Of course I’m disappointed - but I’m not going to kick up a stink
OVER the past 12 months, Jimmy Anderson and I tried to ensure we were as fit as could be in the current Covid climate, ready to go and available for all five Tests in Australia. I think we ticked that box.
But England selection is not in the hands of players. It is in those of people who make choices based on conditions and the team balance. Our job now, with four matches to go, is to be ready for the next of the series in Adelaide on Thursday.
It has been tricky as neither of us have had any actual cricket in the build-up. There have been no tour games. Because of the conditions in the build-up, the team for the first Test wasn’t named early. Instead, a 12 was announced, to be narrowed to an XI next day and I got the sense that the final decision was between me and Jack Leach. Sometimes you just get a feeling.
Although Joe Root and Chris Silverwood didn’t give me any clues in the training sessions, I wouldn’t expect any because everyone must prepare as well as they can.
Of course, in my mind I was 100 per cent preparing to play and that’s important given my role. As a new-ball bowler, you are faced with bowling one of the most highpressured deliveries in world sport. The first ball of an Ashes series at the Gabba has become a very famous event. So, I got myself into a mindset where I was ready to go.
I’ve been left out before and sometimes it is a surprise. This was less of one, maybe because I wasn’t in the team for the previous series against India due to a calf injury.
People were saying I’d been dropped but that is wrong. It wasn’t my shirt for the most recent three Tests against India so, this was a different feeling to the one I had in Southampton in 2020 when I got left out. Then, I’d bowled brilliantly in the 2019 Ashes, brilliantly in South Africa. When it was taken away, I felt put out. Angry. Upset.
It would be wrong in this scenario to kick up a stink. On the flip side, I love Ashes cricket, love bowling at the Gabba and feel like I could’ve had a positive influence.
I was disappointed not to play but this series is a marathon not a sprint. Never have five Tests been as bunched up as this and it will be exhausting, so realistically I don’t think any seamer will play all five.
Do I want to be on the field at Hobart in the fifth with the chance to do something special? Of course. And if I am not needed before then, we will have done bloody well.
Despite the disappointment, I did see the funny side of things when just before the toss, Glenn McGrath came over between high catches I was practising on the outfield.
‘Congratulations on 150, mate, it’s a special effort, have a great game,’ he said. I thanked him but had to tell him I wasn’t in. An awkward moment.
We board the flight to Adelaide tomorrow and our training from Tuesday has to be focused on how to win a pink ball Test. Batting and bowling styles will be a contrast to those on display at the Gabba.
There is no time to feel sorry for ourselves. More importantly, what can we channel positively into Adelaide? What we mustn’t do is carry negatives with us. We’ve done that on Ashes tours before and lost. We must pretend it’s 0-0 in a four-match series and go again.
Timing is vital in floodlit Test matches. Conditions change quickly in certain periods, so you have to recognise them and adapt. That may mean having your seamers to bowl in the twilight period when batting tends to be more challenging.
What length is going to hit the top of the stumps with that ball? We have seen when the Australians have done damage with the pink ball in previous Adelaide matches.
Not prejudging is vital, as we saw in Ahmedabad when we anticipated a seam-friendly contest and the ball turned square from minute one. It was all over in four sessions.
Personally, I tried to get a step ahead these past few days. When I knew I wasn’t playing, it was straight to the nets, pink ball in hand.