Well what can you say about England’s tour to the UAE. Well
as expected opposite teams dominated the Test and ODI series, and the twenty20
series was tightly contested. The big surprise was that it was Pakistan
dominant in test cricket, winning 3-0, and vice versa England in ODI cricket,
winning 4-0. Although England came out on top in overall matches and series on
the tour, it was for anyone to do with English cricket a massive disappointment
and a reminder to those of who have praised them in recent times that this
England side is not infallible.
I expected England to win a tight test series, never would I
have predicted a 3-0 reverse. There was more in the wicket for both sides than
expected but the batsman from either side ranged from average to terrible. There
is no doubt that Pakistan were the better team in the test series and deserved
to win but why did this England team who have performed so well in recent times
fail so badly?
1) Pakistan spinners. Ajmal and Rehman were
excellent and suffocated the English batsman.
2) We don’t play slow, low bouncing wickets well.
No surprise but we don’t and we didn’t adapt.
3) Lack of match practice. There was a big break between
this series and England’s previous and most of the team came into the series
lacking any real match practice.
4) Lost Confidence/Form. With the lack of match
practice came a lack of confidence when they failed early on in the series. The
batsman never recovered their form or confidence throughout the series.
5) Were they overrated? Maybe we/I expected too
much. The batsman had been scoring very heavily for the last year but before
that they really had been no more than good in the current international
climate. Maybe the year was the anomaly and they’re returning to the mean.
6) Didn’t have much effect on the series in all likelihood
but the selection of Chris Tremlett in the first test struck me as retarded
before a ball was bowled as I posted in my last blog. He was anonymous with the ball and useless
with the bat before returning home after the first test injured. I could have
predicted this was to happen from the comfort of my sofa back in England, WTF
were the England management doing? One can only imagine that Steven Finn isn’t
rated particularly highly as a test bowler because to be overlooked for a half
fit Tremlett who hadn’t played for six months is pretty damning.
England missed their chance to go down in history as a great
team. There really is no coming back from a 3-0 reverse against an average
Pakistan team. England probably still are the No.1 test team but they left this
up for debate with fans all around the world and because of this reversal will
probably never be accepted as the best team in the world.
I think rightly for the Sri Lanka series Eoin Morgan has
been dropped from the test side. He had done nothing before the Pakistan series
began to convince that he was a definite and his dreadful form in the series means
he will be sidelined probably long term from the test team. Others have called
for him to be dropped from ODI and T20 teams but this seems ridiculous. He is
still our best ODI and T20 bat in my opinion and the bedrock on which our assault
for the 2015 CWC should be built.
The ODI and T20 series were a much more positive event for
the England team and there is reason to be positive about our hopes for the
future. The fielding is dynamic and brilliant for the most part. The bowling
disciplined and in Steven Finn’s case penetrative. The batting is still too
reliant on one or two being in good form and the youngsters didn’t have much
success but they are good enough and should be persisted with because of their
potential and the bite they give to the team in the field.
For once there is much to look forward to in ODI and T20 cricket;
in test cricket I’m not quite so sure. They will still be successful for a few
years to come in tests but some of the batsman, Ian Bell in particular have
proven that it’s unlikely to be a time in which they become great as a team or
individually.
No comments:
Post a Comment