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Squad Passengers

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Now many squads contain players who wouldn't be in strong contention to make the first XI and are there to make up the numbers. But what instances can you think of people who were sufficiently passegerish that they didn't play even if there was a strong case for there being a spot in the team.

Now initially I had thought of Bill Copson, who toured Australia in 1936/37 after taking 140 wickets at 13 in the County Championship. Bill Voce suffered a back injury and was hampered after being England's best bowler in the first two tests, but ended up playing all five. I remember reading a newspaper article - I think by Mailey - where it was opined that he was so injured he clearly shouldn't have been playing, I think in either the third or fourth test. Despite this Copson did not play a single test. He may have had a strain at one point (not digging through Trove to check) but seems to have been considered fragile and lacking in endurance. Makes one wonder if Gover (171 at 15) would have been the better choice. However this may not be the best example.

A definite example though is from England's disastrous 1950/51 tour of Australia. Three spinners (Doug Wright, Bob Berry, and Eric Hollies) were selected. Wright was England's first choice despite his inaccuracy generally counting against him when playing Australia. He pulled a muscle while being run out in the third test. Roy Tattersall was flown in as a replacement and went into the test team having being outbowled by Berry in a minor game and playing a not very impressive match against South Australia. So with spare spinners in the squad, when a replacement bowler was needed a third was brought in and selected over them. It seems that Berry and Hollies were considered sufficiently ineffective that they could be passed over for someone who was an injury replacement.

So what other players can you think of who were perhaps unsuitable for a tour and / or were not picked despite having a clear path into the team, where an injured player continued to play instead of them, or even being passed over for someone who was not in the original squad?
 
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wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
I'll need some help with the finer details, but I vaguely remember Owais Shah touring Sri Lanka in 2007 and being leap-frogged by Bopara at the last moment for a place in the side for reasons that seemed pretty spurious at the time. As you'd expect, Bopara barely made a score in the three-test series, but Shah still didn't get a look-in.

I'm sure there have also been recentish examples of England players joining the tour and playing ahead of guys who were already in the squad. But I'm struggling to name them right now.
 

Red_Ink_Squid

Cricketer Of The Year
This occured in England's most recent tour of South Africa I think. Parkinson was taken with the squad as the backup spinner to Leach. When Leach was taken ill Bess was flown in to join the tour and went straight into the team ahead of Parkinson (who he realistically should always have been ahead of).
 

the big bambino

International Captain
England had an unusual run of injuries in that 36/37 tour, including Copson. But he played enough games to finish at the top of the fc bowling averages. It's difficult to recall a newspaper report mentioning Copson that doesn't recall his ability to obtain bounce. Another from Mailey mentioned him hurrying the batsmen. He got fit enough in the back end of the tour and bowled very well in a game just before the 4th test. That is the one where Voce should not have played. I can't think of a reason why Voce wasn't rested and Copson, fit and in form, played instead. England had nothing to lose by experimenting in that game and getting Voce fit for the final one but there you go. As for passengers Graeme Beard who batted a bit, spun it a bit and varied that with a bit of seam up, toured England in 1981 but playing little cricket.
 

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Maxwell's non selection has seemed like this a few times. Was shocked he didn't get a test after sandpaper gate

Scored a friggen 278 the previous summer and his last test run was hardly terrible
 

_Ed_

Request Your Custom Title Now!
I'm sure there have also been recentish examples of England players joining the tour and playing ahead of guys who were already in the squad. But I'm struggling to name them right now.
That's been quite common for NZ too - notably when Matt Henry came into the 2015 World Cup squad and straight into the XI, ahead of McClenaghan and Mills. Of course, recent match fitness (as opposed to spending weeks on the bench) is a factor in that too.
 

TheJediBrah

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Maxwell's non selection has seemed like this a few times. Was shocked he didn't get a test after sandpaper gate

Scored a friggen 278 the previous summer and his last test run was hardly terrible
I was going to say this but couldn't remember the exact details. I thought he was in the original squad but then when the 3 players were replaced he still didn't get a game and they played another couple of batsmen that were flew in as replacements instead.
 

tony p

First Class Debutant
From the 1936/37 tour, Laurie Fishlock was really only a squad player, although I think he broke a finger which didn't help, he only averaged under 20, which didn't help his cause either.
He was a middle order player for Surrey in those days, and was competing for a spot in the middle order on the tour with Hammond, Wyatt, Leyland, Hardstaff. He could have opened with Barnett, as neither Worthington or Fagg did much, but in those days he wasn't an opener, he only started opening midway through the 1937 season so i'm not sure why he was picked really.

Also two candidates on England's 1956/57 Tour of South Africa, Alan Oakman & Brian Taylor, of Essex, Wicket-keeper.
Oakman basically went as an opener, but England opened the entire series with Peter Richardson & Trevor Bailey, who averaged 25 from 10 innings, and they didn't change the entire batting top 6 for the whole series. The other four were Insole, who topped the averages, Cowdrey, Compton & May who in 10 innings scored just 153 runs.
Taylor only went as the second keeper because Jim Parks was injured, he was never going to get ahead of Godfrey Evans who was the number one. I'm sure South Africa was a nice touring spot in those day, at least he missed an English winter. I think that was the only Test Tour he went on, and he never played for England at all.
 
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Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
There was no greater exponent of his art with no chance of playing than Bob Taylor. He was the reserve keeper to Alan Knott and second best keeper in the world for many years. They gave him a Test in New Zealand at the end of the 70/71 Ashes tour as a reward. He did eventually have a Test career in his twilight years when Knott joined World Series and didn’t tour again when it ended.
 

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
There was no greater exponent of his art with no chance of playing than Bob Taylor. He was the reserve keeper to Alan Knott and second best keeper in the world for many years. They gave him a Test in New Zealand at the end of the 70/71 Ashes tour as a reward. He did eventually have a Test career in his twilight years when Knott joined World Series and didn’t tour again when it ended.
That's the opposite of what I'm looking for. I'm looking for people who should have been filling some yawning chasm in the team, but didn't.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
That's the opposite of what I'm looking for. I'm looking for people who should have been filling some yawning chasm in the team, but didn't.
Apologies. I'll go and beat myself over the head with a damp noodle as a penance.

Maybe Joey Benjamin fits the exotic criteria a bit better. He was in the original tour party for the 94/95 Ashes and didn't play in a Test even when the injuries stacked up. Angus Fraser and Phil Defreitas both played in the Test series even though they weren't in the tour party but happened to be wintering in Australia.
 

tony p

First Class Debutant
One player who has intrigued me over the years was a guy who Toured England in 1938, E.S (Ted) WHITE. He was a lower order batsman, and a left arm slow-medium bowler, who I think may have taken Grimmett's place on the team. There were certainly complaints that Grimmett didn't tour despite his age. Grimmett took 30 wkts during the 1937/38 shield season, White only 9.
Anyway, White hardly had a look in on tour, in 30 First-class Matches batted only 19 times, scoring 290 runs and only took 30 wkts.

I really think he was just making up the numbers, he never looked like playing a Test. Maybe shouldn't have toured.
And he retired from first-class cricket the following year, 1938/39.

As far as this thread is concerned, he certainly was MAKING UP THE NUMBERS, whether he had a chance before the tour started to play a Test Match on tour, we will never know.

Hope this fits the criteria.
 

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Apologies. I'll go and beat myself over the head with a damp noodle as a penance.

Maybe Joey Benjamin fits the exotic criteria a bit better. He was in the original tour party for the 94/95 Ashes and didn't play in a Test even when the injuries stacked up. Angus Fraser and Phil Defreitas both played in the Test series even though they weren't in the tour party but happened to be wintering in Australia.
That's more of an example, England's ludicrous original omission of Fraser not withstanding.
 

GoodAreasShane

Cricketer Of The Year
Mitchell Swepson in Bangladesh. Australia flew O'Keefe over mid series despite Swepson being in the squad all along.

Made even stranger as he was supposed to be suspended from NSW duties at the time
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Maybe Joey Benjamin fits the exotic criteria a bit better. He was in the original tour party for the 94/95 Ashes and didn't play in a Test even when the injuries stacked up. Angus Fraser and Phil Defreitas both played in the Test series even though they weren't in the tour party but happened to be wintering in Australia.
Benjamin was my first thought when I saw the title of the thread.

From memory he was a one test wonder, wasn't he? Did decently in his sole outing on his home ground at The Oval, but was rather overshadowed by Deadly Dev's 9-57. Think he was already well into his 30s too.

That was all the evidence Raymond needed to omit Gus once again, but the redoubtable Fraser was playing grade in Sydney (with half an eye on an emergency call up, one suspects) and leap frogged Joey to the test XI when the call came.

I've a vague recollection that Benjamin might have gone down with chicken pox on tour too, but I could be mixing up my mediocre seamers on rubbish 90s Ashes tours, of which we had a few.

Never lost 5-0 though, but.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Rohit Sharma was in a few test squads but never broke in, I think. Same with Rahane although with Rahane it may have been for a lesser time.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Greg Thomas - he was supposed to be the means of fighting fire with fire in the Caribbean in 1985/86, but in four Tests took 8 wickets at 45.50

I met him once - he was adamant the story about his sledge and counter sledge with Viv Richards at Taunton wasn't true, but did admit he often still told it during speaking engagements
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
No its the one where he supposedly beat Richards a couple of times and ran up to him and said 'it's red and it's round and you use that thing (pointing at his bat) to hit it" - next one disappeared into the River Tone and Viv's rejoinder was 'oi bowler, you know what it looks like, go fetch it'
 

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