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.

England vs. New Zealand – First Test Review: England’s victory not quite so comprehensive…

England’s dramatic victory on the fourth day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s was certainly a perfect way to begin the international summer of cricket (if indeed, you are an Englishman!). Led by fast bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson, England’s bowlers skittled the Black Cap line-up for just 68 in their second innings, to romp to victory by 170 runs.

The result, however, rather flattered England, who, up until the morning of the fourth day, were struggling at 180-6, just 205 runs ahead. In fact, after dismissing England for 213 in their second innings on the fourth morning, Brendon McCullum’s men must surely have felt a victory of their own was well within their sights. In the end, their own dismal display with the bat, in conjunction with a two brilliant spells of bowling from Broad (7-44) and Anderson (2-23), crushed any hopes they might have harnessed prior to the final innings of the match.

So, firstly the positives for England and after some rather uncharacteristically flat bowling performances in the previous series, their seam attack was back and all guns blazing at that. In the first innings, the leader of the unit Anderson lead by example, passing 300 Test match wickets as he picked up figures of 5-47. His ability to swing the ball both ways caused the Kiwis numerous problems, with only Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor providing any sort of resistance. Steve Finn also managed to pick up four wickets, which must have been a big boost for his confidence, after a slow start to the summer with his county Middlesex. Thus, if the first innings was all about Jimmy, then the second was undoubtedly all about Stuart Broad, who claimed the man of the match award for his stunning eleven over spell. Broad has come under criticism in recent times for bowling too short and thus it was unsurprising that his success here was because of his much fuller length. As George Dobell of ESPN Cricinfo rightly points out, despite his mercurial nature, Broad has the ability to truly become a world-class bowler.

Elsewhere, Joe Root on his Lord’s debut continued his sparkling early season form with two maturely manufactured knocks of 40 and 71. The young Yorkshireman, who scored 179 whilst captaining the Lions against the Black Caps last week, looked every bit the man in form, playing shots all around the ground, as he took his first-class total for the summer to 757 runs. His frustration at being dismissed by Tim Southee in the second innings underlined the high expectations Root has of himself and it was clear that he was disappointed to have failed in his quest for a three figure score. It is surely only a matter of time before his name ends up on the coveted honour’s board. Nonetheless, his performance on an occasion where so many experienced batsmen struggled, shows that this lad has an exceedingly bright future ahead of him at international level.

Minus the performance of Root and Jonathan Trott’s fifty, there was little else to shout about from England’s batting ranks. First time around, nearly all of England’s top order got starts, and yet none went on to post a big score. Had it not been for Root and Trott’s century-stand in the second innings, England could well have found themselves staring defeat in the face. Matt Prior for one will certainly be hoping that his pair is not a sign of things to come this summer, for England’s wicketkeeper-batsmen, vice captain and 2012 player of the year has a critical role to play within this side. Elsewhere, Nick Compton’s performances will come under increased scrutiny should he continue in the same vain, for many believe that Joe Root is a better long term prospect at the top of the order.

As for New Zealand, despite good knocks from Taylor and Williamson, their second innings showing clearly suggests a lack of nous when dealing with a swinging ball. The Black Caps must quickly develop a strategy for dealing with the deadly lateral movement provided by the English seamers or resign themselves to a series loss. The Kiwis will, however, be pleased with the efforts of their bowling attack, which at one stage looked like they had placed their side in a potentially winning position. Tim Southee’s match figures (10-108) will have been a particularly pleasing highlight for the tourists, and Trent Boult’s potential in swing-friendly conditions is also something which England cannot ignore. The possible return to the side of experienced left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, is also a promising development, as the Kiwis look ahead to Headingley. For if their batting line-up can back up their bowling and fielding performance in this match, then there is no reason why McCullum’s men can’t snatch a series draw from the second and final Test.

England meanwhile will be hoping to build upon this performance in the second Test and bounce back from their below-par displays in New Zealand. Should Anderson and Broad hit their straps once again, and the batsman kick on from those solid starts, then in reality, Alastair Cook’s men should comfortably win the series. However, as highlighted, England’s victory at Lord’s was by no means an inevitability and the Kiwis are without doubt capable of upsetting the odds at Headingley.