Busiest test year ever

Tomorrow late in our evening England kick off what is going to be the country's busiest year in test cricket. England face New Zealand in the first of 6 test matches home and away before under taking the massive job of back to back ashes. England need to kick the year of on the right foot and that means getting the balance of the team correct so that it is settled for the whole year.

I would say the majority of fans know nine players of the team it is the final 2 positions will cause a little debate. Lets start with what we know. Cook will defiantly open the batting but who with we are unsure about. The middle order is pretty settled Trott at three, KP at four and Bell at five is one of the most consistent middle orders in world cricket. Conditions in New Zealand and then back home suit their batting as well and should have prolific years. Prior will keep wicket where he bat depends on the rest of the line up. Swann will be the spin bowler and England will only need to play one in 2013, the opening bowlers are Anderson and Finn. For those of you counting that is 8 out of the 11 just the final three spots to decide.

I'm a big fan of only playing four bowlers in the way the great Australian team did however England do not have the quality of bowling to do this yet. The first person I would defiantly include in the team is Broad to be the first change bowler and bat behind Prior. A fit and in form Broad is the best bowler in England and maybe the world, he is on his way back from fitness and needs to be given every opportunity to bowl and get ready for the Australians. If Broad was at his best England could get away with playing 4 bowlers but at the moment they need the fifth. This is an aggressive move as you need to bowl the opposition out twice to win the test, it also shows a recognition of how the team can best achieve a win. For this fifth spot I would pick Onions, he currently looks like he is back to full fitness and has proven in the past he is of test quality.

That means pushing Prior up to six in the batting order and leaving two men to fight it out for the other opening spot with Cook. Now I'm going to go against everything I believe in with this decision. I thought Compton was good in India was solid at the top showed a good temperament and has done nothing wrong to lose his spot. However you can not account for a young man that has come on to the international scene and taken it by storm. Root has shown he can bat in a variety of conditions, under pressure and in different situations. He passes the eye test and looks like he is set for a long international career. He is aggressive at the top but not in a wreck less way, England need to give him innings before going up against the Aussies. Therefore Compton just misses out and Root gets the nod.