Give Jennings a final shot to turn it around
YOU have to say in the past couple of years that being an opener in england on the pitches they’ve played on and in the conditions they’ve faced has not been easy.
That’s not an excuse. Being a left-handed opener against wonderful bowlers such as vernon Philander last year and ishant sharma in this series has been the fiercest of examinations for alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings.
speak to Cook and he will tell you the last couple of years have been as tough for batting as at any time in his career, and you feel for Jennings, trying to make his way in these conditions.
But, i’m afraid, that’s Test match cricket and it is supposed to be seriously difficult. you can’t just throw up your hands and blame the conditions or the quality of the bowling.
england have two opening batsmen at opposite ends of the spectrum who will have to dig very deep now both mentally and technically to try to get a score at the ageas Bowl. They need answers very quickly.
Historically, Cook has been able to grind out runs even when he has been out of nick and got through the new ball, but of late he simply has not been able to do that and the repetitive nature of his dismissals is worrying.
Firstly he was getting bowled by ravichandran ashwin and he worked on that, but now he’s getting out to ishant going round the wicket and nicking him off outside off stump.
Jennings (right) looked stiff against south africa last year, a bit robotic, but i thought he was picking his bat up higher earlier this season and looking more fluid. Now he is nicking off again.
On the third evening he was trying to get across his stumps to avoid that and leave everything outside his eye-line, but yesterday he played and missed at his first ball, which concerned me. He soon got out in the same way. What Jennings has to learn is to leave the ball on length. With a tall bowler like ishant, quite a few deliveries will bounce over the stumps.
it is also a worry that both Cook and Jennings are dropping catches because that grinds you down. Batting affects your slip-catching and then your slip-catching can affect your batting. The sight of Jimmy anderson with his head in his hands would have hurt Jennings, who is a lovely lad, after he had dropped virat Kohli on 93. and i can tell you there is nothing worse than dropping a catch. it’s worse than when you are out because it does not just affect you, it affects everyone, especially the bowler.
But i am old school. i’d still give these lads one game too many rather than one too few, because if you dropped Jennings for the second time in two years it would probably mean he wouldn’t come again. He should have one more chance in southampton. The next cab off the rank is another lefthander in surrey’s rory Burns, while the main candidate to replace the injured Jonny Bairstow is yet another one in Moeen ali, and they could find it just as hard. There are no easy solutions.
Jennings worked on the mental side of his game while he was out of the side. He is doing a degree in accounting to give him something else to think about. He will need that perspective in abundance.
Cook is one of the toughest cricketers england have produced and will play in the last two Tests, as long as the birth of his third child does not get in the way. But at the end of the summer he will have to ask himself how much longer he puts himself under this level of scrutiny.
He has never had the greatest technique. That’s why i’m amazed he has played so many Tests because he will always go through spells like this, playing the way he does. He’s always come through before but can he now?
Cook will have to ask, ‘Can i go to the well yet again’ to summon up the strength to get him through those technical issues and start scoring big runs for england yet again, when another bowler has found a way of getting him out time after time.
Has he got enough reserves to do that? it is a question only he can answer. and he has earned the right to make that call himself.