tim bresnan getting a mention earlier hurt me because i love the brez and if howe was around he would stick up for him too; but let's take a deep dive in to an all time great series with let's remember some guys: england tour of australia 2013/14
starting with a personal favourite guy of mine in Michael Carberry who opened the batting all tour, having debuted against bangladesh four years earlier in what at the time seemed like a sole test. carbs did a really good job, and did so in the slick smooth helmet that he wore. was one of the few batsmen in the england lineup to regularly show gumption and an ability to stick out super hostile spells from mitchell johnson and the others, and was given a rather unceremonious axing from the team despite all this. a part of england's opener merry go round that was better than his dropping suggested, it was the england bowlers who let england down all too regularly that tour, often letting the australian tail and brad haddin get away from them. since then we've seen carbs in the big bash where he won a title with the scorchers. iconic moment with harris snapping his bat in two in the tests was mirrored in the bbl when his bat went flying during a defensive shot. also made some great musings on the state of black english cricketers in an article on his cricinfo. now speaking of those bowlers...
despite anderson still being unthreatening in australia the brez was unjustly axed for big bad Boyd Rankin in sydney as england stared down 5-0 and needed a big spark. at 6'7 there aren't many taller than he but he failed to provide the spark england needed as they fell to australia in sydney too. has quite the curious distinction of playing ODIs for ireland, then debuting for england in tests, then returning to ireland for ODIs again, finally getting to also play tests for ireland - going back and forth and back again as his england career was short lived. also played in the limited overs games in that series where england wore a horrendous red kit and felt the wrath of james "the finisher" forkers faulkner when he could still bat
also entering the england side was spinner Scott Borthwick who came in for monty panesar (dropped after getting to celebrate his 50th test cap the match before), who came in for graeme swann (who quit). he went for seven an over in his debut innings as australia piled on 326, before managing to take a three for in the second dig. he had also played two ODIs for england in 2011, where he didn't take a wicket and went for eight an over. only 30 now, it would still be technically possible for him to have a long career with the three lions. also has a first class batting average of 35 and has got 19 tons and 50 fifties, which was a surprise to me as i write this because he averaged 2.5 here with the bat.
lastly but not leastly (bc i don't think steven finn is meh enough to be a guy) we come to Jade Dernbach who played the T20s, and who i believe has got a reputation as an ordinary bloke. cricinfo's profile of him highlights his tattoos, earrings, as well as "his penchant for over-exuberant celebrations - he has been known to run the length of the ground after getting wickets in dead first-class matches - have been widely mocked". cricinfo throws the frickin' shade!! he didn't do anything here and i would like an english poster to speak more for him but as a tattooed, earringed englishman you can understand why he has been mocked. played a lot of LOI cricket for the poms between 2011-2014, but didn't get to make the cut for the 2015 world cup. and probably for the best for his legacy!!
