Latest defeat knocks England’s confidence
ENGLAND’s defeat in the opening Test against SA has been termed a “public humiliation” by bowler Graeme Swann, and continued what he said had been a “dismal” run of results since the team achieved their No 1 ranking a year ago.
The innings-and-12-run loss was their fifth in nine Tests this year, which included a 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. In contrast, they did not lose a Test the previous year and won six of their eight matches, propelling them to the top.
After ending the opening day of the first Test against SA in a good position on 267/3, following a hundred by Alastair Cook, England lost their way on the second day before being shut out of the match by a record-breaking performance from SA’s top order. Hashim Amla hit the country’s first triple century and added an unbroken 377 with Jacques Kallis for the visitors.
With four sessions remaining, England should have been able to save the Test but lost four wickets late on the fourth day and were bowled out by tea on the last day after a succession of poor shots by the batsmen. The result has left them needing back-to-back victories to preserve their winning run on home soil, which dates back to the last time SA visited in 2008.
“After a few days it doesn’t get any prettier,” Swann said. “Even though we gave away a couple of soft dismissals, you think 260/3 should have been a platform for 500. Almost from the moment we turned up on day two the wheels fell off the wagon — it was awful. Can’t really describe it any other way,” he said.
“It was a sort of public humiliation by the end of it, fielding that long and then getting skittled afterwards. I think that prompted that meeting afterwards and prompted a lot of honesty and people saying that’s not going to happen again.
“It’s the old kick up the arse, isn’t it? You can approach everything holistically and be a bit trendy about things but sometimes a size 10 up the backside is what you need, and if ever you have a boot up the arse it was last week. I can’t deny the fact that since we’ve been No 1 we’ve got a dismal record. Whether that goes hand in hand with being No 1 I don’t really know; you need someone more qualified with the workings of the human mind.”
In the hours after the match, England held an honest meeting in the dressing room before dispersing, with most players escaping the intensity of cricket for a few days. It was not the first noholds-barred debrief the team have had while under the leadership of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, but rarely have they needed them more after such a comprehensive defeat.
“Normally, you can’t wait to see the back of each other after a loss and we disperse quickly, but the two Andys were quite keen to make sure we focused on it,” Swann said. “So we sat down and got quite a bit of honesty from the group, which happened. It was a horrible two hours as it was about 300 degrees in that hot, sweaty changing-room. But I think it brought the best out of the situation as there was a lot of honesty, a lot of people raising their hands saying we should have done this better and that better. I think that works, but for me if a game goes like that, I just pretend it never happened.”
England’s rise up the Test rankings to No 1 has given the squad a belief in themselves — highlighted by victories at the Oval in 2009, Melbourne in 2010 and Colombo this year, after heavy defeats — but Swann admitted that trying to bounce back at Headingley will be one of the side’s biggest tests. Cricinfo.com