There would have been a few eyebrows raised last Friday when the announcement came through that Gareth Batty had been selected for England’s upcoming tour. At 38, age may not be on the Surrey spinner’s side but for ability and skill his selection cannot be faulted. We should applaud the ECB for rewarding a player who has performed on the pitch this season.
Personally, I am absolutely delighted for Gareth. I know him and his family well and there are few people in the game with a sharper cricket brain than him. He was a really fiery lad back in the day. I always used to think he should have been a fast bowler because he was a real tearaway, but he has reined in the aggression in recent years and his game has benefitted hugely.
The selectors have picked a guy for his wickets and performances. There will be a lot of talk about how much cricket Gareth will play in Bangladesh, but, for me, he is the best spinner of the four that have been picked (alongside Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Zafar Ansari).
He has a massive personality too, and will fit in well within the changing room on what will be a very tough tour off the pitch with the current lockdown due to the security concerns.
Nobody has a bad word to say about Gareth and the younger players will feed off his experience and leadership, just like they do at Surrey, where he is held in such high regard by everyone as a leader and captain.
Speaking as someone who enjoyed a foray into the international set-up reasonably late in my career, the age won’t be a problem. Gareth is 38, not 58. He has always taken care of his body and is probably as fit now as he has ever been.
Having had a taste of the international set-up before – Batty has seven Tests under his belt – he won’t be fazed by what is in front of him and he toured Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2003.
There is most definitely a steeliness there, too; forget what he can do with the ball, I remember watching him help England save back-to-back Test matches at Galle and Kandy on that tour to Sri Lanka, batting with real maturity and a high degree of skill against the brilliant Muttiah Muralitharan. That really said a lot about the guy’s character – being examined and standing up to one of the very best bowlers the game has seen.
The issue Gareth’s selection does throw up is that it represents a real lack of depth where spinners are concerned in this country.
Why aren’t we unearthing and nurturing more young talent so that the selectors are faced with more of a dilemma?
It’s a serious worry and is something that needs addressing because nobody is really putting their hand up at the moment.
But congratulations again to Gareth; his selection offers hope and encouragement to so many other players whose careers are ticking along domestically with fears that an England call-up – or recall – will not be forthcoming.
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, September 23 2016
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