status within the England camp. Stuart Broad has made the switch from 'potential' to 'star quality.' The Notts bowler has had a tremendous summer not only with the ball but also with the bat and his five wicket haul against the South Africans on his home turf last week was no more than his endeavours have deserved.

Probably the most surprising decision of the summer was when Broad was dropped for the third test against the Proteas at Edgbaston having top scored with 67 during England's second innings in the second test. The explanation given for his exclusion was that his bowling was not up to standard as a result of him being fatigued.

Total drivel! The lad had come in at number nine during the second innings and performed better than any other player in the side, which alone should have been enough to keep him in the team. He did not have the greatest of matches with the ball conceding 114 runs in the first innings fpr only one wicket but with the exception of Monty every English bowler toiled during that match.

He was dropped because he is the youngster, the junior member of what is a very elite club and as such was unlikely to throw a paddy at the coaching staff. He had every right to do so, there were others who had not performed and should have been left out before him but as is sometimes the case in professional sport the soft option was taken. Broad averaged 54 with the bat in his three test matches against South Africa, an average bettered only by Pietersen and that statistic alone should guarantee his place in the test side when his bowling form takes a dip.

The South Africans would have been grateful for lousy English weather on Sunday in order to avoid a possible 5-0 hammering but not even a rain delay could save them. I commented at the end of the fourth test that they could well pay for their apathy after having secured the all important test series but their lack of application during the ODIs has been spectacular.

The carrot of attaining the number one spot in the world had they won the current one day series 4-1 should have been sufficient motivation for them but it appears that they are yearning to return home and the cricket has become a chore. There is a train of thought that mentally they are already on the plane home and have been since the test cricket ended but surely they have to give the English (and Welsh) paying public a glimpse of what they are capable of on Wednesday. They have been awful during this one day series and that is reflected in the odds of [2.56] that is available on them ending the tour with a win.