The case for Nick Compton

George Dobell put together a nice article outlining why England should opt to recall Nick Compton as Alastair Cook's opening partner. I fully expect Alex Hales to be next in line to open the batting, but should he fail, Compton is probably most deserving of a second chance. I do worry about Hales being thrown to the wolves in South Africa, especially against the new ball pairing of Steyn and Morkel. That could very well be a baptism of fire. I know I sound like a broken record, but he really should have opened the batting in the UAE against Pakistan.

Quote:It now seems inevitable that, when Alastair Cook walks out to bat at Durban on Boxing Day, he will do so with his eighth opening partner since he last faced South Africa in Test cricket just over three years ago.

It is a statistic that symbolises the lack of progress England have made in the last few months. At the start of the year, we thought that England had discovered a new No. 3 in Gary Ballance. And we thought - maybe hoped is a better word - that Jos Buttler would develop into a Test-quality wicketkeeper batsman. Now both are gone, for how long it is hard to say, and the rebuilding process has returned to the foundation stage. England do not have a settled opener, a settled No. 3, a settled keeper or a spin option of which they are entirely confident.

Over the longer term, though, one man's statistics stand out quite sharply. Over the last five years, Nick Compton has averaged in excess of 50 batting in the top three in Division One of the County Championship. He has passed 1000 runs in four of those campaigns and missed it by 39 on the other occasion. Of all the realistic candidates (Ed Joyce and Chris Rogers are included in the table below as reference), his average in that period is somewhere between 10 and 12 higher. Compton is putting his hand up, all right, but it seems the selectors don't want to see him.

Hales is the most likely candidate to replace Moeen Ali at the top of the order in South Africa and there is no doubt he is a hugely talented batsman. But Hales made two of his three Championship centuries in 2015 when coming in at No. 3 and still looks as if that would be his better position. It is asking a huge amount of him to start his Test career against one of the best new-ball attacks in the game.

England made a mistake discarding Compton too early. But the best thing to do if you're heading in the wrong direction is to turn around. In Compton they have a man well-suited to forcing bowlers into second and third spells, to taking the shine off the ball and to sheltering the middle-order from the attack at its most ferocious. If the squad to South Africa is selected entirely on merit, it is hard to ignore his claims for inclusion.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa...38997.html

I could nevah figure out why Bairstow and Compton :

were not persisted with ...

I think there has to be something to the persistent reports that management/selectors and Compton did not see eye to eye on a number of issues.

In hindsight, this looks like a poor decision. England have been unable to find a partner for Cook and would gladly have taken Compton's average of 31.93 at the top of the order this year. The argument that Compton scored too slowly and that he and Cook together at the top of the order, while scoring runs, did so in a fashion that was too slow in today's modern game only has merit if Cook's free-flowing, dashing partner is actually capable of scoring runs and not getting himself out within the first 10 overs as has been the case with all of Compton's replacements.

Cook, Root, Broad and Anderson have managed to paper over the glaring holes in this England team this year. They are in dire need for finding an opener, a number 3 and a wicket-keeper.

Compton has been named in the squad to face South Africa. It will be interesting to see which way the selectors go. Hales seems the most likely to partner Cook, though they could go with Compton and have Hales bat at three. Either way, it is good to see Compton back in the squad as many, myself included, felt he was somewhat hard done by to have been dropped in the first place.

I am biased on Pedigree ...

talking cricket technique with dad, grandad and brothers while growing in a household .

is truly a revelation !!

Compton was brilliant today in his return. He was defiant and resolute. It was a real throwback innings in very tough batting conditions. He might not be pleasing on the eye and I appreciate that not everyone is a fan of his dogged rearguard defensive qualities, Daryl Cullinan, in particular, voiced his own criticisms of his slow scoring, but he provides the perfect foil for the likes of James Taylor, Joe Root and Ben Stokes, middle-order batsman that score quickly.

Dilly,


As I said to you previously, it makes no sense to me to have Compto in the team batting at 3.


I am a great Halo advocate but he should go at 3 but preferably 5 or 6 for now!

Nick Compton is a real throwback player. He is dogged and determined with a defensive mindset. His main objective is crease occupation. That is in stark contrast to the majority of todays cricketers.

For some historical context, Nick Compton has a current Test strike-rate of 35.45. He has scored at a strike-rate of less than 45 in 18 of his 21 innings. Among all top-order batsmen (Nos. 1-6) who average 35-plus and have played at least 20 innings since 1980, only one batsman has a lower strike rate: New Zealand's John Reid had a scoring rate of 35.31 in 29 innings during this period. Of those in the top 10, no batsman beside Compton have played Test cricket in the last 10 years.

There's no doubt that Compton is a talented cricketer and he should have Bern persisted with. The fact he wasn't did call into question for me if there was other issues behind the scenes that we didn't know about.

If there was, they seem to be in the past now and that can only be beneficial for English cricket.

I think NC should just play his game but when you are desperate to retain your spot your batural game can manifest itself into defence! Much like Nick.


However I think there is a role for him to play. Halo is the attacking option and all the others can bat around Cooky and Compton. Compton makes for setting a sound foundation for the likes of Rooty and Co.



I think the team as it is now shows real balance and so pleased Finn has started to show some real mettle, match fitness and real pace.


My concer is for Halo, but I have no doubts we should stick with him for the the rest of the Summer against SL and PAK.


Hope Wood recovers speedily which will create a dilemma for the selectors. Eyes are on Jimmy as this summer can be his swansong....I suspect.