After a little break from Test Cricket, cricket fans can't wait to see action in whites. The English Test summer is all set to start from June which has been a long wait for the test cricket fans as it is one of the best times and place to watch test cricket. The host England is coming up against the second highest ranked test team in the world, New Zealand at the 'Home of Cricket' to start the summer 2021.
Playing Test cricket in England is every cricketer's dream. If you deliver something special there, the cricket world would always remember you. There are some new faces who will be playing test cricket for the first time in England. The following three rising stars will be the top players to watch out from each team playing the test cricket..
1. James Bracey (England)
James Bracey, the Gloucestershire top order batter and a safe & sound wicket keeper has been around the England's red ball setup since last year, when he got the opportunity to tour down under representing the England Lions.
James Bracey, after scoring 65 against Australia A.
(Photo: @OptaJim/Twitter)
He has played 45 first class matches so far and has been scoring runs in the top four with utmost discipline. With England going through a phase of trying a number of batters at 3, the chances for James Bracey getting into the England's test XI could well be there, very soon.
Those who have talked about him, always spoke about his humility and maturity they witnessed in him that truly reflects to his style of batting. It has been proven statistically as well that after playing more than 80% of innings being at the top four, he has expertise in the skill of playing the new ball. According to CricViz analytics, James Bracey has an average of 171 defensive shots between dismissals while playing it which is the best in the championship. As a left hander, he got all the basic things which a player needs to have a good time in the middle. More than 60% of his runs against pace have been on the offside since 2018 which clarifies the fact that he is arguably the best player on offside in County Cricket. In addition, he has an average of 250 against the balls bowled into his legs. So, as a bowler you get a very less margin of error in front of such a dynamic batter.
Bracey has an average of 37.56 for Gloucestershire in his first class career which is quite impressive in England where people are accepting "35 is the new 40" theory. His numbers certainly got better since he joined the England bubble last summer. Even before that, he played his first game for England Lions at the 'G' and scored a brilliant 65 against the likes of Aussie domestic stars, Neser, Swepson and Steketee which backs his 166 average runs while playing the pull shot in the CC. However, his arrival into this year's County season with a century against Somerset made his chances more clear to make it through the test team. He has made runs at an average of 47.90 this season which is more than his career aggregate and even his best average in the month of April-May since 2018, where its been a massive performance as a top order batter playing during this difficult first phase of County Championship 2021.
James Bracey during his first outing at Lords for some keeping drills.
The 24 year old now has a golden chance to unleash himself into this upcoming test summer side as a freak injury to Ben Foakes has opened the doors for him for the New Zealand series as a keeper batsman.
2. Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)
Rachin Ravindra, the Indian origin Kiwi prodigy is one of the three uncapped test players included in the 20-man Blackcaps squad for the tour of England, starting this June. The 21-year-old all-rounder from Wellington has been there around the test set up since his first A tour to UAE, where he scored at an average of 57.66 under the difficult subcontinent conditions.
Rachin Ravindra during his century celebration in a Plunket Shield game.
(Photo: cricketwgtnnic/Twitter)
Ravindra, has played eleven first class matches for New Zealand A and fifteen for Wellington in the Plunket Shield so far. He has been brilliant in the last couple of seasons with two consecutive 500+ runs in a season. He averages 36.17 as an opener in first class cricket. He will be most probably opening the innings for the Blackcaps as well, where being an opener and providing some left arm finger spin would be a great asset for the team. In addition, he scored a huge century, batting at 6 against West Indies A in Nelson last December, which also clarifies the fact that he can bat in the middle order as well.
Adding to that, he has been an epitome of mental strength. After his first class debut in the UAE, 2018, he started his maiden Plunket Shield season with an 82 and 96 followed by three consecutive ducks against Canterbury and Otago. Days like this can ruin anyone's confidence at any point of a career, but he kept moving forward and came back stronger with a couple of good knocks in the very next two innings (49 and 76).
However, Ravindra had a horrible start to his 2020-21 season. He scored 81 runs at a very poor average of 11.57 in his first four games. Fortunately, he still got to play in the red ball games against the West Indies where he turned the management faith into performances. He scored a 112 in the first three day game in Queenstown, followed by a 52 in the four day game and an unbeaten 144 in the final tour game against WI A in Nelson. Moreover, he took his maiden first class five wicket haul in the very same game which just doubled his chances of making it to the New Zealand test squad.
Rachin Ravindra, during a spell in the game where he took his maiden fifer
(Photo: cricketwgtnnic/Twitter)
Unfortunately, his season was disrupted by a dislocated shoulder and made him unavailable in the major part of the season. Until he marked his comeback with a brilliant 138 against Northern District at the Basin Reserve, followed by a 6 wickets in the final game of the season which led him to his maiden test call-up.
Unsurprisingly, he was the major highlight of the first warm-up game of New Zealand in front of the first test at Lords. He scored an unbeaten 60 while opening for Williamson XI and took two wickets with the ball as well. Considering the weakness of English batters against left arm spinners, Ravindra has more than enough reasons to play his maiden test this summer.
3. Mohammed Siraj (India)
Mohammed Siraj needs no introduction as he announced his arrival into test cricket with a bang. The 'Miya bhai' of India fulfilled his father's dream to the fullest back in December when he represented India in whites for the first time at the 'G'. With 16 first class matches, 70 wickets and an average of 21.88 representing India A, he was good enough to start in the morning of the boxing day test. Bowling fast according to the field placement is the only mantra Siraj think while hitting the 22 yards deck. A bowler with utmost skills and all the experiences of touring different places with India A is now all set to make his mark in the English test summer.
Mohammed Siraj after his first five wicket haul in Test Cricket
(Photo: gettyimage)
Earlier, test cricket in England has always meant about swing bowling. Every bowler looks to get the best out of the conditions and swing the bowl, which was believed to be the most lethal weapon against any batsman. But the conditions in England have changed massively in the last few years. The Dukes moves both in the air (swing) and off the deck (seam) in the first 30 overs in England nowadays. In 2018, against India and Pakistan, CricViz analytics recorded more seam movement, on average, in England than any previous English summer. With all these factors it purely clarifiers the fact that, India needs those in-duckers off the deck which Siraj bowled in Australia and in the recent home series against England. His ability to get the movement both, in the air and off the pitch, just makes him a guaranteed starter in any playing XI at UK. With the naked eye observations, you can think about scrambled seam has done more than anything for the bowlers in England since last few summers. The likes of Stuart Broad and Pat Cummins have been successful in England because they are the master of seam bowling. Even the swing master, Jimmy Anderson use the wobble seam to get the most out of the conditions, now.
If you see the dismissal of David Warner at the Gabba earlier this year, three in-duckers, then the ball going away taking the edge, which is just nothing but perfect seam bowling.
During the Australia tour, Sachin Tendulkar also showed immense interest in Siraj's in-seamers and put out a video talking about it.
Here, is another example of Siraj's in-seamers which he bowled against Joe Root to dismiss him in the 4th Test in Ahmedabad.
Ball tracking of the delivery by Siraj which nip back in off the deck against Root
(Photo: BCCI)
Bowlers need to bowl with pace and movement at a particular spot against a particular batter according to its weakness, to be a successful wicket taker at any stage of of a test match and Siraj has everything one would want. Maybe that's why we got the glimpse of him coming out successful from his maiden test summer in England as the place where he recorded his best bowling average in first class cricket is in England. Yes, back in 2018 he took 15 wickets for India A in England at an average of 17.73 which is his best in any country with the red cherry.
So, there should not be any surprise if he plays all the Tests this summer and rise up to the occasion as the biggest performer with the Dukes ball.
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