Back to the Future

[Teatime FatCat]

That's a fair point - but could be argued either way. Would a nineteen year old kid safely ensconsed amongst the team, and with a couple of the 'bigger boys' (Flintoff and Butcher?) looking after him on and off the pitch feel a lot of pressure with regards to the political climate of wherever he was touring? Once he was on the pitch, a few good spells against weaker opposition, picking up wickets and being given the chance to experiment may do him a power of good.


Playing in a politically stable, fun to tour country like Australia, but then being exposed to their rampant batting line-up early in the career may be too much pressure in a different way.

Hmmmm - discuss..............

[Miles Cooper]

Discuss?

What age was Sachin Tendulkar when he made his Test debut?
What age was Steve Waugh when he made his Test debut?
There are loads of other examples of youngsters being thrown in at the dep end and making their mark. It seems that this is something that the England selectors are exyremelt reticent to do. Their arrogance amazes me sometimes. We can learn so much from other nations not just on this subject but in sport in general. Australia being one of the finest examples of this with their Academies of Excellence for most sports.

[Teatime FatCat]

I agree, although I'm sure someone out there's going to have a good counter-argument!


We have Clarke in at the mo as a young 'un - as well as a few failed examples such as Afzal, Habib, Schofield etc in recent years. But then I remember debuts being given to Joey Benjamin, Chris Adams, Alan Wells and recalls for Emburey, Crawley and DeFreitas when all were well past their prime an viewed as 'safe picks'. a good county season in England is not always a reason to puick a potential test player.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Waugh, sachin etc none english. Find a young ENGLISH player was made an impact at a young age, ie not freddie or chris read for that matter. Jimmy Anderson just about scrapes in but he hasnt been great since. I can think of many who fell on their ****. NO, english cricketers should be brought in their mid 20s at the earlist. Any earlier is a waste of time.

Joey benjamin was picked against the aussies ahead of GUS FRASER!!! Illingworth was guilty for that I think.

[Notts Exile]

Atherton was picked not long after he finished at Cambridge wasn't he?

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Originally Posted by Notts Exile

Atherton was picked not long after he finished at Cambridge wasn't he?

Couldnt tell you NE, but if thats the case and he made his debut in what 89 ? Thats a long time and alot of failures.

[Miles Cooper]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Waugh, sachin etc none english. Find a young ENGLISH player was made an impact at a young age, ie not freddie or chris read for that matter. Jimmy Anderson just about scrapes in but he hasnt been great since. I can think of many who fell on their ****. NO, english cricketers should be brought in their mid 20s at the earlist. Any earlier is a waste of time.

Joey benjamin was picked against the aussies ahead of GUS FRASER!!! Illingworth was guilty for that I think.

"Find a young ENGLISH player..." - er, that's my point old boy. There hasn;'t ben one. To say that NO English cricketers should be brought in until their mid 20s at the earliest is a bit defeatist is it not? Perhaps there aren't the players at the moment who could make the step up but that doesn't mean that can';t or shouldn't ever be. Let's try and keep a bit of optimism here. We should not bve too proud to learn from other nations...the Aussies included.

[Miles Cooper]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Waugh, sachin etc none english. Find a young ENGLISH player was made an impact at a young age, ie not freddie or chris read for that matter. Jimmy Anderson just about scrapes in but he hasnt been great since. I can think of many who fell on their ****. NO, english cricketers should be brought in their mid 20s at the earlist. Any earlier is a waste of time.

Joey benjamin was picked against the aussies ahead of GUS FRASER!!! Illingworth was guilty for that I think.

That's pretty defeatist isn't it? It isn't so far fetched to imagine a situation where Ebngland could develop young players good enough to play in the Test side is it?

You say "Find an ENGLISH player who has made an impact at a wyoung age..." - that;s my poit entirely, there hasn't really been one. But that doesn't mean that there couldn't be one, in fact lots. There's nothing wrong with recognising how the Aussies have done it and emulating them.
To say that 'No English cricketer should be brought in unti lthe mid 20s" is extremelt short sighted is it not? Do we not have highre hopes than that?
Surely...

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Originally Posted by Miles Cooper

"Find a young ENGLISH player..." - er, that's my point old boy. There hasn;'t ben one. To say that NO English cricketers should be brought in until their mid 20s at the earliest is a bit defeatist is it not? Perhaps there aren't the players at the moment who could make the step up but that doesn't mean that can';t or shouldn't ever be. Let's try and keep a bit of optimism here. We should not bve too proud to learn from other nations...the Aussies included.

Darren lehman was getting on a bit when he made his debut, although I cant think of many more, and kaspro, a replacement replacement is surly brought in instead of some young pace starlet. I dont think they go for youth any more than us, but I'm not that knowledgeable on the aussies so please advise.

[Miles Cooper]

Apologies - I didn't mean to post both of the above, but you take my point...I hope.