Congratulations to Geoff Miller and Andy Flower for holding their nerve and dropping the walking ego Kevin Pietersen from not only the World T20 squad but also the winter tour of India. Until he sorts out his problem - and it is his problem - there is no place for him in an otherwise tight England family unit. Maybe Alastair Cook, Anderson, Swann and Broad can patch up all the differences in time for next summer but I'd be less surprised to hear KP's retirement from intyernational cricket prior to the round of T20 franchise tournaments next Spring.
Without KP and the retired skipper Andrew Strauss, there were two batting places going begging. Ravi Bopara's problems this season have counted against him and James Taylor didn't quite do enough to keep his position. Jonny Bairstow has made himself indispensible with his batting against South Arica and potential wicket-keeping back-up for Matt Prior.
Young Cricketer of the Year Joe Root must be favourite to partner Cook at the top of the order although he is untested at senior level. He didn't do too badly for the Lions and struck an excellent double-century for Yorkshire a few months ago, on his way to almost 1000 first-class runs for the season. He and Michael Carberry must have been rivals for Strauss' position although both made their runs in Division Two in 2012. Maybe Warwickshire's Virun Chopra can count himself unlucky as he scored more Championship runs and in the top tier against superior bowlers.
Nick Compton might have been in the running for opener, a position he used to fill at Middlesex. However, the prolific start to the season he enjoyed at Somerset came at number three. He was by some margin the highest scoring batsman in first-class cricket, averaging just a shade below 100! His role at Taunton was to anchor an innings while the like of Hildreth, Trtescothick, Kieswetter and Trego played their shots, which explains his six not-outs and meagre scoring rate of 46.61.
If he plays for England, especially if Ian Bell is absent on paternity leave for a match or two, it will give the line-up a particularly stodgy look, and then KP will leave a bigger hole in the team. However, this is not T20 and five-day cricket requires stability and calm heads, and Compton does offer such qualities. I'm not really sure why Eoin Morgan has been handed another chance at Test level, unless it is to address the aforementioned scoring rate issue. I just don't see him as a top player in this format but perhaps he is considered to have the game for spin-friendly pitches.
As for the rest of the squad, there are no major shocks. Graham Onions joins the pace battalion after a superb season with an otherwise listless Durham, and Monty Panesar finished the summer strongly with Sussex to lay claim to the second spinner spot on the Asian pitches. Samit Patel could also come into the equation, with his superior batting offering an extra dimension.
Overall, I reckon England could do better than many people have predicted, even if a 4-0 whitewash looks a remote prospect. The two former number one nations have points to prove, which could make it an interesting series.
