Win should not mask problems

Victory was, in the end, overwhelming. England won by the second Test at Edgbaston by nine wickets with four-and-a-half sessions to spare. They’re two-nil up in the four-match series and have now won six Tests in succession.

So, on the surface, all is well. England have, give or take a position or two, a settled side and they’ll go into an away Ashes series with more optimism than any time in the last 25 years.

Yet, scratch beneath the surface, and things are less straightforward.

England have been flattered by their results this summer. They have played against two sides – Bangladesh and Pakistan – who are woefully sub-standard and in conditions that couldn’t have suited England’s bowlers better.

It won’t be like this in the winter. James Anderson, so dangerous when the ball swings and seams, can still look ordinary and innocuous when it does not. And it will not in Australia. The pitches will be flat and the balls used there – Kookaburras rather than the Dukes ball used in England – will provide him with far less assistance.

Australia won’t prove nearly so unforgiving, either. Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, reckoned that his side missed 14 chances at Edgbaston. Had they held even half of them, then England would surely have faced a far tougher run-chase.

There’s growing concern over a couple of England’s batsmen, too. Alastair Cook looks hopelessly out of touch at present, while Kevin Pietersen has now gone 23 Test innings since recording a century. Yes, he made 80 at Edgbaston, but he was missed five times. He won’t enjoy so many lives in Australia.

Cook’s form is causing particular concern. He has now scored just 100 runs in his last seven Test innings and his dismissal in the second innings at Edgbaston, unable to move his feet or retain his balance, hinted at a man in crisis. He’s barely able to play on the off side and needs to be replaced as opener. The Aussies will gobble up Cook in moments.

Harsh? Maybe. Cook was captain of England only five Tests ago and, aged just 25, he’s scored 12 Test centuries and averages 42. He can clearly play.

In current form, however, he is unrecognisable from that man. So, for The Oval, Trott could step up a position (though he’s reluctant) or England could draft in the excellent but uncapped Adam Lyth. He has the class to represent England with distinction.

And then there’s Stuart Broad. Broad, aged 24, has the world at his feet. He’s now developed into a world-class bowler – he’s rated eighth in the world Test rankings – and he will, in time, score Test centuries. More than that, he’s the pin-up boy of English cricket.

But with that comes responsibility. And Broad’s on-field behaviour is ugly. It demeans him and it demeans the game.

He may count himself fortunate to escape a ban for throwing the ball at Pakistan’s Zulqarnain Haider but he needs to learn the lessons. His constant grumbling at the umpires, his moaning at team-mates’ mistakes in the field and his sledging of batsmen are as unattractive as they are unnecessary. He’s a fine player. He needs to let his cricket do the talking and remember his responsibilities as a role-model.

That’s not to say all is doom and gloom. Far from it. The form of Graeme Swann adds weight to Shane Warne’s theory that he the Englishman is currently the best spinner in the world, while Warwickshire’s Jonathan Trott looks wonderfully sound. As England captain, Andrew Strauss, put it, his presence at number three is “immensely reassuring.”

The Test did not go particularly well from a Warwickshire perspective, however. The club were budgeting on selling 45,000 tickets for the Test. In the end, they sold more like 30,000. They did not, as has been reported elsewhere, make a loss on the game, but the profit they have made is well below expectation. As they also failed to hit their targets for domestic T20 sales, membership, the neutral games between Pakistan and Australia and for their general banqueting business, their end of year financial results will be far below budget.

Flower’s appointment key for England

It’s taken 18 attempts and 35 years, but England have finally won a global limited-overs tournament.

Victory over Australia – and a crushing victory at that – in the World Twenty20, finally shed an unwanted record: no longer are England the only major Test nation to never have won a major, world trophy. For a team that last reached a major final in 2004 – and hasn’t looked consistently dangerous in limited overs cricket for nearly 20 years – that is a fine achievement.
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of this success is that it was based around an all-round team performance. England have only used 12 players in the entire event – and Bopara played just the one game while KP was on paternity leave – with all of the first choice XI contributing.

Ryan Sidebottom, who was controversially selected ahead of James Anderson, vindicated that faith by finishing as England’s leading wicket-taker in the event (equal with the excellent Graeme Swann) and claiming two early wickets in the final. Luke Wright contributed with a couple of fine innings and a nerveless over under pressure in the final, Mike Yardy was mean with the ball and Eoin Morgan, despite limited opportunities, reinforced the impression that he could become one of the finest players in the world.

Neither Lumb – who was exposed by Australia’s pace – or Kieswetter – who was lucky to see Swann catch Watson via a rebound off Kieswetter’s iron-like gloves in the first over and has questions to answer against the short ball – are ready for Test cricket.

But they proved the right choice for this event. Broad conceded fewer than seven runs an over and Bresnan showed well-honed skill with bat and ball. All have fielded with commitment and skill. It has been a highly impressive performance.

For all that, one man stood out this tournament. Kevin Pietersen was immense for England. It was not just that he was the second highest run-scorer in the event (only Mahela Jayawardene managed more), it was the manner he scored them. KP’s batting now intimidates bowlers in a way that few  – Bradman and Viv Richards spring to mind – have ever managed. He’s not just back to his best, he’s batting better than ever. A prolific summer looms.

His batting in the final emboldened the team. Before his arrival, Lumb and Kieswetter had both looked troubled by the extreme pace of Nannes and Tait.

KP looked to have all the time in the world, however. Treating Tait – who topped 97 mph at one stage – like a medium-pace trundler – KP, lent back and drove him for six over mid-off. It was batting of the highest class.

Recognition as player of the tournament was no more than he deserved.
Afterwards, Pietersen admitted that his improved form was rooted in “disappointment”. “It was the disappointment of the last 12 months [that motivated me],” he said. “So I worked very hard in Bangladesh and India. I spent hours in the nets, had lots of nights and dinners with ‘Colly’ [Paul Collingwood] when I had lost sight of how I should play.

“So these are moments to savour. It’s difficult to believe. It’s humbling.
“But the team is the important thing and if not for the team, I wouldn’t be here.”

Kieswetter followed KP’s suit with some audacious strokes. He’s nowhere near the finished article, but he demonstrated some raw talent that bodes very well for the future.

And what of Andy Flower? It’s little over a year ago that Flower assumed the England coaching role against a background of chaos and discord. After a tricky start – remember the ignominy of Jamaica and Holland – he’s now overseen Ashes victory and that elusive limited-overs success. That, by any standards, is an excellent achievement and it is no coincedence that England’s revival coincided his appointment. 

England are almost unrecognisable from the rabble he inherited. Where once the players seemed timid and hesitant, they now appear fearless and positive. Where once England were, at best, workmanlike in the field, they are now consistently superb, and where once their bowling was predictable, it is now intelligent and disciplined. Flower must take much of the credit.

Perhaps England had a little fortune in the final. The dismissal of Haddin surely owed more to poor umpiring than fine bowling, but Michael Clarke was quite right when he admitted afterwards that his team had been “outplayed by a better team.” Indeed, he said England played “wonderful cricket.”

In truth, Australia had been living dangerously for a while. Their top-order had rarely fired at this event and, excellent though the Husseys and White remained until the end, it was asking too much of them to continually rebuild.

Collingwood compared the success favourably with any in his career. Including the Ashes.

“It’s very special,” he said. “This is right up there with the best [moments of my career]. To be the first [England] team to win a [cricket] world cup is amazing and it’s something that can never be taken away from us.

“Everyone in the team contributed but, the really exciting thing is that we have a lot more potential. The good team kick-on and we can do that now.

“This [no global success] has been a real monkey on our back. But now we’ve done it on the big occasion; we’ve done it under pressure and we’ve done it as a team. It’s a very special moment.”

Episode 8: Hawkeye, dressage and stepladders

The Third Umpire and Jono Russell are joined by SPIN’s Hawkeye guru, Colin Spiro, in a candlelit Wetherspoons to discuss the Olympics – and a bit of cricket too. We talk to SPIN columnist George Dobell and one of the men leading the charge for cricket to be included in the 2020 Olympics, Shahriar Khan of the Asian Cricket Council. PLUS: the chaps debate their dream Test Match Special line-up – will Mike Selvey make it? Also: Colin the Janitor talks about stepladders.

The trouble with Steve Harmison…

What, I wonder, is Steve Harmison’s ideal job? To hear him moaning about his lot, you’d have thought he was stitching footballs in a third-world sweat shop. After another display which, at best, almost reached lacklustre levels, he gave a rambling, incoherent and self-pitying interview on Sky where he complained that cricket was preventing him from seeing his family. Not for long, Steve. Not for long.

You do wonder quite what Harmison will do when his playing career finishes. I suspect he’ll struggle to find another job which pays him £300,000 a year for about a dozen weeks’ work.

I also wonder if he has the humility to reflect on how insensitive his words were. There at, right now, tens of thousands of young men and women serving their country in a less glamorous but somewhat more meaningful way in Afghanistan and Iraq. They don’t have benefit seasons and sponsorship deals. They don’t get to see their families.  

I don’t doubt Harmison tries his best every time he steps on to the pitch. But I do doubt that he cares enough to prepare properly. The first Test against New Zealand was hardly the first time he’s gone into a series ill-prepared. One way or another, it has to be the last.

To some extent, however, Harmison is a victim. Like a spoiled child, he has been ruined by excess. He’s had too much freedom, too much coaching and too much money. He’s lost his hunger.

Harmison’s – and Matthew Hoggard’s – lack of form in the first Test in New Zealand also reflects poorly on Peter Moores. To have two key players start a Test series short of match-fitness – again – is simply unprofessional. Moores should have ensured it didn’t happen.

Moores has been a great disappointment. While no-one is yet likely to shout ‘bring back Fletcher’, it does look as if Moores could be cricket’s version of Steve McClaren. Indeed, one wonders just how different Moores’ career might have been had he never met Mushtaq Ahmed. As different, perhaps, as Ringo Starr’s had he not met Lennon and McCartney.

Harmison is just the worst manifestation of a general malaise affecting the England team. Despite the millions spent on salaries, facilities, and a massive backroom staff, they’ve nearly all become worse cricketers. Harmison and James Anderson have both lost at least 5mph of their pace. Andrew Strauss hasn’t scored a century (at time of writing) since the dawn of time. And that’s before considering the likes of Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick, whose international careers were screwed up by a succession of coaches, managers and selectors. 

A long-term solution will require a culture change. Players need to forget about failure and simply give expression to their natural talents. A coach with the ability to inspire as well as offer technical advice is required. Step forward, Dermot Reeve?

But practical steps can be made now. For a start, tours need to be longer. If the players don’t like it they can become electricians. And yes, England players also need to play more county cricket. There are very few things in life at which we improve by doing less often and England’s cricketers have proved once and for all that a lack of match practice does not make perfect.