The late 1980s and 1990s were known for their catastrophes. England supporters all knew the score: we’d collapse more often than not and show less backbone than a raspberry jelly.
However, things got a little better when central contracts were introduced. Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain provided stability and resilience; Michael Vaughan turned us into winners; then Andrew Strauss created an efficient machine. We might not have reached the heights of Viv Richards’ West Indies or Steve Waugh’s Australians, but at least we were well respected. Humiliation and embarrassment were a thing of the past … or so we thought.
Although we’ve been relatively spoiled in recent times – we’ve won the Ashes more often than not and generally dominated at home – two clear exceptions spring to mind; exceptions that remind us of the bad old days when we got turned over like pancakes on shrove Tuesday.
The first, of course, was the 2013/14 Ashes, when Mitchell Johnson ripped out our hearts and ate them in front of us. The second one, I’m sad to say, is this current tour of India. We’ve been thrashed. We’ve been embarrassed.
Today’s collapse, on what remained a decent enough batting wicket, was one of the most miserable batting displays I’ve seen from an England side (and boy have I seen a few). It wasn’t totally unexpected – which shows just how bad things have got – but low expectations shouldn’t disguise just how lamentable today was.
Some of the dismissals were unforgivable really. If you’re feeling charitable you’d say the strokes played by Cook, Bairstow, Root, Stokes and Moeen were ‘tired’. A less tolerant observer might call them ‘lazy’ or even ‘unprofessional’. We basically gave India catching practice.
The shot played by Moeen was particularly awful. I can’t think of a less appropriate and more boneheaded stroke in all my years of watching cricket. What on earth was he thinking? Root’s limp sweep wasn’t much better and neither was Bairstow’s ‘lap to leg’ or whatever you want to call it.
Alastair Cook, because he’s Alastair Cook, also escapes a lot of criticism when he’s out to a poor shot. But the blogging community doesn’t have to pay homage to the England captain like others feel compelled to do. To be caught down the leg-side, playing well outside the line of one’s pad, is a horrible piece of batting. The captain’s wicket wasn’t a strangle; it was daft batting by a very experienced player we’ve come to expect more from.
Stokes and Rashid also threw their wickets away in a fit of absentmindedness. Although the former might argue that the ball stopped on him a little, I question what shot he was trying to play in the first place. And as for Rashid, who chipped the second new ball straight to midwicket, one can only assume he completely lost track of the situation. England might still have survived at that point. Buttler was at the other end and there were only 15 overs to go.
Most people expected England to lose this series – I predicted 1-3 myself – but the manner of our defeat has hurt a great deal. We’ve now lost six of our last eight tests and the team is going backwards. What’s more, the policy of playing so many all-rounders (long considered to be a blessing) also looks increasingly flawed. When key batsmen have exhausted themselves with the ball in hand, is it any surprise they look frazzled when they finally put the pads on?
Strategically this tour has been an unmitigated disaster. The selectors have done a horrible job and should be sacked. An article that appeared in the Daily Mail yesterday, which claimed Jack Leach was ignored because research suggests he chucks it, has also raised eyebrows. He was, after all, picked for the Lions.
Many people will see this story – given that it was published the same day England conceded 750 runs – as a cynical ploy to get our selectors off the hook. The few times I’ve seen Leach on TV the commentators have generally commended his action for being pure and orthodox. Make your own mind up by watching the clip below. Skip to 1 minute and 25 seconds to see Leach bowl.
These allegations will surely have a massive impact on Leach and put him under enormous scrutiny. It seems wholly unfair to go public with (or leak) this information. At a time when we’re desperately crying out for a quality young spinner, this story might end up burying the best prospect we’ve got.
Before I move on to the burning issue – the future of the burnt out Alastair Cook – I’d quickly like to congratulate India. They’ve been brilliant and hats off to them. Although I disagreed with the timing of Kohli’s declaration yesterday, and I think his appealing is too aggressive at times, you can’t fault how he’s modernised his team.
India’s seam bowling and fielding (two areas of historical weakness) have improved dramatically. This should make India competitive all around the world – something they haven’t been for a long time. It’s really good to see. They’ve completely dominated England in their own backyard and deserved their win. The 4-0 score line doesn’t flatter them at all.
What’s more, I applaud Kohli for actually caring about test cricket. There was always a sense that MS Dhoni simply went through the motions and cared far more about the limited overs stuff. Kohli is a completely different animal. He cares about test cricket and he wants to win in all forms.
World cricket needs more people with Kohli’s attitude – especially as everything the ECB has planned for the future of domestic cricket seems to prioritise the white ball versions of our sport. I recommend you give this article by George Dobell a read. It’s a little sobering though.
Finally we must turn to Alastair Cook. We’ve heard that the team are all behind him – you wouldn’t expect to hear anything else – and he’s avoided the temptation to resign straight away. However, it’s reached a point where I think his departure is inevitable.
No matter how hard Cook has tried, and no matter how much his face fits the desired profile, he’s simply not up to the job. He’s always been an average captain at best and unfortunately, on this particular tour, he’s been well short of average. He’s been too defensive, shown little imagination, and his lack of feel for the game is quite alarming at times.
Although I worry whether now is the right time for Root to take over, and I don’t know how easy it will be for a player as senior and stubborn as Cook to fit seamlessly into the dressing room as a pure batter, I don’t think England can go on like this. A change must happen.
I expect Cook will have his heart to heart with Andrew Strauss – he’ll surely follow protocol rather than doing anything unexpected – and then either move aside or be moved aside. Although England have made good progress in one-day cricket in recent times, the test team has gone backwards. There’s no disguising this now. Our plight isn’t completely hopeless, as Hameed and Jennings offer some hope for the future, but things look as bleak as they’ve been for a while.
Oh how we’d kill for a batting line up of Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell and Prior these days. The current team isn’t in the same class. We’re at least three players – two middle-order batsmen and a quality spinner – short of the complete package.
After suffering numerous retirements, and then tossing away remaining experienced heads like Pietersen and Bell, the suits have probably discovered (too late!) how difficult it is to find test batsmen who can average over 40 and score runs in all conditions.
However, although we might not be able to do much about the personnel currently at our disposal, at least we can improve the leadership and captaincy of the team in one simple stroke: moving on from Cook. Nothing should stop that now.
James Morgan
If you ever want object examples of how to scupper your own team, look no further than the England selectors. Coming out with a suspect bowling action as the reason for not selecting someone benefits no one except the selectors covering their arses. I smell Bullshit.
Absolutely right, and all so pointless. It’s essentially to protect 3 guys whom Strauss will have no compunction about putting a bullet into come January.
It reminds me of the scene in Reservoir Dogs when Nice Guy Eddie returns and finds the sadistic one dead. “Why d’you do that?”, “He was torturing the guy…” says Tim Roth. “What? This guy?” BANG!
Leach’s arm is gun barrel straight.
Another video here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWqcERIQv_I
If if there were concerns about his actions detected at Loughborough (which I find unbelievable in the extreme), there is no reason to release this information at all to anyone, ever. No good can come of it.
I tend to agree. It looks like a very good orthodox action from that evidence. Plus there’s no doosras etc to consider. I find the whole thing very weird.
Whereas Batty’s action is….?
No comment on his action but actually if there is doubt I think it’s right to release it so it can be closely watched by all umpires. Chucking is rife and rarely punished. Blight on the game
I’d suggest that Leach’s arm is a lot stiffer than the selectors’ backbones. Let’s take a quick look at the facts. Prior to this series, only twice in test history had a team scored 400+ first innings and been beaten by an innings. England have now managed this feat twice in successive tests. Which is an achievement of sorts. India have racked up 631 then 759/7, which suggests that, on this sort of wicket, England’s “attack” is toothless. Even India’s quick bowlers (Yadav and Shami particularly) were better than ours. India look a very fine team, and Kohli looks like the right captain, and, as you say, they thoroughly deserved their win. Pretty much all the team put their hands up at some point.
So, where do we go from here? We need batsmen (not all rounders) at the top of the order. Moeen’s a fine cricketer, and I want him in the side, but he’s not a test no 4. It’s a retrograde step in many ways, but you could even consider bringing back Ian Bell for a couple of years. What about (in England) Hameed, Jennings, Cook, Root (c), Bell as a top order? Then Bairstow, Stokes and Moeen. Then the quick bowlers. Woakes would be a pick alongside Broad. I wonder if Anderson is finished or whether his flaws would be masked by home conditions? So Ball or Anderson, I guess.
Not very exciting, perhaps, but it looks balanced (note: not Ballance, who should not be allowed anywhere near the test team this summer).
I didn’t actually see Moeen’s shot in the 2nd innings being as bad as the one he played in the first. I thought he was caught between padding up (and getting out) and having a go (and getting out). He scored 188 runs in this match and that more than twice as many as any other English batter.
Cook was much more to blame with the shot he played, and at the time he played it. We were looking comfortable, and Jennings was noticeably affected by the skipper’s departure.
If the captain gets out to a shot like that, then you can’t really blame the others for getting out. It’s a mindset, and as you say James, something has to change.
Yes perhaps I shouldn’t have been so harsh on Mo as he scored heavily in the match. I just find him so frustrating. I love watching him play but he drives me mad!
James, that’s because you think of him as a Test no 4. He bats like a 6 or 7, and you won’t change that. At least (and unlike Ian Bell, who is prone to the same thing), he can bowl.
We don’t have a Test class no.4 at the moment – or in fact we do, but he’s batting at 3. Perhaps the experiment of playing Jennings at 3 might solve this, when all are fit (though one of the openers looks a bit dodgy too, currently……)
As for the spinners, we haven’t had a history of producing quality ones in the last 30 years (Swann being an amazing exception). Perhaps we need to consider why this is the case.
Or Cook at 3, with Jennings and Hameed to open. I assume it would be stupid to point out that spinners tend to prosper in county cricket in the later summer, and that limited overs cricket does not a test spinner make (with the possible exception of Jadeja).
Moeen is never and never will be good enough to bat top six in test cricket. The fact he’s only scored runs on the roads shows thst (even then, he looks dodgy and my god he can’t play short bowling !!)
This team and some players are over rated.
Stokes.. mid 30’s
Ali low 30’s
Bairstow is a six
Roots a 4
People believe the hype and you’ll get these types of teams.. basically they tonk a team or get tonked
Moeen is never and never will be good enough to bat top six in test cricket. The fact he’s only scored runs on the roads shows thst (even then, hre looks dodgy and my god he can’t play short bowling !!)
This team and some players are over rated.
Stokes.. mid 30’s
Ali low 30’s
Bairstow is a six
Roots a 4
People believe the hype and you’ll get these types of teams.. basically they tonk a team or get tonked
Well done James for noticing Cook’s dismissal which seemed to pass all the MSM by. He’s been dismissed like that before in this series – and before this series as well (Yasir Shah got him in UAE the same way) . He doesn’t seem to be trying to do anything about it.
On Moeen Ali’s shot, I’m not excusing it but he’d almost been caught at short-leg off a defensive shot just before. It might have been better for him if he had! I think he decided that he was a goner if he just carried on prodding. I wish there was more analysis of his bowling though – for all the runs he’s scored in this match, they’ve only just cancelled out the runs he’s conceded. India’s second spinner took his wickets at 25, Ali took his at 61. It’s one of the biggest gaps between the teams.
On Leach, Mark Butcher said on ‘The Verdict’ (for anyone who’s missed it today), that the testing was done after the squad for India was announced. He also said Leach’s degree of flexion was in one case 30 degrees which is of course way over the limit. Like it seems near everyone else, I’m astonished as I’d seen no problem with his action from the footage I’d seen and hadn’t heard any whispers (although I don’t follow the CC as closely as I once did).
Thanks Simon. If it’s 30 degrees then it has surely got to be nonsense? 30 degrees is easily visible to the naked eye. It would have been picked up beforehand – not least by all the teams Leach bowled out!
David Lloyd is obviously a former umpire and I heard him praise Leach’s action on TV last summer. He said something along the lines of ‘what a lovely action, it just looks right’. Here’s his reaction to the news on Twitter.
PS although the ‘findings’ came after the initial squad was announced, there was still an opportunity to call up Leach when Ansari was injured.
The England capitulations were in the 90’s were more acceptable as we didn’t pretend they were the best players in the world. The hype that has surrounded this poorly assembled test squad reeks of journalists scratching ECB backs because it is such a mediocre side with a mediocre captain who has a mediocre record and yet is the most capped England captain of all time!
The Pietersen saga has caused criticism of the England machine to grind to a halt, England have lost more than 50% of their test matches this year, and the batting order has become an absolute calamity just waiting to implode in every test.
At last., someone else sensible
The selectors’/ECB’s willingness to risk ruining the best spinner in the country simply to divert attention from their incompetence and limit the egg on their faces is surely a new low for cricket.
A new low for cricket (and I assume you mean cricket administrators, so we’ll leave out cricket’s worst recent low, Phil Hughes)? Not sure about that, but only because that’s well trodden ground. The ECB has Stanford, South Africa in the late 1960’s, KP (and KP has his faults too) and others on its hands. THE WICB could write the manual on maladministration. The main reason FIFA exists is so the BCCI isn’t the most corrupt sporting organisation on earth. The PCB wants Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif back. SLC simply doesn’t bother to pay its players. Etc.
I’ve come under a bit of fire today for suggesting Cooks position is untenable and the decision should be taken out of his hands.
Perhaps that’s a bit OTT but I don’t see how he has a future as captain, his shot today was horrid. That of a drained man and its not the 1st. And some of the captaincy this series has been clueless.
Its time for Root to step up and take this team forward, new ideas a new aggression and a new era.
As for the series, congratulations to India , they’ve shown no mercy and stepped on our throats like ruthless world class sides should.
But it doesn’t seemed that long ago since we were debating how we could have won the 1st test, or how we didn’t take our chances in the 2nd & 3rd. It wasn’t completely as one sided as Wisden will record it.
At least you’re not saying Ben stokes should be skipper.. I really don’t get why stokes is the golden boy.. literally has worse stats than flintoff !
Just sack the Chairman of Selectors or Strauss or someone. Everyone loses in India – it’s so hot there. So what.
Like most teams England are iffy in the sub-continent. Just accept it and move on. Why blame Cooky or Rooty or anyone?
As for playing ‘bad shots’? On most games I know a player can make many mistakes and still put on a winning score, but a cricket batsman can only make one error and he is out cold. What’s to criticise? A Captain can’t control that? Did Cooky bat poorly in the series?
As for poor bowling, a Captain can’t control that either over 700+ runs. Blame the Captain for poor fielding tactics is as close as you can get. That is always a marginal call anyway?
England will play at home soon and win again.
And losing the Ashes in Australia in 2017 isn’t so bad either.
Talk about “fake news.”
Gawd knows what state Jack Leach will be in after the Lions tour (the only saving grace is that Saker isn’t around to help “correct” his action). His arm appears a lot less crooked than whoever dreamed up this execrable ploy and the MSM hacks who’ve willingly spread the poison.
And yet Leach himself seems completely nonplussed by it. Strange…
Well, Leach was told that his flaw was very minor. His county coach said the same. Yet the press coming from the ecb is that his flaws were too big and he was unselectable. Very odd indeed. Either way I bet he’s not pleased this has all been leaked. And I bet he thinks the timing is convenient too. But he’s not exactly going to say that in public is he.
Chuckers should be outed .. blight on the game. Now at least everyone can examine him when he bowls and if his quicker ball or other one is a chuck he will hopefully get found out..
Of course.. that’s assuming he is chucking.. any doubt about an action should be made public and people can watch. Out players under pressure to not cheat
People have been watching him for a year and nobody has seen anything wrong. Experts have praised his action. We’re not talking about a Botha, Ajmal, Williamson situation when the naked eye could clearly see a problem.
Hence why I’ve not said he is or isn’t chucking. Just that it’s good that anyone being reported etc is public knowledge.
Of course, if it’s a ruse to deflect us then it’s bang out of order
I have just watched Trott talking about the Leach news on espn and obviously not believing a word coming from the ECB. As James says, 30 degrees of flex would be obvious (even to some of the old dodderers after 10 too many g&ts). Of course, if we were talking about Murali the response would be entirely different; they would change the rules to make any of his deliveries legal :).
For me the inexcusable dismissals were Cook (why play at any ball which will miss leg by a mile?) and Root. They are senior players who are supposed to be world class bats with solid defence. I am a bit more charitable to the others. The price of Moeen (and his runs and wickets) is a flakey temperament, but it is a price worth paying. Stokes plays hard at the ball and will give such catches. Rashid is a modest bat and a leading edge can happen. The shot was not unreasonable. Dawson and Broad got good balls (I was actually pleasantly surprised by Broad’s defence). If the seniors had fronted up we would have got the draw.
I bet Woakes is thinking he dodged a bullet with this game.
Just looked at Leach’s action. Utterly bizarre compared to classic actions such as this bloke…
It was not so long ago you were asking whether to back or sack Cook . On this form I would think the barmy selectors will back him to the hilt. Heck, it’s not many captains can have 759 runs scored against him – another record I reckon! Of course all of this comes with experience and it makes you wonder how many South Africa may score against England now a grand total has been set. What was Cook’s average on this tour, about 7, gee another record. Keep it up lads.
The truth is, every single bowler APART from Rashid and Broad were totally useless and never looked at any point in the 5 tests like getting a wicket on merit. The batting was about par, with Root, Bairstow, Ali and the 2 debutants all did ok, but really it was the bowling, particularly the seam bowling, that really let us down.
Although one should bear in mind that had we had the consistent batting to make more runs, been able to apply scoreboard pressure, and had a captain with even a modicum of tactical nous, the bowlers might have had a better chance…
… so not just the bowlers.
Aint that the rub.
Aint that the rub with bells on.
ennglish team were using moeen ali as one of their prime spinner on this tour ..lol .cant stop my laughing. paneser could have been much better
Re: Jack Leach’s action, I rather like this tweet from teammate Peter Trego:
“If @jackleach1991 has an issue with his action then Muralitharan should have all 800 wickets removed from the records, what a load of Balls”!
Well said, sir!
Trego is superb on Twitter. Always says what he thinks.
I’ve been a bit out of the loop today but I sense the ECB are exaggerating this to protect the selectors. None of the official comments suggest he was definitely violating the rules, they just talk about minor remedial action and improvements / tweaks to his action. Yet the reports effectively say ‘not picked because he chucks it’. This seems like a bit of a leap to me.
Normally you can see some evidence with the naked eye that a bowler is close to the limits. I’ve seen nothing to arouse suspicions with Leach. Trott said Warwickshire played Somerset twice, watched him carefully, and nobody saw anything wrong at all. He also said there was no chat about his action on the county circuit … and normally if a player looks slightly suspicious word goes around quickly.
I think you’ll find England waved the white flag BEFORE it started this Test Series. Abysmal just doesn’t do it. And still Cook has a “get out of Jail” free card. I just do not get it. Mind, since KP indecent I have never understood ECB mind set. You’ve gotta give it to them tho, the ECB’s penchant for backing losers really is coming up trumps. Was it in the ECB plan? Doesn’t say much for management but then choosing Strauss was kiss of death.
I think a lot of our experienced players are burnt out. I find it interesting that in other sports they us squad rotation but we never seem to think of doing that in cricket to keep the players fresh.
I’m not saying for 1 minute that cricket should necessarily follow football, rugby etc. but I wouldn’t fancy spending months away from home. Perhaps if players got regular breaks and got to go home for a couple of weeks (week between Tests and the week of the Test they’re missing) then perhaps we’d have a team that was firing on all cylinders.
I’d love to see the stats on Home wins v Away wins for all Test matches. I bet there aren’t too many in the Away column and that’s not just from the playing conditions alone….
PS. And Cook looks the most burnt out of the lot, but I do agree he’s fat too defensive as a captain. In the first test I reckon we had a better chance of winning, had he declared earlier, than we had of losing, but he almost guaranteed a draw.
I know hindsight’s a wonderful thing but I’d rather England had lost 5-0 but had at least tried to win a game, than just go for a draw, although maybe as the 1st Test Cook thought he had to get the draw to build a ‘foundation’ (sounds daft now!).
Is 4-0 really that much better than 5-0…?
I actually feel Cook may not have that much longetivity as a batsman alone, let alone if Strauss does the decent thing (I have a huge beef with his input in the last 18 months with the lack of Lions games, the input of his chum Flower into selection and the seeming issue of him dealing with Loughborough, i.e. what has he done?). 2 of England’s 3 series in the next year are v South Africa and Australia and he has a rather indifferent record when it comes to facing high quality quicks. If he failed in those 2 series would he still have that much cricket left in him after that? Just a point to ponder.