Ben Compton from Kent, the most successful blocker of 2022, belongs to an endangered species. Photo: Alamy Stock Photo
Playing Buzzball, an English Test team is rarely clearer about the style of the cricketer they intend to consider for international awards. The message from above is as striking as the style itself.
Last summer, Ben Stokes and Brandon McCallum made an appeal to domestic players. “It's the way you play, whether it's with the bat or the ball. It wasn't about statistics,» Stokes said after England's victory over New Zealand at Headingley in June.
In January, Stokes and McCallum joined an England and Wales Cricket Board meeting with county coaches to confirm what they were looking for. Although Matt Walker, Kent's manager, says that England «doesn't want to preach», it's no secret that they are on the hunt for positive players who score fast. They turned down Alex Lees in part because they felt the style they wanted didn't come naturally to him. Fox decided to expand his game, as did another previously plucky newcomer, Hasib Hameed.
The Blocker has always been one of cricket's most beloved characters, from Sir Geoffrey Boycott to Chris Tavare and Dom Sibley. But the emergence of shorter forms means that as the number of strikes increases, there are fewer of them. Is this the end of the road?
Not according to Alec Stewart, director of cricket in Surrey, where Sibley moved from Warwickshire this season. Stuart says batting is «always an occasional thing» and it would be crazy to expect Sibley to play like Ollie Pope.
«We teach our players to make positive decisions, not reckless ones, whether it's offensive or defensive,» he said. “The batsman’s currency is wounds. It's how you rate those runs. I've known Sibley since I was 12 and he's a great cricketer. If he gets half a volley, we expect him to score four.
“It's brilliant what England are doing. I don't think they've covered the basics of what batting is. When they ran over the wicket and hit four, they still had a solid base to land those shots on.»
«Buzzball made running non-criminal»
Stewart thinks Bazball will make a big impact in county cricket this summer, but not necessarily because of the furious attacks, although the revised bonus points system does encourage quick scoring and pre-season footage shows some horrendous hooks. He hopes that changes will be seen in the selection.
“In my era, if you had one bad opportunity, you looked over your shoulder, which is unhealthy,” he said. “What they have done is create an environment where if you do something, it is not a crime. They were allowed to play positively because they were supported.”
Kent captain Sam Billings believes Baseball will be as visible on the field as he is at bat. “The biggest impact will be on the captaincy,” he says. «Knowing that no game is lost and chasing wickets all the time rather than just being content with the top.»
Walker agrees with Stewart that the worst thing a district coach can do is «blanket.» He notes that test-level pitches are «slightly more consistently better.» The counties have a dual role of winning competitions and then producing players for England. The former often leads to the latter, but too much bias towards the latter can interfere with the former.
«It's very easy to look at what's going on above us and think, 'We have to play like this,'» Walker said. “This is very dangerous to do. Our role is to help players find a way to succeed in their respective counties and realize their ambition to play for England. But the most dangerous thing is coaching without clothes.”
Walker’s list includes Ben Compton, the most successful blocker of the summer of 2022. In his first full season in the County Championship, the 29-year-old Compton made 1,193 runs (second-best in the First Division), averaging 54, and a field goal percentage of just under 40. No other player in any division has even reached 600 runs counted. so slow.
There are fewer and fewer players like Compton. Last year Hassan Azad of Leicestershire hit 579 runs on 29 (a disappointing record for a player who has been consistent in recent years) and 38 hits (his career number 40) and was quickly sacked.
Compton is happy to be glue and turtle Kent. He has since worked for the South Asian Cricket Academy and signed a short-term deal with Northamptonshire after litigation.
While Compton is also building a solid, if slightly poised, 50-over cricket record, he has yet to play a T20 game. In many ways, he is left-handed to his cousin Nick. Compton, like any player, wants to expand their game and hopes to play T20 someday.
But he admits his role, calling himself a «gooey» batsman in Kent who has plenty of hares, including his discovery partner Zach Crowley, next to their turtle. And it's not about changing. «I'll just play trying to score as many runs as I can,» he says. “Sometimes I need to be more positive.
“The opening of innings in four-day cricket remains the same, it has remained the same throughout the history of cricket. You must win back the first bout of hostile bowling, especially at the start of the season. You are trying to give the team a positive start, it's trite, but true. If you don't have one or one loser at dinner, you take it.
“As the game goes on, we have strikers who can take the game forward. He provides a platform by thinking of it like building a house. You build a solid foundation at the bottom, put in the bricks and go from there.
“What I have treasured since childhood, and every coach I have worked with has preached, is the weight of the runs. This is what I've been working on all my life. It can be old school and traditional. You can't blame England — they won 10 out of 12. First-class cricket has had a blueprint for how successful teams work for decades.» A ball cricket will always stay wide enough for slow motion.
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