DEREK PRINGLE...
As England bid to reclaim their number one status, Derek Pringle compares the current crop with the stalwarts of five years ago
Asks whether current England side is better than Strauss’2011
JAMES Anderson is not necessarily someone to disagree with on matters of cricket. England’s veteran fast bowler has been at the cutting edge of international cricket for 13 years and has taken more Test wickets for England than any other, so he knows what he is talking about.
When he says that the current Test team under Alastair Cook, and which has a sniff of going to No. 1 in the rankings by the end of the summer, is better than the one in 2011, which actually achieved the accolade, the natural instinct is to agree with him. Except that I don’t.
The 2011 team, which was captained by Andrew Strauss was, to my mind, more complete than this one. Perhaps they did not bat or bowl as deep as the current side but they were stronger in certain positions, like spin bowling, where Graeme Swann was a far better exponent than Moeen Ali.
Five years is half a cricketing generation ago and unsurprisingly there are only three players common to both teams: Cook, Anderson and Stuart Broad.With all three vital to both causes you can see how Anderson, who believes that both he and Broad are better bowlers now, might extrapolate other components in similar fashion to end up with the conclusion he does.
To compare the two let’s start at the top. Anderson has already stated, publicly, that Strauss is the best captain he ever played under. Even if he hadn’t said that, few would place Cook ahead of him, though the two are closer in capability than you might think. Strauss is also a better opening batsman than Alex Hales, substantially so, lending a clear advantage for the 2011 team in the opening partnership.
Cook remains one of the common factors, though he was probably in better form five years ago than now, but we’ll mark him being of equal value to either side.
Joe Root has just broken the England record for runs in a Test series against Pakistan, beating Denis Compton’s 453 set in 1954, but Jonathan Trott, England’s No. 3 in 2011, was in terrific form back then going on to become the International Cricket Council’s international cricketer of the year for 2011. Obviously Trott went on to have his problems, specifically against fast, short-pitched bowling, but in 2011 he was more or less the equal of Root.
The number fours up for consideration are Kevin Pietersen and James Vince. At this stage there is no comparison save the fact that both have, at one stage or another, represented Hampshire.Vince has a Test best of 42 while KP, for all his foibles and tactlessness within the team environment, was one of England’s greatest ever batsmen.
Next up in 2011 was Ian Bell, a superb, stylish batsmen with a propensity for getting out in soft ways. Gary Ballance is not as stylish, has a similar Test average (44 versus Bell’s 42.7) and gets out in ways not always of the bowler’s doing. For me Bell shades it despite his inferior average, but I’m prepared to accept parity if the Anderson camp cut up rough about it.
The weak link in the 2011 team, or at least the one position that was often up for grabs, was number six in the batting order. It was filled by a combination of Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara, neither man really going on to ‘crack’ Test cricket. The current team have an all-rounder at six, either Ben Stokes, when he is fit, or Jonny Bairstow, the wicket-keeper. If Stokes was fit then he scores heavily over Morgan and Bopara.
“Jonny Bairstow versus Matt Prior for the keeper’s position is a tricky one. By 2011 Prior was a fine keeper, a status that Bairstow is yet to acquire ”
Having the all-rounder there, as opposed to a specialist batsman, gives Cook extra options with the ball, which can be invaluable. Mind you, in the current series, and against Sri Lanka earlier in the summer, it has mostly allowed England to carry bowlers not on top of their game, like Steven Finn. Although Strauss could occasionally have done with more choice among his bowlers in 2011, he found a way to make it work, as the team’s top ranking proved.
Bairstow versus Matt Prior for the keeper/batsman berth is a tricky one. When he began with England, Prior was as clumsy with the gloves as Bairstow is now. By 2011 he was a fine wicketkeeper, a status Bairstow has yet to acquire. Bairstow is, however, superior with the bat, his propensity for making runs under pressure, something he did again yesterday with a vital 55 against Pakistan, a prize asset to the team.
But does his propensity for making valuable, face-saving runs offset the catches he drops. So far, his fumbles have not cost England that dear but they might in places like India. For that reason Prior’s safer hands, plus his not inconsiderate ability to counter-attack with the bat, make him Bairstow’s equal, at least for the moment.
This is where comparisons begin to get a little fuzzy, being not entirely like for like. Moeen cannot come close to Swann the bowler, but as a counterattacking batsmen with a penchant for getting England out of trouble, he has been almost as important to England’s recent successes, in posting competitive totals, as Bairstow.
Swann for wickets, then, Moeen to get his team out of the mire.
Tim Bresnan was a stoic performer with ball and a decent one with bat. It is a description that could have fitted the old Chris Woakes, but not the new. That incarnation looks Test class in both disciplines, and you wouldn’t go quite as far as that with Bresnan.
With Anderson and Broad as effective then as now, I’d say the 2011 team, exhorted by a very driven Andy Flower, were better. Their superiority, in at least four positions with another three or four about even, make them a more dangerous Test side than the one battling to reach the number one spot at the Oval this week.
Obviously, it is not an exact science. If it was, we wouldn’t have the pleasure of arguing over it now, and I’m sure there will be plenty out there who disagree with me.