Liam Plunkett is 30. He made his Test debut as a raw 22-year-old in the summer of 2007 but was discarded for seven years after three Tests against West Indies. Recalled in 2014, in some ways he was the lucky one. At least he got a taste of international cricket early in his career. Mark Footitt, 29, and Mark Wood, 25, have also been late developers. Wood has still played only 26 first-class matches for Durham, while not too long ago, Footitt was struggling even to get a game with Derbyshire after being released by Nottinghamshire in August 2009. The three of them made intriguing selections for England’s Ashes training squad this week: all of them, in their different ways, have been...
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