What could I be talking about? It could be that the Test Match between England and India women is being played on a USED PITCH, which is bad enough. But no, I am talking about the England men.
I am usually open minded. I try not to be over critical, I try to be fair. But sometimes, it is just too much. I did not see the game live but on Sunday afternoon I was driving up the M40 with TMS on. From an England perspective, nothing good happened from the moment England started batting on Day 3, shortly before tea. It was rubbish.
Let’s be fair, New Zealand are a good team. From what I can see, they have a great team ‘thing’ going. Sometimes it is hard to understand what makes a successful team, and in the case of New Zealand, we could attribute many factors to the success they have had in recent years. However, much of it must come from Kane Williamson, even though he was not involved in the second test match. Who can forget his reaction on being told he was ‘man of the tournament’ at the end of the World Cup? “Who, me?”. But really, if England had showed the slightest interest in taking some catches, New Zealand would not have had a first innings lead.
Having already mentioned the England women, they have shown England the way. We talk about England players not getting the preparation for test matches as they play so much T20. Well, the ladies have not played a test match at all for 2 years. Captain Heather Knight faced more balls yesterday than the England men top six in the second innings.
After the Edgbaston shambles, and it was a shambles, it is hard to know where to start. I think we have to look at 2 things – Selection and Technique. In both cases, a simple truth exists. It is OK to do unconventional things when it works, but when it goes wrong, do not be surprised if people complain.
Selection
When it comes to selection, it was fine in Sri Lanka when Ben Stokes was missing – because England won. By the time of the 4th test match it was not acceptable because England had started to loose. Resting senior players is no longer an option when you have lost 4 of the last 5 games played. Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood? Surely they all have to be made available for the India series if fit.
The exception is Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson. One aspect of the rotation policy that made 100% sense was to rotate these two greats of the game. It worked in the Covid Summer of 2020 and in Sri Lanka. But it seems to have been ‘binned’ since then, and England have started loosing. It make no sense. Rotation is not a crazy idea, but you have to be consistent with it. For me, England should look at it like this:
- Number 8: Woakes or Curran, or Dom Bess if 2 spinners needed and Stokes is fit to bowl
- Number 9: Archer or Wood
- Number 10: Broad or Anderson (I would not play Broad and Anderson or Woakes and Anderson together)
- Number 11: Jack Leach (you do not need to rotate the spinner)
Olly Stone, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton all fit around that, probably at 8.
And of course, I have picked a spinner and considered picking 2 spinners. The idea that you do not pick 2 spinners in India is stupid. The idea that you do not pick 1 spinner at Lords is pretty dubious. The idea that you pick 4 fast bowlers and then win the toss and bat? I just do not know what you say about that, or certainly, I cannot find words that would be acceptable to share. Bring back Ed Smith!
The worst thing is that England have become arrogant. They think they are so good they can play half a team. Well – they are not. How many games will it take them to realise it?
Technique
Nasser Hussain has developed a real skill for ‘nailing it’. He did it again on Sky Sports. The England batters are saying that they are right, and everyone else is wrong. Hussain is right and it will not do. However, Sir Alistair Cook was keen to remind us that these techniques have got these players into the England team, but agreed with Michael Vaughan who says it is all about mindset. Jeremy Coney was delighted to see the New Zealand win, but kept asking how this type of failure can occur when you have the resources of English Cricket. Certainly nobody is wrong.
For me, the greatest failure comes from Rory Burns, who would benefit from looking at the bowler. Burns played loose drives in both innings. If Burns converts his 80 into 150, England dominate the game. After his innings at Lords though, Burns had some credit in the bank. But to play that shot in the second innings just before tea, exposing Zak Crawley who is woefully out of form? By the way, Crawley has a proper technique, but is just loose outside off stump. He needs to tighten up.
Technique is not the big deal. Cook had a strange old technique, and Graham Gooch was ahead of his time when he picked his bat up. But they made more than enough runs to make up for it. They did that by having a trusted defensive technique. They did it all over the world. They won games, they saved games. But they knew when to keep the ball out. On Sunday, England just needed to get through a few hours. They didn’t.
Time to wake up. England are loosing test matches and without some improvement, we will be back to the 90s, and Chris Silverwood will be the new Ray Illingworth.
Cricketed 