Are We Nearly There Yet?

I’ve just done an interview for the Vodafone website. I’ll let you know when it’s live. I was asked whether England have done well this year, and whether they’re on course to become the number one side in the world. My answers were ‘yes’ and ‘no’ respectively.

I answered the second question negatively simply because, in my humble opinion, we can’t read too much into the Sri Lanka series. It was a contest between the 7th ranked test team in the world, who are going through a transitional period, and a team who are very good at home – particularly ooop north in May.

England played pretty well, so please don’t think I’m deliberately picking holes in their performance, but winning tests at Leeds and Durham against an Asian team in May was always going to be a synch. It’s a bit like Australia beating Bangladesh at Perth. You know what the result will be as soon as the fixtures were announced.

Have England made progress over the last few weeks? I actually think it’s debateable. Hales and Woakes were positives but Compton and Vince were negatives. What’s more, I still think it’s far too early to judge whether Hales can hack test cricket. Let’s not forget that Sam Robson also scored runs against Sri Lanka in 2014. In fact he scored more of them: 371 runs with a century, compared to Hales’ 292 without a century. Tougher tests lie in wait.

I think we can actually read something into Woakes’ performances though, if only because he was England’s fastest bowler and looked quite dangerous at times. He’s also clearly a gifted and organised batsman, although Sri Lanka’s bowling was so powderpuff that it’s hard to tell. Other than Pradeep, who kept running in hard, they looked utterly toothless. Conditions didn’t really suit Herath of course.

The bottom line is that there are still gaping holes in our batting lineup. Those of us who criticised Nick Compton’s selection were spot on (which makes a nice change)! It never made any sense to me that we persisted with him after the tour of South Africa. He was in such poor form for Middlesex that it was almost unfair on the guy. I took no satisfaction whatsoever in his failures.

Worrying, I believe Compton’s selection simply demonstrated the dearth of young batting talent in the country. The selectors obviously felt they had no option but to turn to a journeyman because none of the promising batsmen in county cricket were ready. The struggles of James Vince – who will surely have the opportunity against Pakistan to turn things around – also suggest that the conveyer belt of test quality batsman has temporarily stalled. James Taylor’s retirement looks more and more unfortunate.

I’ve always quite liked James Vince, mainly because I’m a sucker for elegant batsmen who drive pleasantly, but the manner of his dismissals really worried me. No batsman should get clean bowled twice in the same match (as Vince was at Lord’s). You could argue that specialist batsmen shouldn’t get clean bowled full stop. A close friend of mine is a Hampshire fan and he simply doesn’t rate Vince. Maybe he’s right?

The other frustrating thing for me was that England didn’t even try to blood a young specialist spinner. It looks like the selectors have decided that Mo is the best we’ve got and that’s that. Am I the only one who thinks this simply isn’t going to cut it in India this winter?

I’m Mo’s biggest supporter, and I love watching him play, but his bowling hasn’t come on at all. He doesn’t vary his pace enough and good players should be able to milk him quite comfortably. He might be joined in the attack by Adil Rashid in India, but my worry is that neither of them offers much control. Last time we toured that part of the world we had Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Both of them could take wickets and keep it tight at the same time.

I’m still not sure what England have in Moeen. He scored a fantastic hundred at Durham, and looked brilliant in the process, but if his bowling isn’t good enough, and he’s not one of the best six batsmen in the country, what is his long-term future? As a Worcestershire man I love Mo dearly, but he’s still something of a riddle.

The other big story of the Sri Lanka series was Jonny Bairstow. But were his performances really a net gain? His batting has come on so much, and I feel really chuffed for the guy, but his keeping was terrible. England aren’t good enough to drop multiple chances and get away with it. The bowlers must get exasperated.

The problem, however, is that the balance of the team will be affected if we select a specialist keeper. It’s the same dilemma if we try to blood a specialist spinner. England’s top order is almost too fragile to weaken the lower middle-order. In fact, the only reason we manage to put competitive totals on the board is because we bat so deep.

Eventually England might have to put their faith in Ben Foakes (who averages 34 for Surrey this season) and hope he can develop as a batsman in time. One could argue he has more chance of developing into a legitimate test six than Bairstow has of becoming a legitimate test keeper. Maybe Jonny’s future will ultimately be at number five (as a specialist batsman) even though this seemed unthinkable a year or so ago.

The other notable thing to come out of the series was James Anderson’s rise to number one in the test bowling rankings. Congratulations Jimmy. There’s no doubt that he’s a superstar in English conditions, even though he hasn’t performed as well in other parts of the world. I love watching Jimmy bowl and I couldn’t care less if people from other countries want to dwell on his limitations. He might not be the best bowler of all time, but he’s an extremely skilful performer and indisputably world class.

Bizarrely Anderson and Broad have now taken more scalps than any other opening bowling partnership in test history. They’ve obviously taken these wickets at a higher average than guys like Lillee and Thompson, Ambrose and Walsh, and Wasim and Waqar, but it’s still a fantastic achievement – not to mention a huge vindication of central contracts!

I still worry that England look a bit toothless on flat wickets though. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have a world-class spinner or someone with genuine pace. A fit Mark Wood might help matters (although he’s not express) but otherwise it looks like England will have to live with these problems for a while yet.

And there’s the rub. You can’t be a dominant force in world cricket if you’ve only got three batsmen, don’t have a reliable wicket-keeper, don’t have a quality spinner, and don’t have anyone to rough opposition batsmen up. England are obviously a good side, but I worry that ‘good’ might be as good as this particular team will ever be.

James Morgan

25 comments

  • As a long suffering Hampshire fan I have watched James Vince come up through the ranks. A hugely talented youngster, he was always destined for England honours in some form of the game but he has always frustrated the majority of us. When you want a number 3-5 to come in and shore up a 34-3 he will play a breezy 25 from 21 balls and then get himself out. At Hampshire we are always glad of Sean Irvine coming in behind him, someone who can really get his head down and bat with purpose and brutality if need be. I’m afraid Vince has never really displayed these qualities and it was firstly a surprise that he was given a test spot and then no surprise that he didn’t get a score. If he does play against Pakistan I think he may really struggle.

  • I agree with almost all of your analysis and sadly also with the conclusion. When one realises that Branderson cannot go on forever, then it looks a bit bleak. 2 quality Test batsmen and a third possibly emerging (although with his technique JB will have some pretty lean periods one suspects as well as some spectacular one), one matching-winning all-rounder and not much else apart from the two opening bowlers who have peaked. There are just too many debatable places and gaps without obviously talented people to fill them.

    I would be inclined to give Woakes a run in the side and see what he is made of against better opposition. He looked the part with the ball (and can bat) and we will need to find a genuine swing bowler from somewhere but can he reverse swing it? We know what Finn can do when he is firing so there is nothing to learn there except that sometime he does and sometimes he would look better replacing Hercules and pulling Steptoe’s cart.

    We simply have to find a good keeper who can contribute with the bat – we can’t have to take 11 or 12 wickets per innings against good sides and hope to win regularly. Immediately one might think that has to be someone who can keep well to spin – but that does presuppose that we have a couple of spinners who can perform in India. Unlikely! We might need to rely on reverse swing with the old ball there. Wood when fit is capable of reversing at some pace but who else amongst the lesser known?

    Hales has to be give the opportunity to succeed or fail. We will know by the end of the next two series. He has come across in interview as one who wants to learn so that is a start. Taylor is a sad loss – a player of some talent and even more character one feels. I remain unconvinced by Vince – looks great and then gets out so often when he should be taking advantage of having got in. He should be given a run and I would love to have to eat my words!

    My team for Old Trafford (assumes Stokes is fit) would be:

    Cook (c)
    Hales
    Root
    Vince
    Bairstow
    Stokes
    Ali
    Buttler (w)
    Woakes
    Broad
    Anderson

    It still has every chance of being 40 for 4 but couldn’t bat deeper after that. It still has not much chance of winning on pitches designed for Ashwin and Co.

    Ho, hum.

  • Your comments on Bairstow’s wicket keeping are a bit harsh. He took an awful lot of catches as well. Buttler was no better as wicket keeper and a lot worse as batsman but England persisted with him. Prior was awful at the beginning. Not much consolation but nobody questioned sticking with him. As for the rest England just seem very complacent and a little bit hopeless or is it hapless about selection which has been off the mark. Compton – why did that happen at all? Vince – those close to the club said he wasn’t ready in red ball cricket. Better white ball cricketer. He seems quite similar to Ali in one way. Elegant but no compact technique. Ali – isn’t a good enough spinner. Everyone has gone silent on Bell. Nobody says why. He was injured at the wrong time. But that happens. But to mention Borthwick as a possible Test No 3 is strange indeed and I am a Durham supporter. It makes you wonder about the other so-called Test possibilities if he’s top of the list. I think Strauss concentrated on ODI and t20 cricket to the detriment of the Test side. It’s now beginning to show. The Test side is carried by one or two batsmen. Can’t go on. No proper spinner and we’re going to India. England have been sleep walking into the problem. White ball cricketers might excel in the short forms of the game, no guarantee they can change their game sufficiently to play Test cricket – get found out and then come back stronger. Root should have moved up to 3 and got used to the position. Poor management. Not impressed by Bayliss re. the Test side.

    • Bayliss has been trying to convince root to bat three and openly says he thinks he should! Root doesn’t fancy it, I think this is partly due to the unsettled opening partnership and he feels most of the time he would be opening which he clearly does not want to do

      • And the fact he nicks off easily and regularly which means he isn’t a top three batsmen

    • Bayliss has won three out of his four Test series, including the Ashes and SA away. That’s a more than decent start, cut the bloke some slack! And as much I love Jonny Bairstow, Buttler was (and still is) comfortably the better gloveman. Kept tidily with good footwork during the Ashes and against Pakistan in the UAE… even though he also isn’t a ‘natural,’ he still managed not to drop chances with the frequency Bairstow has! Only got axed because his batting went to pot.
      And Prior wasn’t persisted with, he got dropped after that shocker in Sri Lanka. Then he did the bulk of his improvement away from international scene. I actually hope they stick with Jonny but he needs to get better, and quickly. The India tour will be a nightmare if he doesn’t.

  • The rankings are going to be like a game of four-dimensional chess in July-August with all the top four teams in action.

    Australia are currently top with 118 ranking points. England and India can both get to 114 if they have clean-sweeps in their forthcoming series (India are going to the WI). 3-0 against Pakistan would put England on 113 and 3-1 112.

    Australia are touring SL for a three-Test series. Any series win would keep Australia top. A 1-1 draw would see Australia drop to 114. If Australia lose that series, then their ranking would fall quite seriously (e.g. 0-1 or 1-2 would see them fall to 111). Australia have a very good record in SL (they’ve only ever lost one Test there – odd when one thinks of their troubles in India) but their current crop of batsmen are unproven against the turning ball and SL’s pitches have been more bowler-friendly in their last three series at home.

    There will be a test on all this later!

    • That’s a really weird stat re: Australia in Sri Lanka. I’m amazed Murali didn’t win a handful of games on his own!

      • The one Test SL won was in 1999 and it was the game where Waugh and Gillespie collided in the field so Australia were effectively down to nine men!

        Murali took nearly 50 wickets at home against Australia with five five-fors at an average of about 26 – not bad but almost any reasonable standard but Warne took his wickets in SL at 21…..

  • I think in general this is a typically English review of an England time! Always amusing. It’s easy to look at what this side cannot do as it is intrinsically different to any other. I would prefer first to look at the positives. We have the best opening batsman in the world which is always vital. I think hales has massive potential, now that he has decided how he wanted to play which was always going to be his first problem – he doesn’t leave the ball for Notts very much because he doesn’t have too. There isn’t anything too wrong with his technique or ability, they don’t all have to be jayawardena! We then have one of the outstanding cricketers in the world in joe root, we don’t need to talk too much about him…
    Ben stokes would walk in to every test side in the world and I think his batting will develop rapidly once he gets his head around the tempo of test cricket, he will always score quickly. He really does have a fantastic set up and is much much more than the biffer people categorise him as due to first impression. Jonny Bairstow is batting beautifully and at the moment just has a Midas touch and is in a great place. Moeen Ali is an outstanding cricketer too, he could bat 6 comfortably as he is always better with just a bit of responsibility as he realises how good his technique really is and how good HE is! Also, I’ve watched most sides in the last few years, either at Trent bridge or new road and the ‘we need a proper spinner’ call is made with a blindfold on, there really aren’t many and it will take time to change this. At the moment, moeen is told to attack by England quite clearly, and therefore people saying he needs to bowl economically aren’t seeing his whole picture. His strike rate is still pretty satisfactory. India will be tough but dropping mo is not the solution. Then the biggest strength, the two best seamers in the world by a distance, and people turn this in to a negative! Every side would rely on these two! Wood, woakes Finn ball aren’t bad bowlers either, I really hope woakes keeps playing as he is…

  • There, I’ve got the big positives out the way. Now the negatives, which j think are mainly the selectors fault. Their selections are consistently poor. Vince has an ordinary record, none of the best batsmen score their runs solely by driving. Nick Compton did nothing to get selected, other than the selectors bottled it when there were collapses and though tags scoring slowly fixes this. The trouble is Compton has never been mentally tough enough to score runs, he has never been technically good or in my own opinion, any where near good enough to play internationally. I keep asking this when I see England, is the middle order stronger without ballance and bell? Ballance has had a slow start to the season though there have been signs of form returning. Again, he was dropped for what he couldn’t do rather than what he had done which is score runs runs and runs. Bell too, is a better player than Vince and definitely Compton. Also, borthwick will be picked to play Pakistan, he’s having a great season though with mainly white ball cricket before the tests, where he doesn’t bat too much, he will be making his batting debut without much cricket a little raw. Again, would he average 50? I doubt it and whilst I like him as a cricketer I would still like to see ballance ahead of him in the pecking, batting at 4.

    The keeping is an issue, there isn’t two ways about it, Bairstow isn’t very good at catching an yes prior got better but improved when he was dropped, also, is prior an outlier and given Bairstow has kept for 7 years as a professional is he going to get better? I find the talk of foakes frustrating as it all seems to have come from Alec Stewart. I’m sure he is a better judge and has seen more than me but I’ve never been too impressed and there isn’t anything special about his keeping. If we wanted a more natural gloveman, there are a few I think who are better in perhaps both departments (aside from read). Billings is really talented with the gives though I wonder if he would rather concentrate on white ball game. Cox, brown Simpson etc are all very good Keepers too though I don’t see them playing test cricket. It all comes back to Steve Davies, why the hell is he not keeping wicket?!?!? Then the young guys, as in nearly every department, the guys around 20 atm have more potential than the guys around 23-25. Joe Clarke and Ben Duckett, both could play in the same side for England very soon

    • Compton not technically good enough and yet you say hales is ?? Or moeen? Blinkered fella

      • Blinkered fella? There isn’t much right about comptons technique. A technique should enable you to score firstly which his doesnt. He also is so late on the ball consistently that he can’t control it. His hands are hard and he has little answer to good bowling. I suggest you watch what sky have been saying re compton. They were all a,axed he was ever picked and that they then stuck with him.

        I’ve watched Hales for many years, there is nothing wrong with technique. People said he didn’t know where his off stump was in SAnbut having seen him live a lot I beg to differ. It was more an uncertainty as to how he wanted to play, he was out defending outside off but instead half driving. In CC he’s is so talented that he can just play through the offside but has adjusted this to test cricket and realises he has enough shots to let the bowlers play into his zones. But thanks for your dig.

        Moeen also has as good a game as any, bat a guy at 8 he will play like an 8. It was the same with stokes and Buttler in the WI. Stewart described Moeen as the best county player since ramps….

        • Not sure I said comptons was better but thanks for the technical breakdown anyone even remotely knowledgable about cricket can see.

          Hales and moeen lack technique too, sadly county cricket is so poor they have not only prospered but do not get found out . Let’s see what hales and mo are like when they finally face some genuine bowling on non roads

          Sadly, there is little bowling in the world unfortunatley now. Biffers

          • That sounds rather good to me. Context, growth and competitive cricket. Not sure there’s anything to quibble about.

            As for what did we learn about the Sri Lanka series. I didn’t watch a lot so my thoughts are thin but here goes.

            Bairstow is in our best 3 batsmen and should be batting in the top 5.
            Mo is a quality stroke player and should bat 6 when Stokes isn’t fit.
            Compton is done. I feel for the fella and he played his part in SA but it felt like an apology selection.
            We really need to sort our bloody calendar out. Summer solstice tomorrow and we’ve had 3 tests already, that have barely raised an eyebrow.

    • The problem with Davies and Clarke is that neither are keeping for their counties. I wish they were in a way, although Clarke has so much natural talent as a batsman that maybe it’s best he focuses on that. I really wish I’d seen more of Billings with the gloves on. I’ve heard that he’s more of a batsman-keeper than the other way around, but I really can’t substantiate that myself.

      • The billings word came from flower. I remember when he was with the lions he had a few tough days with the gloves and flower wrote him off. I’ve seen him a few times, he’s a natural. Unlike many of the keeper batsman he is lively and not tense with the gloves which shows he is confident which is so important. Good hands too. Remember he started at Kent playing just as a keeper, didn’t do anything with the bat if I remember correctly.

        • I seem to remember that Billings has the fastest bat speed of any England player tested, by quite some way, which would tend to confirm your ‘good hands’ opinion.

  • Just to pick up on one of the comments – “When one realises that Branderson cannot go on forever, then it looks a bit bleak.”

    I think it’s worth remembering back to when they came into the team. Broad was rushed into the team, didn’t look ready. Anderson had years of failure in the Test side. There was promise, not denying that, but it was a big call to bring them in and to replace Hoggard and Harmison, two proven (if fading) performers. Most would have laughed if you’d said Anderson would finish with over 500 Test wickets (as he should now achieve).

    The hope is that players will step up if given the responsibility, just like they did. The other hope is that Broad can keep going for a few years after Anderson. I think that Woakes could step up – temperamentally, he seems to have more about him, whereas Finn appears to have that niggling doubt always at the back (or front) of his mind regarding his run-up, action, follow-through, economy rate etc.

    That said, Finn is much more of a star bowler than Woakes, more likely to get a wicket out of nowhere and there is still the chance that everything could suddenly click for him.

    On wicket-keeping, Foakes is getting his name mentioned a lot. Good that he is now keeping for Surrey. In terms of England’s plans, I’d look to keep Vince at 5 for Pakistan, knowing that we would probably need to drop a batsman to bring Rashid in for the winter. Bringing Buttler in for Vince would create a selection problem for the winter – either Bairstow would have to be given the gloves back, or everyone gets promoted up a spot.

    England also have their eye on Clarke, though I’m not sure if that’s as a specialist batsman or not.

    • That sounds rather good to me. Context, growth and competitive cricket. Not sure there’s anything to quibble about.

      As for what did we learn about the Sri Lanka series. I didn’t watch a lot so my thoughts are thin but here goes.

      Bairstow is in our best 3 batsmen and should be batting in the top 5.
      Mo is a quality stroke player and should bat 6 when Stokes isn’t fit.
      Compton is done. I feel for the fella and he played his part in SA but it felt like an apology selection.
      We really need to sort our bloody calendar out. Summer solstice tomorrow and we’ve had 3 tests already, that have barely raised an eyebrow.

      • Just when you think maybe the ICC have got their heads around the concept of meritocracy….

        There’s some discussion that they want to include Nepal as the 13th team because they are impressed by the level of support for cricket in Nepal. It is indeed impressive (a crowd of 10,000 watched their recent match against Namibia – compared to 800 at Ireland vs SL) – but unfortunately the team is 6th in the WCLC (behind the Netherlands, Hong Kong, PNG, Scotland and Kenya).

        • I should also add that the plan would have implications for the ECB’s apparent desire to kill-off the domestic 50-over competition in 2019. If there are going to be this number of ODIs played globally, could England really not have a domestic tournament?

  • I agree with much that has been said in the various comments, but I must disagree with some of the words about keepers. Firstly the assertions that Buttler should keep and is better than Bairstow. Buttler has repeatedly shown that he cannot ‘ride’ with anything unexpected when standing up. That is the mark of a real keeper and he does not have it (neither does Bairstow). Even more worrying in Buttler’s case is that he seems to position himself incorrectly for fielder returns too often – which seems elementary. I find it even harder to imagine Buttler as an international keeper than Bairstow. I do think Foakes is a bit better with the gloves than some suggest but I agree with the comment about Steven Davies. He is a class above even Foakes and a loss to keeping. Billings I do like from what I have seen. If I had to choose any keeper from those apparently in favour it would be Billings – and that for tests as well as white ball (with Bairstow retained as a bat). What is most frustrating about this debate is that all the best keepers are 30+ (Davies is 30) and out of favour. In the past it would not have counted against Chris Read that he is 37 or James Foster that he is 36.

  • The jury at the end of the SA series said that in the top 5 you had Cook and Root and erm, not a lot else. 3 games against a Sri Lankan side far worse than anything that we’ve played from that country since the early 90s and we have still been prone to being 4 wickets down for not very many. I think that tells you all you need to know. Compton is finished and the jury is still out for me on Hales and I’m concerned about Vince. Given that the top order has done badly against this Sri Lankan team can we not have a little bit of concern about how it might do against a classy looking Pakistan bowling attack?

    Bairstow may have to be considered as a specialist bat. I note comments about Matt Prior above who was poor when he first came into test cricket as a gloveman, but he was dropped for a year. Bairstow is in the side because Buttler couldn’t hack it as a batsman and this is after Bairstow himself hasn’t always found it easy as a specialist bat.

    I can only agree on Woakes and Ali. One is improving as a player with bat and ball and one is stalling.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

copywriter copywriting