England On The Brink Of Breaking Their Bad Run

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Can England do it this time?

 

July 29^th 2014

 

Unless India produce something remarkable, at some point today England will register their first Test win since Chester-le-Street, eleven Tests ago. England have ridden their luck to be as dominant in this game as India were – after the first two sessions – for much of the game at Lords. At least so far in this game, England have finished the job when their opponents were on the ropes, rather than letting them off the floor to counterattack.

When India were 145-7 after two sessions at Lords and again when England were 211-4 in reply you would have bet on England turning a good position into a winning one. When India fell to 235-7, just over 200 ahead, you felt that the target would be a soft one but, each time, India came roaring back to knock the stuffing out of an opponent who went from thinking “I can’t believe that we are winning” to thinking “I knew that it was too good to be true”. The win for India, when it came, was rapid and deflating because, again, this was a game that England could and should have won. That is why England should not relax until the last Indian is dismissed today: the last three wickets have given England far more problems this summer than the top three, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see 313-7 become 331ao, with the last two wickets falling in quick time in the morning.

Yesterday, one famous TV analyst stated bluntly before play that England would not win. Maybe he was being fatalist to avoid hexing the side. Maybe he felt that, again, England would fall short. What was good was to see England following through when they had an opening. Some of the criticism has been brutal: not to enforce the follow-on was defensive, England would prod on for three sessions and let India escape, the declaration was too late, a two-man attack would never bowl India out, etc. Sometimes you wonder if some of the critics are watching the same match.

Although Chris Jordan was occasionally wild, he was also aggressive in a way that makes things happen, although not always at his end and is a superb slipper. Chris Woakes was tight and mean. The headlines have been for Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and, today, Moeen Ali who is growing in confidence and self-belief with the ball as he is shrinking with the bat , but the support bowlers did their job. Together Woakes and Jordan have bowled 47 overs so far in the Test and done a job for their side. Woakes topped 90mph in the first innings and has been the fastest bowler on either side in the second innings (although Mohammed Shami has bowled the fastest ball in the 2^nd innings) – not bad for someone patronisingly described as a batsman who can bowl.

What was impressive was the intensity with little given away, even when India threatened to make a decent start. In Jimmy Anderson’s last over the six balls were all tightly clustered around the top of middle and leg – no width, no height, no relief.

It may be that those little signs of progress that we have seen through the summer will become clearer if England win today and that the last day at Headingley, where England so nearly pulled off a miraculous escape, will later been seen as the turning point in England’s fortunes. World-beaters, the side is not. Often unfairly maligned, it is.

However, to win, England’s bowlers have to get through Rahane, Sharma, Dhoni, Jadeja, Kumar and Shami, all of whom have proved hard to dislodge at times, before they get Pankat Singh, fast becoming a folk hero with the locals, in their sights. It is not impossible that India could get through the first session without losing a wicket and, if they do, England’s steel will be sorely tested.

England Are Lucky: Can They Make It Count?

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Luck starts to turn

 

July 29^th 2014

 

In the end, 569-7d looks pretty good, but it involved a fair slice of luck. Alistair Cook made 95, but was dropped off an easy chance on 15. Ian Bell made 167 but, had DRS been in place, would have departed for a duck and Jos Buttler was walking when he gave a low catch to slip before the matter was referred to the Third umpire who, as usually happens in such cases, found sufficient doubt in the foreshortened view of the TV camera’s telefocal lens to give the batsman a probably unmerited lifeline – Buttler made 85 at a rattling pace. Take away those 332 runs and it would have been business as usual for England and a battle to save the game, even if Gary Ballance can fairly say that he got a pretty poor call.

There are times when a side needs a little luck. Last winter, in Australia, England lost the toss in the first three Tests and was right on the back foot from the start. What luck there was all went Australia’s way until England were too battle-scarred to be able to take advantage.

Here, India can feel hard done by in several senses, but certainly did not help themselves. Dropped catches, poorly directed bowling and lax fielding all helped to make England’s job easier. While the bowlers were persistent, many pundits thought that they did not deserve to do much better than they did.

While both Bell and Cook got runs, neither should have done. However, they took their chances well. Better to have a life and take full advantage, than to have one and fall a few balls later. Bell looks back to his best although, for Cook, it is still a struggle. Similarly, Jos Buttler was extremely lucky not to start his Test career with a duck however, as he took advantage of his luck, India surrendered and the unfortunate Jadeja went for 21 in one particularly violent over. This score has probably ensured that Jos Buttler’s place will not be disputed for the rest of the summer at least. Even if his ‘keeping is deficient, it is as well to remember that neither Alec Stewart no Matt Prior were anywhere near Test-class wicket-keepers initially.

Things are looking better but, until England have bowled on this surface, we do not know how good England’s score is. If the bowlers can do a bit better than in previous matches in terms of line and length and put India under some real pressure, we can start to talk of the corner being turned. So far this summer though, England have got themselves into some very good positions, but not been able to exploit them. The corner will not be turned until they are exploited and a win results.

The Start Of The Turnaround?

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

What the doctor ordered

 

July 28^th 2014

  

Undoubtedly, the phrase of the night on social media will have been “one swallow does not a summer make”, usually delivered with the aplomb as if this is the wisdom of the gods being bestowed on ignorant mortals. Roughly translated, this means “I am using a cliché because I have no real arguments and am too lazy to think of any”. It will be applied both to Alistair Cook, who suffered an unlucky dismissal when just a single boundary hit from his first century in some sixteen months and to England, who have had arguably their best day with the bat since the tour of India in 2012. It is a pity, but some people will dismiss the day as if it never happened, because it does not fit into their neat plans and say that the fact that both the captain and his team made runs changes nothing.

In a sense, they may be right. One decent score does not mean that Alistair Cook and England are back at the pinnacle of the game, but then no one is claiming that. What the fans want to see is an end to the crash dive and this performance is an indication that things are turning around. That does not mean that England will not collapse horribly in their second innings and lose: it could still happen, but the right statement of intent has been made. If Alistair Cook can follow up with second innings runs, preferably in a win, we will start to think of a corner being turned.

England showed some pragmatism and made two changes: Jordan and Woakes for Plunkett and Stokes and batted on winning the toss. Not only did they resign India to a long day chasing leather, but have given the new ball bowlers extra rest by winning by batting. There already seemed to be some weary Indian legs by the Close and, the hope must be that an increasingly tired bowling attack and fielding side will leak some easy runs tomorrow. Ideally, England would like to declare late tomorrow with somewhere around 600 on the board and a few overs at the Indian openers to come before the Close.

There will be some criticism of England’s slow progress, but this was a “grind the opposition down” day. It will play dividends tomorrow morning if England get a solid start, with the scoring rate likely to increase as the attacking middle order get to work on tiring bowlers. There is no guarantee that India will fail to save the follow-on and England probably would not enforce it even if they did, but they will look for scoreboard pressure to work on the batsmen.

However, it is rarely a good idea to make snap judgements so early in a match. India have got very little out of the pitch and have looked a little flat, not making England play enough. Things may look different – or not – after England have bowled on the pitch. We have seen so often how one team does not use the pitch particularly well, but it suddenly looks like a minefield when they bat.  India though have picked an extra batsman for this game and bowling them out twice on a friendly pitch – which is what it appears to be at present – may simply be mission impossible.

For England the day was satisfactory. It would have been even more satisfactory if the captain had made five more runs and the side had finished 280-2, but let’s not be greedy. It is the first 50 opening partnership for England since Melbourne (6 Tests ago), which is a pretty damning indictment of England’s starts and a partnership of 55 is hardly an excuse to celebrate. Only four times since the start of 2013 and only once in 2014 have England got past 200 in an innings with 2 or fewer wickets down (i.e. a really solid start) and even then have only twice gone on from there to a 400+ total (just one of those four matches was won), so there is still plenty of work to be done in this match.

However, despite the fact that the game has started well, the rest of the batting needs to kick on and a big 50 for Ian Bell is another priority for the day. England should not be satisfied with anything less than being able to declare with 500+ on the scoreboard.

Change In The Air?

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Twist or Stick for England?

 

July 27^th 2014

  

There have been two, radically different points of view expressed about England’s team selection for the 3^rd Test. The captain has suggested that Stuart Broad is fit to play and that the side is in no situation to try rotation. Newspapers, who tend to have some idea what is going on in the selectors’ minds, suggest that the attack will be shaken up for a must-win Test.

With the ICC’s recognition that there was an incident between Jimmy Anderson and Ravi Jadeja, it now seems almost certain that Anderson will also be found guilty of an offense. England are, apparently resigned to a two-match ban, meaning that Jimmy Anderson will get a rest, whether he wants it or not, for the last two Tests. If so, he can be asked to make one last effort on a pitch that may have pace and bounce.

Chris Jordan has made a huge case to return to the attack. If Stuart Broad is not deemed fit enough for another 5-day Test, it could be for him. If not, Ben Stokes is looking vulnerable and is also a fitness doubt. Since scoring 70 in the 3^rd ODI v Australia in Perth, his run has been 0, 5, 5, 4, 0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0: 18 runs in 10 innings across 2 Tests, 4 ODIs and 3 T20s. So far, in three Test innings since his recall against India, Ben Stokes has not troubled the scorer. Despite some impressive spells at Lords, he has also failed to take a wicket in 5 of his last 8 games for England. Ben Stokes has enormous promise, but probably is not good enough to play purely as a bowler and needs runs as much as Cook or Bell do, to justify his place.

If England win the toss and bat well, they could get away playing a tired attack. Batting well though means batting for a full five sessions, allowing the bowlers extra rest before a short stint late on Day 2. They should not be tempted to bowl first because tired bowlers could let India get away, as happened at Lords.

High on the wish list is a century for the captain and a century opening partnership. There has not been even a 50 partnership for the 1^st wicket in the last 5 Tests. Too often have the #3 and #4 in the order come in against the new ball, with a rescue job to do. Last summer the team got away with it because Ian Bell and the tail rescued the situation time and again. In Australia the side actually got better starts than they have against Sri Lanka and India, but they came to naught because the tail was blown away. Now, if the side is to be infused with confidence, they need to see their top three making a really solid platform on which to build a winning position and then complete a victory.

Often just one win is needed to change a side’s fortunes. The problem is that it is India that have got it. The Indian side of 2011 had more stars, but India 2014 plays as a team and is strategically far more savvy, which makes them dangerous opponents.

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

The Game that no one can Afford to Lose

 

July 25^th 2014

  

A lot is riding on the 3^rd Test that starts on Sunday. For England, a defeat would almost certainly condemn them to lose their third consecutive series: two down with two to play, there would be no way back. Even a draw would leave England needing to win the last two Tests to snatch the series. A summer that was supposed to give England two easy series wins to help recover from the winter, is turning into the kind of nightmare in which however much you run and however hard you struggle, you cannot escape your demons.

It is generally assumed that a new defeat, combined with personal failure, would condemn Alistair Cook. The fact that there is not a captaincy candidate in the side would be resolved by sending Cook back to Essex to make some county runs (although we tend to forget that he started the season with a blaze of runs for his county and it did not help) and bringing in a captain from outside to fill the temporary gap. Eoin Morgan is one possibility. It is probably too early for Joe Root, but it is not impossible that someone such as his county captain, Andrew Gale, could be brought in: 30 & 126* against Middlesex last time out suggest that he is in decent form and he is one of the few regular county captains who is a plausible selection for England.

However, if Alistair Cook falls, Peter Moores’ position will also be dramatically weakened. Incredible as it may seem, just a few months after the dawning of a new era for the side, with Cook and Moores in tandem setting things right, there is a growing feeling that Peter Moores’ second tenure as coach may be a lot shorter than his first and he is increasingly looking like a temporary appointment. Although Moores does not lead the side on the field, he has a huge input into tactics, team selection and overall strategy. It is an open secret that Alistair Cook looks on the coach to guide him in how to approach things in the field. England’s tactics this summer have looked poor and  some of the strategy, awful. While most of the fire has centred on the captain, the first whispers about the coach’s position have already started.

England’s sequence is now ten games without a win. Seven defeats and three draws in that run. We are getting back to some of the worse sequences of results in the history of the side. What is more alarming, England should probably have won all the Tests this summer, having built up strong positions time and again, but they have won none of them and lost two. Rather than improving, things are getting worse and the form of the senior players is uniformly alarming. The newcomers have come in and done their jobs, but have not been backed-up by the likes of Cook, Bell and Prior. Similarly, Plunkett, Jordan and Stokes have had their moments, but cannot get their hands on a newish ball, despite the fact that Broad and Anderson are not using it as effectively as they should. It is hard to understand why, on a hard, grassy pitch at Lords, Liam Plunkett was not given a short burst with the new ball, just to see what he could do, before returning to Broad.

Sunday will be a test of nerve. Common sense says that Broad should be rested and Jordan played in his place. There might also be a case for playing Chris Woakes instead of Anderson and giving the new ball to Jordan and Plunkett. There is no question that Broad needs to rest his knee and that Anderson just needs a break to re-charge his batteries (although the ICC hearing next week may well give him just that): will Peter Moores though have the nerve to make such a big call? This is a game that England must win and they will not do it with an exhausted new ball attack that is carrying injuries.

As Australia showed, things can turn round fast but, to do it, you need belief. Even in the middle of Australia’s horror run in 2012/13 though, Sri Lanka were mercilessly dispatched 3-0. Peter Moores cannot even point to a single win to suggest that he has the formula to set things right.

England’s Robust Response: Sack the Teaboy!

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

England’s Robust Response: Sack the Teaboy!

 

July 23^rd 2014

 

In the grand tradition of such declarations and after frenzied debate when the England squad announcement for Sunday’s Test was delayed, England responded by adding Jos Buttler and by dropping Simon Kerrigan: the cricketing equivalent of firing the Tea boy when the Chairman of a company has mismanaged it into near bankruptcy.

The Buttler promotion was so widely expected that it does not even count as news. More unexpected was to hear that the response to senior players in horrible form has been to drop Simon Kerrigan, presumably on the grounds that he had failed to prepare the batsmen adequately for a bouncer assault and was thus to blame for the defeat at Lords or, perhaps, as it was the attack lost the match on the first day, someone needed to pay the price and Simon Kerrigan was the one elected.

What seems odd is that the selectors are willing to rule out days in advance of the match the possibility of playing a front-line spinner. Odder still is that, even if they do not expect to play one, they drop Kerrigan to tell him that he is not wanted, rather than giving him the positive message that, even if he does not make the final XI, he is still firmly in the thoughts of the selectors. It seems bad man-management, but then James Taylor, Nick Compton, Michael Carberry, Adil Rashid and a few others could have a consoling word with him about their own experiences with England’s man-management.

What the squad announcement does mean is that there will be minor changes rather than a major change of direction. England’s top six will remain the same. The core and balance of the bowling attack will remain the same. There may though be a variation in the change bowlers. What becomes less obvious by the day is how willing the selectors will be to rest Anderson and Broad, however tired they be and however desperately they need a rest. To a large degree James Anderson’s problems in 2004/2005 came about because, after entering the Test side, he was bowled into the ground against Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2003 and started to lose his zip and action as a result. Even when it was obvious to (almost) everyone, that he needed a rest, he played all seven Tests that summer, plus a host of ODIs.

Meanwhile, outside in the real world, interesting things were happening up in Scarborough. People who never attend and do not follow the county game do not seem to understand, but the game that finished yesterday between Yorkshire and Middlesex not only featured a host of players on the fringes of the Test and ODI sides, playing a high standard of cricket, but was played out in front of a large crowd – around 4000 each day.

With Middlesex seemingly safe at Tea, a collapse of 6 wickets for 38 in 14.2 overs ended the match with astonishing rapidity. The fact that it was a young leg-spinner who did the damage will, as always, lead to people ridiculing county cricket by suggesting that Adil Rashid will become the new Messiah and saviour of English cricket overnight. He is not and he will not be fast-tracked into the Test side. What one hopes though is that he will come back onto the radar. Picked early by England for limited-overs cricket, he spent a couple of frustrating winters being hauled around the world as a permanent net bowler (on one occasion he was even added to a Test squad to the announcement that, despite being in the squad, he would NOT be considered for the team). Yorkshire finally objected to this and requested that, if he was not going to play he should not be picked and, since then, he has not been… at any level.

Adil Rashid started nervously and sent down a few rank poor balls but, an early wicket – he seems to pick up wickets early in spells, much the way that Graeme Swann did – helped settle him and made his confidence grow. Through the spell, as he was given the task of finishing the match, despite the new ball being due, he bowled better and better.

Certainly, with a Lions squad to be picked soon, it is high time that he got a chance with the Lions again. He is bowling well in the Championship and he is bowling well in T20.

What is beyond doubt is that the County Championship is heading for a potentially thrilling finish. At least four sides could still win (if Durham were to win their game in hand they would still, just about be in it too) and the battle to avoid the second relegation spot is tightening-up. With Middlesex in 5^th, with four wins, far from safe, particularly as they travel to Old Trafford in the last round of matches for what could turn out to be a relegation decider against Lancashire and both Sussex and Durham beneath them having a game to come against Northants, it is likely that a record points total will be needed to avoid the drop.

Poor Northants, who have been scuppered by injuries, cannot quite be relegated mathematically in the next round of matches, but one more defeat would leaving them requiring a mathematical miracle to survive: realistically they probably need to win their last five matches to have a real chance of avoiding the drop.

India Threaten To Turn England's Tailspin Into A Crash Dive

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

The England Tailspin Continues

 

July 22^nd 2014

  

India were just too good on the sort of greentop surface that, previously, would have heard them screaming foul and taking to the field already defeated. Two balls before lunch, England were right back in the game and one dared to hope of an astonishing chase being pulled off but, yet another catastrophic collapse and fine, aggressive Indian bowling finished things off astonishingly quickly after the interval. There is every possibility that the series will finish 2-0, or even 3-0 to India. Just four Tests into the summer, with a Test series lost and another slipping away, added to defeats in an ODI series and a T20, there are already whispers that Peter Moores’ renewed tenure as England manager may be brief unless he can come up with some answers rapidly.

After the Ashes, the general feeling from the pundits was that England would see off Sri Lanka and India comfortably and mask the issues that were shown up over the winter. Losing both series was not even regarded as a possibility: it is now looking increasingly likely and a winless summer is becoming an uncomfortable possibility.

England’s catastrophic series of results claimed its first victim as Matt Prior stepped down from international duty for the rest of the summer and, presumably, for good, on the grounds of injury. He has struggled for a long time to manage an Achilles tendon problem and, this season, has had muscular problems and a hand injury too. Prior will have an operation on the Achilles tendon, but will struggle to get his England place back, even assuming that he gets back to full fitness after the operation.

Having made his debut in ODIs in Zimbabwe in 2004, he waited a year for his next cap. Then, he played another 11 matches in two series, mostly as a batsman, with limited success before being dropped for nearly 15 months and then re-gaining his place in the aftermath of the disastrous Ashes series in 2006/7. A century in his first Test innings and 324 runs in the 4-Test series against the West Indies, showed his batting class. However, his wicket-keeping was criticised and he was soon was out of the side again for a year as things went horribly wrong in Sri Lanka, with Peter Moores struggling to get England out of a post-Ashes slump. Once back in the side, he went from strength to strength, both as a wicket-keeper (having not even been Sussex’s first choice ‘keeper initially) and as a belligerent batsman, but never translated that success to ODIs.

Matt Prior’s aggressiveness meant that he was not always popular, even with home fans and he rarely got the respect that he deserved as an exceptional wicket-keeper batsman. His decline over the last fifteen months when he has rarely been injury-free has been rapid and sad to watch. In the twelve Tests since returning from New Zealand in 2013 he has averaged just 22 and has wicket-keeping has suffered too. It is hard to avoid the impression that, like Alec Stewart before him, he has tried to go on for one season too many. Matt Prior though has been a tremendous servant for England and we should not forget it.

An indication of the extent of England’s struggles comes in the list of leading run-scorers and averages for 2014. Seventeen players have represented England in the five Tests so far this year – itself an indictment – and only five players have played in all five Tests. Apart from Joe Root, a relative newcomer, the next three highest run aggregates are all for debutants (Ballance, Robson and Moeen Ali) and the next is a bowler: Stuart Broad. Ian Bell has 197 runs in 9 innings, Matt Prior has 179 in 9 and Alistair Cook 129 in 9, just ahead of Jimmy Anderson’s 119 and Liam Plunkett’s 112 (from 8 and 7 innings respectively and both with better averages than the captain).

Not all recent debutants have been a success though this summer. Ben Stokes announced himself with the only century of the Ashes series for England but, since, has hardly scored a run. Stokes' recent scores for England in all formats have been: 0,5,5,4,0,4,0,0,0,0 – 18 runs in his last 10 international innings. He has been picked ahead of Chris Jordan, who is unquestionably the better of the two as a strike bowler at this level and, arguably, a more reliable bat on recent form.

Jordan has to play at the Ageas Bowl but, it is as likely to be for Stuart Broad as for Ben Stokes. Although only Jimmy Anderson has more wickets for England in 2014 than Stuart Broad, that is largely down to opportunity: the heavily criticised Liam Plunkett has the same number of wickets (18) in one fewer Test,  at a better average and far superior strike rate; even Moeen Ali has a better strike rate than Stuart Broad in Tests in 2014.

Astonishingly, Stuart Broad’s best match figures in his five Tests so far this year are a disappointing 4-103. He seems to be struggling with injury and is not the penetrative bowler that he can be when fully fit. Broad was bowled into the ground in the 1^st Test and looked tired at Lords when England needed him fresh. A rest can only do him good, while forcing him to bowl 30 or 35 overs in an innings time and again with inadequate rest could lead him to break down completely.

Depending on the surface prepared for the 3^rd Test, there may be a case for England playing both Jordan and Chris Woakes for Stokes and Broad. Woakes has many detractors – although not at Warwickshire – but came back strongly at The Oval after a difficult start. With 36 wickets in a strong County Championship Division 1 at 19.6 each and some fine recent performances, he is right on form. There is also a strong case for giving Liam Plunkett the new ball and letting him pitch it up, with Jordan coming on early as first change with a still new ball in hand, rather than a battered rag twenty or twenty-five overs old.

The usual calls will be made for Graeme Onions to play. He has managed just six First Class matches for Durham this season and has 12 wickets at 43.3. His only First Class match since return from injury finished with 1-121 so, one can assume that those demanding his return are not regular followers of the game.

The final decision concerns who should replace Matt Prior. Seemingly, most fans would like to be Read or Foster as a short-term measure while Buttler gains experience. However, the likelihood is that Peter Moores’ mind is made up and that Jos Buttler will become the latest non-specialist to be thrust prematurely into the role. The reasoning is that, as Buttler will spend most of the time standing back anyway (Simon Kerrigan may not be impressed with this news), his technical flaws will be less important than his run-scoring. Where though would England go if, like Jonny Bairstow, he neither impresses with gloves nor with bat over the rest of the series while trying to combine both jobs? Personally, I would prefer to see James Foster see out the rest of the series and let Jos Buttler play a full season and then tour in the winter, before asking him to step in.

Buttler’s First Class record is mediocre (average 33). He may be another Marcus Trescothick or Michael Vaughan who came into the Test side and immediately averaged ten above their First Class average, but then he may not. It is more likely to be similar to Alec Stewart, who was not Surrey’s regular wicket-keeper and who found batting at six (and often opening) in Tests and learning his trade with the gloves to be a huge task initially.

Whatever happens, despite Alistair Cooks’ first reaction that he would go with the same XI for the 3^rd Test, there will have to be changes and, most likely, unless the errors of Lords are repeated, at least three new faces in the starting XI, including the forced change.

Duncan Fletcher Winning The Battle Of The Coaches

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

India on the Brink

 

July 21^st 2014

 

Once again England have had their chances in this game. Once again they have been allowed to slip away. When India set England 319 to win, the chances of victory looked slim at best. There have been only 27 successful 4^th innings chases of 300+ in 2130 Tests and, over nearly a century and a half of Test cricket, the odds show that just once in every thirteen attempts when a side is set 300+ to win do they manage it, while more than 60% of the time the chasing side slips to defeat.

England’s one chance is to get through to lunch without losing a wicket and for one of the two not out batsmen to score a century. It is a tall order.

England have been out-thought and out-fought by a side led by the man who left England under a cloud in 2007, but who had set English cricket on its feet and got it expecting success once again after two decades of mediocrity: it was that expectation of success that was his undoing as a return to more modest returns put him under massive pressure before, finally cracking.

Like English fans, Indians are not the most patient in the world and Duncan Fletcher has had to cope with some intense criticism although, in India, the role of coach/manager is far more in the background than in England or Australia. Duncan Fletcher though has not missed a trick in this series and, if India win this Test – and with it, surely the series – much will be down to the way that India have ground down the English attack. At Trent Bridge, knowing that the seamers had a lot of overs in their legs from the series against Sri Lanka, he kept England in the field for 284 overs. No declaration on the last day when everyone expected one: even if England bowled part-timers most of the afternoon, weary limbs were being hauled around the field, knowing that they would get only three days of rest.

When England made a breakthrough, the bowlers were too tired to exploit it, hence the tail-end partnerships that are winning the series for India. It is the Duncan Fletcher, “hang on, do not let go, grind them down mentality”. It is no coincidence that the seminal moment in the 2005 Ashes came when Gary Pratt ran out Ricky Ponting in the 4^th Test and Ponting cracked. Here, India have seen an opportunity to cut down to size a player who has irritated them (and other sides) more than a little over the last few years and, with it, destabilise the opposition. It is the sort of opportunity that Duncan Fletcher excels in to get into the oppositions’ minds and win a few brownie points. India have brought much better sides to England but, sometimes, the sum of the parts is much greater than the whole and this side is more ruthless than any recent Indian outfit.

Things Start To Get Umpleasant

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

The Series Turns Nasty

 

July 17^th 2014

 

Things have taken a whole new nasty turn in England’s often fractious relationship with Asian cricket and India in particular. Ravi Jadeja has laid a charge of what amounts to common assault (i.e. a criminal offense) aggravated by racial(?) abuse, against Jimmy Anderson. If the charges are proven, Anderson can expect a minimum two match ban but, in the prevailing atmosphere, would be unlikely to get off so lightly.

What is odd is that the offense allegedly happened at lunchtime on Thursday – the 2^nd day of the Test – and was so serious that MS Dhoni has refused all attempts at mediation, yet the media knew nothing about the incident until shortly before the charges emerged on Tuesday. Even Alistair Cook knew nothing was untoward until receiving a text message on Monday afternoon. Both sides claim to have neutral witnesses but, off the record, the Indians have stated that, in their opinion, “Anderson is a goner”, which suggests that they feel confident that an assault did occur. If such a serious incident took place though, it is astonishing that there was no comment to the media, no hint in any match report, no sign on the pitch that something was seriously amiss.

England have replied with a counter-charge, which looks alarmingly like tit-for-tat and the whole atmosphere has soured suddenly. No player has been on a Level 3 charge since Harbajhan Singh was alleged to have called Andrew Symonds a monkey – the BCCI threatened to call off the tour if Harbajhan was banned. Given the BCCI’s increasingly aggressive stance when their interests are threatened, Jimmy Anderson’s chances of escaping a heavy ban must be very small.

As no camera captured the incident and no press witnessed it, the facts are almost impossible to establish, but the suggestion is that some on-field sledging went on too long and too far. The hearing will not take place until after the Test and, until it does, there is little hope of having a clear view of what happened and why it was allowed to escalate so badly. There is no point in speculating as to exactly what happened. The ever-reasonable George Dobell, writing on CricInfo, suggests that the problem is that England are becoming increasingly unpopular and that sides are being goaded into action by dubious on-field behaviour, if so, the time has come to do something about it. Play hard by all means, but play fair.

What effect this will have on the Test match starting at Lords is anyone’s guess. The pitch appeared to be emerald green when revealed. Both captains have asked for pitches with more life in them, but it is hard to believe that the surface will not look a lot different at the start of play, after the final cut and preparation. Some pundits expected Liam Plunkett to be rested for this game and Chris Jordan to come back into the side but, now, there are increasing suggestions that the team may be unchanged.

Whatever happens, England urgently need to start winning some friends, both on the field and off it.

England Collapses And Small Totals: Getting Worse?

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

The England Collapsathon

 

July 15^th 2014

 

Over the last year England have faced a long list of dismal collapses. Sometimes, as in the 1^st Test at Trent Bridge, the end result has been massaged by tail-end runs. Others, as in Australia, the tail faded away in the collapse. There is an impression though that the big totals that win matches have been missing for some time. Let us look at England scores for completed innings. The last 3 years seems a good time span because it takes us back to mid-2011 and what is considered to be the apogee of the England side when, briefly, it held the #1 Test ranking in the ICC table.

In the last three years England have had 58 innings in which the innings has been completed: i.e. they have been all out, or have declared, thus eliminating token innings at the end of a game and occasions when small targets have been reached. In that time, they have put up 500 five times, winning four and drawing one of the games involved. Four of the five totals of 500+ were in 2011 or 2012.  There have also been nine totals of 400-499 (four giving wins, four draws and one a defeat), six of them in 2011 or 2012. In other words, just four times in 2013 or 2014 have England passed 400, all the matches ending in draws compared to ten, 400+ totals in from mid-2011 to the end of 2012.

At the same time, thirteen times have England failed to reach 200. Every one of those game was lost, bar the game in Dunedin where a full day was lost to rain at the start of the game. Seven of the thirteen sub-200 total have been in 2013 or 2014.

What this means, as we are 6 months into 2014 (so the last three years split neatly, half in 2011 and 2012, half in 2013 and 2014), is that England are making sub-200 totals just as frequently now as previously – with such a total almost guaranteeing defeat, but the big 400+ totals that almost guarantee wins have almost dried up in the last 18 months. The two big scores that England have made recently have both come on feather bed, pudding surfaces, where batsmen with a high boredom threshold have thrived and, even then, one of the two big scores depended on tail-end runs.

The batting unit that has been playing this summer has changed radically from the start of the Australia series: gone are Carberry, Trott and KP who batted at #2, #3 and #4. In are Robson, Ballance and Moeen Ali. Similarly, Joe Root has only played in the second half of the period of three years in question (his debut coming at the end of 2012). The only batsmen who have been consistently in the team through the entire period since mid-2011 have been Cook, Bell and Prior.

One theory that has been raised is that the England top seven is so battle-scarred by the winter Ashes series that their confidence is at rock bottom. In some cases this is undoubtedly true but, with three of the top seven new faces, you have to assume that the problem is contagious, which it might well be: when your captain is struggling and the opening partnerships are small, #3 and #4 are usually coming in with the side in trouble. Of England’s top seven, there are only three senior players and if one of more of them fails, it puts a big burden on the inexperienced members of the side to rescue the situation.

A look at parterships for the top two wickets suggests that top-order failure is genuinely over-pressurising the players in the middle order.

Since January 1^st 2013, of 34 opening partnerships for England, 11 have been in single figures. Just 5 have been of 50+ and no century opening partnership since Compton and Cook put on 231 to rescue the team in Dunedin in March 2013. England have not registered a 50 partnership for the 1^st wicket since their second innings at Melbourne in December (nine innings without a 50 opening partnership). It is a pretty horrific sequence. England’s #3 and even the #4 have been playing almost as an opening batsman, coming in regularly against the new ball.

England’s second wicket partnerships have not been much to shout about either, but have been much better than the opening stands: again, 11 single figure partnerships, but also four century stands (it is not a great surprise to England-watchers that Nick Compton features in both the best 1^st and the best 2^nd wicket partnership since the start of 2013) and 11 partnerships of 50+. However, tellingly, 15 times – almost half of all innings – England’s second wicket has fallen with fewer than 50 runs on the board, but only seven times have England passed 100 with just a single wicket down and in a really good position.

If one regards reaching 100-2 as a solid start, England have managed to achieve it just 15 times in 34 innings. No less than seven times since January 1^st 2013, the third wicket has gone down with 50 or fewer on the board: yet only once, curiously, in the Ashes whitewash, while four of the seven cases were in the 3-0 win last summer. In other words, England’s starts in Australia were not as bad as one might think, the major problem last winter was that the middle-order recoveries that got the side out of trouble were not coming because the Australians exploited the top-order struggles to roll over the middle and lower order cheaply.

Just twice in seven attempts this year have England got past 100 with just two wickets down: 14-3, 57-3, 74-3, 69-3, 278-3, 50-3, 154-3 has been the sequence but, possibly, there are signs that it is going the right way, as there is a distinct upward trend in the scores, possibly helped by friendlier attacks… and pitches; however, if this combination helps restore some confidence to the top order, England will not be complaining.

However, England will not be able to lay solid foundations for big totals until the captain begins to fire again. Sam Robson has made a decent start to his Test career and is suggesting solidity, with 230 runs from his first five Test innings and Gary Ballance is averaging almost 50 at #3, but Alistair Cook has just 97 runs from 7 innings in 2014, with a top score of 28, compared to an average of 33.9 and a top score of 130 in 2013. This is one problem that, unfortunately, comes straight from the top. The evidence also suggests that his slump is getting worse, not better and, while it continues, England’s middle-order will be exposed to the new or newish ball far too often, which is something that good attacks will exploit brutally.

India The Net Winner In The 1st Test

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

India the clear winner

 

July 14^th 2014

 

In purely cricketing terms, only one side was likely to win this match over the last two days and, barring a couple of crazy sessions won by India, England were making the pace through much of the Test. In practical terms, India were the big winner. This was England’s third match of the summer. The fourth starts on Thursday and England added another bone-wearying 284 overs in the field to the 145 of India.  With the pitch making a draw always the likely result, the fact that India bowled half the number of overs that England did and will go into the second Test far the fresher is significant.

Against Sri Lanka, England made a massive last day effort to win the Test and then bowled first three days later – the good start that Sri Lanka made in the 2^nd Test owes not a little to those last day efforts. Here, as India lost wickets just regularly enough to keep England interested, rather than a dead last day dominated by occasional bowlers, England were obliged to keep up maximum effort beyond lunch. The seamers averaged another 20 overs each, to add to the average 35 of the first innings. If India win the toss and bat at Lords you can expect some weary limbs among the bowlers by the end of the day.

Duncan Fletcher is very much a grinder: grind the opposition down until frustration takes over as Australia found to their cost in 2005. This was applied beautifully here. With no front-line spinner to share the load, the seamers had to bowl over after over until Alistair Cook finally accepted that there was no chance of a result. The only trick that India missed was not to declare late and force Alistair Cook to bat again in the hope of him falling cheaply once more. Maybe he reasoned that on such a pancake of a pitch there was too much danger that Alistair Cook could get some easy runs and start to recover some touch and confidence.

England had reasoned that, on seaming pitches, an attack of four seamers plus some occasional spin from Joe Root (hardly used this summer) and Moeen Ali would be sufficient. The reality is that the pitches this summer have not been nearly as lively as expected and have generally neutralised England’s strengths very effectively. With the likelihood that flat pitches with little life will continue and with the realisation that Moeen’s spin is not effective enough to block up an end for a full session, although Alistair Cook also seems to lack a little confidence in him, a change in the balance of the side is in order.

For Lords, England now have a squad of 14, with Simon Kerrigan added. The situation is unfortunate. There is no lack of young spinners: Borthwick, Kerrigan, Adil Rashid, Riley, Ravi Patel, Briggs, Zafir Ansari, etc. But the fact that England have lost, in one fell swoop, Swann, Monty (declared “unselectable” by Essex and surely on his way out of the county) and Tredwell, their stand-in stuntman (unable to hold a place in the 4-day game), is a big blow. The selectors need to know if Kerrigan has come back from his awful debut, although there is a real danger that Alistair Cook will view him as damaged goods and be even more reluctant to bowl him than he is Moeen or the seriously underbowled Joe Root.

It seemed more likely that Kerrigan would come in at the end of the series, probably being re-commissioned along with Steve Finn; now though there is no alternative but to bring him back in after acting as a net bowler at Trent Bridge. He may not play but, the mere fact that he has been called into the party, shows that he will probably play much sooner than the selectors wanted.

There is not really much alternative. Kerrigan is by far the best of the young spinners. Riley and Ravi Patel are establishing themselves. Scott Borthwick has bowled little this season. And Adil has had a couple of difficult seasons, while Danny Briggs has dropped off the radar a little. Of England qualified spinners, Adam Riley is far and away the most successful this season, albeit in Division 2 (41 wickets @ 26.8), with Gareth Batty and Simon Kerrigan on 28 and Monty on 27. Of the four, Kerrigan has by far the poorest average and, interestingly, Gareth Batty, the best (21.8). Batty’s last Test was in the Bangladesh series that followed him sending down 52 overs during the Lara 400 in the West Indies; his Test record is not a great one, Batty’s 11 wickets coming at more than 60.  To recall him at 36 would be a massive surprise, but could be a plausible short-term option, although it seems that short-term options are not what the selectors want.

The same applies to the wicket-keeper spot. If will be no particular surprise if Matt Prior declares himself unfit for Lords – he was clearly struggling a little – but rather than recall someone such as James Foster, it is likely the Jos Buttler will be elevated prematurely. Sadly, one of the plausible alternatives – Craig Kieswetter – is ruled out for some time due to a serious injury.

At Lords, the nature of the surface will decide the final XI. Chris Jordan will almost certainly come back, possibly for Liam Plunkett, who will be saved for a more responsive pitch. Were Kerrigan to play though it would, most likely, be at the expense of Moeen Ali, replacing a front-line batsman with a genuine #11 in a side where runs have not been flowing as they should.

Difficult choices face the selectors.

Have England Started To Turn The Corner?

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Are we seeing things start to turn around?

 

July 13^th 2014

 

With England in free fall and Jimmy Anderson walking in late on Day 3, one particular, well-known correspondent stated that the one thing that could be guaranteed would not happen was a century 10^th wicket partnership for England. Said correspondent was startlingly silent two sessions later as Jimmy Anderson neared his century and his partnership with Joe Root closed in 200.

After the near miracle of Headingley, where the England tail almost saved a lost match, we have seen the miracle of Trent Bridge. Faced with the humiliation of a potential follow-on, chasing a modest follow-on target, on the flattest of pitches, the England tail, marshalled by Joe Root, saved the follow-on and ate into the potential Indian lead.

At the start of the day I had thought that maybe Jimmy Anderson could stay with Joe Root to his century and reduce the Indian lead to 70-ish. If that happened, there was just a chance that India would take a few too many risks trying to set up a declaration and give England a chance to knock them over for around 250 and set up an achievable run chase. What no one anticipated was that the not out batsmen would sail past the century partnership, set up the highest ever 10^th wicket partnership in Tests and that they would go to lunch still together.

Poor MS Dhoni. After 2 hours chasing leather, the last thing that he needed was to see lunch delayed for half an hour because nine wickets were down. The fact that they had been down since not long after Tea the previous day just added to the frustration. The extra half hour was used by England to close in on more records.

In the end, with Jimmy Anderson closing in on a century, it seemed that the lunch break made him nervous and realise what was within his grasp. He came out after lunch looking less sure of himself and, although he saw Joe Root to his 150, could not add to his lunch score. For a batsman who had never even reached a 50 in club cricket – he reports that once he carried his bat for 49 for Burnley – his batting was a revelation. With no one to whistle the ball past his ears at 90+ mph, he mixed some of the best shots of the entire England innings with some agricultural swipes. The end result was a first innings lead for England of 39, when a deficit close to 200 had looked likely only 24 hours earlier.

The headlines were for Jimmy Anderson, but Joe Root was just as worthy. When he came in he looked as if he would get out at any moment: he appeared not to have a clue yet, 400 minutes later, he was undefeated with 154* - the third time in four attempts that he has converted a Test century into a 150. Joe Root is tough in the Paul Collingwood mould. There are fans who speculate how anyone who is as poor a batsman as Paul Collingwood could ever get a Test double century against McGrath, Warne and co; he did it by battling and selling his wicket dearly – Joe Root is showing these qualities. When you have three test 150s, you are doing something right.

Although the Headingley Test was lost, it at least showed that England were capable of real defiance, even when the situation appeared lost. Here, although the match was not lost, the situation was extremely difficult and one felt that if England lost the Test the series was gone, almost before it started. Again, we have seen the tail, again helped by one of the front-line batsmen, to organise a major effort at putting a line in the sand and saying “here and no more!” It is what we had wanted to see in Australia. It is what we had wanted to see in the UAE in 2012. When Duncan Fletcher took over England in 1999 with the side at its lowest ebb, his first aim was to make the team hard to beat: to get it to hang on and hang on and hang on again, even when the situation seemed lost. It is too early to say for certain, but it may be that we are seeing Peter Moores start to get this culture back into the England side.

Step 1 is “stop losing”. Step 2 is “start to frustrate opponents and turn the tables”. If you do lose, do so with dignity, which at least England can say that they have done against Sri Lanka.

It is too early to say for certain, but there are tantalising hints that, even if some dark days remain and there may be some new lows in the future, we may just be seeing England turn the corner.

As for this game, there was always a chance that if a couple of wickets fell before India cleared the deficit, they could get nervous. It did not happen and, although India lost two wickets quickly late on, England were always a wicket or two behind where they needed to be. India though have batted so slowly that they are still in danger. Two wickets in the first hour and the match will remain very much alive. If the first hour passes without a wicket, England will almost certainly throw in the towel and we will see a lot of overs from Moeen, Root and, potentially even far more occasional bowlers such as Sam Robson to fill in the day.

Tail End Toughness Gives England An Unlikely Escape Route

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

When you are low on confidence and out of luck…

 

July 12^th 2014

 

Two debatable decisions, one of them appearing to be particularly bad, a side with its confidence at rock bottom and opponents who want revenge. It is a recipe for disaster and led to the latest episode of the on-going train wreck that is the sequence of England performances over the last 9 months.

All logic stated that if two Indian tail-enders with no pretensions to bat could put on a century partnership, England should be able to sail up to 500+ and be able to put some pressure in India on the last day. On a dead wicket the follow-on was not even a vague possibility until, when Robson and Ballance had put England in a really strong position, the fall of six wickets for 68 after lunch left the follow-on a very real possibility and fans and pundits scratching their heads. How do you break this cycle of lack of confidence bringing a collapse that leads to defeat, that mines confidence even more?

The cycle started last year when England played on too many poor pitches that led to key players (particularly Cook, Root and Trott) struggling against the new ball and losing form and confidence. Helped by a Mitch Johnson unrecognisable from previous encounters, Australia preyed on that lack of confidence and left several players a shadow of their former selves. Joe Root in particular, is not the confident batsman that he was but, at least, he remains as tough as teak: he looked all at sea and a walking wicket yesterday, but battled through as others fell and remained at the Close, organising the tail, closing on an unexpected century.

Unexpected? He was 50* when Plunkett fell and, with Jimmy Anderson one of those in the tail whose confidence has suffered worse from the pounding in Australia, did not look likely to get much further. Root though is now 78*, Jimmy Anderson is batting splendidly well and the pair have followed the 78 added by Broad and Root and the 18 by Plunkett and Root, with an unbroken partnership of 54 so far. If Anderson were to see Root through to his century – Anderson is already approaching his Test highest score of 34 – England would be in a position that, were they to bowl out India for no more than 250, could even engineer an unlikely win.

The bottom line though is that enough time has been taken out of the game by England’s tail to make a draw the most likely result. MS Dhoni is not famed for his adventure and is unlikely to take huge risks to set England a tempting target. With every run that comes off the Indian lead, the eventual declaration will have to come later and England will have less time to survive.

The perfect situation for England is to add another 30 or so runs in the morning. Apart from giving confidence to the side, it will force India to make the running if they have any interest in winning and that is not a situation that they are particularly confortable with.