What prevents England from bringing in more youngsters is that many of their senior players, aged 34 and over, are indispensable. His two spinners, for starters, are 35 off Moeen Ali and 34 off Adil Rashid, and after Matt Parkinson failed to make his case (if his lack of batting can be excused, his own bowling alley). he can’t), the nearest successor is half his age, Leicestershire’s 17-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
Richard Gleeson, 34, has seized the opportunity to fill the vacancies left by so many injured right-arm fast bowlers, notably Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. And Dawid Malan, also 34, instead of volunteering for retirement, played the brilliant innings – 77 from 39 balls – that saw England win their dead-rubber T20 against India a fortnight ago.
Malan had become a latter-day version of Jonathan Trott. As a steady and consistent but never brilliant No.3 in England’s 50-over squad, Trott ensured that England would make a good total but not a very good total. Malan had been offering the same deal, only to find this new outfit at Trent Bridge.
South Africa have found a way to instantly freshen up under David Miller, who leads in the absence of Temba Bavuma with an elbow injury. Kolpak-turned-Rilee Rossouw returns to South Africa’s white-ball teams after a six-year absence at the age of 32. A left-hander with the most powerful of pulls, Rossouw scored 623 runs in the Vitality Blast for Somerset at almost two runs a ball. .
As Bristol’s dimensions are similar to second-placed Cardiff, with short, straight boundaries, bowlers from both countries can be expected to bowl backhand with the aim of being hit on the square, rather than throwing it in the hope of turning or turning. England usually have just one spinner in Bristol, so Moeen is more likely to miss out than Rashid, who reiterated that he has had no contact with Brendon McCullum about a Test return since their brief chat when McCullum went be appointed coach of the test.
Teams
England (possible): J Roy, J Bairstow, D Malan, J Buttler (wkt & capt), L Livingstone, H Brook, S Curran, C Jordan, D Willey, A Rashid, R Gleeson
South Africa (possible): Q de Kock (wkt), A Markram, R Rossouw, R van der Dussen, D Miller (capt), D Pretorius, W Parnell, K Rabada, A Nortje, L Ngidi, T Shamsi