England’s recent batting woes can perhaps be summed up by their stagnant recycling of the same old faces.

Andrew Strauss has been in and out of the side, giving the distinct impression that the England management feel their batting options are rather limited. A look at county cricket, however, suggests that this is not the case at all. A number of England-qualified batsmen braved a rainy County Championship season to score over 1,000 runs and yet they seem invisible to the eyes of the selectors. Especially, it seems, if they are nearing 30

Take 30-year-old Ed Smith who has seemingly been unofficially deemed too old for a recall by England management, despite 1219 runs at 58.04 in the 2007 season, or 31-year-old Mark Wagh’s 1310 at 54.58. A glance at those figures makes 37-year-old Mark Ramprakash’s plight, even when backed by 2007 figures of 2026 at an average of 101.3, seem hopeless.

And age may not be on the side of Kent captain Robert Key, at least not for much longer. At nearly 29 the England selectors will have him labelled as ‘too old’ within the next 12 months if their recent form is anything to go by. It would be a mistake on their parts if they did, 1250 runs at 56.81 in the 2007 domestic season shows tha Key is more than capable of building on his Test average of 31.00 and ready and raring to do so.

With England’s batting line-up flagging, a little fresh blood or, in this case, the return of an old face could see the top six regain some of their former pizzazz and give England the chance to make some big scores and take the fight to their opponents in 2008 in a way they have failed to do throughout 2006 and 2007.

Another benefit to taking Key back into the England squad is the experience he has and the support he can offer others. A long-term friend of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, Key could be one half of the support network that sees Harmison, regain his best form knowing that he has friends in the side supporting him.