Stop fudging it and shake this team up

PAKISTAN read the conditions so much better than England that a first-time visitor to Lord’s might have concluded they were the home side in the first Test. So you have to ask the question — why is it taking England’s coaching staff so much longer to instil the sort of discipline and basics required here than Mickey Arthur and Co have taken with Pakistan? Losing away is one thing but England have not lost a home Test series for four years, so to lose a May Test against a very inexperienced Pakistan does not bode well for what lies ahead at Headingley on Friday and then against India. The most worrying thing is that the England bowling looks innocuous away when the ball isn’t doing anything, then the batsmen are looking fragile at home when it does do something. We are seeing collapse after collapse after collapse. Is it a mental failing? Are they so scarred now that they are vulnerable? Perhaps it was no coincidence that the two men who temporarily arrested the decline on Saturday night were the two newcomers to this side, Jos Buttler and Dom Bess. The trouble is, on paper England still appear to have so many good batsmen. Are you going to drop Alastair Cook? No. Joe Root? No. Jonny Bairstow? No. And Dawid Malan did well in the winter in Australia. Mark Stoneman is horribly out of nick and doesn’t know whether to stick or twist, so England have to make a decision on whether to give him one more game or say, ‘Enough’s enough’ and go for Nick Gubbins or Keaton Jennings. One thing is for sure. England need shaking up. The time for putting an arm around someone is over. They need a good strong talking-to. There is too much fudged thinking and catch-up cricket going on. It’s time for the softly, softly approach to be put to bed.