Category: 2023

A disappointing end. Australia had no right to draw a game in which they were thrashed. However, 2-1 up is a fair reflection. England were careless in Birmingham and are now paying for it.

Trouble for Test Match Cricket

I have a great deal of respect for the genuinely neutral cricket writer or broadcaster. Not many remain, but it is hard not to get overly swept away by negativity on days like yesterday and today. However, as a Day 4 spectator, I saw a few things that seriously question the viability of the format. I had my son with me, and I really wanted him to get ‘The Ashes’ bug like I did in 1993 and 1997. Though I was a tad older, so he still has time, I was full of frustration.

Weather

As for the weather itself, I am not sure that Old Trafford could have done too much more than they did. The covers look quite limited, but the ground does drain brilliantly. Let’s face it – given the Manchester weather – it would have to drain brilliantly. As a local, it does upset me that the bad weather always comes during Test Matches – if Manchester hosted the first game of the series it would not have been weather impacted as much as Birmingham was. However, it has to be said that the Old Trafford test match in 2013 was rained off, allowing England to win the Ashes in a lost cause, in a similar way to Australia here. In 2005 weather stopped England winning, and in 2019, the day 1 weather was fowl.

What needs to be looked at is more flexability and adaptation, allowing the maximum game time. And someone has to remember that 20,000 people are sitting in the ground, watching. Those tickets are not cheap.

Over Rate and Start and End times

When interviewed this morning, Joe Root suggested some sensible ideas around start and finish times. I agree with him. Test Match Cricket needs to start at 1000 if the weather allows it. The argument about peak time travel is outdated now. Weather permitting, cricket needs to go on longer to allow all the overs to be bowled. This would particularly apply in circumstances such as this weekend, where the forecast was so poor. However, where I disagree with Root is around over rates – the players need to make an effort here. The Over Rate on Day 4 was so poor that it was just dull to watch. England caught up, of course, because the spinners had to bowl. And I am winding up to that. But some things are so frustrating. At one point, we had to wait between balls every time while short leg came in with helmet for one batter, then went out for the other. It was painful – and applies to all formats of the game.

The ground environment

I love Old Traffod. A T20 at Old Trafford is a riot of fun. For the test match, it was all ‘serious’, trying to be ‘prim and proper’. The family facilities were poor and they tried to stop you moving between overs. I appreciate its more serious, but if the lighter environment creatws successful T20s, Test Matches need to take it on, rather than fight against it. I want Test Matches to live on. I loved it growing up, when it was more serious, but not many of my friends did. Test Cricket needs to help me to engage my sons.

Umpiring Standards, Lights, Floodlights, Safety and CONSISTENCY

In this test match, the umpiring was diabolical. LBWs that were plumb were missed, and Umpires Call ones were being given out. Obvious edges were missed. And then, we come to the light.

Test match cricket just has to stop this situation where the light is deemed poor, but gigantic floodlights are shining everywhere. It is utterly mad and looks terrible. If the floodlights work in One Day cricket, they work in test matches – and if the ball has to change, it has to change. If it is safe in a T20, it is safe in a test match. The site of an umpire in sunglasses suddenly deciding its too dark for Mark Wood to bowl when it had been fine an hour earlier is one of the most ridiculous things you will ever see. And try explaining it to a 7 year old, not that anybody bothered to explain it to the crowd (probably the announcer could not believe how ridiculous it was).

I am not sure how the process works – is a light meter reading taken every time an innings or day starts? However, I was at the ground, and the change in light between the start of the session and the end was simply so minor it was totally irrelevent. The light was so bad that two massive sixes were hit in the next overs off the spinners (note – sarcasm!). It makes no sense. England had to bat in awful weather at Edgbaston. Australia should have faced Wood before tea on Saturday.

The point here is consistency. If we have a genuine safety issue here, it applied in Birmingham in England’s second innings, and it applied all through Day 4. It did not suddenly appear. Test cricket has been played in much worse light. Test match cricket will not survive while the decisions taken by officials are so unreliable and weak. It applies to LBWs, light decisions, no ball calls…indeed, to every decision the officials take.

The new players are not coming through

With the exception of one or two, both teams was very similar to the ones in 2019. The England bowling attack was one of the oldest ever for England, and the 3 Australian fast bowlers were the same as in 2019.

Who are the players that we will see in the next series, and will they be fitter? One is beginning to wonder who will play the test matches – Root and Jonny Bairstow might be around in 2025, but Ben Stokes Jimmy Anderson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali will not be. Despite the Crawley heroics, only Harry Brook looks truely at home in test match cricket of the younger players for England (the likes of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope).

So what can be done?

England have shown that Test Matches can be played in a different way, a way that is a spectacle, and some other teams are starting to copy it. Australia have been snobbish about Baz-Ball, but they are lucky that the slightly dull style of cricket they play has held out for them. It would not have done so but for the rain.

The ICC has to tackle some of the issues raised above that swiftly reduses the game to a farce. And, of course, the Schedules need to be realistic.

What about the cricket we did see?

It was great from England, awful from Australia except for Marnus Labuschagne. He played a classy knock. Wood was brilliant (when the umpires let him be), Woakes bowled well, though Broad and Anderson were not effective.

Tactics

England played well and, as David Lloyd once said, ‘we bl**dy murdered them’. England were right to bat on, or else they might have had to bat again. I had no issue with the Birmingham declaration, but England threw that game away with bad catching and bad second innings tactics. As for Lords, Australia played well – I think the bouncers were a good tactic, the critics never suggested an alternative, and it took Joe Root to come up with the answer as he did in Manchester.

Wonderful Woakes

I wonder how much of the decision-making comes from Chris Woakes being around? A calm, sensible head, joining in with the madness but not getting carried away with it. It seems just what England neeed in the dressing room.

We can not be sure about that, but we can see that they needed him on the field. He has taken wickets and should have had one more, but for some reason, his early wicket on day 2 was given a no-ball. I have already made my views clear on the umpires – his foot was behind the line, so I do not know why it was given as a no ball, but anyway, he still got 5 wickets, it just took 17 minutes longer than it should have. Not only has Woakes taken important wickets, he stuck around to hit the winning runs in Leeds. Then he found time before the 4th test match to pop over to Stockport and spend some time with the Stockport Georgians Disabilities Team (my local club). What a great guy!

Zak, Jonny and Joe

Crawley had his moment at last. He has had a really good series but needed that big score. He played like a man possessed – if he can just be a little more selective, he will play for few more of these innings.

Bairstow is now looking match fit – at Edgbaston, he was not. He gave an interview yesterday where he basically said as much – he was never going to be the right choice as wicket-keeper at the start of the summer, and he will not be the right choice in India. His batting has never been in doubt since the start of last year.

Root continues to inspire. As soon as he arrived at the crease on day 2, I spotted his new bat lift and I knew that he had cracked the bouncer theory. Australia should have ‘yorked’ him first ball – that would have been interesting.

Back to London

So England must go to The Oval and win. A 3-1 loss is a BazBall failure. 2-2 is a fair result for two matched teams. I hope the Aussies are not too smug – they have a few issues too. Its been a great series. But I do feel it is papering over the cracks.

The great thing about cricket is that every time you think you have the answer, it evolves. So it is that the premise of this article was solid last week, but maybe not today!

After the second One Day International, I was ready to give Heather Knight the plaudits. In the T20 series at The Oval, Ellyse Perry nearly dragged Australia over the line singlehandedly with a load of sixes at the end. In Bristol, it was Knight who did get England over the line. That Bristol performance contrasted with what we see so often these days when teams over-attack and lose vital wickets – particularly when chasing.

Knight kept things simple and made sure she was around at the end. Knight did not try to ‘hog’ the strike, and so we were spared the scene that has blighted the Men’s Ashes this year – where the bowling team focus on getting the tailenders out, allowing Ben Stokes or Travis Head to keep hitting the sixes (Travis Head suggestion – try hitting his stumps). It worked well for Knight when Kate Cross was able to get a few boundaries.

Then Nat Sciver-Brunt tried to do the same thing and it did not work. It failed in two ways for Sciver-Brunt on Sunday. Firstly, she was not quite at her best – at her best she would have got a couple more boundaries or sixes. She was still brilliant by the way – it is a measure of how good she is. The second issue was that, whilst Sarah Glenn stuck around, she did not quite score enough runs. I would have sent Cross out yesterday. However, whilst one can say that England did not win the game on Sunday, the fact they were even in with a chance owed to the fact that Sciver-Brunt was in. Similarly, Knight needed to be in at the end for England to win in Bristol.

I saw something similar last week in the County Championship when Lancashire lost in Blackpool. Lancashire tried to play some ‘BazBall’ and should be applauded for attempting to chase a massive total. They needed to switch into defensive mode a bit sooner, and they ended up being bowled out. However, they nearly got the draw because Rob Jones batted almost till the end.

Within the last week, I have seen at least 3 limited overs games lost where a team failed to chase a total – once in the T20 Quarter-Final at Old Trafford when Lancashire slipped up, and twice yesterday when Surrey and Essex failed to chase targets. All three probably should have been won by the team chasing. In the QF, Jos Buttler was in and needed to stay in. In the Semi-Final, Surrey went too aggressive. In the final, Paul Walter failed to take advantage of some luck, going for a big slog and getting bowled.

This is not about ‘one size fits all’. Different games of cricket will need different tactics. But generally, I think it is true that batters need to put a high price on getting out. In the Men’s Ashes, England have been careless with wickets and it has cost them. I do not accept that England would be 3-0 up – the Aussies are too determined for that. But I think it probably would be 2-1 to England but for some poor batting choices made by all of Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. The point is not that they got out, but that they were set and could have scored runs quickly – but they got out.

England Men must look at this. I am all for positive batting and support ‘BazBall’. England have competed in this series in a way they did not in the previous series when they tried to play ‘proper cricket’ .However, they must remember that BazBall cannot be played in the dressing room. Once you are out, you do not score runs, and your style of play counts for nothing. Old Trafford will be tricky because of the weather, but the pitch will be a good pitch. Runs will be on offer for those who play well. Steve Smith will want runs. England need them too.

The second test match created lots of talking points and an amazing spectrum of dull cricket to extremely exciting cricket. Here is my view of the key points.

Its just not BazBall

Despite all the hype, England are not playing the cricket they played last year. They need to look closely at what worked last year. They have lost the sharpness and the excitement of last year in the field, the variety with the ball and the common sense with the bat. One of the most memorable moments of last year’s home season for England was the way Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow battled and ‘dug in’ against India before taking the attack when chasing the target in Birmingham. That is missing from 2023.

Cosy and Comfortable

For some of the players, it has got too cosy. Whilst we do not want to go back to 30 players a series (see 1988 and 89), the players need to know that if they fail, they can be dropped. Equally, county players need to know they can get into the team. It does not seem to be the case at the moment.

Bowling: the true difference between the teams

England’s batting lacks variety, and they miss having Ben Foakes coming in down the order to play differently if needed. Lack of variety is an even bigger problem when bowling. At Lords, we failed to pick a spinner, and we had 5 right arm bowlers, most of whom were unable to get past 80mph. That collection of ‘samey’ bowlers were poor on Day 1 – and that is where the Second Test Match was lost.

Equally, Australia won the game on Day 4 with brilliant bowling to get rid of Root and Harry Brook. England will have to shake up the bowling quickly – Mark Wood has to join Josh Tongue and Stuart Broad. Ollie Robinson needs to go away and find that little bit of ‘nip’ that he has lost. And, sadly, it has been one too far for James Anderson.

I am not convinced by Scott Boland or Cameron Green, but Josh Hazelwood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are all brilliant. Baz Ball or not, it is bowlers that win test matches.

Steve Smith (again)

I mean, what can one say, other than that England needs to get Steve Smith out. One more big Smith score and it is all over. Smith looks angry but driven. He is not a nice batter to watch. But he is brilliant.

My biggest frustration is that England falls into a trap of bowling where he wants them to. It has been happening for years. They see him walk across so they bowl at his legs. Guess what? It’s 4 to midwicket. They see his footwork and bowl wide, and it rockets past point for 4. Like that South African nemesis of the same name, Graeme Smith, England needs to bowl the same way at Smith as to everyone else. When bouncer theory works, use it, but otherwise, top of off stump, please.

Bodyline 2023

England were vilified for getting out to bouncers. They want to lose, said Michael Vaughan, who seems determined to see England lose. The criticism was widespread but went too far – the fact is that nobody on either team had an answer on that Lords pitch to the bouncer.

We will see if it is just that modern players can not deal with it or if the pitch was awkward because we will see a lot more in the final three games.

The Lyon roars

I have not always been a fan of Nathan Lyon but in this series, he has come over well. I was sad to see him out of the series injured. He still made a remarkable contribution with the bat – on one leg. That hopped run will live long in the memory and deserves the greatest respect. Lyon allowed 15 runs to be added by batting as he did. That would have got England’s target into the 20s – which always changes things.

Endless Extras

Before we talk about the controversial moments, let’s deal with the careless ones. England lost by 43 runs but conceded 74 extras. If we dismiss the byes, it is still 25 no-balls and wides. And of course, we had the standard Ben Stokes wicket off no-ball, though he made up for it. A couple of dropped catches, and suddenly, you have found those 43 runs.

Sack the bowling coach, get some practice in. For crying out loud, STOP THE NO BALLS.

Silly Starc

I have no time for this one. Starc caught the ball and then dragged it along the ground with his fingers over the ball. Of course, it’s not out. I cannot understand why anyone would think it was out.

Of course, maybe in the past, those were given. That does not make it right to give it now. That being said, we need consistency, which has been lacking for years when it comes to catches.

Bonkers Bairstow

I do not have much time for the Jonny Bairstow controversy either, but we will spend a bit more time on this. Bairstow was correctly given out after he strolled out of his crease. It really should not be more controversial than that. In the same way as the so-called Mankad, the whole mess can easily be stopped if batters just stay in the crease. He was sloppy and dozy. He deserved to be out and should have walked off.

These are professional cricketers who cannot afford to throw games away. To expect them not to appeal or to withdraw the appeal is not fair or realistic. Captains like Paul Collingwood, and even Brendan McCullum, made the decision to appeal and afterwards wished they had not. But afterwards is pointless – the game is lost by then.

But what about ‘The Spirit of Cricket’?

It seems to me that the so-called ‘Spirit of Cricket’ does nothing to create good spirit. It creates controversy and anger. It creates self-righteousness. It creates conflict and aggression. It gets MCC members so angry that they have to be suspended.

All the conflict around ‘Mankads’ would not exist but for ‘The Sprit of Cricket’. The problem is that it relies too much on individual interpretation. That interpretation often comes in high-pressure moments when vast numbers of people are watching. Often, many of those people watching want to see a particular team win. They are watching cricket, not listening to The Moral Maze. The idea that a Captain takes a choice that risks a winning position is hard to accept. We will have to see if Ben Stokes lives up to his rhetoric – cricket is such a funny beast that he is sure to find himself on the other side of controversy at some point in the summer.

As far as I can tell, the Spirit of Cricket does more harm than good. Here is a crazy idea. If we do not like the rules of a game – change them. Let’s make the rules around Run Outs at the bowler’s end clear. Let’s not allow run-outs unless the batter is intending to run. Change the rules. Don’t expect Captains to interpret the nefarious ‘Sprit of Cricket’ and all make the ‘right’ decision. Because I promise you – they won’t. Under pressure, with people watching, they will make the decision most likely to win the game.

Scintillating Stokes

As for Stokes the batter, we have seen it before. He has the ability to see through the impossible that not many people have. I have no words that have not already been uttered. A captain can do little in that situation. In the end, Stokes could not do it. Imagine if we had not conceded those extras though.

Saying all of that, Stokes did need runs. He really is not going to be a bowler for much longer and will have to convert himself back to that batter at 5 who can play in different ways at different times. To be honest, it is debatable how long he will be around for at all. We must treasure it while we can.

Tomorrow, England start again, and they simply have to win the second test match. I do not mean that they need to ‘feel like’ they have won. I mean that they actually need to win, and the scoreline needs to be 1-1.

Sloppy and over-confident?

A lot of attention has focussed on the first innings declaration. My view is that England would soon have been bowled out anyway. Probably, England would have lasted 3 more overs or so for little benefit, and the Aussies would not have batted until the next morning. Then everyone would have been critical of the none-declaration.

You can agree or disagree with the declaration – and its not a call I would have made – but it is not why England lost the game. Neither did over-aggresion. Equally, the Australian negativity did not win them the game and neither did Pat Cummins captaincy. His batting and bowling won them the game – not his tactics.

England lost because they were sloppy – simple as that. When I say they were over-confident, what I mean is they picked players who were not match fit and hoped to get away with it. They were wrong.

They might have got away with carrying one or two players, but all of Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Ollie Robinson and Jimmy Anderson looked either rusty or were unfit. That is almost half the team. Add in Stuart Broad’s no-balls, Harry Brook’s failure to convert starts into scores and Joe Root’s second innings shot, and it looks very sloppy.

BazBall is working

Despite all this, BazBall is working. I have never seen so much noise and moaning coming out of Australia during an Ashes series. Not a day goes by without the wisdom of one of the Aussie old boys. Matt Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin….the list goes on. Except for Marnus Labuschagne, the players have been quieter since the first game, but before that, they were pretty bullish.

The Australians know that BazBall presents the greatest threat, and they would love nothing more than to see the England players go all ‘meek and mild’. Then it would be back to the last Ashes series, which, as we all know, is null void.

Lords: Room to improve

I heard Jim Maxwell calling for Ben Foakes, saying that the Aussies can get better, but England can’t. The good news for Stokes is that this is not true. When a team makes as many sloppy errors as they did in Birmingham, it gives a great deal of room for basic improvement.

All we need now is for Michael Vaughan to ‘roast’ Jonny Bairstow. That is a sure-fire way to generate a Bluey Hundred.

A classy knock

An alien landing at Edgbaston would quickly work out that England fans seem dislike Steve Smith but also fear him. David Warner has won the fans over a bit, but he is also feared. Everybody expects Marnus Labuschange to make runs at some point.

However, I, for one, did not realise that Usman Khawaja could play like that. He ground England down while playing classy shots. It was a great relief when he was bowled by Stuart Broad, and a surprise when he did not press on for 200, done in by a bizarre Ben Stokes field.

I remember a loose player coming in against England at 2010/11. Like Smith, the early impressions were very wrong.

Missed chances

England could and should have had a lead of 100. They missed useful chances, with Broad’s no-ball being particularly frustrating. Broad was self-critical and did not look to make any excuses, and he was right to point out that over his career, he has not bowled many. English cricket has a real problem with no-balls – yesterday I was at Old Trafford and saw another one when Luke Wood overstepped for Lancashire. I do not remember Lord Botham bowling very many – though he did not have a third umpire to contend with. But this is surely basic stuff that any coach should stamp out.

The Jonny Bairstow situation is more difficult. At the start of the summer, I could not see how Bairstow could be fit to keep wicket in a test match given his injury last year. Even if he is fit, he is out of practice. When was the last time he ‘kept for England for any sort of period? I can not see how you get Ben Foakes into this team without making a tough call on someone, and all the top-order are going to know it. Having already decided that Root stays at 4, the openers are safe. So Ollie Pope and Harry Brook need to score runs as Bairstow will have to improve to keep the gloves.

Are they fit?

I am not convinced Bairstow is fit. Ollie Robinson speant half the day off the field on Day 2, though he did make a spectacular comeback on day 3, though I do not approve of the way he spoke to Khawaja. Moeen Ali is suffering with an injured finger that perhaps should have been thought about sooner. Stokes is clearly not fit to bowl, and at some point, his knee will give up – for good.

As Michael Vaughan pointed out on BBC, these guys are not getting time on the field and are not able to build up match fitness. I am not sure it would help, but it does feel very touch and go as to whether we can put a set of bowlers out.

But does it matter?

Whatever we say, this team is in a different world to the England team that played in the last Ashes series in Broad’s ‘void’ Ashes. It is easy to complain about the negatives I have outlined. But let us not forget how dreadful it was. Things are a great deal better, and the transformation has been incredible. It is going to be quite a series.

I suspect that I will not manage to write something every day. By necessity, these thoughts will not be exhaustive – work and children (and other cricket) prevent me from seeing too much. However, when I can, I will offer some thoughts about the key parts of each day.

The first ball

The Aussies kept saying that England would not be able to do it against them. That England lost 8 wickets on day 1 suggests they were right. However, it was only 8 wickets – they did not get the chance to take any more – and England charged to 393/8.

It all started with the first ball, which Zac Crawley crashed through the covers for four. It was reminiscent of Michael Slater in 1994 when he smashed four off a wayward Phil Defreitas first ball of the series. In 1994, it set the tone of Australian dominance. This one was different – it certainly did not set the tone of English dominance. It set the tone of ‘BazBall’. It validated what we all knew – that England are not going to hang about.

Crawley got England off to a good start, and today, it took a really good ball to get him out. I would have dropped Crawley, but he has already shown why he got picked. Mind you, I still think he needs a lot more runs.

Nathan Lyon

I find Nathan Lyon to be rather arrogant. I don’t think he will be too worried about that. Indeed, he will probably be quite pleased because I think it’s a bit of an act to annoy us English fans!

Irrespective of that, he is a darn good bowler. He went for 149 but took 4 wickets – on day 1. Arguably, Moeen Ali handed him a wicket on a plate, but the one to get Jonny Bairstow was a beauty.

And did I hear on TMS that this is the first time a ‘keeper has claimed two stumpings in the first innings of a test match since Jack Russell in 1989? Not sure if I heard that right (let me know!), but it can not happen often. I can not imagine what Fred Trueman would have said.

Joe Root

‘BazBall’ or not, England need Joe in the middle order. Before the game, I suggested that Root open to replace Crawley and accommodate Bairstow and Ben Foakes. Once again, I got that one wrong. Joe Root was class today, and it was in the middle order where he was needed. As was the case in the One Day team for so long, Root is the ‘glue’ that holds the middle order together.

Mind you, behind the big grin, Root is full of determination. He really wanted that hundred today and perhaps wants to conquer Australia, against whom he has not quite had the success he has had against others. I said a couple of years back that he can take inspiration from Graham Gooch who struggled against the Aussies until late in his career. Root still has time.

Declaration

I would not have declared. I would not have declared against New Zealand in the winter. But I do not have massively strong feelings about it, and it certainly ‘spooked’ David Warner. It could have worked, but it did not this time. It is doubtful England would have got too many more runs and it was worth a try.

Don’t get too funky, though, Ben.

Tomorrow

In the old days, I would have said that England will be in the field all day and on Sunday. That Australia will rack up 600, and England will be out of the game. That will be the plan.

But who knows these days. Certainly, it will take imaginative Captaincy and early wickets tomorrow. Often, scores around 400 lead to very exciting games. Let’s hope so.

I do not know what Cricket will look like in 40 years. But if we still have cricket in 40 years, I can guarantee that the players will be complaining about the schedule, while the spectators bemoan the latest ‘new thing’. The media (whatever that is in 2063) will be full of stories about how the end is nigh. Everyone will agree that the good days are almost over.

I love a seasonal diary or tour diary. The most recent ones in my collection are from 2019 (Test Match Special and Ben Stokes kept diaries in that remarkable year). I do not think as many are published as was once the case – probably because so much is shared on Social Media. But I have recently acquired a number of these diaries, the oldest of which is from 1978 (Bob Willis’ Diary of the Season which I have not yet read). They can be acquired cheaply on Amazon (other options are available) and I find them fascinating. All of them include themes that are familiar in 2023.

Bob Taylor and David Gower independently chronicled the 1978/9 Ashes Series, with the help of the evergreen Pat Murphy. Two more different personalities you could not hope to find, and Gower might have said a couple of things that he perhaps would not say in 2023. Its a wonderful read, and you get a real feel for how the series went. An England team with a brittle batting line-up heavily dependent on Geoff Boycott, Gower and Lord Botham. A bowling line-up dependent on Willis, Botham and Spinners. A series that England won, but I wonder if Graham Yallop would like to claim Stuart Broad’s line about the series being ‘void’. It was all played under the shadow of Kerry Packer and World Series Cricket. Both teams had lost star performers – Taylor himself filling the vacancy created by Allan Knott. Australia probably did suffer more than England, but Gower has always been keen to remind us that Rodney Hogg was no slouch. A major test match series played under the shadow of a controversial new tournament? Ring any bells?

A couple of years later came Graham Gooch’s Diary from 1981. It documents a shambolic tour to the West Indies by England, a tour where an England team was badly let down by politics (think 2003 World Cup) and a key member of the Management Team in Ken Barrington died mid tour, indeed in the middle of a game. That game went on without a break – certainly, that would not happen now. Gooch went from a fearome opening batter who could handle the fearsome foursome to an out of touch batter who was dropped during the 1981 Ashes before he got back into the team for the India tour. Reading it now, it is no surprise at all that Gooch took the money to go to South Africa. Indeed, it is surprising that anyone turned it down. Gooch’s complaint is the structure of the cricket season and, in particular, the lack of opportunity to play first-class cricket between test matches. Often, a Sunday League Game would be the only chance Gooch would get to play between test matches. England players not being able to practice between games? Ring any bells?

Gooch does not exactly criticise the test matches without rest days, though he does suggest that weekend test matches should not be televised, so as to avoid impacting crowds at other fixtures. It seems crazy now that the television schedules would ever not be the first consideration for a player. Mike Gatting goes further in his diary of the 1986/7 triumph. He suggests the Australia schedule was too harsh – certainly, such a long tour would not happen now. Of rest days, he says they are critical and should not be compromised. Rest Days are long gone now, and obviously, it is right that test matches run over weekends when many people do not work, and children are not at school. It is a source of deep, personal frustration that so often no international cricket is played on UK Bank Holidays. Cricketers complaining about busy schedules? Ring any bells?

Constantly the talk is that the proper cricket is going to be lost to the modern slog about. How could the modern world be up to the quality of the past? Well, it is always worth challenging the Rose Tinted spectacles. Try Jonathan Agnew’s diary of the 1988 County Season, a wonderful read but a tale of dreadful county itineraries and, of course, that old chestnut of the 1980s and 1990s – dreadful England selections. Lots of amazing overseas players, but some low quality moments too and an England team that was thrashed. Whilst Agnew must identify with Ben Foakes, who has been inexplicably left out of the England Test Match team. Things are a lot better than they were in 1988, but we can still say it. Dreadful England selections? Ring any bells?

Phil Tufnell’s ‘postcards’ from the 1998 West Indies tour is perhaps not the best written book ever published, but it tells of another awful England tour of The Caribean. This was the year of the ‘Sabina Park Pitch of Death,’ which led to an extra seventh test match replacing the abandoned first test match. England ought to have been able to beat that West Indies team, but despite Angus Fraser’s heroics and what we hoped was the big breakthrough for Mark Ramprakash (sadly not to be), England were not very good and it was one too many tours for Captain Mike Atherton. But England encountered aweful practice facilities and dodgy weather. They never had a chance. A burnt out skipper on a badly planned tour with inadeqaute training facilities? Ring any bells? Perhaps Mike Atherton would also like to adopt Broad’s ‘void tour’ line?

We’re not cars where you can just fill us up with petrol or diesel and then let us go. It does have this effect on you, the amount of playing and travelling we do – it all adds up.

Ben Stokes speaking to Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain

Is it the end of test match cricket? Many have written off One Day Internationals already. Last summer, Ben Stokes packed in the One Dayers, saying that “We’re not cars where you can just fill us up with petrol or diesel and then let us go.” A few months later, it was Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali complianing about the One Day Series in Australia which came just after the T20 Final. Of course, they found time for the Indian Premier League. Crazy, conflicting schedules. Ring any bells?

It has amazed me how the players of thev 1980s were describing so many issues that are still prevalent today. The biggest parallell, though, is surely World Series Cricket. Yet these events are over 40 years ago. As is only too clear from Agnew’s and Tufnell’s writing, some things were not so good in the past and needed to change. Indeed, when one reads about the state of West Indian Cricket in 1998 (they won but it was a mess), it is no surprise that so many West Indians put the franchies first. They offer the security that the national team failed to offer. Agnew may well have made a similar decision after being repeatedly rejected by England – Gooch and Gatting did.

Is it not the reality that nothing has changed? Test match cricket is simply as precarious now as it was in 1979.

While the Aussies are getting themselves in a total flap about short boundaries on English Grounds, the England Selectors need to pick a team for the First Test Match. The BBC Sport website (other media outlets are available) is running a ‘Pick your England team for first Australia Test at Edgbaston‘, so I thought I would have a go. It is just a bit of fun, but then I have always fancied Luke Wright’s job. Indeed, if I had been Chairman of Selectors in the 1990s, things would have been better (they could hardly have been worse). At the moment, though, picking an England team is rather difficult. I was stumped (excuse the pun).

The men’s Ashes are almost here!

We want you to put yourself in Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s shoes and pick the England side that are going to face old enemy Australia at Edgbaston from 16 June.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/65460563

The one everybody is talking about is Jonny Bairstow. Surely Harry Brook is undroppable, so how does Bairstow fit in? But it is equally difficult with the bowling. England have two of the best bowlers they have ever had in Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. They have a potentially lethal wepon in Jofra Archer, while Mark Wood was the only player to come out of the last Ashes series with any credit. Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach were at the opposite end of the spectrum in the last Ashes series – who can forget Robinson backing away to square leg giving Australia the final wicket of the series in Hobart?) but are almost mainstays of the team now.

What is almost certain is that England will stick with the players who have got them to where they are now – and it has been a remarkable year or so. That means that Leach is likely to stay as the senior spin bowler, and I do not expect Ben Stokes to call upon Rehan Ahmed ahead of Leach, at least not yet. We can also expect Zac Crawley to keep his place, opening with Ben Duckett. That logic is harder when it comes to the faster men. Anderson has been a fixture , but we saw in New Zealand that he does tire more quickly when he has to come back for more spells, particularly if the follow-on is enforced. Broad has not been a permanent fixure, and sometimetimes lacked penetration. Robinson has been constant, but surely Archer and Wood must play a role if fit. Matty Potts had a brilliant start, but it is hard to see him usurping any of the names already mentioned.

Team balance looks to be set as well. Stokes will bat at six, with Joe Root at 4 providing that stability in all of the BazBall craziness. Ollie Pope seems established at three – though I think he needs more runs and less walking around in his crease – Alex Carey will have noted the way that Pope was so easily unnerved when Tom Blundell stood up to the stumps in Australia. If the groundsman respect Stokes’ request for pacey wickets, it is unlikely two spinners will play in England – though England should not dismiss this so quickly as they do. It means that the team structure is to have a top 5, an allrounder at 6 and ‘keeper at 7, followed by 3 pace bowlers and a spinner.

What about Rest and Rotation? Surely the batters and ‘keeper will be consistent all series, barring a terrible loss of form or an injury. But it is inconceiveable that England will get the same three pace bowlers through 5 test matches so close together. Rest and Rotation can work – it did work well for England in 2019 when they were clear about roles – but that fell apart on the India tour when selection was totally random. Stokes and Brendon McCullum must consider combinations. I expect England to start with Anderson, Robinson and Archer / Wood. Any bowler who is to be roated in or out later in the series must know that from the start. Of course, it is a risk to play either Archer or Wood if Stokes fitness is not guaranteed, but a certain amount of risk is needed if England are to be victorious.

So, we have the bowlers, but what aout the top 7. Assuming everyone is fit, I can see four options, none of which are satisfactory.

• Make no changes. Bairstow does not play. After Bairstow’s destructive powers in 2022, surely this will not do.
• Bairstow comes in to open and replaces Crawley. Bairstow has never had success up the order except one century in Sri Lanka batting at three. It is not his role.
• Foakes is dropped in favour of Bairstow to keep wicket. Appart from the fact that this would be harsh on Foakes, Bairstow’s success in 2022 was as a middle order player with a clear role. One also must worry about Bairstow’s fitness to keep wicket for multiple days in a test match so soon after returning from injury.
• Bairstow replaces Crawley but comes in at 4 with Root to open. The worry here is that Australia could get rid of Root very early on. Root at 4 offers some stability. Let’s not forget – without Root at Lords last year, BazBall would not have got off the ground.

Despite reservations, it is the last option I have plumped for. I can not drop Ben Foakes as I just think he has done nothing wrong and a lot right. I like his solidarity and proper technique down at 7 – I think England will need digging out of holes. Last year, Bairstow benefitted from time to get in – he did not need to go ‘hell for leather’ from ball one.

The big risk is that Root goes early, and it is a massive lift for the Aussies. But Root has not had much success against the old enemy since 2015. Maybe it is time to try something different.

My XI: Duckett, Root, Pope, Bairstow, Brook, Stokes (c), Foakes (+), Robinson, Leach, Archer, Anderson.

For the second test match: Duckett, Root, Pope, Bairstow, Brook, Stokes (c), Foakes (+), Broad, Leach, Wood, Anderson.