DON’T BURN THEM OUT
As England prepare for a crazy year which includes the World Cup AND the Ashes, Nasser Hussain warns...
It’s going to be a huge year for English cricket, with the World Cup and the Ashes both hosted in this country. As Joe Root’s side prepare to fly out to the West Indies for a three-test series later this week, here’s my wishlist for England in 2019.
STAY FRESH
You have to go back to 1975 for the last time an English summer contained a World Cup and an Ashes, so it will be absolutely key that the players keep their minds on the job.
I see England as favourites for both, but they’re only going to win if everyone’s fresh and raring to go. And if that means players missing, say, the test against Ireland in May, or a one-dayer or two against Pakistan, so be it.
Root, Ben stokes, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow play all three formats now, so England have to look after them properly.
We don’t want to get to a World Cup semi-final or a crucial fourth test against Australia and the players look jaded.
THINK TWICE ABOUT JOFRA ARCHER
onE early issue will be whether to select Jofra Archer for the World Cup squad. Don’t get me wrong: the way he’s been playing, he would be an asset to any whiteball team in the world. But he has to do a lot between now and then to make the squad.
too often in the past, England have made a late change to their World Cup plans, whether it be me coming in for nick Knight on the eve of the 1999 tournament, or Gary Ballance walking out at no3 at the MCG in 2015.
But Eoin Morgan, England’s limited- overs captain, knows how crucial it is that all his players understand their roles — it’s one of the reasons his side have won nine series in a rows.
If Archer comes in at this late stage, who are you leaving out? It would be very harsh on Liam Plunkett or David Willey after everything they’ve done over the past couple of years.
Yes, you want your best side at every tournament, but when you get to a semi-final you also want to be confident that every player knows his job. England have that now. And if it ain’t broke…
DON’T PLAY THE AUSSIES AT THEIR OWN GAME
AssuMInG steve smith and David Warner are in Australia’s Ashes squad, England’s players will probably be itching to get at them. After all the stuff England have taken from Warner over the years, the overwhelming feeling right may well be one of payback.
But I don’t advise anyone to get involved. Don’t lower yourself to their standards just because they’ve been doing it for years. the Aussies will get plenty of stick from the crowd. Just concentrate on the job in hand.
KEEP PLANNING
EnGLAnD’s 3-0 test series win in sri Lanka was brilliant. only one other England side had won a series there, and no matter how shambolic the sri Lankans were, victory in that part of the world is always cause for celebration.
Yet, would I back that England team to win in Australia right now? no. And that’s because there’s still a sameness about the seam attack. Yes, sam Curran’s added left-arm variety, but England would still struggle on a flat pitch with the Kookaburra ball.
It’s why they have to look very closely at olly stone and one or two others — someone with a bit of pace and X-factor. they have to prepare for life after Jimmy Anderson and stuart Broad. And, above all, that means planning properly for trips to Australia and India.
BE EVEN MORE RUTHLESS
HAts off to Ed smith, the national selector. I admire the way he’s picked horses for courses since he’s come in. But he can be more ruthless than he’s already been, and when it came to selection for the sri Lanka test series, I didn’t think he was ruthless enough.
there was no need to take Broad and Chris Woakes in that squad, no matter how good they have been for England, because they were always going to play three spinners. now, after those spinners did well, smith is going to have to have some difficult conversations with players who won’t get into the team in English conditions — the likes of Jack Leach and maybe Adil Rashid.
Horses for courses makes sense, but it also leads to scenarios which require ruthlessness, and smith will have his work cut out keeping everyone happy.
CEMENT TEST TOP THREE
ALAstAIR CooK admitted that batting in England over the past two summers against the Dukes ball was as tough as he ever found it during his long career. And that’s a reminder England urgently need to work out who is going to fill those top-order slots.
It’s too early to make a judgment on Rory Burns, but Keaton Jennings needs a good summer after his struggles against India — and, the year before against south Africa. It looks like Root wants to stay at no 4, so it’ll be down to Bairstow to nail down no 3.
PERSUADE BAIRSTOW TO EXAMINE HIS TECHNIQUE
tHERE is hardly a better player in the world than Bairstow when he has a point to prove. He showed he was worth his place as a one-day opener, then scored that fine hundred in Colombo in his first innings at no 3 in tests after losing the gloves to Ben Foakes. But if he’s going to be the long-term no 3, he needs to rejig his technique.
the plan that has brought him runs in the one- day team — staying leg- side of the ball and hitting through the off-side — has proved his undoing in test cricket when the ball is moving around. In sri Lanka it was not a problem, but next summer against Australia it could become one. His stubbornness is part of what makes him such a dangerous player, but he has to accept that his test technique needs to return to what it was a year ago — moving back and across to off stump and getting in line with the ball.
If he does that, England may have solved their problem with the no 3 position.
SPLIT COACHING ROLE?
AnotHER potential distraction during 2019 will be the search for a new head coach, with trevor Bayliss leaving after the Ashes.
Ashley Giles, the new director of cricket, will have a good perspective on it, because he was one-day coach when the white-ball teams were treated less seriously. He will understand the dynamic.
I think it can work — if you have the right men in charge of the teams. And that’s where Giles comes in. Like Andrew strauss, his predecessor, he’s a very safe pair of hands, and I don’t mean that as faint praise.
the good news is that he’s taken over at a time when English cricket is going in the right direction on the field. It’s vital that 2019 brings more of the same.