Without Steven Finn, England’s seam-bowling plans for the UAE may need a rethink. Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan are the men awaiting an opportunity
Andrew McGlashan in Dubai21-Oct-2015Steven Finn’s foot injury, which ruled him out of the UAE tour, has changed the dynamic of England’s pace attack. It was almost a given that, even if he did not start the series in Abu Dhabi – which, after his 4 for 16 in the second warm-up, he had a better than even chance of doing – he would play in at least one of the remaining two Tests.Now, in his absence, England are left with a conundrum. Although Alastair Cook said there were no pre-set plans before the series for rotation among the quicks, it was thought unlikely that Mark Wood would be able to play in all three Tests. He is now set to be part of an unchanged team in Dubai but Sharjah, the venue for the final Test, could well be the ground to offer most reverse – a skill Wood is highly rated at. England were surprised, and encouraged, by how much the ball went off the straight in the second innings in Abu Dhabi.The concerns about the strain on Wood’s body – especially his ankle – make it surprising that he is the only one of England’s first-choice quicks to have been named in all three squads for this tour: James Anderson and Stuart Broad are currently absent from all white-ball cricket, Ben Stokes has also been given a rest for the ODIs and T20s on this occasion, while Finn was not in the T20 squad. It would not be a surprise if Wood’s participation in the other legs of the tour were to be reconsidered.It brings into focus what England have in reserve – depth that, even if they get through this Test series with the same quick bowlers, will surely be required at some point in South Africa as England complete a run of 17 Tests in 10 months which began in the West Indies in April.On this tour those spare quicks are Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan, who was called up as Finn’s replacement. Between them they have 21 Tests; Plunkett played the last of his 13 in July 2014 against India at Lord’s, while Jordan played all three against West Indies earlier this year. Neither has yet to fully convince as a Test bowler but they have not looked completely out of their depth.Although there are only three years between them Jordan, 27, is still firmly in the first phase of his international career but for Plunkett, 30, the last 18 months have been the relaunch of his England days after a gap of more than three years.Plunkett’s Test recall and Jordan’s Test debut came in the same match against Sri Lanka, at Lord’s, in 2014. Plunkett took a maiden five-wicket haul in the next game at Headingley but was dropped two matches later, replaced by Jordan who had been left out against India after his opening brace of Tests. Now, again, they are battling each other to be the next in line.Chris Jordan has joined up with the Test squad as a replacement for Steven Finn•Getty ImagesThis series against Pakistan is a link back to when Plunkett first played for England. It came 10 years ago, as a 20-year-old, when he made his debut in Lahore with England trying to level their first series in the post-2005 Ashes afterglow, which had quickly started to dim. Plunkett was an attempt to fill the gap left by Simon Jones’ injury – which prevented him ever playing for England again – but he was very raw.After Lahore – where he struck in his second over but finished with 2 for 125 as Pakistan piled up 636 for 8 – he played eight more Tests over the next 18 months without ever quite convincing that he was maturing as a bowler. His most incisive international performances in that period came when he swung the white ball as England stole the 2006-07 CB Series from under Australia’s noses after the Ashes whitewash. After briefly being recalled in 2010 and 2011, his career dived and it took a move from Durham to Yorkshire to revive him.Jordan’s first-class career began in 2007, just as Plunkett’s first stint with England was fading, but he did not come to the fore until the 2013 season, when he took 61 first-class wickets at 28.18 and 19 wickets at 20.26 in List A matches for Sussex. That earned him a one-day call then, the following summer, a Test inclusion. He struck in his first over as Test cricketer, having Dimuth Karunaratne caught behind at Lord’s, and would finish with a very respectable five wickets on debut including 2 for 34 off 18 overs in the second innings.However, the standout feature of Jordan’s Test career to date is not with ball or bat – the average of the latter is significantly below what it could be at 18.00 – but rather the catching. Despite just the eight Tests, he has 14 catches (one of which was a caught-and-bowled) and already has his own selection of YouTube classics, most notably his efforts off the spinners in West Indies.The pair are very different bowlers. Jordan is quite light-footed as he approaches the crease, with a curious grip on the ball, which can give the impression of the ball floating down, even if that is an unfair reflection on the final result.Plunkett is the opposite, he pounds into the crease, slams through his delivery stride and hammers the ball down into the pitch. Arguably there is not much nuance, but there is masses of stamina. In his four Tests in 2014 he was seemingly cast into the role of hammering a shorter length – an enforcer, dare we say – when it did not always appear the best route.There is a sense, too, that Plunkett could be an unlucky cricketer. He could easily have played in West Indies, where his extra pace may have been valuable, and in the 2015 season was leap-frogged by Wood and then Finn in the Test pecking order. He found a place in the one-day side as the squads began to diverge, yet after five wickets in two games against Australia at Old Trafford and Headingley he was left out of the deciding match in favour of the uncapped Reece Topley.Purely as a bowler, in the conditions in the UAE, Plunkett’s make-something-happen style appears to give him the edge if a replacement is needed, but do not discount Jordan’s fielding. James Anderson is currently England’s premier slip fielder to spin, and took three catches, including a very sharp low grab, off Adil Rashid in the final session in Abu Dhabi.But one of England’s tactics to avoid fielding fatigue, especially if Anderson is bowling, is to allow him to vacate slip. For Rashid and Moeen Ali’s sake, England need a brilliant slipper. Jordan certainly has that in his favour.
