ENGLAND ON THEIR KNEES
Root’s men flop AGAIN to make it seven Tests with no wins on tour
When england left for Perth in late October there were serious question marks over the top order and their ability to take 20 wickets in foreign conditions. now, a full 35 days of Test cricket later, we still do not have the answers.
All seven of england’s Tests this winter went to the fifth day but they have absolutely nothing tangible to show for them after they could not force their way through new Zealand’s lower order on a nail-biting last day of their long tour.
A thoroughly deserved 1-0 series victory to new Zealand, then, thanks to Ish Sodhi and neil Wagner facing 271 balls between them, but an unwanted record for england with, damningly, their 13th away Test in succession without a win.
Joe Root, who has endured the toughest of first winters in charge, insisted there was little more england could do after throwing everything at new Zealand on a hagley Park Oval pitch that offered minimal assistance.
‘It’s very frustrating. We had a good opportunity coming in today and we had a fantastic start,’ said Root after Stuart Broad had taken two wickets with the first two balls of the day and new Zealand had lost four wickets in the first hour.
‘But we threw everything at them and I do think that was a very good fifth-day wicket. There wasn’t much deterioration and there wasn’t much movement with the second new ball. We created some half-chances and some balls avoided the fielders at the wrong time. It’s how it goes sometimes.’
Yet the fact they came so close to getting away with a drawn series here should not be allowed to paper over the cracks in an england team that have gone backwards in Test cricket since the high of victory in South Africa in 2016.
That exceptional start yesterday should have guaranteed victory but england could manage only three wickets in the last 67 overs of the day, and sent down 124.4 overs in the final innings to take just eight wickets.
All the toiling of the rejuvenated Stuart Broad, the evergreen Jimmy Anderson, the pace of Mark Wood and the impressive debutant Jack Leach was wasted by shoddy fielding that saw five last-innings catches go down.
And the fact that all five, admittedly difficult, chances were all shelled by either Mark Stoneman or James Vince raise question marks over their temperaments at a time when they still haven’t nailed down their places.
‘It’s been very disappointing but this week we’ve been more adaptable and had more options with the ball,’ insisted Root. ‘Apart from that 58 all out we’ve looked a better side with the bat. It’s a challenge now to do consistently what we’ve tried to create here and have a successful summer.’
Saying england would have been fine in this series if they hadn’t capitulated so spectacularly on the first day at eden Park is a bit like saying the Titanic would never have sunk if that pesky iceberg had not been there, but the england captain insists he can see signs of progress.
‘There will be a lot of frustration within the side because we haven’t got the results we wanted but we’ll continue to push ourselves to find a formula that works for us abroad,’ said Root. ‘We’ve got a lot out of this week and we’ve found something we can continue to work with.’
It can only be hoped he is right but england have much to ponder, starting with a batting order that sees Stoneman, Vince and even Dawid Malan, against the moving ball at least, with plenty to prove and Jonny Bairstow too low at seven. There is also the million-dollar question of whether Alastair Cook is fighting the dying of the light.
‘You look at the way Cooky goes about his business and nothing’s changed,’ said Root of a record run-scorer who has suffered statistically the worst of his 45 Test series.
‘People always ask questions of him but I would not be surprised if he will answer this one with a big score early this summer.
‘ People have got to go out and perform for their counties and the guys who have the shirt have to show everyone they’re international players.
‘It’s up to them to prove it at county level and if they get an opportunity at the start of the Test summer try to take it.’
It was not exactly a ringing endorsement of Stoneman and Vince in particular, and clearly there is much to play for in a championship season that begins next week ahead of the two Tests against Pakistan that begin on May 24.
Coach Trevor Bayliss was far from unequivocal about the duo’s positions in the side.
he said: ‘I want to see some guys in county cricket putting a bit of pressure on the guys in the XI.
‘If one or two of them are looking over their shoulder then that’s what we want.’
Reflecting on the winter, Bayliss added: It’s disappointing in the Tests. We’ve just got to put it all together at one time and get some consistency.’
Captain Root ended the winter metaphorically and literally on his knees as he adopted a fielding position to try to take low chances. It
did not work, but Root has to stand tall again to get England back on track as quickly as possible.
Pakistan and India, the latter of whom will play five Tests, should provide strong opposition and the last thing England need is for their travel sickness to spread back home a year before the Ashes.
They end this winter as they started it — with their inexperienced captain, who has made seven half-centuries in those seven Tests without reaching a hundred, with much to ponder.