England selectors drop Geraint Jones

While the title may not necessarily be a true indicator of whether England's selectors are better catchers/keepers than Geraint Jones, the reality though is that his run of 31 consecutive tests has now ended.

Jones will be replaced by Chris Read for the final test at Headingley.

It is interesting to see the timing of Read's call up. Even if he does well, few folks are going to remember his name a few months later when the discussion over the Ashes squad reaches a crescendo. The obvious attitude is going to be "Yes, but that was in one game against a Pakistan-B side. He should just go as the reserve keeper". If Read fluffs his lines at Headingley, the attitude is going to be "Let's not bother about him anymore".

I've watched Read play on quite a few occasions, right from his debut in 1999 against New Zealand. I felt that he was thrust into international cricket far too early, especially in the context of his batting. I also felt that he was a far better keeper and batsman compared to Foster, who toured India in 2001/02.

Someone needs to dump Fletcher's multi-skills theories in a dustbin. If England can't find a Gilchrist or a Sangakkara, that can't mean anyone who can bat decently well and stand 30 yards back & successfully put glove to ball ought to be picked. Imagine, if Australia had felt that a certain 22 year old all-rounder with a batting average of 20 after 10 tests ought to have been dropped immediately.

Read has also been selected after a fairly low run of scores for Nottinghamshire. He began the season well, with two centuries in his first couple of County Championship games. After that, he had scores of 0, 15, 23, 53, 22*, 14, 1, 0, 67, 1 and 6. Then he made 150 against Pakistan, a knock which obviously meant the selectors couldn't ignore him, even as Geraint Jones batted quite strangely.