ENGLAND’S TEST WOE... THERE’S NO QUICK FIX
Giles takes share of blame for debacle Down Under and accepts major shake-up is needed
ASHLEY GILES has apologised for England’s Ashes surrender inside 12 days, but warned there was no quick fix for their Test woes.
The managing director of England men’s cricket was in a defiant and defensive mood after returning to the tour to try to help steer it towards a more upbeat conclusion.
But the problems facing the side will only continue to stack up as they try to manage their workloads through an unprecedented period of demand.
Understandably Giles would not be drawn mid-series on the future of either coach Chris Silverwood or captain Joe Root, preferring to leave that to an end-of-tour review. But he has made it plain the problems run so deep simply changing the personnel will not bring about sustained success, especially overseas.
The fundamental issues are not new. They are the same well-worn explanations we have heard before – too much cricket and not enough focus on quality and producing players in the domestic game.
Add a global pandemic into the mix and things really start getting interesting, and not in a good way. “Being here now, in this position I absolutely feel the responsibility of losing this Ashes series,” said Giles. “Absolutely we all do and we can only apologise.
“We’ll do a full review at the end of this period and everything will be on the table. The amount of time these guys have spent in bubbles is simply not healthy.
“We’ve got to look at the schedule in the long run. It’s a problem and we have to find a balance. We need to balance the amount of cricket with the quality of cricket. And making sure we look after our people.
“Unless we look at more systemic change and a collective responsibility and collective solutions, we can make whatever changes we want, you can change me, change the head coach, change the captain – but we’re only setting up future leaders for failure.”
Giles has worked tirelessly in the last two years to try to keep the plates spinning, and even though they are starting to fall, he clearly wants to continue.
He is unrepentant about having selection in the hands of the head coach rather than with an arm’s-length national selector.
And there appears to be no desire to go into battle with the IPL as long as it does not expand any further. Good luck stopping that.
But the business side of the game, run by Tom Harrison, is taking its toll on the performance side, and right now the Test team is suffering as a result.
The truth though is the fan who buys their ticket or pays their TV subscription is not really interested in the inner corporate workings of the game, they just want to see a contest when they turn up or switch on, and without one they are being short changed.
Giles may well not have control over the schedules, but he does have control over the players, the coaches, the support staff and the pathways, and he can start improvements there.
“I don’t want people to think we’ve just sleepwalked into it knowing it was going to be a disaster,” he added. “I think we’ve done as much as we can, but we’ve not played well enough, not got it right.”