While team success is one aim, personal glory comes hand-in-hand, and with Sri Lanka and India touring England this summer, there are at least two reasons for the international 'wannabes' to stand up and make themselves heard when play resumes.
James Hildreth (Somerset)
Paul
Collingwood's Test retirement has left the number six batting spot
vacant and among the frontrunners for that role is Somerset right-hander
Hildreth. The 26-year-old racked up 1,440 runs in Division One of the
LV County Championship last season, finishing with an average of 65.45
in 23 innings. His great strength is his ability to convert big scores
into huge ones, evidenced by his seven centuries last summer and a
highest first-class score of 303 not out. A strong leg-side player with
an incredible eye, Hildreth will be hard to ignore should he start the
2011 season in a similar vein to the way he ended the last campaign.Andrew Gale (Yorkshire)
The
future could be now for Yorkshire captain Gale, although he will need
to improve on last season's first-class run tally if he is to catch the
selectors' eye. That said, he would have almost certainly broken the
1,000 run barrier had he not missed three fixtures through England Lions
captaincy commitments. It is in one-day cricket where he is perhaps
more likely to stake a claim for a full international call-up. He formed
a formidable opening partnership with Jacques Rudolph in the Clydesdale
Bank40, scoring over 450 runs at a strike-rate of 93.27. A lack of
urgency at the top of the England order has been blamed for England's
failings at the recent World Cup and with Andrew Strauss' days as
one-day captain rumoured to be ending in the near future, Gale could be a
natural successor.James Taylor (Leicestershire)
Playing
in Division Two is always a stumbling block for players with
international aspirations, however Taylor's first-class record cannot be
ignored. The 21-year-old Leicestershire batsman has passed 1,000 runs
in the last two seasons and was the youngest Foxes player to score a
one-day century and first-class double century in 2009. He is clearly on
the England selectors' radar having featured for the Lions on the
recent tour of the Caribbean, scoring 527 runs at 58.55 on his maiden
tour. The diminutive right-hander is a strong back-foot player and
certainly deserves a bigger stage.Jimmy Adams (Hampshire)
Hildreth,
Taylor, Gale, Craig Kieswetter and Hampshire opener Adams shared seven
centuries for the Lions in the Caribbean and the latter perhaps has a
better case than any other for a place in one of England's sides this
summer. Adams piled on the runs in all forms last season, scoring 1,351
in the four-day arena, 668 in Twenty20 cricket, and 496 in Clydesdale
Bank40 competition. At the ripe age of 30, Adams appears to be hitting
the peak of his powers and surely deserves a call-up for one of the
limited-over sides. He kept himself busy in the off-season too, helping
Auckland Aces to the HRV Twenty20 Cup title with a brisk half-century in
the final. Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)
If
winning the race to 1,000 runs for the season was the benchmark for an
England call-up, aggressive Yorkshire opener Lyth would have been on a
plane to Australia by July. The 23-year-old posted 1,509 Division One
runs last summer - more than any other player - as the White Rose
pressed for the title after being labelled as one of the pre-season
relegation favourites. His game is suited to the longer format, however
England are not short of high-quality opening batsmen and an
international bow this summer will probably come too soon for Lyth.
Nevertheless, if messrs Strauss and Cook are unavailable for Test duty
for any reason, the Whitby right-hander's early season form will have to
be monitored.Rory Hamilton-Brown (Surrey)
A
slightly left-field pick, however a potential post-World Cup shake-up
leaves up-and-coming talents such as Hamilton-Brown with a glimmer of
hope of forcing their way into England's limited-overs reckoning. The
Surrey skipper is an aggressive opening batsman in one-day cricket and
bowls part-time off-spin. He skippered England at U19 level and is held
in such high regard by his county that he was awarded the captaincy upon
arrival from Sussex in 2010. RHB flourished in the 40-over format last
season, teaming up with Steven Davies at the top order with destructive
effect on a number of occasions. He smashed his maiden century for the
county in front of the Sky Sports cameras, racking up 115 from
just 69 balls as the Lions posted a record 386-3. A few more
performances like that will certainly get Geoff Miller and co talking.Ben Stokes (Durham)
An
eye-catching debut first-class season saw Stokes earn a place in the
England Performance Programe in Australia during the winter Ashes
campaign - a ringing endorsement to say the least. The 19-year-old
batting all-rounder was one of very few bright lights during a tough
season for Durham, who relinquished their Division One title to Notts in
meek fashion. The left-hander took to the top tier of domestic cricket
like a duck to water, finishing with a batting average of 46.25, greater
than any of his team-mates. He posted two centuries and two half
centuries in his 19 innings and he is being tipped for an even more
productive summer in 2011. A strong off-side player and a clever player
of spin, expect to see Stokes settled in England's middle-order in the
years to come.James Harris (Glamorgan)
Glamorgan's
early bloomer grabbed plenty of headlines again last season, taking 63
first-class wickets over the course of the summer. The 20-year-old has
smashed a host of records at the Welsh county, becoming the youngest
person ever to play for Glamorgan 2nd XI, aged 14 years and 353 days,
and the youngest person to have played for Wales Minor Counties, when he
took 3-48 against the Netherlands. Figures of 12-118 as a 17-year-old
against Gloucestershire in 2007 then saw Harris become the youngest
Glamorgan player to claim 10 wickets in a match, and the records don't
stop there! Last season he became the youngest player to take 100
first-class wickets for the club as Glamorgan narrowly missed out on
promotion. While he bowls at a lively pace, he is also no mug with the
bat, proof in the pudding a highest first-class score of 87 not out. Jade Dernbach (Surrey)
The
promising Surrey quick was handed a surprise, albeit belated, ticket to
the World Cup in the subcontinent and will be hoping to force his way
into England's starting XI this summer. A total of 10 one-dayers against
Sri Lanka and India give Dernbach, who operates up near 90mph on his
day, plenty of motivation to start strongly for Surrey when play
resumes. The 24-year-old starred for England Lions in the Caribbean, 19
wickets at 15.63 apiece prompting England's selectors to turn his way
instead of a number of high-profile candidates when Ajmal Shahzad
suffered an injury at the World Cup. The South African-born player spent
the previous two winters on the England Cricket Board Fast Bowling
Programme in Florida and Chennai and is a graduate of the Surrey
academy.Danny Briggs (Hampshire)
England
Lions coach Mick Newell believes teenage Hampshire spinner Briggs is
destined to play international cricket, and who am I to disagree??
Newell may have guided Nottinghamshire to the Division One title last
season, but I won our domestic fantasy cricket league by a country mile.
You decide the greater achievement. Anyway, back to Briggs. The
left-arm spinner enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a sparkling
tour of the West Indies for the England Lions, finishing as the leading
bowler in the four-day domestic competition. He possesses great control
and helped spin Hampshire to the Twenty20 title last term. He took 31
wickets at an average of 14 in the competition and bowls with ample
flight and spin. With Monty Panesar failing to break into the England
side on the recent Ashes tour, Briggs has the chance to overtake him in
the pecking order behind first-choice spinner Graeme Swann.
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