Charlotte Edwards retirement is desperately unsatisfactory

The retirement of England captain Charlotte Edwards from international cricket this week came as something of a shock. It had been widely anticipated that she wouldn’t remain as the side’s skipper but her skill as a player seemed undiminished.

Sure enough, Edwards has indicated that her decision came after England’s coach, Mark Robinson, told her she wouldn’t be considered for forthcoming series against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies. He has evidently concluded that Edwards’ presence – even stripped of the captaincy – would make it harder for other players to develop their own games, such has been her dominance.

Some will admire Robinson’s courage in casting aside a player who has been England’s best for two decades. Even at the recent T20 World Cup, where her captaincy was arguably found wanting, Edwards was the team’s top run-scorer. Yet it is precisely her continued ability to churn out big scores which makes this so-called retirement premature.

Edwards’ excellence was obvious from early on – she grew up in Huntingdon and was frequently featured in the back pages of my local paper, the Cambridge Evening News (as it was then). She and I were the same age and her name would occasionally come up when chatting to team-mates in various school, club and representative sides I played for. Someone might happen to mention they had played against her – she regularly appeared in male teams – and there would be an inevitable volley of teenage boys giggling at the idea of a girl playing cricket. But then there would be a pause and someone would conclude: “She can really bat though.”

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During her England career Edwards has racked up all sorts of records and achievements. She has helped to raise the profile of women’s cricket no end and the future for the game looks bright. But for her international playing days to have ended in this low-profile fashion is desperately unsatisfactory, however the England team gets on without her.

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The announcement of England’s first test squad of the summer is one of the great moments of the season, although central contracts have maybe dimmed the excitement a tad. Still, call-ups for James Vince and Jake Ball were both noteworthy. Personally, I’d have liked to see Tom Westley brought in to bat at three, and I remain unconvinced by Alex Hales as a test player – another Alex, Yorkshire’s Lees, and Surrey’s all-rounder Zafar Ansari are my long-term bets as England openers.

Vince is assured of a starting spot. Ball will presumably be vying with Steven Finn for the final bowling position (unless England decide to forego Moeen Ali’s spin) and could push his rival hard. Finn has not had a brilliant start to the season and there are mutterings about what his best role in the team really is: should he be the big, aggressive quick, bouncing people out; or should he concentrate on his new-found ability to swing the ball; or does he become England’s Glenn McGrath, bowling with good pace but aiming metronomically for the top of off stump? Stuart Broad faced a similar conundrum a few years ago and came out the other side successfully enough. Finn can do the same; he just needs to decide what kind of bowler he is going to be.

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The only other question for England is how many marathons Ben Stokes plans to run over five days at Headingley. Smashing sixes may reduce the need for speedy singles when he has a bat in his hand, but does that justify the compensation of such a long run-up when he bowls? Given the one-paced nature of his approach covering so many miles seems unnecessary.

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Rain may have curtailed most of the recent round of Championship matches, but at least the ‘no-toss’ trial can’t be blamed for this week’s many draws. Indeed, at Old Trafford we may have glimpsed its intended purpose, as Simon Kerrigan spun out Hampshire on the last day, taking 5-59 from 36 overs. Over in Leeds, Joe Root’s off-spin came in handy too as Yorkshire completed victory against Surrey.

Kerrigan’s single test appearance in the last Ashes test of 2013 was a fairly unmitigated disaster. His leading arm fell away and he appeared to be trying to put the ball on the spot rather than really bowl it. Yet in the Championship he has remained one of Lancashire’s key players. In 2014, when the red rose last bloomed in Division One – albeit briefly – he was among the top three spin bowlers behind Jeetan Patel and Adil Rashid. Last season he took more than 40 wickets once again as Lancashire won promotion from Division Two.

With Adil Rashid having failed to shine in tests over the winter, Kerrigan has a chance to put his name back in the frame should England want a second spinner at any point this summer. Along with other prospects including Zafar Ansari and Hampshire’s young leg-break purveyor, Mason Crane, Kerrigan will be hoping that the ECB’s attempt to induce more spin-friendly pitches works in his favour.

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The death of Tony Cozier robs Test Match Special of perhaps its smoothest voice. As a child I – like many I expect – heard him commentate and envisaged a face full of wisdom and cricketing job. In my mind he probably looked a little like Clive Lloyd. It turned out I was fairly wide of the mark insofar as the visuals were concerned. But like Lloyd, Cozier will go down as one of the legends of Caribbean cricket.