by daniel
3. June 2010 11:03
Tim "the pieman" Bresnan is out of the 2nd test with a stress fracture to his foot. The only surprise is that it's just his foot that is crumbling under the weight of his giant physique. But as one door closes for a Yorkshireman, so another opens. The question hovering around the England selectors today is should it be the follicly challenged, under travelled, Cameron ligger Ajmal Shahzad or the follicly repellent, Ready Brek man and serial genius net bowler Ryan Sidebottom?
In theory Shahzad is the next "cab off the rank" having been picked in the 12 for Lord's. But Siders has a habit of impressing the selectors away from the middle with his lion hearted performances in the nets where no one can see him. Looking at their relative stats one may be forgiven for wondering how Siders isn't in the team anyway. 79 wickets at 28.24 in 22 tests is pretty impressive. Better than Broad and Anderson. And his left arm provides a variety that England's seamers currently lack. He's not so bad with the bat either. But aesthetically he's a disgrace. In a side that already has to carry Prior and Swann's underbites as well as KP's atrocious face topiary and Morgan's dead eyes, Siders could be the last straw.
Shahzad, by all accounts, impressed the selectors with his attitude (on which basis Sofa commentating legend Manny would be a shoo in for the side) but doesn't impress me with his record or pace. 67 wickets at 34 in 30 odd 1st class games for a man of 24 is not great. And with the bat he seems to have adopted an idiosyncracy that would make Peter Willey look textbook, starting his stance at square leg and then rushing to reach middle and leg by the time the ball is bowled.
But on the basis that neither of them will play in Australia and the wickets will be shared by Finn and Swann on Old Trafford's bouncy surface, I'd go with Shahzad, if only to provide a one cap wonder trivia question in 10 years time. And of course it saves me the irritation of watching Sidebottom give a bollocking to England's fielders after his latest long hop has been deposited into Rochdale.