Keaton Jennings

Keaton Jennings was viewed by many as the heir of Alastair Cook and was touted to become a future England captain. A talented left-handed opening batsman, Jennings was born in South Africa, but holds British citizenship, on account of his mother.

Jennings made his first-class debut for the Gauteng against Free State back in South Africa in 2011. He moved to England and played domestic cricket for Durham for four years before getting legal permission to be a British citizen. 

It was in the 2016 County season where Jennings really flourished as a batsman. The Johannesburg born amassed 1,548 runs at an average of more than 64, including seven hundreds. He was named the County Championship 'Player of the Year' by Cricket Writers’ Club.

England toured India in 2016 for a four-match Test series, and Jennings received his maiden England call-up in that series. In the first Test match at Wankhede, Mumbai, Jennings played a stunning knock, and slammed his maiden Test ton (112), to become the 101st player to score a Test hundred on debut. 

But after a dream debut, his form dropped and his footwork against pace bowling was also questionable. After repeated struggles in the domestic circuit with Durham, Jennings decided to try out his luck somewhere else as he joined Lancashire ahead of the 2018 season.

The opening batsman had a decent domestic season in 2018, and as a result, was recalled into the national setup for the Test matches against Pakistan and India.

Against India, Jennings partnered Alastair Cook and often got out after getting good starts. He played in all 5 Test matches and could only score 163 runs at an average of 18.

A batsman with a desire to occupy the crease at all cost, Jennings was the future of English cricket. However, poor form and the inability to not convert decent starts into a mammoth score resulted in Jennings getting completely axed from the national setup.

(As of May 21)