This lack of character is a real worry

I WROTE yesterday that this England line-up looks good on paper. But that isn’t enough in Test cricket. The way they collapsed on the first day of the international summer tells me that, with this team, it’s a question of attitude. Call me old-fashioned, but I’d love to see a player follow the example of Alastair Cook and grind out a score. Yes, conditions were not easy. The pitch did a bit, and Pakistan were excellent, bowling a full length relentlessly because that’s what they’ve been instructed to do by their coach Mickey Arthur after studying footage of the way New Zealand destroyed England in Auckland. But that’s the thing about Test cricket: it’s tough. You have to earn your runs. And I want to see Test batsmen enjoy the toughness, enjoy the grind. This could turn into a lowscoring game, so I want to see players who are prepared to guts out a fifty, knowing that it could be match-winning come Sunday or Monday. It’s not glamorous, but it can be just as satisfying as a quick fifty. Take the example of Jos Buttler. Ben Stokes had just been dismissed, but instead of taking stock and deciding whether he thought Dominic Bess would be able to hang around with him, Buttler edged a big drive to second slip. Yes, there’s a time to counter-attack, and Buttler may have felt he had little choice, because the absence of Chris Woakes leaves England with a longish tail. But looking back, he may have felt he went too early. I still see a side who can be destructive in the right conditions. But I don’t yet see a side who are willing to put in the hard yards. When you’re in the middle of a collapse, you need someone to show character and change the momentum. There’s not enough character right now. That’s a worry. Then there’s the question of whether Joe Root was right to bat first. I thought it was a morning to bowl first. And I’d have included Woakes. I know he had a poor winter, but he’s a different proposition in English conditions, armed with the Dukes ball, on a pitch with a tinge of green. Joe saw it differently. His decision made it all the more imperative that England knuckled down for the fight. Hats off to Pakistan’s bowlers. But England’s batsmen need to do better.