England's new breed do county cricket proud

NICK HOWSON AT SOPHIA GARDENS: Players parachuted in from around the country looked very much at home with barely 24 hours of preparation time for this opening one-day international

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They came from Cheltenham and Taunton, Southampton and Trent Bridge. But when their time came, they did it right.

There could quite possibly be more inexperienced England XIs fielded for a one-day international in the future.

But it is unlikely they will be more cobbled together than this. Many only met each other on the eve of the game in their first practice session.

This is not as untested an England side as has been billed. Ben Stokes was winning his 99th cap, Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan are regulars in the international game and there are caps dotted across the squad.

A group coined "Ben's Babes" only had six uncapped players among the 18. Forget the other three who had not play an ODI before, they're hardly untested.

Having either been removed from the County Championship, preparations for the resumption of the T20 Blast, recovering from injury or taking a break, this was a mish-mash of a squad. Three of them weren't even in the 55-strong training squad from last summer.

Some have been earmarked for future international appearances, others are already part of the conversations. And a few were in the right place at the right time.

I'll let you determine who fits into which category.

Referencing Ben Stokes' original omission from the originally selected party, captain Eoin Morgan had indicated that the step-up from county matches to the international scene would be too great for a return.

^{Brydon Carse went wicketless but offered plenty of pace}

Granted, he was referencing a player who has not played international cricket since March, but the point still stands. Stokes had played for Durham in five Blast matches, which were deemed to be insufficient preparation.

England were very much sticking their finger in the air with much of this 18. It was therefore credit to the environment where many of these players apply their trade on a regular basis that they didn't look out of place.

Saqib Mahmood, playing his fifth, looked so effective with the new ball you wonder why he wasn't part of the first squad. Lewis Gregory, who has played eight T20s but was making his 50-over bow, has sometimes struggled at this level but took his Somerset form to the Welsh capital.

Craig Overton (four Tests, one ODI) and Matt Parkinson (two ODIs, two T20s), who went to Sri Lanka and India without making a single appearance, slotted straight into gear too.

Brydon Carse's figures of 0 for 31 were not eyecatching, but reaching 89 mph will certainly have piqued the interest of Chris Silverwood. And then there was John Simpson, perhaps not even the best 'keeper in this second string, getting an international debut at 32. It was quite the afternoon for him.

These are players we're accustomed to in England, but Pakistan will have fancied taking the game to their inexperienced opponents. Perhaps only local Phil Salt will go away with regrets, but he's destined for another chance.

Though Babar Azam might protest otherwise, the analysts and players will have had very little time to develop strategies against some of these players.

^{Ben Stokes asked for players to perform with a smile on their face.}

Partly down to only being set 142 for victory, the chase perhaps didn't showcase the county game in the same way. Malan only withdrew from this series for personal reasons before returning, while Crawley is an adept white-ball player and has featured in 14 Tests.

Conversations over whether the county game properly serves the England team follow virtually every Test defeat. But they often surrounding scheduling, formats, Dukes balls and weather systems rather than the actual quality of players.

This was certainly a victory for the county system, proof that in front of a few hundred in the stands and a couple of thousand on live streams that there is plenty of talent.

Opportunities like these to test themselves against international calibre opponents - Pakistan were rubbish here but they aren't Sri Lanka - are rare. With tour matches currently off the table and World Test Championships and World Cup Super Leagues making everything active means the room for experimentation is shrinking. 

So to see them flourish gives the quality of their domestic displays some context in a home setting.

Hopefully, David Payne, Tom Helm and Will Jacks get their chance before the end of the series, at either Lord's or Edgbaston.

Ben Stokes asked his players to play with freedom and smiles on their faces during these three matches. But by the end, they weren't the only ones grinning from ear to ear.

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