The England selectors have made it pretty clear that Danni Wyatt's seat on the plane to New Zealand next month is as a "batter" (sic.!) and as such it is well-deserved - she scored over 500 county runs last summer, at an average of 42; and she was a crucial part of the Notts team which triumphed in the T20 Cup.
With the ball, though, it has been a different story. As a bowler, Wyatt has had a rough couple of years, following back problems which came to a head in 2013, culminating in a wicketless tour of the Caribbean, which seemed to seal her fate as an international spinner.
But she still harbours hopes of adding to her 70-odd international wickets, and having remodelled her bowling action, she has told the Nottingham Post that she still believes she has something to offer.
"It's been hard work remodelling my action, but I'm looking forward to testing it out in New Zealand."
With Marsh and Grundy coming back - not to mention Hazel and Knight in the mix too - England suddenly have a lot of spin options going for them... and that's even before A Certain Someone makes her come-back next summer... but Wyatt is nothing if not a fighter, so it will be interesting to see!
Danni might be hoping she gets at least one more run scored off her T20 bowling if only to get off 666 runs (career states 117.3-3-666-46).
ReplyDeleteIn fact her T20 bowling stats are really top class when compared to other England blowers (Brunt = 164-10-804-44, Marsh = 205.1-4-1073-51, Shrubsole = 111-4-634-46, Hazell = 215.2-6-1112-61, Gunn = 156.1-0-982-53).
Wyatt's last 6 T20 bowling efforts have yielded 13-1-94-2 which is bit crap. Hazell has been a bit more eco in her last 6 (23.1-1-114-3).Grundy's, as yet, only 6, yielded 24-1-105-6.
Even her ODI stats stand up (133-3-660-25) against Hazell (271-15-1067-32) and Shrubsole (188-19-799-28),
As you note, the spin department could be quite crowded so having a unique selling point (such as batting, fielding or simply being the only left armer) could make the difference between getting picked and not.
If she plays in New Zealand, it will be for her (probably T20) batting, and fielding. That much is pretty clear from both the press release and what Charlotte Edwards said on the day the squad was announced. Quote: "I'm certain she can get her bowling back to where it was" - not really a ringing endorsement of where it's at now...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if by saying: "I'm looking forward to testing out [my new action] in NZ" she meant in the nets, against some of the world's best batsmen, rather than on the pitch.
You'd certainly hope that they'd make it clear to her why she's been selected, rather than her finding out from the press release!
Perhaps her new action is as radical as a Knight 'new action' and she's become a quickie. Perhaps DvN has taught how to leg spin !
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