England in crisis after Ashes defeat

On June 23^rd, Australian cricket was officially plunged into crisis, following the sacking of South African coach Mickey Arthur just seventeen days before the start of the 2013 summer Ashes series. Despite the appointment of new coach Darren Lehmann, Australia could not emerge from the doldrums and England went on to convincingly win the series 3-0.

As we now know, England’s retention of the precious urn did not last long. Just one-hundred-fourteen days on from the final day of fifth Test match at the Oval, England’s grip on the Ashes had already been relinquished, as Australia completed a 3-0 win of their own at the WACA, winning by 150 runs to add to their 381 and 218 run victories in the first and second Tests.

It has been an incredible turnaround by coach Darren Lehmann, captain Michael Clarke and their boys in Baggy Green, but for England, the series has been a complete catastrophe. The tourists have not just lost every game, they have been utterly humiliated and totally outplayed in every department. The batsmen have failed to put together a first innings score of any consequence; the fielders have dropped a number of significant chanced; the seamers have toiled unsuccessfully; whilst the spinners have been carted out of the park and out of the attack.

As three coin-toss defeats out of three for Alastair Cook suggests, England’s luck has run out. Thus far in the series, very few positives can be taken from England’s performances. Australia’s bowlers have gelled supremely as a unit and their batsmen have played with aggression, consistently putting together good partnerships and big totals. England have simply had no answer, no Plan B to counteract Australia’s dominance. The English players have wilted in the heat and under the pressure of a hostile media campaign and a brand of cricket to back it up.

Alastair Cook has done his best as a captain, but there is no doubt that the mental toil of captaincy has taken its toll on his batting. Kevin Pietersen remains England’s greatest enigma, the superstar batsmen lacking in common sense and any consideration of a cautious mindset. Could the scorer of 8,000 Test match runs have played his last for England? Matt Prior’s form has been simply woeful, particularly with the bat, whilst his glove work has also come under scrutiny after a poor performance at Perth. He too is another man some are suggesting is past his best, along with experienced spinner Graeme Swann and swing machine (but not with the Kookaburra ball it seems) James Anderson.

Whilst it is unlikely the later two will be dropped, there is a distinct possibility that Jonny Bairstow could replace Prior behind the stumps in Melbourne. Fellow-Yorkshireman Gary Ballance could also feature, but it remains to be seen whether one of the three big seamers will get an opportunity. Steven Finn, Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett have all been criticised for not pushing their case heavily enough in what ought to be perfect conditions for tall fast-bowlers Down Under.

There is a slight silver lining to the horizon. Michael Carberry has come in at the top of the order and batted with maturity and composure, but at the age of 33, it is unlikely he play a part in future Ashes series. Joe Root, promoted to no.3 due to the unfortunate departure of Jonathan Trott, will be a key man for England in the coming years, but he still has a long way to go before he reaches his full potential. Ian Bell has shown glimpses of his class, whilst Ben Stokes underlined his promise with a maiden Test century at the WACA.

There are two Tests left in the series, but the outcome of the final two games is redundant, for Australia have already regained the Ashes. Regardless of the reasons for their performances, the inquest has well and truly begun. Question marks hang over the heads of a number of key players and also over the future of coach Andy Flower, although the Zimbabwean is remaining tight-lipped on the subject. England must try to regain a little pride from the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, show some backbone, and avoid a 5-0 series whitewash. If they were to do so once again, it could have disastrous consequences for English cricket.

England won’t target individuals, says Broad

Ahead of the start of this year’s Ashes series next week, England fast-bowler Stuart Broad says that England are not planning on copying dominant Australian teams of the past and targeting specific players in the Australia team.

Speaking at the Investec Ashes press conference in London, the Nottinghamshire seamer said that discussions and strategies regarding Australia’s batsman would begin at a team meeting this Sunday.

“I think every team would always target members of the opposition batting line-up. Whether they make that public is up to their personal preference.”

He added, “The Aussies probably used to target people but it’s certainly not something I’m going to do.”

Fast-bowling compatriot Steve Finn agreed with Broad, “Those days are past. We’ll have our meeting on Sunday and talk about how we can get people out, but in terms of actually targeting someone specific, there’s nothing like that.”

Meanwhile the retired former Australian Ashes winner Damien Martyn suggested that Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen would be the two key men in the England side that the Australian’s may look to target.

“From an England point of view, for us, I think Cook is a massive one. He’s an amazing player, an amazing leader and his record is outstanding. He stabilises that side, he’s always making runs, he opens the batting and he’s the captain as well.

“And then the X-factor is [Kevin] Pietersen. He is a match-winner. He’s been out a lot recently with injury and hasn’t played much cricket, but those are the two guys Australia will take a look at very closely.

“When Pietersen is in the side, he is always going to be dangerous from an opposition point of view.”

Martyn also stated that there would be no such Glenn McGrath “5-0” predictions or Shane Warne “Sherminator” style outbursts from the Australian team. He suggested that under new coach Darren Lehmann, the tourists will keep team business more private, rather than choosing to air their dirty laundry in public.

Coach-cum-commentator Tom Moody, suggested that the public humiliation of players meant that former-coach Mickey Arthur’s sacking became “inevitable”, stating that he “lost control” and “lost the trust” of the Australian players.

He also believes that the Australians under Lehmann will play with an “underlying confidence” and that the Aussies have been “written off far too early”.

“The unknown can happen in Ashes series. There’s unique pressure and a lot of expectation on both sides, particularly England.”

England in good shape (on the pitch) for the Ashes after dominant series win over New Zealand

England wrapped up a 2-0 series victory over the Black Caps on Tuesday, bowling out the Kiwis for 220 on a rain affected day at Headingley. Alastair Cook had come under some criticism for his decision not to enforce the follow-on after England had dismissed the New Zealanders for just 174 in the first innings, but luckily for him the Yorkshire rain showers were not enough to halt England’s rampant bowling attack.

With the forecast suggesting that day five of the Test could be severely affected by rain, Cook’s decision not to re-insert McCullum’s men appeared to be a strange one. Although England only needed a draw from this match in order to win the series, the decision seemed to suggest a lack of ruthlessness. Why bat again when England’s bowlers were perfectly capable of bowling out their opponents again and sending the Kiwis to a crushing innings defeat?

Because that is what great teams do. Great teams don’t allow their opponents any opportunities to re-gain a foothold in the match. They play aggressively and look to bury their opposition, to thrash them, to play them off the park. What a statement of intent prior to the Ashes it would have been from England if they had won by an innings at Headingley.

As it turned out the rain stayed away long enough for England to complete a comprehensive victory. They did destroy the Black Caps, convincingly defeating them by 247 runs. After all the media talk, Alastair Cook’s men justified his decision.

England’s bowlers needed just 86 minutes (in two spells) to finish off the game, having laid the foundations the previous afternoon by reducing the visitors to 158-6 at stumps. Graeme Swann fully justified his selection by picking up six wickets, to give the off-spinner match figures of 10-132, whilst Broad, Anderson and Finn all got in on the act. Finn’s performance especially will have delighted the England selectors, as he supported his fellow seamers brilliantly, bowling with increased purpose and aggression. Cook must now be confident that all four of his front line bowlers are in good shape and are extremely capable of exposing the weaknesses of the inexperienced Australian batting line-up in the upcoming Ashes series.

Elsewhere, Cook himself scored a fantastic hundred, 130 off 190 balls, finally coming out on top against a seam attack that has previously caused him problems and giving himself a necessary confidence boost ahead of the Ashes. Jonathan Trott also helped himself to some runs (76) in England’s second innings after missing out in the first, and he too now finds himself in good form prior to the Australia series.

In addition, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow continued to demonstrate their remarkable talent as they accelerated the innings prior to the declaration, with Root’s outrageous reverse sweep off Neil Wagner suggesting that the young Sheffield lad is currently brimming with confidence. And why wouldn’t he be? Thus far this summer, Root has scored 889 first-class runs in just six matches, at an average of 98.77, and after topping the run chart, he was named as England’s player of the series against New Zealand. Playing in just his third Test series, Root is showing extraordinary maturity for a young man in the foetal stage of his international career and is already being talked about as a future England captain.

England are thus looking like a side who are in great shape ahead of the Champions Trophy and more importantly, this summer’s Ashes series. Their dominant re-emergence after a disappointing tour of New Zealand earlier in the year, in which they only just managed to salvage a series draw, is a particularly timely one.

However, this is England and things are never quite so simple. Nick Compton is clearly struggling for form at the top of the order and Andy Flower has suggested that the Somerset batsman must return to his county and score big runs in order to cement his place for the Ashes. There is a growing opinion that Joe Root should replace Compton at the top of the order, with former England captain Michael Vaughan being one such stout supporter of the move.

England’s usual policy is to back the players they have invited into the international set-up and they are unlikely to make changes prior to a series as important as the Ashes. Continuity has been a key ingredient of their success in recent years and to push Root up the order, when he is batting so well at number five, would surely be foolish and unnecessary so close to the Australians’ arrival. Compton is simply out of form. His back-to-back hundreds in New Zealand proved he has both the technique and the temperament to excel at international level; England must stick with him.

Yet the Compton debate seems to have caused wider issues. In conjunction with the criticism Cook received for his decision to bat again in the second Test, there appears to be a growing tension between the England camp and the media.  Jonathan Trott, captain Cook and coach Flower all came out and strongly rebuffed the suggestions that England had made the wrong decision by not enforcing following-on, and perhaps the looming Ashes series is creating a divide between the national team and the national media. There is a lot of expectation that England will not only beat the Aussie’s, but destroy them and perhaps England are beginning to feel pressurised by the weight of that expectation.

Usually winning the Ashes would be enough. This time around the country expects so much more. Thankfully England are currently producing on the pitch and come the end of the summer, it will only be the results that matter.