Ashes debut beckons for Matthew Potts: What to expect from the Durham pacer?

Matthew Potts is a frontrunner to replace Gus Atkinson in Sydney [Source: EnglandCricket/X.com]

The first four Ashes Tests have already seen three of England's first-choice pacers go down to injuries, and the latest of the three was Gus Atkinson, who sustained a hamstring injury on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, ruling him out of the fifth and final Test in Sydney.

This leaves England with Matthew Potts and Matthew Fisher as the pacers who are yet to play a match.

Although Shoaib Bashir is another name who is yet to feature in the series, everything indicates that Potts will be the preferred among the three to play the New Year's Test, considering a first-choice pacer is out. Below is a brief breakdown of what Potts brings to this line-up and how he performed in Tests.

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What does Matthew Potts bring to the table?

Having made his debut against New Zealand in 2022 at Lord's, Potts has been around the England set-up but hasn't had too many opportunities in the Test XI. 

As a bowler who thrives at seam bowling, operating in mid 130s, the 27-year-old brings a lot of control with his disciplined lines and lengths and is good at containing the run-flow of the opposition. Additionally, his height also enables him to use the extra bounce if and when it is required.

In his short career, the Durham bowler has already exhibited his skills of moving the ball away from the corridor outside off, while also picking some wickets with sharp nip-backers with a scrambled seam. He has famously also cleaned up Steve Smith in an ODI with a similar delivery in 2024 at home.

How has Matthew Potts performed in red-ball cricket?

Inference

While Potts has not played too much of Test cricket, he has a promising economy rate to bowl against someone like Travis Head with the new ball, as a similar option to Gus Atkinson, who delivered tight spells in the three matches that he played, despite only managing 6 wickets.

Although the right-arm quick averages 29.44 in Tests at a strike rate of 56.6, his FC numbers for Durham, with a lot of experience behind him, show he can pick wickets at a better average and strike rate. 

In his 10-match career, he has picked two four-fers and 10 FC five-fers show his ability to pick wickets in bunches, similar to the likes of Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue, who will be his bowling partners in Sydney.

Conclusion

Potts is a valuable inclusion in this bowling attack with the injury-prone Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Atkinson out. It is more likely that he will be their third choice pacer after Carse and Tongue, who have already made their marks in the series with 19 and 12 wickets, respectively. 

This will also be a crucial Test from his standpoint, as England are currently on the lookout for a pacer who can consistently be available and start the games after Chris Woakes recently retired and how Archer and Wood struggle with injuries.

If England manages to make it 3-2 in the Ashes with Potts' impactful contribution, he would stand a chance to feature in the playing XI more prominently. 

Notably, he also has close to 1500 runs in 93 FC innings at an average of 19.94 with the best score of 149* — these batting numbers show resemblance to what Atkinson provides them at number 9 and make him a perfect like-to-like replacement, just with a bit less experience at the international level.

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