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Geraint Jones

Should England pick Geraint Jones as w/k?

  • Yes chuck him in

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • He should go on the winter tour if Stewie doesn't

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • No he is too old, we need a younger player

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • No he doesn't yet have the experience required

    Votes: 6 46.2%

  • Total voters
    13

Bazza

International 12th Man
OK Rich's sig got me thinking. Geraint Jones has had a phenomonal start to his career (which before this year was prety much non-existent) - is he the man to replace Alec Stewart behind the stumps for England (in test matches anyway)?

He's not young, but then Stewie himself was 27 on debut.

I suppose the key difference is Stewie had bags of experience whereas Jones has just one season to his name. Ideally he needs to perform for another year or two to warrant consideration, but I'd consider taking a gamble and chucking him in this winter.

I haven't seen him in action behind the stumps but on the assumption he's sound (obviously the selectors would check this out) I say give him a go. If he doesn't show signs of being a success then we could turn to Read or Foster or Wallace or next year, and see if he continues to stake a claim in which case he could get another go.

I think it's worth remembering Wallace in particular, but also Foster and Read are both young and waiting another six months to debut them won't hurt (we carried Foster on a whole winter tour of India and NZ when he clearly wasnt ready and lets face it - what was the point?).

Anyway, let me know what you think. Have I gone mad??
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
What has Read done wrong?!

On a more salient point - is Jones England-qualified yet?

The other thing to consider is how he makes the runs, not necessarily how many runs he makes...
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

Request Your Custom Title Now!
I agree. The mistake that alot of selectors make is that, like the fans, they are too stat obsessed. They have to actually watch the players to make an proper judegement. Case in point - Fidel Edwards....
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
marc71178 said:
What has Read done wrong?!

On a more salient point - is Jones England-qualified yet?

The other thing to consider is how he makes the runs, not necessarily how many runs he makes...
I wouldn't pick him yet but the fact that he's scored a lot of runs when Kent have needed him to points to a player with something about him. Also from what I've heard his keeping is at least the equal of the man he replaced, Paul Nixon, who's a fine keeper.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
I must say I hadn't heard much about his keeping, but if it is that good then he may stand a chance if Read wastes his.
 

Rich2001

International Captain
marc71178 said:
The other thing to consider is how he makes the runs, not necessarily how many runs he makes...
The guy scores quickly, but not Flintoff quick ;)

His S/R for his 600 odd runs @ 59.10 for this season have come at a S/R of around 72-75. 18 catches and 2 stumpings

And his overall S/R for 801 runs @ 57.91 have come at about 69-70. and 26 catches and 2 stumpings

And Yes Bazza his keeping is sound, he's happy to stand up to the stumps etc and taken a hatfull of catches so far 20ish in CC so far I think and in his first NCL match of the season he equaled a Kent record of 6 catches behind the stumps in a game.
 

Bazza

International 12th Man
Yes and whilst keepers rely to an extent on bowlers to create chances performances like that don't come along too often!

Marc, Read hasn't done much wrong and I'd suggest he be the other keeper to go on tour. After pushing for years that he be the successor to Stewart I don't mind him getting a chance to make the job his, but I would say so far this summer in the ODIs his batting hasn't impressed me too much, even though his keeping has been good.

As for Fidel Edwards - I thought he hadn't played enough games to be ready for test cricket? A case of stats over judgment no?
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
The mistake that alot of selectors make is that, like the fans, they are too stat obsessed. They have to actually watch the players to make an proper judegement. Case in point - Fidel Edwards....
My point is that if he they had just looked at stats (or rather the absence of them), he wouldn't have been anywhere near the team. However, the selectors and Lara actually saw him bowling and realized his talent and potential.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Bazza said:
would say so far this summer in the ODIs his batting hasn't impressed me too much, even though his keeping has been good.
Did you miss the match-winning (with Tresco) 25* at Lord's? He's also the best keeper in the country (behind Russell, obviously)

As for Fidel Edwards - I thought he hadn't played enough games to be ready for test cricket? A case of stats over judgment no?
The guy had FC figures of 1/66. His stats were crap. So how can that be ahead of judgement..?
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Bazza said:
Marc, Read hasn't done much wrong and I'd suggest he be the other keeper to go on tour. After pushing for years that he be the successor to Stewart I don't mind him getting a chance to make the job his, but I would say so far this summer in the ODIs his batting hasn't impressed me too much, even though his keeping has been good.
What about the lord's decider vs Pakistan?
 

Bazza

International 12th Man
Neil Pickup said:
Did you miss the match-winning (with Tresco) 25* at Lord's? He's also the best keeper in the country (behind Russell, obviously)

No, and he did alright today so I'll let him off! ;)

The guy had FC figures of 1/66. His stats were crap. So how can that be ahead of judgement..?
What I meant was everyone was saying when he was selected that he didn't have enough experience, and the WI selectors should be put in an asylum. Then he grabs five wickets first up.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
marc71178 said:
Isn't that just a tad of an overreaction, not to mention exceedingly unfair on Chris Read?

Maybe, yes... But he does look a rather good batsmen, which i think are essential nowadays for a wicket keeper... Read i guess is improving
 

Bazza

International 12th Man
It's a difficult one. Ever since he was dropped before I have said Read should be first choice when the time comes (mostly because I rate him much higher than Foster, the other likely candidate), but then Jones wasn't around three years ago. Now he is and if he'd had another year or two of domestic cricket in him I would definitely say he should be in.

As it is I have no complaints with Read, but to top it all off I am still expecting to see the Guvnor for the test series with South Africa..... :)
 

luckyeddie

Cricket Web Staff Member
Stewart over the years has been worth his place as a batsman alone. If they don't bring Thorpe in then I would be happy for them to play Stewart and Read
 

Bazza

International 12th Man
No I think in the past playing Stewart and Russell might have been a better option than constantly trying several new batsmen who never did anything. Still we're now at a stage where Stewart will keep the job so long as he is serviceable with both bat and gloves.
 

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