A team for the third Test

It seems that even the England management have given up on our batsmen taking the second Test into a final day. As England grapple on at Headingley, an email arrives in my inbox announcing that the squad for the third Test will be named on Saturday. The timing of the email seems to send out the wrong message: forget this Test, even though we are technically still playing it, on to the next one.

Using the now established England policy of picking players simply by looking down the averages and selecting someone who is doing well but has barely been heard of (on the grounds that their lack of public stature means you can easily ditch them if they don't do well) I have guessed at the following XI from the latest championship averages:

Paul Horton, Ian Westwood, Andrew Gale, Paul Borrington, Steve Snell (wk), Jonathan Clare, Chris Woakes, James Tomlinson, Tony Palladino, Ian Hunter, Ragheb Aga

That should have the Aussies quaking: 11 decent county players, with between seven and 52 first-class caps. The batsmen all average above 31 (Horton is almost touching 50) and have made 18 hundreds between them; the bowlers have nine five-fors en masse. Well it's worth a go.

Comments

[MickGJ]

Given that international players rarely appear in county cricket these days the county averages don't reveal that much. It's a far cry from the early '70s when depending who was playing you could see anything up to a dozen current or former Test players, including genuine overseas stars, turn out for a county match.

[pheg]

i have played club cricket with Paul Horton and although born in sydney he has been over here since he was about 14 and i a very down to earth and decent fella. he is a good leader and is not afraid to have his say - also a very useful medium pace bowler (well at least in the merseyside comp!!!!!)

[Gus Kennedy]

Howard - Paul Horton's average is 49 as stated

[Howard]

Paul Horton's first class average is above 50, he will be opening for England in the forthcoming Ashes series, and if Vaughan manages another 18 months, Horton will follow him into the England captaincy. It is well known that the name "Paul Horton" is an anagram of "Mike Atherton".

[James Whitaker]

Jonathan Clare is one to watch.

[John D Traynor]

and Paul Horton was born in Sydney.

[Andrew Nixon]

Ragheb Aga also ticks the "developed by another country" box a la Pietersen, Joyce and Pattinson. Not available though, he'll be busy playing for Kenya in the Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers.