The mysteries of an England selector's mind

[Swervy]

Err - haven't I just said? Good county bowler = almost invariably not good enough international bowler. You've argued that near enough every good England bowler of the last 2 decades wasn't that good at domestic level, and I've lost count of the number you've patronised with "good county bowler, not good enough for internationals".

Even in the case of single\double-Test-wonders like Mike Smith!!!!!

because the county game has been full of good domestic bowlers who are clearly not of international standard, or even have the potential of being at internation level.

you dont actually need to look at averages to spot these bowlers. Darren Gough very early on had the looks of an international standard bowler, as did Simon Jones (despite the fact that at the time of initial England selection is domestic average was very poor).It is quite often something you cant quantify by the usual cricketing measuring tools, its something that you spot by watching the player actually play

I dont think I have said that nearly every good England bowler was no good at domestic level , what I may have said is that just because a bowler might not have done particularly well at domestic level it doesnt rule out international success...just as domestic success certainly doesnt really ensure a decent level of international success. The game is far too complex for generalizations you at least used to be prone to.

 

[Richard]

Near enough every bowler who's not been good enough at domestic level has proven not good enough at international.

In Gough's case, he might have looked like he was going to be a good bowler - that applies to both domestic and international cricket. From 1989 to 1992, he failed to live-up to that promise. From 1993 to 2001, he succeeded - at both levels.

As for Jones, he's far from a success at either level. 2 innings - that's all he's bowled really well in in Tests.

Yes, there are some good domestic bowlers who aren't of international standard (though not many at the current time). There have hardly been a lot, though. It's certainly not "full of" them.

You don't need to look at averages to spot what has potential - you do need to look at them, however, to realise whether potential has been fulfulled - and this applies equally at domestic and international level. No good bowler ever had a poor average.