Derek Pringle identifies some England selection issues that will have to be addressed before the Test series against Pakistan
England may have won the series against Sri Lanka convincingly, but Trevor Bayliss will not be satisfied with anything less than a whitewash as the teams play out the final Test at Lord’s.
Apart from anything else, Bayliss is an Aussie and he knows that if this England team are to regain the No.1 spot in the Test table, currently held by Australia, it is small, even unnecessary accomplishments like that which will help to build a ruthless and efficient team.
He also realises there are still one or two malfunctioning parts to the current side. The top five are still not delivering the volume of runs they should, while Steven Finn and Moeen Ali are fortunate to be part of a five-man man attack that contains the world’s No.1 and No.3 Test bowlers in James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
Their brilliance has meant the anaemic offerings of the other two have yet to be exposed.
The other areas of concern, and they look minor but could have major ramifications if opponents exploit them, are Alastair Cook’s captaincy and Jonny Bairstow’s wicket-keeping.
It looks pedantic to criticise a captain when his team have won not only these last two Tests but a series in South Africa during the winter, but Cook does not possess the same savvy setting fields as he does piercing them as a batsman.
Take his response to Sri Lanka’s follow-on and in particular the fields he set to Kaushal Silva, their plucky opening bat. Sri Lanka were facing their second shellacking in a row when Silva counter-attacked by driving Anderson and Chris Woakes through extra cover, occasionally on the up.
While bowlers are allowed to make their own suggestions in setting the field, Cook should have taken mid-on and placed him on the drive at short extra. When he eventually did make the change, after an hour, Silva became frustrated and holed out though not before he’d played a major role in a fightback which saw Sri Lanka make 475 in their second innings.
Cook is renowned for his stubbornness, a good trait for an opening batsman but not a captain.
Sri Lanka were down and out when that moment presented itself. Yet had it been their first innings, and they’d made such a score, England would have been under immense pressure responding to such a daunting total.
As such Cook needs to respond more quickly to obvious ploys like that, even over-ruling his garlanded bowlers if necessary. Obviously, the man-management of players is important and he has to placate some feisty personalities, but massaging a few egos is not as vital as taking wickets, the keys to unlocking every Test.
Almost as crucial is taking all your chances, something Bairstow failed to do when he dropped two catches and missed a difficult stumping during the match.
Most people think that captains do not enforce the follow-on in order to give their bowlers time to recover, but wicket-keepers should come under the same consideration. Cook of course did enforce it at Durham, and, indeed, at Headingley, which meant a double dose of concentration for Bairstow and the risk of mistake that entails.
But whether tiredness was at fault, or the technical issues Bairstow occasionally has with his footwork behind the stumps, more practice just adds to his overall load.
According to a source, Bairstow’s hard work with the gloves has placed him on a par with Jos Buttler though that assessment may contain an element of diplomacy, as I still feel Buttler remains the more assured behind the stumps. Not that Bairstow should be dropped, perish the thought given his stupendous form with the bat. But a reinstated and reinvigorated Buttler with Bairstow either promoted to five, or staying at six, would surely strengthen the side.
Certainly he and the lower middle order are still providing ‘get out of jail’ contributions with the bat, Moeen doing the honours at Durham with a fine hundred. Problems up the order still persist though Alex Hales, one of those who underperformed in South Africa, is looking more like a Test opener with every knock. His big challenge, after a pair of 80s, will come against Pakistan whose bowlers can combine skill, pace and accuracy.
Nick Compton returned from South Africa under pressure and remains so, though Bayliss did find words of encouragement in Compton’s unbeaten 22 at Durham, as England clinched the match and series. But coaches must play both sides of the issue and a day later, perhaps as a gentle reminder to Compton that the Lord’s Test will be his last chance, he named five batsmen – Daniel Bell-Drummond, Scott Borthwick, Tom Westley, Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman – currently riding high in county cricket, as possible contenders for future places in the England team.
Pakistan will be a different proposition than Sri Lanka, at least for England’s batsmen, and there is a strong feeling that the selectors have missed an opportunity to blood a newcomer at No.3 now, rather than when the heat is turned up. By bringing in James Vince, yet to convince, they probably felt that was change enough even though that selection was enforced by James Taylor’s sudden retirement with a heart defect.
To have any chance of reaching No.1 in the Test rankings, England must have Ben Stokes back fit and firing, never guaranteed once surgeons begin snipping bits out of joints. They also need to get him to add savvy to his huge batting talent as a stroke player. Damaging opponents once every five innings is more than acceptable, but doing it every four or even three innings is even better.
With head, rather than headstrong, to the fore, Stokes can do that.
It is Stokes’ bowling as an all-rounder, a role taken by Chris Woakes while Stokes recovers from his knee operation, that has allowed Finn and Moeen to be carried this series. While Finn’s travails are discussed elsewhere in this edition, Moeen needs to learn how to contain better when the ball is not turning, the one area his bowling has yet to convince.
At Durham, he went at almost five runs an over bowling liquorice all sorts and looked to have adopted England’s one-day mantra of playing freely without fear, even though that really only applies to batsmen. As even the great Aussie sides of the Nineties and Noughties will acknowledge, success in Test cricket comes from attacking with the bat but defending with the ball.
If building pressure through dots is good enough for Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, it is good enough for just about anyone.
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, Friday June 3 2016
