Feeling the heat Farbrace: We must tackle mental flaws
Batsmen told they need to cope under pressure Scoring 20s and 30s not good enough, says coach
England’s mental flaws have been exposed by Australia according to assistant coach Paul Farbrace, who believes planning for the next Ashes tour has to start over the “next few days” to ensure there is no repeat of the hammering they have taken in this series.
As England boiled in temperatures out in the middle that reached above 50C at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Australians applied cricketing heat to the tourists, declaring on 649 for seven after batting for 193 overs.
Australia then took four England wickets in 46 overs to render a 4-0 series defeat for the tourists almost inevitable. There was also a worry over England captain Joe Root, who suffered a hand injury while batting, although the tourists are confident he suffered no break.
But Farbrace did admit that England’s players have been struggling mentally as they face up to a third heavy series defeat in four Ashes tours. “I think the majority of the game is [about] mental issues when it comes to international Test cricket. It has to be,” he said. “Players have the technique and the game. It is about adapting, coping under pressure.
“The best players learn quickly, they cope with the conditions, the situation and have a game plan to deal with all forms of bowling in any conditions. What we have found is some of our batsmen have found it tough.
“Getting in and scoring 20s and 30s and looking good and looking as though this is going to be their day when they go on, that is not good enough in Test cricket.
“They don’t need telling that, they know it themselves. One thing all of our batters have done is work incredibly hard, practise incredibly hard and they have learnt a lot along the way, but we haven’t quite been good enough to put it in practice when it comes to a game. It doesn’t matter whether you are talking [James] Vince, [Mark] Stoneman, Root, [Alastair] Cook, every batsman around the world knows runs is the currency you are dealing in. You do find yourself under pressure if you don’t score runs.”
England have scored only three centuries, including one double, in the series. Australia managed three hundreds in this game alone with the Marsh brothers joining Usman Khawaja in passing three figures. Mason Crane took one for 193, the most expensive figures on debut for an England bowler, but he has shown enough in this game to hint at an international future and looks to be one of those who could be back in four years’ time.
Root has already indicated he wants to stay on as captain for a return trip to Australia but by then the senior core of Cook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad will all have retired and Farbrace believes they have to now identify the kind of characters they want in the side.
“We are always talking about how we can get better. The key is how honest you are with the conversations you have,” he said. “Sometimes those tough conversations have to be very brutally honest. There is no point chatting about nice periods of play. Brief glimpses do not win you Test matches in a place like this. If England are serious about coming back here and winning in four years’ time, the planning has to start in the next couple of days.
“You have to identify the type of personnel you need, character and skill-wise, to win.
“When you come away from home for a series like this it does expose issues in your team. We have a choice. We either say we have had some very good positive moments or we are honest and say there were certain areas that were not good enough and we have to do something about it. That is every single one of us. Everybody needs to look closely and ask if we have the right people in place and if we are doing the right things in the right way.”
This was the fifth time in two years England have conceded more than 600 in an innings away from home. “If we are honest the last few days have summed up where we have been. We have talked about getting in good positions and we have had glimpses where we have played good cricket, but we have not been good enough over the course of a day or an innings to put Australia under pressure,” admitted Farbrace.