The Ashes: It Really Is So Strange

Ashes series usually mark the end of a cycle. One team is left scratching its head; the other emerges triumphant and plots a course for world domination.

This Ashes series is a little different though. The Aussies have endured a Pomageddon of biblical proportions and will need to build an entirely new team. But are England an emerging team ready to take on the world? Let me speak frankly Mr. Shankly.

Although the Ashes victory was as sweet as (insert your own simile here or just leave it blank like an Aussie would) England’s future is almost as uncertain as Australia’s. Although it would be erroneous to claim we’re still ill, I do think the Ashes triumph threw up more questions than answers.

Before the series started, England’s major issue was consistency. Our inability to backup a good performance with another win became a joke that wasn’t funny anymore.

After Lyth’s century against a good New Zealand team, and Ballances emergency as the ICC’s young test player of the year (heavens that seems like a long time ago), our batting had a relatively settled look. There were also big hopes for Jos Buttler.

With Bell at five and Root at four, the batting looked very solid. There was no room for players like Bairstow, Taylor, Vince and even Surrey’s vanquished triple centurion. We knew the Ashes were going to be a test, but the future looked relatively bright.

When it came to the bowling, we were still heavily reliant on Anderson and Broad, but Wood looked like a promising young prospect, Stokes was developing nicely, and although he didn’t bowl well in the West Indies where he was rushed back from injury, Moeen Ali had an indentical test average as Graeme Swann and an even better strike rate (strange but true).

Basically England had a young team that we hoped could be competitive. Most of us expected us to lose the Ashes – and some articulated it rather loudly – but we hoped we could be build a team for the following series down under.

How wrong we all were. Big mouth strikes again. England actually won the urn – an absolutely stupendous achievement – but strangely enough a number of our players were found wanting at the same time. Indeed, there are now more question marks about England’s individuals than there were a couple of months ago.

To prove my thesis, I’d like to ask you two questions: (a) why did England win the Ashes? (b) which individual players won us the Ashes? If you need reminding, I’ve published the Ashes averages thus far below:

Batting

Root 443 runs at 74

Bairstow 79 runs at 39.5

Moeen 228 runs at 38

Bell 192 runs at 32

Cook 223 runs at 31

Stokes 186 runs at 31

Balance 98 runs at 24

Buttler 79 runs at 13

Lyth 86 runs at 12

Bowling

Broad 21 wickets at 18

Finn 9 wickets at 20

Anderson 10 wickets at 28

Stokes 8 wickets at 29

Wood 9 wickets at 37

Moeen 9 wickets at 49

As you can see, it was basically Joe Root (fighting a lone battle amongst the batters) and our seam bowlers who sent the Aussies packing. The others disappointed in various ways.

Some might even argue that the Aussies beat themselves due to their appalling technique against the moving ball – although I personally think this is too harsh.

The most worrying thing for me is that England’s bowlers weren’t up to the task at Lord’s. It took the introduction of typical English wickets for our seamers to be effective.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the likes of Jimmy and Stu have always been awesome in home conditions. It’s when we go abroad, and the wickets are flat, that England struggle to take twenty wickets.

I don’t think anyone should ‘panic!’ but just distance yourself from the Ashes euphoria for a second. Are England now in a better position to win test matches overseas or not? I’d argue the latter. The Ashes win, glorious as it was, actually highlighted our inadequacies in some ways.

The bottom line is that England seamers still need a little help from the pitch to be effective, and we’re even further away from finding a top class spinner. Moeen’s batting was far more impressive than his bowling. One senses our young team will be like a boy with a thorn in his side in the UAE.

Then we come to the batsman. Lyth, Buttler and Ballance looked out of their depth I’m afraid. Meanwhile, although Baistow scored runs at Trent Bridge, he needed a lot of luck to survive early on in his innings; he still looks a little bottom handed to me. At this moment in time, I think Bairstow might make a useful test six or seven, but five looks a spot too high.

I hate to criticise Buttler as he’s a special talent, and such a charming man, but unless he improves his technique I can see him becoming a one-day specialist. Perhaps Bairstow might take the test gloves in the near future?

With Ian Bell also having a difficult time, and Cook continuing to struggle against the very best seam bowling, the batting looks porous to say the least. And let’s not forget that Australia’s bowlers have been nowhere near their best in the series so far.

If Bell retires soon, we might need to find three new specialist batsmen before the next Ashes. Where would we have been without the heroic Joe Root? At the cemetery gates, that’s where.

I don’t want to sound too pessimistic here. I’m in danger of becoming another Bob ‘heaven knows I’m miserable now’ Willis; therefore I should stress that there were positive signs too.

For example, the re-emergence of Steve Finn was an absolute joy. I’m still not convinced he’ll be able to bowl quickly on a consistent basis with his strange new action, and his pace was down again at Trent Bridge, but he’s still a more than useful bowler to have around.

My personal preference would be for Wood to play ahead of Finn – the Durham man is slightly quicker, can reverse swing the ball, and can bat and field better – but at least there’s some strength in depth at last.

Not being a Chris Jordan fan, I thought the cupboard looked bare last year. I could see the ECB going cap in hand to Dennis Lillee to see if he could work miracles with the likes of Footitt, Overton and Mills. Thankfully however, this doesn’t look so necessary now.

The other big plus, other than Root of course, was Ben Stokes. Although his statistics from the series aren’t particularly outstanding, there’s something about Stokes. There’s a light that never goes out in his eye. He’s aggressive, never gives up and makes things happen.

Like any good genuine all-rounder, Stokes will generally make a telling contribution in every test match – whether it’s with the bat, the ball, or in the field. He’s probably our best fielder at the present time. If only Monsieur Benaud had been around to see his one-handed grab in the first innings at Nottingham.

Overall however – and forgive me for revisiting my previous state of melancholy – I think the team actually looks less settled than it did before the Ashes. How many of the XI that played at Trent Bridge are dead certs for the next Ashes? I’d wager only Cook, Root, Stokes, Broad and maybe Finn.

Bell and Anderson will be almost 35 and probably in decline. Wood’s chronic ankle injury is worrying (he’s struggled to play back to back games in his first class career), while Lyth, Bairstow, Buttler have looked short of top quality. Root’s recurring back problems also make me anxious.

I’m sure many of you will argue that players like Taylor, Hales, Vince and Lees are ready to make the next step, but I’m not totally convinced. Although I love watching Vince, I know Hampshire fans who aren’t totally sold on him. Lees is probably the only player I’m confident will have a long international career.

The spin department is the most worrying though. While I like Middlesex’s Ravi Patel as a young left-armer, he has only played one championship game all season. Kent’s Adam Riley has also had a very disappointing year.

With James Tredwell also struggling a bit, Adil Rashid is probably the only viable prospect. He’s taken 22 championship wickets at 26 this year, but has only managed five championship appearances. Perhaps he should play instead of Buttler at The Oval?

The pundits keep telling us there are several young spinners about to step up any time now – but how soon is now? If there’s one thing at the top of my wish list it’s a world-class spinner. Please, please, please let me get what.

James ‘Morrissey’ Morgan

@DoctorCopy