With the Ashes pain slowly diminishing and England’s excellent white-ball team on the charge once again, it’s time, don’t you think, that everyone stopped moping around and began reaching for the positives? So here goes: eight reasons to be excited about the future of English cricket. Strap yourselves in.
We’re on course to whitewash the Aussies
On Sunday’s evidence (Jos Buttler take a bow), England’s white ball revolution has lost none of its momentum. We found ourselves in trouble at 107-4, and we lost one of our frontline bowlers to injury after 1.2 overs, but we still found a way to win.
For just over two years now, we’ve had the privilege of housing some of the world’s best talents. All that’s lacking is a major trophy. Winning the 2019 World Cup in England is a realistic target. Indeed, anything other than the semi-finals, you feel, will be a disappointment. But in the meantime, let’s just enjoy the likes of Buttler, Hales, Roy, Morgan while we still can. We’re lucky to have them.
We don’t have to go on another Ashes tour for 4 years
Thank God it’s over. What a miserable tour it’s been – but it’s done. We can all move on. Time will heal the wounds. As is custom, England will play some good cricket in the summer, on familiar wickets, and everyone will soon forget it even happened. On the plus side, next time we go out there, Smith will be 32 – hopefully past his peak – and their heralded seam attack will have started to age. Hope springs eternal.
Joe Root is still only operating at a 7/10
Five Ashes fifties from the England captain, at an average of 47, and still, you get the feeling we barely saw the outer reaches of Joe Root’s immense talent during the Ashes. There is so much more to come from the England captain, and if he can rectify his mounting problem of converting fifties in hundreds, there is no reason why he can’t become one of England’s greatest ever batsmen. The next two years will be big for him.
Liam Livingstone
Selected for the New Zealand tour ahead of Gary Ballance, Livingstone is a seriously talented cricketer. He has a first-class average of 48, and last season smashed a debut county champ double-hundred. Whilst he’s probably best associated with the aggressive one-day stuff, Livingstone maintains he has ‘a lot more confidence’ in his red-ball game. Encouraging signs. He’s going bald, though, which is a problem. Might need to pay a visit to the old Belgravia hair centre. As might your editor come to think of it…
No Gary Ballance
The selectors seem finally to have given up on Ballance. Thank God. Awful Test player. How he played 22 Tests I’ll never know. Although I think being a mate of Joe Root had a lot to do with it. England’s Test team will be far stronger by his absence. So probably will Yorkshire’s – everyone’s a winner. Some players are simply not destined to play at the highest level, and history will very much file Gary Ballance in this category.
Our Test grounds are still pretty much full
A big one this. We’re lucky in England that people still take Test Cricket seriously, and the pageantry of a day out at the Test Match remains firmly embedded in our national culture. After all, this isn’t the case in South Africa, New Zealand, even India now, and we should be thankful for the relevance. How long it will continue, is hard to say. Personally, I get the feeling that Test Cricket isn’t in half as much danger in this country as some like to make out. Doom-mongering journalism sells papers, but generally most things are more durable than journos predict.
Mason Crane
After just one Test, and figures of 1-193, England are about to go all in on Crane. Gulp. He’s only 20, and is not even playing regularly for Hampshire – it’s an extraordinary rise. But it’s the right move for me. Crane is an authentic international talent, as demonstrated in spates at Sydney, and you get the feeling the administration want him as a fixture in this England side for a good decade. Good timing, too. Moeen Ali’s part-time off-spin has gone off the rails.
Remember, it’s only sport
And to finish, a bit of perspective. It’s only cricket! England were awful during the Ashes, but they’ve been a lot worse. The 90s of course, were famously bad, but as Sky’s recent Mark Butcher-fronted documentary revealed, many played their most enjoyable cricket in this period. Gallows humour is something this country does very well. So when the cricket’s miserable – which, admittedly it has been for the last couple of months – stop taking it so seriously. Sink a few, catch up with old friends, and take the time to cultivate new hobbies. Personally, I’m keen to take up Claymation.
Jacob Savill
The ODI shows what you can do with some genuinely fast bowlers who use variety and a good leg spinner. Some lessons for the test selectors!
Absolutely. Wood makes a big difference. Just a shame that Wood (and Plunkett) aren’t fancied to get through 5 day test matches.
I don’t understand England’s thinking re: Rashid. Although I have mixed feelings about whether he can turn into a good test spinner, I certainly think he’s had a bum deal. Apparently England won’t pick him in tests because they think he lacks the confidence / character to succeed when bowling to the world’s best players in 5 day cricket. And yet they’re quite happy to throw him to the wolves in white ball cricket, where batsmen are constantly coming after him, and he generally handles himself very well. Hmmmm.
If he does lack confidence it would be hardly surprising, given the ECB has spent the last 5 years continually undermining it!
If you wonder about Rashid not making the Test squad, listen to the number of back-handed compliments Jimmy Anderson made about his bowling on TMS yesterday. Not a fan.
“the ECB has spent the last 5 years continually undermining it!…”
Jimmy too ?
We do actually have a seriously impressive one day team, and all the credit must go to Andrew Strauss (yes, this is a joke). For a nation that played joke ODI cricket 3 years ago, the transformation has been huge, and a lot of the credit goes to Eoin Morgan (this isn’t a joke). Yesterday, we beat world cup holders Australia, without our best player (Stokes), and with a bowler (Plunkett) largely absent. The team/squad seem happy together, and know their roles. Of course it doesn’t substitute for the Ashes, but it’s a decent consolation prize.
Agreed. I just want to see us adapt our approach on different pitches. England are very good on good batting pitches, but we’ve sometimes struggled to pace things well on trickier surfaces. I think this is our final frontier.
That may just be holding true at junior level too James – overnight in the U19 World Cup QF England managed to bowl Australia out for 127. Only to be bowled out for 96 with a very ginger 1st change bowler picking up an 8fer
I saw the start of England’s innings and simply couldn’t believe the outcome. We were 45-0 off just 7 overs yet still lost by 31 runs. Amazing. Why didn’t they just play out the spinner? Didn’t need to score runs off him.
The spinner in question goes by the name of Pope. Apparently, one Australian website had the headline, “Not for the first time a group of English teenage boys has been violated by a Pope.”
Fair play though he bowled well. Not many runs to play with and he flighted it beautifully.
Takes some skill that…
I find the optimism short sighted.
Firstly, the Aussies are a poor ODI side. As this site itself has mentioned, they are behind the times in terms of their approach to “par score” etc. Beating them – even in Australia – isn’t the huge achievement an away test victory would have been.
Secondly, the series has shown up just how desperately poor our test side is, the muddled thinking of our selectors and the incorrect priorities they have. The ODI side has 2 bowlers of genuine pace, and a wrist spinner who knows his game. Plunkett and Rashid should have been in the Ashes squad, as should Wood had he been fit. For Wood / Plunkett either (or both) of them in a 5-man attack they wouldn’t need to bowl long spells. Rashid would have been an enormous upgrade over Ali or Crane.
Thirdly, the modern ODI is a terrible format. Nobody is interested in it except as a vehicle for corrupt betting, and the sooner it dies the better.
Fourthly and finally, we know the ECB is going to spin Limited Overs success as a counterweight to the test debacle and the media will be keen to do the same. We should not do their job for it.
I don’t disagree with any of the above.
I do o some of it: It’s T20 that’s the problem that’s been discussed in depth here. ODI is a far better format which allows a least a bit of strategy and rebuild as its 100 overs.
I thought that the IPL was the betting syndicate?
Plunkett and Wood will never be fit enough for Tests I’m afraid.
Not sure I agree here Doug. Plunkett got injured in the 3rd ODI, not the first. Certainly, the ECB thinks Wood can play tests, though I think you need a 5 man attack to play him. Look what happened to SA when Steyn went off the field recently.
It certainly packs in the punters for a terrible format. If being a cash cow is the key to longevity how come it’s still going after all these years?
Totally agreed about Rashid, who has been handled woefully at test level, but given that Plunkett couldn’t make it through two overs, it was probably the right call not to pick him for the tests (as I remember, there were doubts at the time about his fitness, as well as that of Wood).
Woakes is an interesting case – has he rediscovered his form simply because he’s more suited to the one day game, or is it just because he too was coming back from injury ?
ODI is not a terrible format. It doesn’t have the appeal of test cricket to me, either, but it is not without its own particular skills (even if they do sometimes tend to be at odds with those required for the long game). And anyone unmoved by Buttler’s remarkable innings is missing something in their appreciation of the game, IMO.
The Aussies may be a poor ODI side, but they are the current world cup holders. Your second: I agree with your comments on the bowlers (and said much the same before the series). Third: pity: I’ve just paid for a ticket for the England v India ODI in Leeds! Fourth: I agree but everyone on this site has said the tests are what matter, but the ODI wins help.
White ball cricket: you would think that the Aussies would put a fight given all the Big Bash practice they have had over the years. we haven’t even posted any good scores as yet.
Maybe, this is just a maybe, we are a bloody good side. They have pretty much the same attack that did for us this winter. It’s hardly crap.
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE.
I don’t give a rats arse whether any of you like white ball cricket or not.
Support your team and for f***s sake GIVE SOME CREDIT.
I’m getting sick of the constant repetitive stream of shite about the white ball game. BORING!!!!
IT’S A DIFFERENT FORMAT AND CAN’T BE COMPARED TO TEST CRICKET!!!
I don’t usually comment here, but I’m a long time reader, and frequently read the comments, because the discussion’s usually very interesting.
Be fair to Andrew, he hasn’t said anything against England’s performance, he’s just complaining that he feels Australia’s weren’t good enough – which he’s allowed to do. England supporters rightly voiced their criticisms of England’s performances during the Ashes, and those criticisms weren’t meant to take away from Australia’s genuinely good performances. If Australia fans want to criticise their team’s performances in the ODI series, they’re allowed to do so, and doing so isn’t inherently a slight against England’s good performances.
Having read but not participated in the comments over the course of the Ashes series, I know there has been Australia fan on here who’s been vehemently anti-English, but I don’t think it’s fair to tar all Aussie fans with the same brush.
If I hadn’t used such forceful language you wouldn’t be commenting now.
I wasn’t complaining about Andrew, nowhere on my post is Andrew mentioned, or any other blogger. I thought I was being pretty clear that this was aimed at the masses. It’s the general diatribe on this blog about how white ball cricket is killing the game that I find so frustrating, particularly when we’re at last, after decades of inconsistency, starting to achieve something special. Very few are willing to give any credit for this and it’s becoming boring, predicatable and downright insulting to the players involved. Narrow mindedness is not interesting!!!
I think we have to be careful how we see the Ashes Tour down under and the health of Test cricket. We can’t keep judging the Tour as losers. Watching the Big Bash it is abundantly clear that the Aussies adored the Series and loved the Test cricket. Test cricket down there has had the thumbs up. Even Brendan McCullum said he really enjoyed watching the games. Maybe we have to wrestle Test cricket away from the winning/losing syndrome of the shorter formats and just enjoy the wonders of the game. This is how we watched cricket in the Nineties. The beauty of cricket used to be that enjoying a day out at the cricket was enough for the fans. Appreciation of the game and the standard of playing was the reward. Watching a great century was a thrilling experience whoever played it. Likewise brilliant bowling. It is a higher level of cricket and it needs a higher level of appreciation. I really think we are losing something important if we start becoming just results oriented. Yes the battle is important, the knife edge is important, but so are the precious performances when individuals shine. Malan for example. Sometimes the herd instinct is just too crude.
I think you are spot on but society generally is becoming more jingoistic and cricket is not immune from that. I made the journey to Adelaide to watch the test there (well I was already in CA!) and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Of course, I would like to have seen England win on the last day but it was great cricket watching three quick bowlers do what they are supposed to do. Smith looks like a crab batting but, boy, it was beguiling to see him on the ball. Marsh’s comeback century was the stuff of ‘Roy of the Rover’s, Jimmy bowling his heart out to take five in the second too and England had a great opportunity to win that match anyway. Add the great job SACA have done with their stadium, 199,000 punters over the five days enjoying themselves and the camaraderie of joshing each other and what is not to like.
“This is how we watched cricket in the Nineties.” To be fair, as an England supporter in the Nineties, there wasn’t much choice!
“We’re lucky in England that people still take Test Cricket seriously, and the pageantry of a day out at the Test Match remains firmly embedded in our national culture. After all, this isn’t the case in South Africa, New Zealand, even India now”.
Sorry, James, but this is at best a half-truth and it’s a half-truth pedalled by administrators and their media stooges that you shouldn’t be repeating uncritically. It’s not harmless because it’s part of an agenda to kill off Test cricket outside the Big Three.
At Centurion recently (an out-of-town stadium often not well attended in the past), there were crowds of 15k on both days of the weekend. SA are also playing a three Test series against India (when the last was two) and they are playing their first four Test series against Australia since 1970 since (which I’m greatly looking forward to and I hope you’ll be watching some of it!). That isn’t a country where the format is at death’s door however you try to spin it.
SA and NZ have had some poor attendances because the more attractive teams won’t tour there. Australia’s record of going to NZ for example is pathetic. I don’t blame the SA and NZ publics for not bothering as their team thrash SL or WI again.
Hi Simon. The article was by Jacob Savill not myself. I’ll let Jacob come back to you on this as I don’t want to speak for him.
My apologies, James – I’ll read more carefully next time!
Given the quality of this side, I’d say that anything less than victory in 2019 will be a disappointment, and anything less than the semis will be an abject failure. What happened to Australia yesterday was exactly what used to happen to England, where you look back and think “how the hell did we lose that?”.
Nothing but praise for the white ball side. Just a shame some people start to spout crap like ‘get buttler in the test team ‘ (likewise with hales, Roy, moeen etc)
They are seriously good white ball players but lack the ability to play test cricket so just leave them to be specialists on the entertaining formats.. not the pinnacle one
As for which format to kill.. ODI offers very little different to 2020as it’s mostly all smash bang whollop (hence scores of 300+) .. might as well just play 2020 and tests
Not for me. There are still nuances and fluctuations in an ODI that never occur in a T20. And losing the ability to spend a whole day at the cricket and see a result would be a sad loss for game (and for me!).
Plus one. I enjoy all formats – wouldn’t mind a “proper” tour including 3 ODIs & 3 T20s.
OTOH I’d love it if NZ actually got 3 test series too
Australia appear to have unearthed another decent leggie:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22185633/lloyd-pope-wizard-spell-makes-compelling-sight-england-19
Yes a couple of days ago the Aus U19s were dismissed by a commenter here as talentless and entitled but it seems that might have been too hasty!
The highlights of the 8 wickets are on cricinfo, but I think the slip fielder impressed me as much as the leggie.
Aussies are way behind other teams in ODI cricket!