The squads for England's Test, ODI and T20I tour of South Africa were announced at midday today, ending weeks of speculation and signaling the side's post-Ashes direction. They are:
One-day Squad: Strauss, Anderson, Bresnan, Broad, Collingwood, Cook, Denly, Mahmood, Morgan, Onions, Pietersen, Prior, Rashid, Swann, Trott, Wright
Two of the most notable omissions are Steve Harmison and Geraint Jones, for Plunkett and Davies respectively, leaving Andrew Strauss the only survivor from the previous Test tour of South Africa.
The consensus is that this move has ended the international career of these 2005 Ashes stalwarts. That's probably true in Jones's case - there are plenty of promising young wicketkeeper-batsmen on the England radar at present. Harmison though, rightly dropped for Plunkett, can still offer something different on his day. We all know the black marks against his name - the inconsistency, the bad travelling - but his uniqueness has the power to scrub them out once again in the future. If he really wants it. A very-nearly-31-year-old, father of four, two times Ashes winner, he's known for his talent, not his determination. I suspect we've seen the last of him, but if he marries the two, he could yet prove us wrong.
That said, there was an ODI recall for a man who can - on his day (a too frequently used phrase regarding England seamers) - match Harmison's hostility; Saj Mahmood. He and Plunkett have enjoyed brief success for England in the past, and it is hoped that, as with James Anderson, time away from the international scene will have enhanced their maturity, readying them for a renewed challenge.
Two men about to experience the international wilderness again, are Monty Panesar and Ravi Bopara. Ravi will surely benefit from the time off. He seems to struggle with the mental side of top international cricket, and should remember the start of the summer, when he was, along with KP, England's chief Test and one-day batting threat. He's sure to come again, Panesar less so; though he's recently spoken about his intentions to rectify the situation.
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