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Saturday, 28 September, 2002, 12:19 GMT 13:19 UK
Is Key the right choice?
Kent batsman Robert Key has been chosen to replace Graham Thorpe for England's Ashes tour of Australia.
Have the selectors made the right decision?
Following Thorpe's withdrawal, the selectors considered tried-and-tested players such as Mark Ramprakash and Nick Knight as well as younger alternatives like Ian Ward before settling on Key. Chairman of selectors David Graveney spoke of Key's "promise" after his two Test appearances against India over the summer.
With the batting line-up in flux in the absence of Thorpe, Key could be used in any of the five specialist batting positions. Is Key the right man for England? Does he have what it takes to handle a tough tour of Australia?
This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails appear below.
Once again the ECB have messed up. What exactly did Key do to impress? Drop catches at slip, get out simply against India and Sri Lanka. What will the Australians do?
Rob Key is a great choice for the Ashes tour and should have been included in the original squad. Key's performances in Australia stand for themselves in recent winters, having played in Perth and at the Academy during the last two winters with massive success and numerous centuries. He is used to the pitches, the approach of Australian cricket and thoroughly deserves a place on the tour.
Robert Key should not have been selected. His batting performances against India were poor and his fielding even worse. Australia will be laughing at us. Selectors wake up!
Why is it every time we have a promising young batsman such as Robert Key, people are quick to criticise his potential and ability? He's a good player who needs a decent chance to make a name in international cricket. Let's give him the support he deserves to make an impact on the Ashes tour.
I do hope that Key's preparation will include plenty of fielding practice. Those dropped catches don't fill me with confidence, though of course I wish him - and all the team - well. Best wishes to Thorpe too, who was brave enough to make a hugely difficult decision.
Robert Key may only be a beginner at international level, but he is extremely good. I watched him against the Indians and he played some good shots and. Against the Aussies he will show better ability and will enjoy the game a little more after getting this extremely confident boosting task.
He has a fundamentally flawed technique, which will be exploited by the Aussie bowling attack. He showed promise this summer of a good approach to Test matches, but this will just been undermined - with a better technique, a distinct possibility for a permanent role in future.
Key is a bottler who cannot make the step up to Test class. He actually had fear in his eyes against India. The Aussies have probably already found him out and will welcome his inclusion. He's a bottler.
He's the right choice. He may not make the runs Thorpe would have, but he deserves his chance, and we will know by the end of the tour if he is a Test-class batsman.
Who cares! He won't even get in the team. Everyone keeps talking about how good the Aussie bowlers are, they won't look so good when the mighty Vaughan and Trescothick get after them. I say bring on the Aussies and bring home the Ashes.
Interesting comments below about Key's poor technique. No doubt made by jazz-hat village players. Rod Marsh has spoken very highly of Rob Key and I value his comments far more than people who have never played the game at first class level.
How many openers do England need? Key failed to set the world on fire against an India team that started the series poorly, and will really struggle against the likes of Warne, McGrath and Gillespie. The selectors should have replaced Thorpe with a promising middle order batsmen such as Ufzaal, Shah or Blackwell rather than playing a young player out of position against the best attack in Test cricket.
The selectors' decision not to look backwards to the likes of Ramprakash should be applauded, but other young middle order batsmen deserved the opportunity, and this sends out the wrong message. I am pleased that Robert Key has been chosen, although being a Warwickshire supporter, I would have preferred Nick Knight over Key.
Key is a promising young player, and it is good to see that the Ashes squad this winter has a number of young players. I am relieved that Ramps didn't get in, he has had his chance.
No, I don't think Key is the right choice. Not only did he not bat particularly well against an average Indian bowling attack in England but he dropped three catches. I think that if the selectors were to show Mark Ramprakash that they believed in him they would be surprised.
Ramps has far more experience against the Aussies and I think Key will have his work cut out to make a half-decent score.
You have only to look at your photo of Key at the crease: pushing across the line outside the off stump, bottom hand dominant. Recipe for total disaster against McGrath. Why is Nick Knight not picked? He's scored in excess of 1500 runs at an average of 95! What more can one man do? He's shown what he can do against the Aussies.
Who can forget him running down the wicket to Brett Lee and smashing a six over long off in last year's Natwest series!
Another fine mess by the selectors. Ramps should be going to Australia.
What is it about the Ramps-obsessed contributors to Sports Talk? Ramps is a good county pro who was given 52 chances at Test level. Ninety two Test innings garnered two centuries. He averaged 27.5, which is not very good even by England's recent standards.
He was a lucky man to be involved for so long, many other equally talented county pros (eg. Maynard, Fairbrother etc) were not so fortunate. Robert Key has played two Tests and some of you who think Ramps should have a 53rd chance don't think he's good enough! I wouldnt mind betting that if Robert Key is lucky enough to play 52 Tests, he will have a far superior record to Ramps.
Key has the right personality, thinking about the overall make-up of the squad. An "experienced" head like Ramprakash or Hick would have been a depressing choice - what do they have experience of in Australia except losing? On the other hand, a really green young talent like Nicky Peng might be ruined for life if exposed to the McGrath-Gillespie-Lee-Warne gang too soon. Key can stand up to them and can gee the others up.
No one is expecting anything but an Aussie whitewash, so this team now has a good balance between experience and promise, and they also have nothing to lose. Take inspiration from Sri Lanka in the ICC semi. Go get 'em!
Strange decision: an opener to replace a number four batsman. Maybe Vaughan will drop down but against the Aussies it's a heck of a risk.
A smart move by the selectors. Whoever was picked to replace Thorpe was obviously going to be behind Crawley in the pecking order, and barring injury or severe loss of form would not expect to be playing much cricket this winter. Key is an upbeat, relaxed individual who is probably far more suited to being twelfth man than the brooding, introverted Ramprakash.
When the Ashes squad was announced, the one criticism levelled at the selectors was the lack of a young batsman being taken on the trip for the experience. Now that this has been rectified we should applaud the selectors and try and back our boys.
What "promise"? I watched those Two Test matches as well. Can anyone tell me how many English batsmen have an average over 40 against the Aussies?
It might be a right choice in the eyes of the selectors, but not in mine. I think Ian Ward deserved a place in the side. Robert Key: poor technique, performed poorly against India, lacks confidence, season's average of 43 runs. Mark Ramprakash: has a good record against Australia, Test career on the up after slow start, season's average of 53 runs.
So who do the selectors choose? They go and pick Robert Key. From what I saw of him this season, he has shown no quality, no aggression, played too tentatively, basically not a player I would call a star of the future. Thankfully, with Trescothick and Vaughan in superb form we may not see Robert Key play at all!
The likes of McGrath, Brett Lee and Shane Warne will be rubbing there hands with glee after the latest selection of Robert Key! I bet the betting for a whitewash has rocketed! I am dreading the opening Test at the Gabba it could be embarrassing! What has Nick Knight done to upset the selectors?
Robert Key's inclusion isn't a bad decision. But since Thorpe was a middle order batsman, surely a middle order replacement should have and could have been found. Ramprakash was the ideal choice and can consider himself very unlucky. His experience will be sorely missed and unfortunately, Key doesn't possess that experience.
Spot on. It was ridiculous not to include the guy first time round. What's the point of giving someone just two outings. It's not like he failed. It's more about character than pure talent at Test level. Ramps and Hick have had their chance: both of whom seem to pick up big scores when the pressures off and disguise pretty poor averages. The really young guys will have their chance next time right. Key's the key. They still haven't a prayer but at least there shouldn't be any more rollovers.
Key looks unfit - on the chubby side - and didn't do well even against a weak Indian attack. Ramps is too old, as is Knight. I'd have suggested Ward but would've prepared to blood a young batsman - Peng would have been my choice.
Clive Walker, UK
Another ridiculous decision. Key showed in the summer that he is not Test class batsman. If he doesn't open, he'll suffer the same fate as Ian Ward who was never picked in his proper position and showed this year that he's a much better player than Key. The only choice was Ramprakash, one of the few English batsmen that the Aussies have any respect for. England seem to have taken the approach that they want to avoid the "old" hands - Ramprakash, Hick etc. at any cost. But Key is a poor choice - he looked like a sitting duck when he played against India ( The Oval Test may have been very different if it were him rather than Trescothick).
I would have gone either for Ramps, who played really well in the last Ashes series in Australia, or someone like Blackwell/Troughton. The England selectors have made another poor decision. Robert Key may be a fantastic talent, but he is far too inexperienced to play in the Ashes. My choice to replace Graham Thorpe would have been Nottinghamshire's Usman Afzaal.
Afzaal has made a fifty against the Aussies and he is an attacking player and to beat Australia, you need batters who are going to attack them. Kadeer Ali has been terrific for England A.
I am beginning to lose faith in England's selectors. While it is fine to persevere with players of obvious quality, Robert Key simply does not fit the bill at Test level.This was shown in the Tests against India in which he was continually caught in the slips pushing too hard at the ball. McGrath and co will be licking their lips. It is refreshing to see that the selectors have looked to the future and have not turned back to the less than successful players of the past (Hick, Ramprakash etc.)
Only by pitting our players against the best will we discover how good they are, so give Key his chance, and follow it with Troughton, Clarke etc.
I agree with the decision to include Key in the squad. Ramps would be the obvious choice, but if he toured badly then England would be no further on in finding a talented young squad. This way, by watching Key perform against the best Test side in the world, we will be making a positive step forward.
I think it was wrong to pick Robert Key to replace Graham Thorpe because this means England have three openers, even four if you count Mark Butcher as an opener. They should have picked Mark Ramprakash.
Strange choice. We already have Butcher who can cover the opening positions. I suspect Key will be found out on fast bouncy tracks. His tendency to use too much bottom hand, ensuring edges carry to the slips, may be ruthlessly exploited by such a talented Aussie pace attack.
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