Down Under disgrace goes right to top
IT’S difficult to think of a more hapless, clueless shambles than the mess England’s cricketers find themselves in Down Under.
Covid can be used as a mitigating factor, but the Aussies lost their skipper Tim Paine on the eve of the series and his replacement, Pat Cummings, for the second Test and still romped home.
The excuses are already being trotted out – no red-ball cricket at the height of summer – and yes, there’s some merit in that.
But it hasn’t always been that way. The introduction of the
Hundred was only a few months ago and people are talking like this is the first time any
English professional cricketer has played in a game lasting more than 10 hours. Also, is Jack Leach the only spinner we have? How on earth has that been allowed to develop?
Variety is needed on those pitches – not the same quartet of right-arm medium-fast bowlers who turned out at Adelaide. As for the batting, it’s been an Achilles heel for a while now.
Joe Root’s brilliance has papered over too many cracks.
Throw in poor decision-making at the toss and dropped catches and the only wonder is how we haven’t been hammered out of sight by an even bigger margin.
Now, Root may or may not be the best captain – but he’s clearly one of few who have managed to keep their reputations intact.
Head coach Chris Silverwood (above), on the other hand, has presided over this carnage.
It’s not even been close – so it’s time for a change at the top.
If winning the Ashes in Australia is the Holy Grail for English cricket, the sport needs to treat it as such – and not just some sideshow when the white ball has been put away.