NASSER HUSSAIN: Matt Potts has been England’s find of the summer – he looks built for Test cricket

Matt Potts has been England’s find of the summer, not just for his wickets but the way he has bowled and kept going through a demanding schedule.

He looks a strong lad and Mike Selvey, the former Middlesex and England bowler, summed it up well when he said it looks like Potts is built from the bottom up.

The key has been that Potts has kept his speeds and aggression up throughout four successive Tests – and his captain Ben Stokes looked at him when he produced a sharp one the first ball after tea on Friday as if to say ‘where did that come from?’.

Durham bowler Matt Potts has had a very impressive debut season of Test cricket for England

That is in contrast to last year’s find of the summer in Ollie Robinson who did exceptionally well in this curtailed series against India. But his problem was that, as the summer went on, his fitness faded and his speeds faded with it.

Potts looks stronger and more physically ready for Test cricket and it’s helping him get good players out, like Kane Williamson three times against New Zealand and now Virat Kohli here in the re-arranged final Test on Friday.

It does suggest that bowling regularly is the way to go rather than resting, at least in Potts case, as he bowled a lot for Durham earlier this season and took 35 wickets in the Championship before the first Test on decent surfaces with soft Dukes balls.

Potts has a nice action. His arm just goes past the perpendicular, at about one o’clock rather than bolt upright, and that makes him difficult to line up for right-handers.

The 23-year-old has stood out despite a demanding schedule against New Zealand and India

Potts dismissed Kane Williamson three times in the whitewash series win over New Zealand

Williamson, for one, got out to balls he didn’t need to play because he thought they were coming in at him but instead they straightened and took the edge.

But that action does make Potts that little bit less effective against left-handers and if you look at his first-class record it is considerably better against right-handers. 

It was noticeable on Friday, particularly after tea, that his action was not working as well against Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.

Now Potts has two exceptional bowlers to left-handers in Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad to learn from and maybe he could sit down and talk to them about it.

They both tend to go round the wicket to the lefties whereas so far Potts has tried both round and over and it is just an area he will have to work on now he is at the highest level.

But Potts now needs to contribute some runs to cement his long-term place in the side

Otherwise there is much to be excited about. Potts has a big heart, he’s good in the field and he is better with the bat than we have seen with England so far. 

He will have seen how Jamie Overton made 97 in the final Test against New Zealand and will realise he has to contribute some runs to be confident of cementing his long-term place in this England side.

There are small things, too, that mark Potts out. He’s a confident lad who comes across very well on interview. 

That might not sound the most important thing and people might say ‘what difference does that make?’ but his attitude strikes me as someone who feels he belongs at this level. He wants to be here and is not shy and doubting himself.

With Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad nearing retirement, England need new fast bowlers

With so many fast bowlers injured and two great ones in Broad and Anderson coming towards the end of their careers England are going to have to keep unearthing good young ones. Whatever ‘Bazball’ is doing with the bat it has to work with the ball too.

Rob Key said before the New Zealand series Potts could be a point of difference in this attack and you can see what he means even though he’s not express pace.

The speed gun will tell you he’s bowling at low 80s but actually batters are rushed by him because of that slightly different trajectory and he’s a little bit skiddier and catches you in that in-between length.

Potts is always at you and has been mightily impressive in his debut season of Test cricket. And that’s a massive tick for the new England management.