England Squad: A Full Run Down

September 2nd 2013 by Cricket Ireland | International

England come to town in less than a week and after a gruelling Ashes Test Series against Australia recently, the Poms are resting some of their bigger names. Usual captain Alistair Cook makes way for former Ireland player Eoin Morgan who will lead the side while Boyd Rankin, who just recently retired from playing international cricket for Ireland, looks set to to line up alongside him.

Ireland fans will know these two as well as they know any of the boys in green, and they’ll be familiar with the likes of all-rounder Ravi Bopara, Steven Finn, James Tredwell and Luke Wright who have all played regularly for England over the last number of years.

There are a number of new faces, however, and it’s worth taking a look at why they have been chosen to travel to the Emerald Isle. With an average age of 25 (24 if you take Michael Carberry out), this group of players can be seen as the guts of what the England selectors see their team looking like in the near future.

Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), who was born in Zimbabwe, has earned his spot after coming into an incredible vein of form with the bat recently. He has scored four centuries in seven innings in August so far - four innings for Yorkshire and three for the England Lions - while his other three scores were 45, 56 and 87. The boys in green will be looking to end that good form if he lines out in Malahide on Tuesday.

Danny Briggs (Hampshire) acquitted himself well in his only ODI for England so far - a match against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in 2012. He took the wickets of Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik, bowling his 10 overs for 39. He is the first person from the Isle of Wight and was the youngest Hampshire cricketer to play for England. A wily off-spinner, he is just 22-years-old and has already played five seasons of county cricket. He is an experienced youngster that the England selectors have been keeping a close eye on.

Jos Buttler (Somerset) is known to any cricket fan who follows County cricket in England and made his international debut in early 2011. He has not been in particularly good form recently but seems to be a player the England selectors like and, at just 22-years-old, they probably see him as a big player for the future. He made his England debut on the same day as Danny Briggs against Pakistan and has played a further 13 times in ODI cricket.

Twenty20 is the form of the game that sees Buttler at his most comfortable and he has played 23 times in the short game; now he will be trying to show that he can cut it at the ODI level against Ireland.

Michael Carberry (Hampshire) has been on the fringes of England cricket for a number of years now and has played a solitary test match for his country. He is yet to play an ODI or T20, though he has scored over 10,000 runs in first class cricket and is a useful bowler.

Carberry played for the England Lions in the recent series against Bangladesh A and scored 146 in one of the unofficial ODIs to help his team hammer the tourists. At 32-years-old, this could be his last chance to stake a claim for a spot in the full England team.

Jamie Overton (Somerset) is a young up-and-coming fast bowler. He and his twin brother played in the England U19 team at the 2012 U19 World Cup in Australia and broke into the Somerset first team at the beginning of the 2012 season. He has clearly been earmarked for a future with the England team and will be hoping to show what he can do against Ireland’s strong batting line-up.

Chris Jordan (Sussex) was born in Barbados and is eligible to play for England by virtue of his english grandmother. Jordan has had an impressive first season at Sussex after moving there this year and has earned himself first a call up to the England Lions and now the full England squad. He has taken over 50 wickets for Sussex so far this year and impressed when he took four wickets for 38 against Bangladesh A last week.

Ben Stokes (Durham) will be looking to kickstart his fledgling England career with this match against Ireland. Having received his debut cap against Ireland in Clontarf in 2011 when he made 3 and did not bowl, he has since played another four ODIs, and four T20s. He averages just 10 in ODIs but 40 in T20s.

Stokes is another who has been marked out from an early age and was selected in the England Lions team for their tour of Australia earlier this year, but was sent home after two breeches of discipline. He was obviously forgiven as he was again picked for England’s second team to play against Bangladesh A this month. Stokes did not stand out in the series but has become more of an all-rounder since he last played Ireland and gives skipper Morgan another option with the ball.

James Taylor (Nottinghamshire) is another who was handed his England debut the last time they visited Ireland two years ago when he scored just a solitary run. He is yet to take the field again in that form of the game, although he played two test matches against South Africa almost a year ago. Small in stature, Taylor has a unique style that is pleasing to watch and he recently scored 106 against Bangladesh A.

All of these players have a huge amount to prove to the England selectors, but none have more to prove than the better known players mentioned at the beginning of this article. The likes of Luke Wright and James Tredwell go in and out of the England team and will no doubt want to prove that they are more worthy of the selectors’ support than the younger players coming up.

Boyd Rankin will find it an emotional day, no doubt. If he is selected to play, he will want to show that his decision to retire from playing for his native country was the right one. Meanwhile, Ravi Bopara is the most experienced in the team behind Morgan with 89 ODIs and he is another that is always just on the fringe of regular selection. A big score against Ireland may not make him a shoo-in for future selection, but a poor showing might just put him behind some of the young guns he is competing with.

Morgan will have his work cut out for him captaining a team that has not played together before and considering how young most of the team are and the pressure they are all under individually, it will be exciting to see who comes out on the top of the pile of young England hopefuls - not to mention whether they can overcome an Ireland team brimming with confidence, talent, and most of all, experience.

Add to some of these names the likes of Luke Wright who helped England win the ICC World T20 in 2010, the incredible Eoin Morgan, former Ireland strike bowler Boyd Rankin and Middlesex quick Steven Finn and the English side is providing quite a contest.

England: Eoin Morgan (captain) (Middlesex), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Danny Briggs (Hampshire), Jos Buttler (Somerset), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Notts), James Tredwell (Kent), Luke Wright (Sussex).