Time to split role of Silverwood and Kirsten’s well up to the Test
THE dispiriting Ashes tour drags on but the international cricket merry-go-round being what it is, a fresh series will begin for England before the week is out half a world away in thewest Indies.
The palm trees and picture postcard surroundings in the Caribbean may help with the healing process but, for English cricket, there is a lot of hard thinking to do after the drubbing Down Under.
Chris Silverwood said when he took over as England coach in 2019 that his priority was to improve the Test team so that they could make a real impact in Australia.
The series was over inside 12 days. He has failed in his mission.
There are many parts to the piteous puzzle – the absence of Jofra Archer, a domestic programme which sidelines the four-day game and Covid bubble fatigue amongst them – but the buck stops with Silverwood.
No England coach since Ray Illingworth has enjoyed the power Silverwood does.when Ed Smith was removed as England’s national selector last April and his role absorbed by Silverwood, the Yorkshireman knowingly placed his neck squarely on the block.
The basket awaits.
If it was simply a case of a series loss to Australia in their own backyard, then that would merely represent par for what has largely proved to be an unplayable course over the past 30 years.
But it isn’t.taken in the round, 2021 was a wretched year for
England’s Test side with only four victories and nine defeats in 15 matches.
No England side has ever lost as many Tests in a calendar year.
Their proud home record crumbled with poor series against New Zealand and India.
Silverwood, who led Essex to promotion in the County Championship, was elevated from bowling coach to revive England’s red-ball cricket. Instead, it has gone backwards.
It is time for Silverwood to step down and time for the role of an overarching England head coach to go with him.
In present circumstances, the job is simply too unwieldy for one man.
England play more international cricket than any other country, and the added complications of Covid quarantine and travel require the head coach position to be split into separate red-ball and white-ball roles.
In effect that is what is happening by default in the West Indies, where Silverwood will temporarily hand over the reins to Paul Collingwood for the five T20 contests.
A permanent move to two head coaches able to devote all their time to one distinct project has to be the way forward.
It has been attempted a decade ago, when Ashley Giles – now managing director of England men’s cricket – took over the one-day side to ease the burden on Andy Flower.
On that occasion, England ended up with Edam on their face as Giles’ side contrived to lose to the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and he was relieved of his responsibilities shortly afterwards. The experiment was abandoned after 18 months but the timing is ideal now to try it again.
If Collingwood was given the white-ball role and Gary Kirsten the red-ball position, England would have two respected figureheads at the top of the game.
As 50-over world champions from the Trevor Bayliss era and T20 World Cup semi-finalists, England’s white-ball cricket needs continuity not overhaul and Collingwood, having been part of the set-up since 2014, will provide that. The Test side is another matter.
HAVING taken both India and his native South Africa to No.1 in the Test rankings, Kirsten (above) will undoubtedly offer a different approach. As a gnarly old opening batsman, he might be able to instil some resilience in an England top order made of flaky pastry.
Kirsten took charge ofwelsh Fire in The Hundred last season and is open to an approach from the ECB, despite being overlooked in favour of Silverwood two years ago, so long as it is purely to coach the Test side.
He backs the twin coach model.
What his view would be regarding Joe Root and the Test captaincy we would have to wait and see but there are few other viable candidates to skipper England.
Root will need a long lie down in a darkened room at the end of this tour but outside the cricket world never stops spinning.
Before they know it, the beleaguered England Test team will be dragging themselves off the canvas and readying themselves for action in the Caribbean with a three-test series looming in March.
By then the picture needs to have changed. For all the talk of systemic faults – and there are plenty – England need the right man at the top.
Or in this case, the right men.