Here we are again, writing yet another article about how embarrassing and shambolic English Test cricket is. It is fair to say that drastic change is needed from top to bottom in English Test cricket after an embarrassing and sadly all too predictable winter down under in Australia. One could argue that Test cricket in this country is at the same all-time low as one-day cricket was in 2015 after the humiliating group-stage exit in the World Cup. It can’t get much worse after the disastrous Ashes series and no series win at home last summer. There are no guarantees that Test cricket can experience the same extraordinary renaissance that the white ball format has experienced, however the infrastructure and player pool that the ECB has at its disposal should help England restore themselves as a Test powerhouse. But a significant amount of change has to take place if England’s Test match fortunes are to turn around dramatically.
A complete clear-out amongst the ECB hierarchy is absolutely essential. Structurally English cricket has to improve and that starts from the very top. Without strong leadership in the key positions at the ECB structural issues will occur and that has been to the huge detriment of English Test cricket. Sir Andrew Strauss’ return if just on a temporary basis is a welcomed one and one hopes that in time Strauss can be convinced to return on a permanent basis in the near future when he is ready. ECB chief executive Tom Harrison should be relieved of his duties rather than hanging on to pocket his £2 million bonus. Ultimately the man at the top has to take on the responsibility of the failings of red-ball cricket in this country currently and the prioritisation of shorter formats like The Hundred. In light of the humiliation in Australia, two men have already lost their jobs in the shape of Director of Cricket Ashley Giles and Head Coach Chris Silverwood. The decision to move on Giles and Silverwood was absolutely the right one and now the question turns to who replaces them. After Trevor Bayliss’ departure, that felt like the right time for someone outside the camp to come in and shake things up. However, the ECB promoted from within with the appointment of Silverwood and that has proved a catastrophic mistake.
The debate around splitting the coaching role between red and white ball cricket has been an ongoing one but it feels that now is the time to have two separate coaches. The schedule for English international cricket is so hectic that the demands are too high on one man. There is not enough time for one head coach to spread themselves across all formats and at the same time invest their time and efforts into watching county games and talking to players and coaches about prospective England players. Another reason to have two coaches is the difficulty of luring certain coaches due to the lucrative lure of franchise coaching which only lasts for a few months at a time. Paul Collingwood, who has been an assistant coach over the last few years, will take interim charge on the tour of the West Indies and he would be a good candidate for the one-day role but it feels that England are in need of an experienced hand from outside the England camp to take on the Test role.
Selection over the last 12 months in particular has been at the very least extremely questionable with England implementing the infamous ‘rotation policy’. Although the intentions of this policy seemed reasonable at first due to the pandemic leading to extreme ‘bubbles’, in reality the policy has not worked at all. The rhetoric from the ECB is with the busy schedule that players need to be rested either for a whole series or mid-series, however they have completely lost sight of preparing in the best way possible for the next Test match. Currently England are a shambles in the Test arena and they are not good enough to be resting and rotating without picking their best side for that specific game. The issue of selection is a wider one which has been made worse by the decision to axe former National Selector Ed Smith and give full control to former Head Coach Chris Silverwood. Having one man in charge of selection as well as being Head Coach is never a good idea; for example, a player selected is going to be very reluctant to approach the Head Coach with any concerns in fear that could lead to them being dropped. However, the Head Coach and the captain should have input into the team being selected as the captain is the one who ultimately leads the team on the field. It seems ludicrous for example that Jack Leach continues to be selected when clearly Joe Root does not fully trust him to play the role of England’s lead spinner.
One selection question that England face going forward is whether they are picking players too young without enough experience behind them. Obviously there are exceptions to that rule where a special young talent is clearly good enough despite their tender age. Players like Joe Root and Ben Stokes are clear examples of players with obvious generational talent so their age does not really come into the conversation. However, the problem with a significant number of young players is that they have not gone through the ups and downs that every player goes through during their career and so they have no experience to fall back on when a drop in form arises. Take Ollie Pope as an example; a very talented young batsman who averages nearly 60 in first-class cricket and looks destined to be a regular fixture in the Test side for years to come. He is currently going through a rough patch like every batsman goes through and is evidently lacking in confidence. Due to his tender age, he has probably never experienced this run of form in his life so it is a new experience for him at the highest level which is difficult for a man so young to manage. The question that arises therefore is would it make more sense to pick more experienced players in a way that a nation like New Zealand does, examples including Devon Conway, Will Young, Tom Blundell who all made their Test debuts beyond the age of 25? A few years back could England have considered Somerset’s James Hildreth who for many years kept churning out the runs for his county but never got a look-in?
Another elephant in the room is the question of captaincy. In stark contrast to the expert captaincy of Eoin Morgan in the white ball format, the Test captaincy remains a significant issue that is yet to be solved. Joe Root is undoubtedly a world-class batsman yet is anything but a world-class captain. There is some sympathy with Root as in recent times he has had his hands tied behind his back to some extent by the ill-fated rotation policy. The inevitable question asked about changing captain is who would replace Root which is a very fair question. However, as the BBC’s Jonathan Agnew recently declared, a lack of alternatives is not a reason to not change the captain. It feels that now is the time for Ben Stokes to be given the captaincy, in agreement with former England captain Mike Brearley in a recent article in the Cricketer. Some people are worried that with the workload already on Stokes’ shoulder as an all-rounder the captaincy is an extra burden he perhaps doesn’t need. However, Stokes is a leader for England on and off the field and one might say he virtually is England’s captain, just not by name. Whenever England are under pressure and need someone to turn to, most of the time it is Stokes who is the man who steps up and delivers a sensational performance (Headingley 2019 and the 2019 World Cup Final two cases in point).
The county game has very much come into the spotlight in light of the Ashes embarrassment. It feels very unfair to just blame the counties when the England Test side is failing. Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen suggested that the county system should be scrapped in favour of a franchise system which is ludicrous when you remember that England didn’t get to Number 1 in the Test rankings when Pietersen was playing through the implementation of a franchise system. One idea that has been mooted is to cut the number of counties which in theory might not be a bad idea but try convincing the loyal supporters of the counties that may get cut that this is a wise idea. One of the biggest issues facing the County Championship in particular is the financial benefits of the shorter formats such as the T20 Blast and The Hundred which are far more lucrative than County Championship games. The question is will the longer format of county cricket ever take centre stage when the money is mainly generated by the shorter formats of the game? The County Championship needs to be played on better pitches for batting and more fixtures need to be played in the heart of the summer instead of in early April when conditions are so one-sided to the bowlers. However, the concern remains that this will not happen because the priority for the ECB will be the money-making competitions taking place during the summer months and school holidays.
One huge talking point ahead of the upcoming Caribbean Test series is the omission of both James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The overriding questions surrounding the two of them include ‘Is it time to move on from them?’ and ‘Should they be a part of the rebuild?’. In regard to the second of those questions the answer is no as the rebuild is a long-term project, something that at the age of 39 and 35 respectively they will not form a part of this. The dilemma facing England is that both are still performing well and neither are in decline. However, it is fair to say that neither are guaranteed selection in all conditions around the world. When the time comes that Anderson and Broad decide to formally hang up their boots which bowlers would have had much experience of taking the new ball? The answer is not a lot of experience, which would leave England under-prepared for an era post-Anderson and Broad.
Another measure that could help the Test team would be having more separation between the one-day and Test sides. England have tried replicating the success that certain players have had in the shorter formats in the Test arena. These experiments like Jason Roy and Jos Buttler have simply not worked despite the hope that they could be destructive in red-ball cricket in the same way they are when a white ball is coming down at them. Certain players are guarantees in both long and short formats of the game including Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer. However, it makes sense to have a significant degree of separation between red and white-ball formats. One could argue that when James Anderson and Stuart Broad were cut from the one-day setup at the time of the last all-time low that their Test performances were enhanced.
The time has come for a rebuild in English Test cricket starting with the very structure of the ECB from top to bottom. The changes have already begun but that must only be the start if England are to rise up the rankings and reach the pinnacle of Test cricket once again.
Comments