Nobody’s job is safe at end of a nightmare tour
Root, Silverwood and Giles all fighting for futures in final Test
One of the most chaotic Ashes tours in history reaches its conclusion in the next few days — but the uncertainty surrounding english cricket is far from over.
In contrast to the Derwent River, that forms a shimmering backdrop to Hobart’s Bellerive Oval, choppy waters lie in wait for Joe Root’s england, with not many players certain of their long-term place and speculation continuing to dog the future of Chris Silverwood.
Root’s endorsement of him ahead of a game that doubles up as the final Test and Tasmania’s Ashes debut might have been nothing more than the humane response of a captain unwilling to blame his coach for Australia’s 3-0 lead, especially since Silverwood has just emerged from the quarantine that meant he could only follow the tense draw at Sydney on TV.
But nobody’s job is safe after the thrashings in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne — not Silverwood’s, not managing director Ashley Giles’s, not even Root’s, although it is hard to see a feasible alternative as Test captain.
even so, the end of the series is upon us, bringing with it a strange question: who exactly should the players be trying to impress in the days ahead?
Motivation may have to come from other sources, both grimly familiar at this stage of an Ashes trip: pride in personal performance and pride in the badge, which has become the tour mantra. Of the eight series defeats england have suffered here since 1990-91, a margin of 3-1 would equal their least-heavy. That is the barrel whose bottom they are scraping. For many of the squad, Ashes tours may soon be a thing of the past. When england return in four years’ time, only an optimist would expect Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow or Jack Leach to be in the party. Jos Buttler has already flown home nursing a broken finger, while Root and Ben Stokes will both be 34 come 2025-26. Root’s defence of Silverwood was spirited but not entirely unequivocal. When asked if his team needed to win for the benefit of his coach’s career, he simply shouldered arms. ‘He has the respect of the guys in the group and he’s got a desperation to see everyone do well or upskill the players as best he can,’ said Root. ‘I think we just need to win this week anyway, to instil a bit of pride back from the way the first three games unfolded. We made a small step forward last week and now we have to shift that into an actual performance.’ A green-looking pitch, and the fact that Stokes’s side injury will limit him to batting, leaves a tricky decision about whether to play Leach as part of a four-man attack, plus Root’s off-spin, or recall Woakes.
But the return of Ollie Robinson in place of a veteran seamer — possibly Anderson — came with a warning from Root about his fitness following concerns that his pace had begun to fall away at Melbourne.
‘If you look at Australia’s three main seamers, they have generally managed to keep themselves fit and available, and for the last three years they’ve operated as a three-man (pace) attack with nathan Lyon,’ he said.
‘The way they have managed themselves physically is a serious lesson for young guys coming into this team, from top performers who are fit and ready to play. Hopefully those sort of messages spread far and wide in the county set-up.’
Certainly Australia’s left-armer Mitchell Starc, the only frontline fast bowler on either side to play all four Tests, has maintained his pace at 90mph and does not intend to miss out under the floodlights in Hobart.
Australia have won nine out of nine day-night Tests — all at home — and Starc has usually played a starring role, taking 52 wickets at 18 apiece, with eight hauls of four or more in an innings.
‘I’m not looking for a break,’ he said with an ominous grin. ‘It’s the last Test of an Ashes series at home and it’s a pink ball, too.’
Scott Boland is the only fitness worry among Australia’s seamers after suffering a rib injury at the SCG. But if he misses out they can draft in Jhye Richardson, who took five for 42 in england’s second innings at Adelaide, the other pink-ball Test of this series.
At the top of their order, Australia may drop Marcus Harris to play Usman Khawaja, who stepped in at Sydney for Travis Head — available again after Covid — and promptly made two hundreds.
england are also considering swapping openers, with Rory Burns in line to replace Haseeb Hameed, who has averaged 10 in the series and regressed technically. Unless Bairstow’s chipped right thumb makes an unexpected recovery, the gloves will go to Sam Billings, who has been receiving the attention of wicketkeeping coach James Foster.
Whoever england select, Root was determined to draw strength from adversity after preparations for Sydney were hampered by the absence of key backroom figures because of Covid.
‘The one thing we gained was a sense of real togetherness,’ he said. ‘We had to pull together and help each other prepare in a slightly different way. Sometimes that is a good thing.
‘You have to be a bit more selfless and spend more time caring for the guys around you. It’s something that can really bring a side together.’
In the absence of anything more tangible, team spirit may be england’s best hope of ending a nightmare tour on a belated high.