Silverwood will leave tour after death in family
Head coach to go home during second Test
ADiFFiCUlT few days for england took another twist last night when it emerged that head coach Chris silverwood would be flying home after the second day of the second Test against New Zealand because of a family bereavement.
The news came after silverwood admitted he was trying to take some of the weight off Joe Root, with the england captain in one of the worst ruts of his career.
Assistant coaches Graham Thorpe and Paul Collingwood will assume responsibility for team affairs on saturday, along with Root, who is facing the challenge of salvaging his form with the bat. his double failure during the innings defeat by New Zealand at Mount Maunganui took his Test average to 47.35, its lowest since August 2014.
And concerns the captaincy has sent his batting into a downward spiral will grow if he struggles again this week in hamilton, where england must win to avoid defeat in the two-match series.
silverwood and director of cricket Ashley Giles are mindful of the burden Root is carrying as he tries to assemble a team capable of winning the Ashes in Australia in two years’ time.
‘Behind the scenes, we’ve got to keep trying to strip away the things he doesn’t have to worry about,’ said silverwood. ‘Making sure that, when it comes to practice, he’s just one of the lads — he’s worried about his batting and that’s it. it’s about helping him, talking to him and trying to strip pressure away.’
Root was honest enough after Monday’s defeat to concede his form was not where he wants it to be, despite technical adjustments that encouraged him to think he had turned a corner after the Ashes, in which he produced four fifties and three ducks.
Giles had little choice but to acknowledge his captain’s malaise, with Root now averaging less than 40 since replacing Alastair Cook in early 2017. ‘The stats would say it, i guess,’ said Giles. ‘You can’t hide from that. But as i said before, i think Joe is our captain to take us forward.
‘We’ve got to work with him to make sure his game is in the best shape and he’s got time to work on it away from the pressures of captaincy. Then he can get back to averaging 50-plus, and if he’s doing that we are going to win games of Test cricket.’
Asked whether it was right that Root should be rubber-stamped as england’s leader for the 2021-22 Ashes, Giles replied: ‘i’m not quite sure what anyone is expecting me to say: “We’ll see how we go”? That’s not a great vote of confidence.
‘None of us know what’s around the corner but we believe Joe is our captain and that’s how we continue.’
Giles did say england’s inability to take wickets with the Kookaburra ball on flat pitches was a concern, after New Zealand racked up 615 for nine in their only innings in the first Test. ‘i am worried how we bowl at times overseas and it’s something we have to get better at,’ he said. ‘Conditions in england seem to be favourable. But we have to find ways to get 20 wickets abroad.’
Meanwhile, Joe Denly — who showed real patience while making 74 and 35 at Mount Maunganui — has claimed that pitches in county cricket are not preparing aspiring england batsmen for the surfaces they routinely encounter abroad. ‘having played quite a lot of first- class cricket, certainly the last few years, it has been very tough as a top-order batter,’ he said.
‘Going back to when i started my career, some players were scoring 1,500 or 1,600 a season. You don’t see that any more: 1,000 runs is a pretty good season.
‘That is down to the pitches we play on. it’s hard work.’