Gurney gets another opportunity on the back of Broad injury
Stuart Broad’s injury has given Harry Gurney another opportunity to prove that he is World Cup material.
The Southpaw paceman would probably not have found himself in the touring party to Sri Lanka if Broad had not been sitting out recovering from his operation.
Broad and Anderson are two certainties in the England bowling line up in the World Cup. The third will certainly be a spinner, whether it’s James Tredwell or Moeen Ali and the fifth will be an all rounder.
So, only one spot is up for grabs and that is of the third seamer and for that, Gurney will have to battle with Steven Finn and the West Indies born Chris Jordan.
The advantage that Gurney has over the above mentioned two other names i.e. Finn and Jordan is that he is a left hander. So, if he is there, he makes the attack a little versatile. He would come with a different sort of angle for the batsmen and bowling in tandem with the new ball with Anderson, he can do some damage to the opposition upfront.
Also, he can bowl slower balls with efficiency which Finn and Jordan can’t. Finn showed in the India series though that he is trying to develop that off spinning slower one, but, he doesn’t have full control over it as yet.
Gurney, on the other hand, has got a back of the hand slower ball which is always tougher to pick than the off spinning one.
In the T20 game against India last month, Gurney had bowled a couple of economical overs towards the end of the innings against probably the fiercest batsman in world cricket right now i.e. MS Dhoni.
So, he has a lot of plus points about him, but, its performances which count and not the ability. So, he will have to come good in Sri Lanka.
