Forgive me, but the Ashes are Rooted

The sporting clichés are in – resounding, comprehensive, abject - to name but a handful. In fewer playing days than the English cricket team spent in quarantine at the start of their tour, Australia has retained the Ashes with a completely dominant performance against England.?

I want to make it clear at the outset – as a huge cricket fan, and an even bigger Ashes fan, I’m delighted with the outcome. The only thing left to achieve is the complete mental disintegration – relax, it’s just a cricket term – that comes with a 5-0 series result. The precious urn that the two countries have played for since the late 19th century is safely in Australian hands for at least another 18 months.?

But this has been a series with a difference for me. I can’t help but feel let down by England, who couldn’t win two sessions in a row, let alone a day, let alone a test match. It almost feels like it wasn’t a contest, like the opposition weren’t even there. How can we enjoy gloating to our English friends under those circumstances??

Sure, COVID has made this a different tour. Bad weather in Queensland impacted the few practice games arranged for the English. Their players have been in artificial bubbles for a while. They have been worked very hard this year by their governing body, the ECB.?But they all say an Ashes tour is their cricketing pinnacle. It seemed more like a nadir that they couldn’t wait to turn their backs on.?

From what we saw on the field, England got very little right. The decision to bat first on a wicket in Brisbane tailor-made for their veteran bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad (neither of whom played), several dropped catches, selecting the wrong bowlers in Adelaide, far too much reliance on captain Joe Root with the bat. There are many more but I’m limited by space.?

“…..they all say an Ashes tour is their cricketing pinnacle. It seemed like a nadir that they couldn’t wait to turn their backs on..…”?

There is a phrase that couples doing the same thing over again with madness. England brought that to life in Adelaide. In addition to selecting the same three lead bowlers as they did at the same venue four years ago (where they lost by 120 runs), they proceeded to again bowl entirely the wrong lengths required by the conditions. In a self-penned article in the The Telegraph a few days after, Anderson wrote “If we are bowling too short at lunch we need information back saying we need to push our lengths up...it is just communication but it is hard for coaches because you don’t want too much information”. Sorry? When you look into a dressing room these days, you see copious support staff with laptops. What is the point of having that data if it isn’t going to be used in real time? And why were such experienced and successful bowlers unable to adjust themselves??

So where has this tour gone so badly wrong? Clearly there has been multiple leadership failures committed by the ECB as they balance the financial aspects of running an entertainment business while protecting the legacy of one of the most enduring sporting contests. By introducing the new white-ball series The Hundred in the key summer month of July, the financial coffers have benefitted but the players have missed out on valuable red-ball opportunities to prepare for the Ashes.?

The ECB’s appointment of Chris Silverwood as a one-man “supremo” (both head coach and sole selector) is a folly. Is a player likely to share any personal or technical concerns with a person that has complete control over who plays? This is their livelihood at stake. Surely a selection panel, like most countries have adopted, provides the opportunity for robust selection debate, new idea generation, and takes the pressure off a role with great upside if it goes well, but obvious downside if it falls apart – as it now so visibly has.?

The good news is, however, the situation for England is retrievable. They have done it before in the white-ball format. In the 2015 World Cup, England’s tactics resembled a team from thirty years prior. To their credit, they set an ambitious goal to win the 2019 World Cup at home. They selected players like Jason Roy and Adil Rashid who were suited to the style of play they wanted, they played more white-ball tournaments, and most importantly selected the calm, ever-beaming Irishman Eoin Morgan as captain. With the right investment in system, process and people, England achieved their holy grail (with some help from the rules!).?

So while the schadenfreude will run through Australian veins for a little while, it’s important that England mount a comeback and get things right. As one of the powerhouse cricketing nations, they have the financial and human resources to return some balance to the next Ashes contest in England in 2023. But in the meantime, may their next innings last longer than the queuing time for a COVID test.

The game needs it.

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