Selectors bask in England's surprise successes
Tony Lawrence
Selectors have always been clowns and always will be. The average sports fan, armed with a pint of beer, a loud voice and blessed hindsight, knows more than the lot of them put together.
Occasionally, though, there are moments of respite. Right now, England's cricket selectors are enjoying one of those rare moments.
They recall a grizzled 39-year-old and he blossoms. They gamble on a raw 24-year-old pace bowler and he dazzles.
Another pace bowler whose mental approach has been publicly called into question by his own captain returns to rave reviews while a balding batsman emerges from three years in the wilderness and people wonder why he was ever dropped.
Everything David Graveney and his panel have tried this English summer, much of it forced on them by a long injury list, has turned to gold.
Alec Stewart's success -- courtesy of James Foster, 17 years his junior, breaking his arm -- was perhaps the most predictable, since he has been burning with indignation ever since he was dropped.
SPECTACULAR FORM
He made his point with a century in the 2-0 Test series win against the Sri Lankans, before averaging over 52 in a one-day triangular event. His form behind the stumps was also nothing short of spectacular.
Alex Tudor -- who Nasser Hussain suggested needed the help of "mind people" last year after succumbing yet again to injury -- took nine wickets at 17.66 runs apiece against the Sri Lankans while John Crawley, who had last played against Australia in 1999, scored 72 runs for one dismissal against Sanath Jayasuriya's side before scoring 64 and 100 not out against India at Lord's.
And what about all-rounder Craig White, not offered an England contract at the start of the season, floundering at Yorkshire yet taking full advantage of a shock Lord's recall with a half-century and four wickets?
Perhaps the most exciting selection, though, has been that of Simon Jones.
There may be a kink in his technique, his body sliding alarmingly away as he delivers the ball, but he is already fast and potentially very, very fast.
Yet to win his county cap with Glamorgan, he was called up for the first Test against the Indians and, despite predictions that he would be slaughtered by arguably the best batting side in the world, he took four wickets in the game. It would have been five if Sachin Tendulkar had not been dropped off a sitter.
To ice his cake, Jones then hammered 44 off 43 balls in his one visit to the crease.
WORDS OF WARNING
Two words of warning to the selectors, however, before they start relaxing in the warm comfort of their current success.
Chris Schofield.
Like Jones, Schofield was fast-tracked into the England side in an attempt to give the team that extra dimension.
While Jones offers pace, Schofield was another English rarity in purveying wrist spin. He was awarded a central contract in 2000 and selected for his first cap, aged 21.
Since when he has disappeared without trace.
Simply too wayward, he played two Tests, not bowling in the first against Zimbabwe and taking no wicket for 73 in the second. He duly lost his England contract the following year as the selectors backtracked as fast as they could.
This season, hampered by a side strain and a broken toe, he has not even featured regularly for his county side Lancashire. He has played one championship match, taking one for 67.
Today, nobody even mentions Schofield. Except, perhaps, men in pubs, loudly recalling how they had always known he was never any good.
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