I’m the man to stop the rot
One win in 11, muddled selection and heading for an Ashes whitewash but England coach Silverwood insists…
Chris silverwood has insisted he is the right man to coach england after their latest setback left the Test team with only one victory from their last 11. As Joe root’s side headed for Melbourne knowing that defeat in the third Test that starts on Boxing day will officially end their already slim chances of regaining the Ashes, silverwood admitted his job was on the line.
But he said some ‘honest chats’ in the dressing room after england’s 275-run hammering at Adelaide, plus the support of his backroom staff, have convinced him he can help turn around the team’s fortunes.
on the day it emerged that fast bowler Jofra Archer would be unavailable until next summer after a second operation earlier this month to address a stress fracture in his right elbow, england’s head coach issued a cry familiar to so many of his predecessors on tours of Australia: ‘we have to be better.’
The question of his future may yet be taken out of his hands by Ashley Giles, the team’s managing director, though silverwood (below) can reasonably point to the fact that the last 12 Tests have all been against the three best sides in the world: india, New Zealand and Australia.
But two victories during that sequence — against india at the Chepauk stadium and headingley — is no basis for negotiation. in that time, only root and dawid Malan have averaged over 30 with the bat, while of the regular members of the attack only ollie robinson and Jimmy Anderson have averaged below 30 with the ball.
Asked if he was the man to lead england out of their malaise, silverwood replied: ‘Yes, i do believe i can do that.’
Asked why, he said: ‘we have had those honest chats and i believe i have the right coaching staff around me to make that happen as well.’ Pressed on whether he felt his position was in danger, he said: ‘it always is. when you take a job like this, you accept that. do i believe i’m the right man? Yes i do, or i wouldn’t have taken the job. You’re under pressure constantly, aren’t you?’ with the notable exception of 2010-11, when captain Andrew strauss and coach Andy Flower oversaw a memorable 3-1 win, Australia tours have not ended well for england coaches. duncan Fletcher lost his job after the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash and a failed world Cup campaign in the Caribbean, and Flower himself stepped down after england lost 5-0 in 2013-14. it is inconceivable that both silverwood and root will still be in their posts if 2021-22 joins the list of disasters. And that means england’s fortunes must pick up immediately, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
As silverwood put it with regards to selection: ‘everything is on the table.’ The process has already begun following a ‘healthy’ discussion in the england dressing room, in which root reiterated the point he made in public about the bowlers’ erroneous lengths in Australia’s first innings.
‘he was just truthful,’ said silverwood. ‘There were a few things thrown out there, and some honest chats, which was great. he is right. Could we have pitched it up further? Potentially, yes. But look at the lengths both teams bowled — they were very similar.
‘There are things we can learn from a batting perspective, like the lines and lengths they left us on. They showed us how to play.
‘But it is not just batting and bowling. look at how many chances we have given up in the field, with dropped catches and missed run-outs. wickets off no-balls is unacceptable. i brought it up. This cannot happen.’
silverwood defended the selections for the first two Tests, despite england appearing to get their two teams the wrong way round with spinner Jack leach playing on a Brisbane green top, and fast bowler Mark wood omitted on a flat surface at Adelaide.
But he added: ‘we knew it was going to be difficult when we came out here. we have seen that on the last couple of occasions out here. obviously we wanted to win, but that is always going to be difficult. we have to be realistic about what we have, but we have to learn.’
Australia, meanwhile, have added 32-year-old victoria seamer scott Boland to their 15-man squad, prompting speculation that Josh hazlewood won’t recover in time from the side strain that ruled him out of the second Test.
Boland is yet to win a Test cap, and played the last of his 17 white-ball internationals back in october 2016. he recently dismissed england lions captain Alex lees for two and one during Australia A’s four-day victory in Brisbane.