My News
26.12.07
The Times - Strauss has ability to get England hitting right notes for tasks ahead
There is still talk about the 2005 Ashes and how well England played. They deserved all the plaudits then, but the time has come to move on. Over the past year they have lost 5-0 to Australia, 1-0 at home to India and now in Sri Lanka. With those results, it is inevitable that they are slipping down the ICC rankings.
Below Australia, I actually think there is very little to choose before you get down to New Zealand and West Indies. The Asian countries can be very difficult to beat at home, but are more vulnerable away, so the figures never quite tell the whole story. At the same time they indicate trends and, for England, that means downwards.
The players will be looking closely at themselves between now and the Test series in New Zealand in March. People are bound to ask whether some of them are even good enough for the highest level. In my opinion there is no need for more than maybe a couple of changes. Pressing the panic button will make matters worse.
The onus is on senior men, the world-class guys such as Kevin Pietersen, Michael Vaughan and Stephen Harmison, to perform to their true potential and for others to back them up. When Pietersen is not making big runs in the way that Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena have done then it becomes a huge loss to the side.
England are simply down too often on first innings. Batsmen are not scoring hundreds and if Harmison is injured or not quite at his best, then opposition can build towards 500.
Their task becomes even easier if chances go begging. As well as his bowling and batting, Andrew Flintoff’s slip catching is sorely missed.
I wonder if there is a problem with attitudes. Perhaps a few – not all – of the side have started to think they are untouchable with their central contracts and their time being managed. It may not seem relevant on a tour, but I think the attitude towards county cricket could be symptomatic of complacency in some cases.
If a player is injured or genuinely tired, then he should rest. But I think it is good for the England guys to come back down to our level, where they are under pressure to score big hundreds or take five wickets as the main performers in the team. Those performances then build confidence and hardness for the next Test.
At the same time, as I have said before, the county circuit is a great school. Players learn in different conditions. Batsmen work out how to tuck in on flat pitches and how to dig in deeply if the ball is seaming or spinning. When an England player sits out a county game, he is missing an opportunity.
For all his potential and contributions in the one-day game, Ravi Bopara does not look ready for Test cricket. He is certainly nowhere near being an all rounder at this level. I would tell him to earn his stripes with Essex and go with a specialist batsman at No6 until Flintoff is ready to return.
The name of Mark Ramprakash is bound to crop up. Much as I admire Ramps, going back in his direction would be like applying Band-Aid, a temporary rather than a long-term solution.
My answer would be to recall Andrew Strauss. He had some success at Test level and he will be hungry to do well. Vaughan could drop to three – he performed well there last summer – with Ian Bell at five and my old friend Paul Collingwood at six.
At seven, I would go with Nic Pothas instead of Matt Prior. People may think I have it in for Prior and want to pump a mate from Hampshire. But I will not make myself look stupid by pushing for a guy who is not up to the job. The facts are there. Prior continues to miss too many catches and stumpings. Pothas is a tough, thousand-runs-a-season batsman with a strong work ethic.
Australia managed to beat Sri Lanka recently and I am pleased with the way the side are moving forward after the retirements earlier in the year. One good thing is the depth of our pace bowling. Shaun Tait is bowling very quickly and Mitchell Johnson offers something different with his fast left-arm.
India are going to provide a stiff challenge in the Test series that started in Melbourne this morning and there is a lot of interest here in seeing their great batsmen, not least Sachin Tendulkar, for probably the last time. Having said that, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey are looking good and Ricky Ponting is playing unbelievably well.
I do not want to sound like an old record, but it is worth noting that Ricky has been playing for Tasmania and that even Adam Gilchrist, whose load is always carefully managed by Cricket Australia, came to Victoria with Western Australia for a four-day and a one-day game recently. Form and confidence can flow into the Test arena.
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