09-09-2019, 00:07
I agree about Smith being the difference between the sides, and add to that the loss of Jimmy Anderson; if anyone could have got Smith out this summer, it would have been Jimmy. As for Root's captaincy, I think the worst aspect of it is that the pressure seems to be affecting his batting. Problem is, if you take it off him, then who gets it? Not sure Stokes has the temperament, and the rest of the team is a revolving door of players coming and going.
Ultimately, while this summer was supposed to be the one where we did the World Cup and Ashes double, I think it's become the summer in which we reaped all the fruits and follies of our coaching set-up since 2015. Yes, we won the World Cup (just about), and I wouldn't trade that for anything; but it's clear that our Test batting has gone backward as a result, and from this point on, that has to be reversed. Personally, in the short-term I'd issue an ultimatum to quite a few of the batsmen who double up between formats to pick one and stick with it. Stokes is exempt because he alone seems to be able to switch mentality as necessary. But Roy, Buttler and Moeen need to be dedicated white-ball players, Root and Bairstow red-ball players (unless the latter chooses otherwise, in which case bring in Foakes as a replacement), and young players scoring runs in the Championship should get their chance to step up into the vacant places in the Test team.
But this will necessitate changes further down the pyramid of cricket. I don't think domestic T20 can be sacrificed or even cut down too much, because for many smaller counties it's all that keeps the wolf from the door, so if the Championship is to flourish again, then it's the fifty-over comp that will have to move to the margins (presuming the ECB aren't going to sacrifice it altogether). There's no reason for every county to play eight group games; go back to having four groups of five teams, randomly drawn, comprising the eighteen first-class counties and the two finalists of the previous years Minor Counties Trophy. With just four group games per side, you can easily cram it into the first fortnight of the season, then allow an unbroken run of Championship matches right through to midsummer, when the knockout rounds would follow. (Of course, there's no room for the Hundred in this, but we all know where the ECB should stick that).
And for the love of God, promote cricket in state schools. In some ten years of mandatory Games/PE, I never once picked up a bat or strapped on a pair of pads. I played football, rugby, rounders, softball, basketball, handball, ping-pong, badminton and every form of athletics, but never bowled a leg-break or an off-cutter. It's no use moaning that we haven't got any decent openers whilst hoping that the next one will emerge from a pool of hundreds in Eton or Harrow. It's far from impossible: cricket used to be far more elitist in the past than it is now (think back to the MCC's treatment of Botham in the early Eighties, the moral panic about "lager louts" in the mid-Nineties), and it has made great strides, but until we're giving the poorest kids in the nation the chance to watch and play, the game's not where it should be.
Ultimately, while this summer was supposed to be the one where we did the World Cup and Ashes double, I think it's become the summer in which we reaped all the fruits and follies of our coaching set-up since 2015. Yes, we won the World Cup (just about), and I wouldn't trade that for anything; but it's clear that our Test batting has gone backward as a result, and from this point on, that has to be reversed. Personally, in the short-term I'd issue an ultimatum to quite a few of the batsmen who double up between formats to pick one and stick with it. Stokes is exempt because he alone seems to be able to switch mentality as necessary. But Roy, Buttler and Moeen need to be dedicated white-ball players, Root and Bairstow red-ball players (unless the latter chooses otherwise, in which case bring in Foakes as a replacement), and young players scoring runs in the Championship should get their chance to step up into the vacant places in the Test team.
But this will necessitate changes further down the pyramid of cricket. I don't think domestic T20 can be sacrificed or even cut down too much, because for many smaller counties it's all that keeps the wolf from the door, so if the Championship is to flourish again, then it's the fifty-over comp that will have to move to the margins (presuming the ECB aren't going to sacrifice it altogether). There's no reason for every county to play eight group games; go back to having four groups of five teams, randomly drawn, comprising the eighteen first-class counties and the two finalists of the previous years Minor Counties Trophy. With just four group games per side, you can easily cram it into the first fortnight of the season, then allow an unbroken run of Championship matches right through to midsummer, when the knockout rounds would follow. (Of course, there's no room for the Hundred in this, but we all know where the ECB should stick that).
And for the love of God, promote cricket in state schools. In some ten years of mandatory Games/PE, I never once picked up a bat or strapped on a pair of pads. I played football, rugby, rounders, softball, basketball, handball, ping-pong, badminton and every form of athletics, but never bowled a leg-break or an off-cutter. It's no use moaning that we haven't got any decent openers whilst hoping that the next one will emerge from a pool of hundreds in Eton or Harrow. It's far from impossible: cricket used to be far more elitist in the past than it is now (think back to the MCC's treatment of Botham in the early Eighties, the moral panic about "lager louts" in the mid-Nineties), and it has made great strides, but until we're giving the poorest kids in the nation the chance to watch and play, the game's not where it should be.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley