Five for England: Number 5 - Graham Napier
As we all know, the English ODI team is frankly poor and really does not match up to other teams like India and Australia. The problem with English Cricket is that we know that we can beat these sides, but we are not doing anything to help this.
Over the next few articles, I will be writing a series that focus on outstanding performers in the county scene at the moment. This week, we focus on hotshot Essex Batsman Graham Napier.
Since the turn of the year, English county cricket has seen an improvement despite criticism from elsewhere.This has really been highlighted by the Twenty20 Cup, the Stanford Tournament and the Champions League, adding another incentive for players to reach into themselves and give a better level of performance.
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Before we go onto Graham Napier, I want to comment on other great performances on the Twenty20 Cup this year, particularly Herschelle Gibbs' 98 against Northamptonshire. He showed great determination and, although he didn't win them the game, he gave the scoreline credibility.
In this season's Twenty20 Cup on the 24th June, the crowd had fielding practice at Essex's Chelmsford ground. Our man to watch, Graham Napier, smashed 16 sixes in an amazing 152 off just 58 balls.
He also has hit 31 off 17 as he nearly guided his team home and claimed 2-25 off 4. As you can see, the guy's a great all-rounder and has the potential to up his game to the next level.
Who can he replace:
Well, England have struggled for a top-order batsman in the one-day format and Napier may be a good choice. As we can tell, he is a clean hitter of the ball and has the potential to up the scoring rate quickly and get his team back in the game.
The question is, though, who to replace? Luke Wright has batted decently, with an average of 30, and has been consistent with the ball, whilst Ian Bell has shown glimpses of form with the bat.
The advantage with Napier is he can also bat down the order so, in my eyes, he could be fighting with Mascarenhas or Bopara for the jersey.
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