TOO MANY COOKS CAN SPOIL THE BROTH FOR ENGLAND
Played three, lost three. The inquest has begun now England have surrendered the Ashes with many experts believing they know the exact problem and how to solve it. But unfortunately, it won’t be as simple as many make it out to be.
One idea being floated about is that of bringing in a coach just to take charge of the Test team, leaving Trevor Bayliss, who was brought in having been successful coaching teams with the white ball, to take control of the limited overs format.
Having led Sydney Sixers to a Big Bash runners-up spot and winning the IPL twice in three years with Kolkata Knight Riders, there is no question as to the talents Bayliss has. England’s one-day and T20 team have certainly improved since the Australian was appointed coach in the summer of 2015.
And the Three Lions have had success in the Test arena, too, winning in South Africa and being strong at home. But being 3-0 down after three Ashes Tests for the third time in four away series has led to questions as to whether somebody else should take the Test team going forwards.
We’ve seen it before with Ashley Giles taking over the one-day and T20 side while Andy Flower remained in control of the Test squad. And while Flower worked wonders with his side, leading them to No.1 in the world, Giles hardly pulled up any trees with the white-ball team.
It ultimately ended in Gilo leaving the Three Lions set-up after he was overlooked for the head coach role, but I don’t think the multi-coach role can be successful at international level.
You want your whole team ethos to be the same, and don’t want mixed messages. There may only be a handful of players playing across all formats, but you don’t want them getting different ideas and messages when you’re all under the same name.
Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes have all been successful with both white and red ball in recent times, and that’s with Trevor Bayliss at the helm across all formats. That consistency is key to
I don’t think the multi-coach role can be successful at international level. You want your whole team ethos to be the same
success – we can’t just pick and choose what we want to aim for. England as a group should be aiming to be the best at both white-ball cricket and in the Test arena.
You look at the likes of Dawid Malan. I spoke to him seven or eight years ago and told him he could play one-day cricket for England. Not only has he done that, but he is also an Ashes centurion now.You can argue about the process of being picked for Tests based on a T20 performance not being correct, but if the player is good enough then there’s no reason why you can’t make the adjustment between formats.
This isn’t to say multi-coach format can’t work. Derbyshire brought in a new structure last season and they seem happy with it, while Daniel Vettori took control of Middlesex’s T20 team and did well. But it’s not something I’ll be looking at for Leicestershire.
Your head coach should be in control of everything. There’s a famous saying about too many cooks spoiling the broth. England already have a large number of backroom staff, they don’t need to add any more.