Compton - has he got a point or should he STFU?

[Owzat]

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw ANOTHER piece about Compton being dropped yesterday. So he scored a couple of hundreds against an ordinary kiwi side, so what? He then followed it up with a poor run of form against the same ordinary side and was left out - not ONE single score about 16 in his last six innings, 224 balls faced in making just 54 runs at an average of 9.00


BBC Sport - Ashes 2013: England opener Nick Compton unhappy with selectors

Nick Compton believes he has not been given a chance by the England selectors after being dropped for their warm-up match against Essex.

The South Africa-born opener gave a timely reminder of his talents scoring 79 for Worcestershire against Australia in a warm-up match.

But Compton, 30, said: "I don't feel that I had a fair crack of the whip.

"I don't know where things stand to be honest. I got told I had been dropped. Your guess is as good as mine."

Joe Root opened the innings against Essex, suggesting he will bat there in the first Ashes Test on 10 July.

Compton, grandson of the late England batsman Denis, had made successive centuries in New Zealand in March but only 39 runs in four innings against the Kiwis in the two home Tests in May.

He made his Test debut in India in November, scoring 208 runs in the four matches at an average of 34, with a top score of 57.

"People doubted me when I got picked for England; people doubted me in India; they doubted me when I got nought in New Zealand and then I scored two hundreds but they even doubted me after that series," he said.

"I feel like this was a very good response actually. Time and time again I get asked to make responses and I feel like I do that every single time.

"[England team director] Andy Flower said go away and score runs. I have done that. How many runs is scoring runs?"

Compton told the BBC he believes he still has an international future and reiterated his desire to fight for a place.

"I'm certainly not going to lose hope of playing in an Ashes series. It's a dream of mine and something I've worked very hard to achieve," he said.

Following Compton's performance for Worcestershire, Flower said: "It's really nice to see, it's a good reaction from him.

"It was nice for him to get more exposure of playing [against] an international side. It was a really good reaction from him to get runs consistently and it shows he's a good, tough fighter.

"He's obviously an opening batsman so if there was an injury to someone batting at six it doesn't mean he's the next cab off the rank."

NRD Compton (9 Tests)

Inns : 17
NO : 2
Runs : 479
Ave : 31.93
HS : 117
100 : 2
50 : 1

vs India : 208 runs @ 34.67 (HS 57)
vs New Zealand : 271 runs @ 30.11 (HS 117)

Inns 01-11 : 425 runs @ 47.22 (HS 117, 100 x2, 50 x1)
Inns 12-17 : 54 runs @ 9.00 (HS 16)

I think leaving him out is not unreasonable, his form has plummeted after a decent start, England do need to look after their own needs before his, and of the batsmen who played New Zealand in the last Test series he averaged 9.75 while only Bell of the rest of the top six averaged under 20 or indeed under 45.

While I'm no advocate of Bell being picked regardless of form, he has more of a case for retention that Compton, scoring 165 runs in his last six innings at 27.5 - three times Compton's average, although still not good enough going into the Ashes.


I think the opening pair is also one area England can't really afford to be failing consistently, if an opener is struggling to break into the 20s then you won't get many good starts and being something like 30/1 or 40/1 won't be great, even worse if Cook also gets out fairly early say 1/2 or 1/3 of the time.

For the amount of time Compton stuck in there he needed a better return, to have dug in and still not made any runs SIX times, for me, counters the relatively low number of innings on which you're judging

 

[barmyarmy]

Option B.

 

[cricket_icon]

I can understand why Compton was dropped but at the same time I understand why he's pissed, England have had a slightly uneven selection policy over the years. You yourself mentioned Bell's form and how out of touch he has been of late, this is not the first time, from my reckoning Bell has been involved in England squads for a number of years irregardless of form. That isn't fair on guys like Compton.

But I do like Root and think he'll give it a good go against the Aussies.

 

[MUFC1987]

Compton had two bad tests in a row. Name me someone else in that top 6 in the Essex game who hasn't done that? The answer is nobody. Plus on that, he scored back to back centuries very recently, meant that he deserves at least to start the Ashes. He's certainly a much better bet than Bairstow who has a similar average in a much easier position in the batting order.

We now look like going in with not only Bairstow under pressure, but Root under huge pressure to do well at the top of the order. If Compton is picked, it's just him under pressure, and he's much more equipped to deal with that. He's been told all his life that he isn't good enough, yet he's proved in the last few years at Somerset and with England, that he damn well is.

And to answer the question, he's damn right that he's been treated badly.

 

[Aislabie]

He has.

Perhaps he was tense at the crease because of the pain of a bust finger.

 

[Owzat]

England have had a slightly uneven selection policy over the years. You yourself mentioned Bell's form and how out of touch he has been of late, this is not the first time, from my reckoning Bell has been involved in England squads for a number of years irregardless of form. That isn't fair on guys like Compton.

Absolutely, when some players aren't dropped in poor form and others are dropped faster than you can say STFU, then it sends out the wrong message.

Despite his poor form, Bell still averaged three times what Compton did.

he scored back to back centuries very recently, meant that he deserves at least to start the Ashes

Not sure that is an automatic 'did this so that' like you've suggested. He had three bad Tests in a row, and the selectors are clearly concerned that 54 runs in six innings (not four) is not the kind of form you can show against a relatively weak side like New Zealand and expect to walk out against the aussies in the Ashes.

In simple answer to your "who hasn't had two bad Tests in a row", it's irrelevant. If he wanted to keep his place he needed to average a lot more than 9.75 in the series with a HS of 16.

Bairstow may have a theoretically easier time batting down the order where the collapse is only a clatter of wickets or two away, and a slightly lower average, but he made runs when it mattered most and Compton did not. You have to take your chances or rely on the selectors smiling down on you.

If the only support for Compton is "well others have bad form and aren't dropped" and "he scored two centuries in a previous series" then I'm afraid you're just trying to make a case for him. In those last three Tests he was out early every time, and we were :

67/3 & 72/1
67/2 & 36/2
72/5 & 90/4

In the 72/1 it was only because he hung around and made 7 out of 72 while Cook made the partnership. Those are not the kind of starts we want in the Ashes, the aussies will not be as easy to fight back against.

Oh and the more Compton complains, the more likely he will freeze himself out. I doubt the selectors will like hearing the criticism of them

----------

He has.

That's a bit of a lightweight response by you. He's only "been hard done by" if you want to see it that way, the currency is runs and he didn't have enough to buy his place in the squad. He may have sold himself down the river though, if I were a selector I'd be "Nick who..............?"

 

[Owzat]

Actually I would argue, and be absolutely right to do so, that his two hundreds should count against his retention in the sense that he's scored 100s so the expectations of his performance are, and should be, higher than those of a young batsman who hasn't yet done that.

That those two hundreds carry his average is another factor, if he isn't making a hundred he is scoring 17.47 runs per innings


And of course I don't remember this kind of "poor little............" when it came to little Jamie Taylor who didn't even get 9 Tests, wasn't even against a moderate side like the kiwis, and was dropped after THREE innings. But I guess he didn't bleat something chronic in the media so the selectors must have been right

Personally I hope the selectors drop Compton for a good long while, they could have retained him, but I think they've played the sensible and "safe" card of putting the pick of the newbies into the opening spot for an important series instead of putting the needs of the one above the needs of the many

 

[used2bcool]

Well, it was three way competition between him, Root, and Bairstow, and he's lost out. I can see the selectors favoring Root (because of his tremendous upside) but I don't know what Bairstow has done to cement his spot. Bairstow's average of 31 from 8 tests is similar to that of Compton.

On the other hand, there is no reason that Compton should take his place for granted based on his performances. As far as the selection of Bell is concerned, the man is a class player with 80-odd tests under his belt. He deserves some of the leeway he's getting, but a poor Ashes will probably bring his place under scrutiny, especially if people around him succeed.

 

[Owzat]

Well, it was three way competition between him, Root, and Bairstow, and he's lost out. I can see the selectors favoring Root (because of his tremendous upside) but I don't know what Bairstow has done to cement his spot. Bairstow's average of 31 from 8 tests is similar to that of Compton.

I think the key was the batting position, England don't want to be two down early as Compton's recent Test form would suggest they might be more often than they'd like.

Compton was brought in as an opener, they could have dropped him down the order but Bairstow hasn't done much wrong so they either make an assumption about "class" being permanent when neither has proven their class, or go with the more recent form - and the opening issue.

On the other hand, there is no reason that Compton should take his place for granted based on his performances. As far as the selection of Bell is concerned, the man is a class player with 80-odd tests under his belt. He deserves some of the leeway he's getting, but a poor Ashes will probably bring his place under scrutiny, especially if people around him succeed.

If Bell were Strauss people would be counting the innings between hundreds, Bell at the moment has one hundred in his last 19 Tests and has scored 898 runs in that time at a modest 32.07 . I'm not suggesting he should be permadropped, just that his form is far from consistently high over long periods and a break every now and then would be better than automatic selection which also sends out the wrong message to youngsters biding their time.

Here's some of his batting spells in those last 19 Tests :

0,4,29,3,5,10,52,13,18
13,55,11,3no,58,4,0,22,5,28no,1 ...................and at the moment
24,26no,11,17,75,31,6,30

If he were a "class player" as you say, would we see three long runs of poor scores? If he were playing for his place as a new batsmen he'd probably not survive those spells and would only come back on the way he is perceived. I know full well why Bell is automatically picked, doesn't make it right though

And on that note I shall point out it's usually when I criticise a player that he wakes up and puts on a score or takes some wickets. Funnily enough Bell's recent form is similar to his Ashes record - 32.37 compared to 32.07 .

 

[sifter132]

I think he's been a little bit hard done by, but it's Joe Root who's done him hard (phrasing!). If Root had failed, then Compton would be getting a longer run, but with Root playing well there is now no need for Compton, and they don't seem interesting in dropping him down the order to compete with Bairstow. Tough bikkies Nick, maybe head back to SA and see how you go down there tiger!

 

[hawkeye]

Compton is rightly upset. Under normal circumstances he would have retained his place. It's just that everyone is so taken with Joe Root, who seems to be a very good player.
Were the selectors fair to Cook?

The job of a selector is to make choices: picking the best-suited player to fill the particular position. If the choice is between two worthy players then a decision has to be made as to who is more worthy. The man passed over might have shown himself to be a good fit for the job, and if he is the incumbent he might have expected to hold on to his place. He will be hard-pressed to do so, however, if there is a challenger who is considered to be of superior quality.

 

[War]

Ye i think he has been treated a bit rough. But at the same time i don't think the selectors meant any harm.

This reminds me of the 2005 Ashes when Graham Thorpe was dropped when we had the exciting youth of Pietersen & Bell around. The selectors basically made a biased hunch to exclude Thorpe's tremendous experience & go for the KP & Bell in the middle order.

Compton hasn't been superb but i reckon the selectors could have given him an extended run & didn't have to drop him.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

he does have previous for moaning apparently, I remember and article in the guardian around the time he was doing ok for england and it was about this unnamed cricketer that had come to the journalist 3 years ago complaining about being overlooked. At the time the journo didn't really understand why he merited inclusion in the squad so it was a bit of an "and look, he was right all along." article, but also, kinda shows he thinks an awful lot of himself and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I don't think he's particularly missed.

 

[MUFC1987]

It's hardly moaning when he's asked a question and answered it. It's not like he went off on a rant on twitter or something.

I think there are plenty of cricketers in the last 10 years or so in County Cricket who probably think they are overlooked. And I'd probably say, there are a few amongst that who have a very good point.