The Clubber and The Caresser

Yesterday was another reminder that English cricket has been turned on its head. Ten to twenty years ago we used to win test series at a canter (bit of a generalisation but you catch my drift) and then get pummelled in the subsequent ODIs; therefore limited overs contests were utterly forgettable and very much after the Lord Mayor’s show.

I remember those days fondly. The test team was settled and usually successful. There was consistency of selection, a core of experienced players (some of whom were genuinely world class), and winning white ball contests was very much the next frontier to conquer.

Our ODI side on the other hand was a bit of a joke. And it always seemed to include a bunch of randoms from county cricket who’d play one or two games and then disappear from the reckoning all together. I’m talking about you Neil Smith, Vince Wells, Alex Wharf, Dougie Brown, Paul Franks, Jim Troughton,  and Stephen Parry. Plus, of course, there were many, many, more.

These days the randoms appear in the test team, which seems to feature a plethora of stop-gaps, has-beens, never-wases, never going to be good enoughs, and “not him again”s. Meanwhile the ODI side is settled, confident, oozing with talent, and breaking records.

The bowling isn’t perfect but the batting is a bit reminiscent of Australia’s World Cup winning sides in the 1990s. Damn good players like Stuart Law and Michael DiVenuto couldn’t get a game in the same way that Alex Hales (a man with a healthy average of 37 and an excellent strike rate of 95) can’t get a game now. There’s strength in depth from 1 to 8 and the management are blessed with several different options.

Although this England ODI team still has to prove it can win ugly and in different ways – having more testosterone than the opposition isn’t always a recipe for success – it’s undoubtedly fun to watch. And we deserve our tag as current World Cup favourites.

Breaking records come easily to this lot. Yesterday was England’s highest ever ODI chase yet it seemed entirely predictable and expected. It seemed like just another day  at the office. And whereas our test batsman can hardly buy a three figure score these days, tons for our white ball wonders flow like wine at a wedding. It’s remarkable.

Yesterday’s superb chase in Barbados, which came hot on the heels of Chris Gayle’s entertaining comeback, included two contrasting and equally delicious centuries. Jason Roy bludgeoned his way to a most violent hundred, whereas Joe Root caressed and calculated his way to a masterful ton.

First let’s talk about Root. It seems insane to me that some people question his place in the side because his career strike-rate is “just” 87. There might be a debate about his place in the T20 team but he should always be the first name on the team sheet in 50 over cricket. After all, if England do want to win in different conditions then an intelligent player like Root is an absolute must. He’s the glue that holds the innings together.

What’s more, it’s a fallacy to claim that Root’s strike rate is poor. It’s currently 87. That’s better than Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, and only a smidge worse than Virat Kohli’s. Oh, and did I mention that Root averages a brilliant 52 in ODIs? That’s simply world class. Plus he’s ranked 4 in the batsman rankings. In this writer’s opinion Joe Root is England’s best batsman in any form of the game that lasts longer than 4 hours.

And now we come to Jason Roy. I think we can now place him in that elite bracket of top ODI players. His career average is still below 40 but on his day he’s simply amazing. He plays ‘great’ innings in a similar way to his one-time mentor and cheerleader Kevin Pietersen. His 180 in Melbourne, for example, was one of the best white ball innings I’ve seen.

Yes there are still consistency issues with Roy – he’s made 3 centuries in the last year but just a single half-century and 14 scores below fifty – but there’s something irrestistible about his strokeplay. He drives and pulls magnificently and hits the ball so cleanly. One of his cover drives yesterday was so handsome that I made my 8 year old (whom I’m teaching to play cricket for the first time) watch it over and over again.

Obviously there are now people calling for Roy to open in test cricket too. Am I one of them? I’m afraid not. Not yet anyway. A couple of years ago, when Roy first emerged on the international scene, I went a little bit over the top after one of his blistering cameos and argued that he could indeed play test cricket. However, I soon backed off when I saw a bigger sample of his batting.

Is Roy talented enough to play at the highest level? Sure he is. You can’t play shots like Roy without having elite talent. However, I’m not sure he has either the temperament or the technique.

People tend to remember the brilliant innings but forget the times Roy’s bowled neck and crop (with either a big gap between bat and pad or a crooked bat rather than a straight one). And they forget the times he fails to produce for long periods. Before yesterday Roy had only averaged 24 over the last 8 months. His ODI average remains under 40 for a reason you know.

However, whenever I argue that Roy isn’t ready for test cricket, his advocates have a very compelling response: “would you rather have Roy or Jennings facing the Aussies in the Ashes”? And at that point I tend to shut up. The cupboard is so bare that it might be worth a punt. It’s either that or play with ten men I guess.

James Morgan

26 comments

  • “would you rather have Roy or Jennings facing the Aussies in the Ashes”?

    What’s Roy like at short leg… ?

    • :-) We may jest, but according to a very clever fictitious algorithm apparently 82.2229% of test matches are decided by revolutionary short-leg fielding. It’s genius.

  • If you look at England’s highest run chases, all well in excess of 300 and there are half a dozen of them, we have never lost more than 4 wickets in getting there. It always seems strange to me how many white ball totals are reached all over the world with comparatively few wickets down, whereas in test cricket, where theoretically we are supposed to take fewer risks, there seems to be more wickets taken. I know there are fewer close fielders in the white ball game, but surely this is outweighed by the fewer gaps and brilliance of the outfielders in taking improbable catches and effecting run outs.

    • I think they’re actively trying to increase scores in ODIs through preparing very good batting wickets. But the opposite is true in tests. I’ve heard the ICC are deliberately encouraging result wickets with lower scores to make test cricket more entertaining. Of course, ‘entertainment’ is a subjective concept.

      • Spicy wickets in tests are more enjoyable generally than 400 plays 400 or 400 plays 250 and it’s basically game over …

        300 should be the test norm and 400 should be something rather special.. test runs should be earnt, unlike white ball runs which are more free flowing.

        The sad bit is the draw, teams simply don’t have the will or mentality or skill to bat for the draw when they’ve got to.. they just ‘go down fighting’

    • Flat tracks
      White ball
      Kookaburra ball
      No close fielders
      Generally smaller grounds

      Literally flat tracks, small grounds and the fact the white ball doesn’t seam or swing makes all the difference

  • Entertaining stuff but the pitch was an absolute road with nothing in it for the bowlers. If we get pitches like this in the WC we’ll probably win, if not I doubt it because we won’t adapt to different conditions.

    I’d take Roy in the Test side at 5 or 6 before Stokes, Bairstow or Butler, providing we are 200/4 instead of 30/4. As opener? No, but then he’d likely get more runs than Jennings or Denley. I’m a Surrey man of course so you need to take that into account!

  • You glossed over the bowling which did take a bit of a pummelling yesterday, abliet the wicket was an absolute road. I do think Tom Curran should be given a go, having watched the majority of the BBL league and especially his games, he was the Sixers go to bowler at the death and he mixed it up magnificently.

    I’m a Woakes fan, but would love to see TC given a few matches

    • Hi Andy. I decided to talk about the bowling another day rather than getting stuck in now. I’m sure our bowling frailties will be an on-going issue over the coming weeks. There’s also a certain Jofra Archer to talk about. Don’t worry I’ll get to it :-)

  • England were at one point 350/3 yesterday. How long since the test team were 350/3 (or indeed made 350 in a first innings)?

    • Totally different game.. literally zero correlation between white ball and red ball.. white ball runs literally mean nothing

      • Correct. Red-ball cricket and white-ball cricket are effectively different sports at this point.

        • Not sure I’d go quite that far (though ODI’s clearly are elongated T20’s these days). My comment was more aimed at the test top order, and batting in general, though it is odd that teams score more in ODI’s (where you are supposed to take more risks) than in tests.

          In other news it looks like England batting collapses have broken the sexism barrier. The England Women lost their last 4 wickets for 1 run earlier.

  • The batting “failure” was Bairstow, he also wasn’t behind the stumps, and it looks as if he isn’t going to be in the T20 squad – certainly not as a ‘keeper.

    So the gloves in the Test side should go back to Foakes.

  • I stopped watching the game.. flat track, dire bowling.. literally the definition of boring power hitting.. add to that he was getting dropped left right and centre..

    Shock horror, everyone is over hyping it all again and saying how great a game it was.. there wasn’t any drama.. no nervousness.. it was just unadulterated power hitting that happened to come off

  • It’s literally like watching a 2020.. I don’t see the point of having 2020 and 50 over slog fests.. they are literally the same game now with little drama or variations.. it’s either a heavy loss or easy win in these formats..

    • “… they are literally the same game now…”

      Correct. Modern ODI cricket is a giant T20

    • I was so bored with it all that I switched off half way through the England innings. I really cannot see the point of these ODI’s

      • I can’t see the point in any ODI’s. It’s jut flat roads and slog fests.. little drama, very rarely close games either..

    • ….they would probably have won. But your right, with these pitches it’s just an elongated slog festival.

  • Graves allegedly trying to get the Oval removed from The Hundred venues because Surrey dared vote against him and the BCCI trying to get Pakistan kicked out of the WC.

    Another day in cricket governance….

    • It’s true. Surrey never wanted it in the first place because we fill the ground to capacity with the Blast.. It will cause a huge financial dent in this vanity project with Surrey being the richest club in the country.

  • Although, I do forget that we are supposed to be loving this white ball side. It’s supposed to be what everyone prefers and enjoys..

    When Roy bats it’s like what Warne said about monty… it’s not a different knock each time, it’s the same knock repeated ..

    It is what it is so sadly it’s just not the format I want to watch or play in but it would be nice to have spicy tracks and make runs harder to come by

    On another note… SL are really really really bad.. SA who everyone still thinks are good.. how bad are they now too!!! World cricket is becoming a joke

    • And England counties keep stealing any up and coming international cricketer they can. Duanne Olivier, just about the only positive point of the South African summer, decided that the time is ripe to make money in Yorkshire, foregoing his international career to cash in. The guy is 26.

  • Moving ball

    Shock horror.. Bairstow and Roy look aweful and get out… some still think Bairstow is a top test bat and Roy is even close to being a test bat.. let alone top order..

    Laughable

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