Category: 2021

England 391 (Root 180*, Siraj 4/94) lead India 364 (Rahul 129, Anderson 5/62) by 27 runs

As an England supporter I have to say something about Joe Root. At the end of England’s first innings Root was left standing again on 180 not out. I have said for several years that he is without doubt Engand’s best ODI batter of all time. Now Root must be one of England’s very best test batters of all time as well.

At one point Root was criticised because he kept getting out in the 60s. I was one of those people being critical. Then a couple of years ago he seemed to be turning into a player that got massive scores or nothing (this also happened to Sir Alistair Cook).

In the last couple of years I became worried that Root had lost some of his ‘busy-ness’ at the crease in search of the big scores. During the home series in 2020 Root struggled, but it was a unique year of course.

In 2021 Root has managed to combine that ‘busy’ player who scored all those 60s with a ruthlessness that is leading to big scores. He just keeps going and going. In the first 3 test matches of the year against Sri Lanka and India he lifted himself to a new level with those massive scores.

Against New Zealand Root seemed to be weighed down by the woes of the world but in this India series has added that cheerfulness to his batting. Root is always grinning. When he plays and misses he has this little grin that must drive bowlers mad. Even in those slightly heated conversations he will grin away.

I never played cricket at any level, but I am sure Root’s secret is technical. He has the most wonderful technique. Watching the Day 2 highlights I could not help but contrast Root and Rory Burns. Burns never stops moving, though ends up up in the right sort of place (why does he not start in the right place?). Root just stands still, but perfectly lined up.

• 

• 

In this innings at Lords Root went past Graham Gooch and into second place in England’s list of leading run scorers, behind only Cook. It took me back to the early 1990s when I first started to get into cricket. At that time, England had one truly world class batter in Gooch. When Gooch was in, England were in the game. In 2021 it feels like Root is filling that Graham Gooch role.

That early 90s England team was not a bad one but not a brilliant one either, but Gooch did actually have some help with Mike Athterton, Alec Stewart and Robin Smith in the team (that England could have those 4 and still be a ‘middle of the road team’ says a lot about the quality of bowling in the 90s).

In 2021 it feels like Root needs some help. He cannot continue to carry the entire batting unit on his own. Atherton and Stewart talk so often about how lucky they were to open the batting with Gooch. I am sure they learned more from standing opposite Gooch than they ever learned in the nets.

It is high time that the likes of Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler learn a bit more from Root. He is an inspiration both on and off the field (he sets a wonderful example) and, with Jimmy Anderson, is just about keeping England in this series. Somebody help him please!

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.

Second LV= Insurance Test, Edgbaston (day one of five) – England 258-7: Burns 81, Lawrence 67*

For several years England looked for an opener that did not exist. The selectors finally gave up on trying to turn Alex Hales or Jason Roy into David Warner, and started picking genuine openers. Guess what? The ‘fans’ still moan.

I understand that the pundits have a job, and that is to evaluate what they see. To highlight poor decision making or poor technique is part of that job. But the pundits also bemoaned the lack of ‘gritty’ openers since Sir Andrew Strauss stepped down. So I find it quite galling when they criticise the England openers for doing what we have have asked them to do – which is to ‘dig in’, Mike Atherton style. I have been really disappointed at the criticism by David Lloyd (on Sky) of Dom Sibley at Lords and Edgebaston. We cannot criticise Roy for playing loose drives then criticise Sibley for doing the opposite. What is it that we actually want?

As for the fans, well they can say what they like, it is a free county after all. Players claim to not be influenced by the media, but that was rubbish years ago and is rubbish now. Some players, such as Sir Alistair Cook, avoid social media entirely, but even Cook knew when social media was calling for him to be sacked as captain. The noise gets through eventually. And that is why I am sad to see criticism of England for doing the opposite of what we used to criticise them for doing. The problem is that the players get to the point where they do not know whether to ‘stick or twist’.

The other problem is that we were rather spoiled, pretty much from 2004 through to 2013, perhaps to 2015. Look at the quality of batting line up England could put out through that period. Consider Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell…

In 2021, England just do not have that level of technique and temperament available. Instead, England have to pick the best options available and give them time to grow. Having picked Sibley, we know we are going to get someone who will bat and bat, whatever his strike rate. Root correctly chose to back his players at Lords, rather than pretend they were another set of players that could have chased 270 on the last day. All of the pundits seem to have chosen the same pretence. In my view, that Lords chase was never even worthy of consideration. People compared it to England at The Oval in 2013, but the situation bares no comparrison. In that game, The Ashes were safe (though not for long once the next series began).

On Day 1 at Edgebaston, the problems faced by England batsmen was when they made poor decisions, with the exception of Sibley who got a good ball. Zak Crawley was really done by the ball before he was out, but he looks all out of sorts. Root was a bit loose and Rory Burns aimed a big drive when he had another hundred ready for the taking. Ollie Pope was out on the cut shot having edged a cut earlier in his innings and James Bracey played an awful shot. Bracey is not ready yet, but lots of players were not ready when they started at test match cricket, including Graham Gooch who did ok in the end. We are not going to criticise Olly Stone for his 20, but he only got out when he aimed for a big sweep. Even Dan Lawrence was played some risky shots, but perhaps he had no choice, and by the time Day 1 finished he was looking very good, though he does get in odd positions at times.

It seems to me England are confused in approach. Sibley and Burns have curious methods, but they have methods they have developed. Crawley has a method that worked against Pakistan but we have not seen since – I think he is too loose too early. He needs to go back to Kent and work with Rob Key to tighten up. Pope and Lawrence both look like ‘cats on hot tin roofs’ when they start. If they could start better, they would probably benefit a great deal. Lawrence would do well to develop a clear method tomorrow morning – if he gets 3 figures England will go past 300 almost certainly.

England need to pick the players and given them clear instructions of the role they fill. The strength of the 2010 team was clarity of role. Having given that clarity of role, we all need to respect that and allow the players time to make the role work. Yes, players need to adapt to situations – but let’s adapt to not loosing games first. These players are the best available, let’s back them for once.

In the 6 away test matches in 2021 England used 18 players – but won the first 3. Then England have made 5 changes since the last India test match. What on Earth is going on?

Personally I think Ed Smith was hard done to. He picked the squad that won the World Cup. He reacted to what Chris Silverwood and Joe Root wanted, as we have seen this focus on top order runs since Trevor Bayliss moved aside. I dislike the idea of the ‘supremo figurehead’ which we now have in the form of Silverwood. I think back to Ray Illingworth in the mid 90s and some of the, frankly, terrible teams that were selected during the period when he was manager and chairman of selectors. It was just too much of a conflict of interests.

My concern with Smith was always that he over complicated selection. Perhaps a little too much focus on ‘horses for courses’. Perhaps Smith was guilty of putting ‘too many eggs in one basket’. For example, the day night test match in India when England ended up with 4 fast bowlers.

Maybe Smith was not the source of this chaos. Because we now have the latest mixture of chaos, and Smith was nowhere to be seen – he has been sent packing. We have a test match at Lords, in the middle of the hottest weather we have seen for a little while. It is expected to continue to be pretty decent weather. I would not consider Lords to be a pace bowler’s paradise. Yet we have no spin bowler, and Root bowling 11 overs. It made me think of when England dropped Graeme Swann at Headingly and Kevin Pietersen took 4 wickets.

I do understand that things are rather complicated. Firstly we have Covid and the bubbles. I do recognise the importance of mental health, and so the need to rest and rotate players is clear.

Then we have the dreaded IPL, which sadly has had to be put on hold. That means England are missing Stokes and Buttler for sure. Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali might also have been in contention for this test match.

Then we have injuries. It is all a bit odd with Jofra Archer, but he clearly has an elbow problem which has to be managed. The fish tank incident is a bit of a ‘freak’ Then Ben Foakes is injured – Foakes must be one of the most unlucky England players of recent times.

Out in the future, the challenge of Australia later in the year. The 5 Ashes tests all happen within 6 weeks and irrespective of whatever disasters are occurring on tour (we have had a few Ashes tour disasters) England will not get 11 players through the 5 games. They absolutely need to build a squad, and the idea that you just pick your absolute best team is not simple.

However, the combinations of players need to be logical. At times this year, it has been just silly. Moeen’s single test match and Bairstow missing the 2 middle test matches seem the maddest, along with the battery of fast bowlers in the day night game. Some of the ideas of the last year have made sense – such as the rotation of Broad and Anderson, but we seem to have thrown that system away.

At this rate, England are going to end up in Australia trying to combine a set of players in a team that has not played together since many months before. It is turning into a shambles.