Foakes has to take over, this time for good
Years to plan but hapless England keep making the same mistakes — and are heading for a hiding
IT MAY seem a small example of the long-term Ashes planning that has gone so badly awry but it is worth remembering Ben Foakes was all but ruled out of this series by england almost two years ago.
it was then, when england were in South Africa, that doubts emerged about Foakes’ ability with the bat against the short ball in Australiantype conditions and Jos Buttler was pencilled in as the No 1 wicketkeeper/batsman Ashes option.
That logic was questioned at the time by Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart, who was adamant Foakes had never displayed a weakness against short bowling at the Oval. Not to mention the fact that, when he has been given a chance by england, Foakes has justified Stewart’s assessment of him as the best wicketkeeper in the world.
how questionable that pre-Ashes judgment looked on the first day of the second Test when Buttler dropped a late chance to reprieve Marnus Labuschagne off Jimmy Anderson that would have been taken by any self-respecting keeper at virtually any level of the game.
it was not the first blemish by Buttler either as he had also dropped a tougher opportunity, with Labuschagne on just 21, off Ben Stokes that could have painted a very different first-day Adelaide picture for england.
And the fact Buttler took by far the most difficult of the three opportunities that went his way, an athletic leg-side grab to send back Marcus harris, only added to the sense of what might have been.
it may also have hastened the day of reckoning for the most gifted of white-ball players who has so frustratingly struggled to fully live up to his immense ability whenever he has pulled on the white shirt for england and faced a red ball. Buttler, to his credit, has refused to take the easy route and concentrate fully on the limited-overs side he is destined to captain when eoin Morgan calls it a day.
Not to mention cash in on the numerous franchise white-ball opportunities that could see him fully engage in what he does best, at considerable financial reward.
instead, he has continued to be one of Joe Root’s most trusted lieutenants and pledged to play his part in this Ashes — even when it seemed he might have to spend four months on the road without seeing his young family because of Covid restrictions.
But the case for Foakes is becoming overwhelming now. he has fully recovered from the freak hamstring injury that denied him the opportunity to further display his class against New Zealand last summer, when Buttler was rested, and is keeping better than ever.
And, it should be remembered, Foakes’ batting is good enough to have seen him make a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle three years ago and have a first-class average of more than 38, with 11 centuries.
Buttler, by contrast, has only two hundreds in 54 Tests and only seven in total in red-ball cricket, where he averages 32. how he needs to add a couple more during the rest of this Ashes to stop Foakes taking over, this time for good, when england visit West indies in March.
The first day of the second Test merely emphasised england’s need for a varied and balanced attack. You simply cannot put all your eggs in one basket.
Chris Silverwood and Joe Root should not have picked five english-type seamers just because they are playing a day-night Test in Adelaide.
They ended up having just under six hours of play in a variety of conditions and only 35 minutes at the end with a second new pink ball under lights.
It is not the first time they have done this either. In Ahmedabad last winter england played four seamers against India and then saw 28 of the 30 wickets that fell going to spin.
There were long periods yesterday when the pitch was slow and flat and they needed a specialist spinner or the extra pace and X-factor of Mark Wood.
But they had picked the side in Adelaide they should have played last week in Brisbane on a green top and they clearly do not rate their spinner Jack Leach, not if they are leaving him out here. Root turned a couple quite sharply and if Australia go on to a big score now Nathan Lyon will be licking his lips at what he can do on his home ground.
As I said before this Test, england seem to set out their tactics months in advance. They clearly decided before this series they would go with Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in Adelaide but when they turned up they should have looked at the pitch.
Then they might have realised the drop-in surface might be slower than they expected and that it might take a bit of spin, even on the first day.
And that they might need Wood to go again, as long as he is fit and firing, and react accordingly in Melbourne.
england did not bowl badly and I cannot fault their effort but they did bowl too short. An analysis by Channel 7 in Australia (below) said only six per cent of the balls bowled by seamers on day one would have hit the stumps. The england bowlers were too worried about going for runs and did not bowl full enough.
The one bowler with licence to bowl short, in the absence of Wood, was Ben Stokes. he took on the role Neil Wagner fills for New Zealand, a lot of short-pitched bowling taking the pitch out of the equation, and he did make Marnus Labuschagne uncomfortable.
Stokes made a good job of that role and should have had Labuschagne caught by Jos Buttler on 21 but if you keep on banging the Kookaburra ball into the pitch like that it will go soft quicker. And I worry about Stokes, with his long lay-off and injuries, because bowling 13 overs on day one will have taken a lot out of him.
It was all summed up towards the close when england had the ridiculous situation of Stokes banging it in at one end and Root bowling leg-stump deliveries at the other in the twilight to try to get through 80 overs and have more time with the second new ball.
I know england lost Jofra Archer and Olly Stone before this series but Silverwood has been saying for two years that they need pace in Australia.
And Root has said that if england do what they have always done in Australia they will be beaten again. But they have not done much differently so far in this series.
Labuschagne, even with all his quirkiness and messing around, provided another lesson in how you have to leave the ball in Australia.
It is a skill that is going out of the game but he does it brilliantly and, in part because of england’s woeful catching, he was in a position to cash in by the end of the day.