It was no surprise England lost 5-0

So England lost 5-0 in India. If you’d read my blog after the first match, you’ll know it was little surprise. That’s because England are not a top one-day side. Even the series victory over India at the end of last summer was never as convincing as many people wanted it to be. England won 3-0, but it could easily have been 3-2, either way.

This is nothing new. England have been like this for a long, long time. They have their moments, but consistency has always been elusive. It always will be while we consider one-day cricket the poor relation of our game.

England didn’t lose in India because the counties only play 40-over cricket, but such mutton-headed decisions play their part in a mindset that eventually leads to frustration, and sometimes embarrassment, at international level.

For once this was actually a series for which England were well-prepared. Forget the nonsense talk about tiredness. India had far more cause to complain in that department. England went to India early and had plenty of time. All the more reason then for Andy Flower to be so miffed that his team feel so short in the simple disciplines of fielding and running between the wickets. He has built his regime on improvement in those areas, and it was unfathomable as to why England were so poor in executing them in India.

England’s batsmen simply did not score off enough balls. They have improved their boundary hitting enormously, and it often showed when they outscored India in that department. But to use a very modern term, they used up too many ‘dot balls’.

It is my main criticism of Jonathan Trott. Not that he struggles to hit hard at the end of an innings (although he does because he struggles to secure a solid hitting base with his always-moving-forward trigger movement), but that he does not find enough singles at the start. He would take an awful lot of pressure off himself if he could only do that.

Playing spin in India is mightily difficult, but the truth is that, contrary to the incessant squeals from many commentators, you have to sweep. Yes, maybe England need to sweep better, but they sure need to sweep. Talk of moving your feet more is anachronistic, especially against a ball that you are unsure of which way it is turning. To try to play a turning ball with a straight bat is to play across the line. If anything on such slow pitches England’s batsmen need to play off the back foot more. Tim Bresnan did that to good effect in one innings.

I disagree, though, with my esteemed Telegraph colleague Michael Vaughan on the subject of pitches. We should not prepare turners at home. We should use home advantage like everyone else. You don’t see green tops in India. And the next World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand anyway.

What would be nice is if there was some 50-over county cricket played in the height of the summer when spinners might be able to play a part. At the moment spinners succeed in domestic short-form cricket (especially Twenty20), not because they spin the ball, but because they bowl slowly and batsmen struggle without pace for hitting. That is often not good enough at international level.

Should we panic now? I don’t think so. Selection after Christmas will certainly be interesting, especially as regards the wicketkeeping position. I see the knives are out for Craig Kieswetter. He has certainly had a disappointing series, but isn’t it time we backed a batsman/wicketkeeper? That revolving door we so love has to stop some time.

Maybe it is just that, as Flower alluded to, it is that this same group of players, with Eoin Morgan and Stuart Broad back (and possibly James Anderson), have to execute their skills more adeptly?

What do you think?

 

 

This was a famous performance from England

A famous, famous victory for England. You can point to the early withdrawal from India’s attack of Zaheer Khan, the absence from injury of Virender Sehwag as well as inconveniences to Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, but the visitors are still ranked the best team in the world. And they won a hugely important toss when bowling conditions were at their most favourable on what turned out to be a flat pitch at Lord’s.

Yes, it was not the sort of featherbed for which I have often criticised the Lord’s groundstaff, but it was still mighty hard work for England to finish the job off today. But that is the thing about this England team: hard graft does not scare them. They are the fittest side in world cricket. They stick to simple plans, because they know they will eventually bring rewards. International cricket is about creating pressure and England’s attack does that wonderfully well. I thought they bowled quite superbly today, all four of them. Some of the Indian dismissals looked like poor shots but often you should not judge a dismissal simply on that one ball. The others around it usually set up the error. That was the case regularly today.

You will know that I predicted a draw, but England’s bowlers were simply too good. It would have been a travesty had they not achieved victory. And how fitting it was that Stuart Broad took the final wicket. What a selection that was. He rose to the occasion magnificently as did the others today in front of a packed house. It did not quite happen for James Anderson in the first innings, but it sure did today. His was as defining a performance of those in the match of Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior and Broad, heroes all. We should not forget Jonathan Trott’s batting on the first day either. It was always quite stirring stuff; proper Test cricket at its absorbing best.

But it could have been a day that was marred by the absence of the full Decision Review System. India don’t like it, and although that alone should be insufficient to stop its use, they are powerful enough within world cricket circles to persuade others to vote with them. So we have this ridiculous situation whereby lbws cannot be referred. And there were two plumb decisions today – against Tendulkar and Suresh Raina- that were not given. There had been some excellent decisions earlier, but those two were shockers and were exactly the types of decision for which the system was introduced. Just imagine the fuss had the game been drawn and either of those two players had still been there at the end! It cannot be allowed to continue. There is simply too much at stake these days for such howlers to remain unrectified. Television viewers could see the mistakes, and so the players and umpires should be able to too.

What now then? I said on Sunday that it would be a 2-1 series victory for England. But that was with a draw here. It will be fascinating to see how India respond. You never know, it might be the result that Duncan Fletcher needs. Maybe he can exert more influence. I’d never easily write off a side with him as coach, that is for certain. But it looks like 3-1 to me right now, especially if Zaheer is missing for more than one Test. I certainly can’t see a draw in the remaining Tests.

What do you think?