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Originally Posted by Nick Apparently 83% of 1000 people surveyed for Wisden Cricketer magazine don't agree with him |
Consider two contrasting routes into the national team. First the burden who had to be carried:
Code:
1998 (age: 20y 26d) 2 3 0 17 17 0 0 5.66 0 0 2
1999 (21y 26d) 3 5 0 133 42 38 36 26.60 0 0 0
2000 (22y 26d) 4 6 0 83 22 16 16 13.83 0 0 0
2001 (23y 26d) 3 5 0 26 18 4 4 5.20 0 0 2
2002 (24y 26d) 9 14 0 384 137 75 59 27.42 1 2 4
Consider another guy, tried recently as a "saviour", who wasn't ready:
Code:
season 2003 3 5 0 87 64 16 7 17.40 0 1 2
Now the guy who was held back and hit the ground running because he was ready:
Code:
2004 (age: 26y 305d) 9 18 2 971 137 136 126 60.68 4 4 1
2005 (27y 305d) 3 6 0 275 147 45 44 45.83 1 0 2
I admit that anecdotal evidence can prove just about anything... but the dangers of starting a player before they are ready are evident enough: they can flounder, drag the team down and end up screwed up and no use to anyone. How much more so when the first series might be the toughest home challenge in world cricket?
Surely the principle concern with respect to KP is what's best both for him and for England's medium and long term prospects: from that point of view ANY series OTHER than the Ashes would be a better one to start him in!