We Are The Professionals

“I'm trying my heart out to do this”

“I've got to start scoring runs as well, that can only happen with a lot of hard work.”

“he's desperate to keep on playing and wants to turn this around.”

“he's a fighter and we want people like that in the dressing room."

“I'm desperate to turn things around for England.”

“He knows he has been under pressure for a long time”

“He knows it is tough up here”

“He is up for the challenge”

“There's a group of players in there who are desperate to win for England.”

“It will take a lot of determination to turn this around.”

“International cricket is about tough decisions”

“It is meant to be a tough environment”

“I knew it was going to be tough”

Above are a few of the quotes from Alistair Cook and Peter Moores after defeat in the 2^nd Test to India. They betray the mindset of this current England side, and it can be argued, the English cricket mindset as a whole. The running theme is clear – it’s about pressure, it’s about fight, it’s about working harder.

To hear these comments come from a sports team is no surprise, and in fact is probably what you would hear from most sports teams. But this mistakes sport for a matter of life and death – the mindset is militaristic, demanding perfect discipline from the troops. The pressure is talked about and amplified, used as a further incentive to be disciplined. The demand for extra effort is incessant, the mantra to live by. It is about winning and losing, life and death.

Sport though is not a matter of life and death, yet part of the entertainment business. You do not hear actors talking about how desperate they are to perform well, musicians talking about fighting hard for their next album, authors talking about the tough environment that being an author is. If they did, it would be pointed out as the utter bollocks that it is. Being an entertainer, which sportsmen and women are, is not about discipline but expression – technical skills are simply a tool, not the end objective.

This mindset is seen in a number of sports and almost for a generation but it’s only now becoming obvious how detrimental this can be.

When England arrived in Australia we were told how hard they had worked, how fit they were – we are often told that this is the fittest and most professional cricket side ever. Fitness is important for cricket but not the most important aspect. It’s like being the snooker player with the most cue power – it’s useful, but nowhere near as important as hitting the ball where you want it to go.

The obsession with professionalism is even more damaging. England are a very professional cricket side – their players turn up on time, they train long hours, they wear the right clothes, they say the right things, they know all of the plans, they eat the right things and they behave in the right way. This is all well and good when the environment is under your complete control. The moment something unexpected happens there is simply no-one with the problem solving ability to come up with a solution. The plan is blindly followed when it works, and when it doesn’t, it’s followed anyway so that at the end of the game the plan can be changed slightly and if we lose, well, at least we had a plan. The plan by its very nature is highly conventional and cannot take into account the various complex factors that make up a game of cricket. That’s not to say a plan isn’t important – it is, but it should be like a movie script without dialogue, a general set of ideas where the players fill in the blanks.

When the plan doesn’t work, either for the team or player, the world becomes a very lonely place. The players will struggle, but far more fundamentally, they don’t understand why they are struggling and sure as hell don’t have any idea how to stop struggling. This England side is struggling badly, and until they appreciate that sport is not a war to be won, but a piece of entertainment to be enjoyed, and that blindly following over-prescriptive plans to get them out of problems that these plans helped create in the first place is self-defeating, then they will continue to play joyless, losing cricket.

England's Top 25 Cricketers After Sri Lanka

After England’s disappointing treble defeat to Sri Lanka, here’s the top 25:-

On the bubble – Adam Riley (with every wicket he takes he looks more like the Ashes 2015 spinner), Scott Borthwick (needed wickets, got runs), James Harris (swings the ball but needs a fitness run), Graham Onions (injured, and that could be that for him), Monty Panesar (the best spinner in England needs to behave himself), James Taylor (Seems destined to be solid eighth choice), Jonny Bairstow (getting the run of keeping opportunities he needs), Nick Compton (still there abouts but needs the spectacular)

25 (20) – Simon Kerrigan

He would have been hugely disappointed not to get the nod for the Test side, and it was a bit of a kick in the teeth for all the spinners to see an all-rounder chosen as the Test spinner. His bowling has been solid for Lancashire in unhelpful conditions, and he has a working relationship with Peter Moores. It seems Ali will be entrenched for the rest of the summer, and as Kerrigan doesn’t play white ball cricket for Lancashire, he doesn’t have a route into the ODI side. England tour the West Indies in April after the World Cup, and they will need a spinner there. Kerrigan needs to keep himself ahead of Adam Riley the rest of the summer.

24 (RE) – Michael Carberry

In some cases criticising the England management has proved terminal, so when Michael Carberry opened up on his perceived poor treatment during the winter, it was assumed his international career was over. However, he got another chance in the white ball sides, but failed to impress in both innings. With Sam Robson making a Test hundred, and Darryl Mitchell having exploded, it’s hard to see Carberry making the Test side, but with Cook in horrible form, and under heavy criticism, a World Cup spot is probable, and a starting spot possible.

23 (NE) – James Vince

A player marked out from an early age for England honours, Vince has always benefitted from the “Bell effect”, where a player’s ability is over-estimated due to the quality of their stroke play. With Vince in 2014, the occasional glorious innings and large number of cameos has become a tidal wave of runs, and he is the top run scorer in England and the first to 1,000 runs. Added to that a captaincy role which he has taken to well, and a high strike rate, and it seems a case of when and not if for Vince with international honours.

22 (RE) – Samit Patel

Vince is the top run scorer in the country, and Samit is second. 20 innings, 2 hundred, 6 fifties and 4 ducks tell a story of inconsistency, but Patel has done the business for Nottinghamshire, and has done it in Division 1. His bowling has plateaued slightly, and whilst he is accurate he doesn’t offer much of a wicket taking threat. He spent the Sri Lanka series on the outside looking in, but must have pushed Ali close for the role in the Test team, and is another player with the game to push for a spot in all three sides.

21 (NE) – Harry Gurney

A slightly uninspiring selection, Gurney made the most of his opportunity and bowled strongly against Sri Lanka, whilst also maintaining his form for Nottinghamshire. Gurney is not particularly quick, and doesn’t offer a huge deal of movement, but he bowled accurately and to his field, and his slower ball caused Sri Lanka problems. The key for Gurney is that slower ball stays a mystery until the World Cup, because if players work it out he could be fodder in Australia. He deserves to be in and around the ODI squad for the future and his World Cup chances are good.

20 (25) – James Tredwell

If England don’t like the look of any of the young spinners, and Moeen Ali doesn’t work out, could James Tredwell receive a second Test cap? He bowled extremely well during the ODI series, and is currently in the envious position of being the only full-time spinner that England are selecting. His major problem is that Riley has pushed ahead of him at Kent, giving a nudge to the England selectors.

19 (21) – Alex Hales

It was all beginning to look a bit grim for Hales before the t20 match against Sri Lanka, as England didn’t seem to fancy him for ODIs, and Nottinghamshire seemed to be losing patience. 66 that day highlighted his ability, and Cook and Carberry’s subsequent struggles in the ODI series pushed for involvement in that side. Since, he’s returned to Nottinghamshire with a big hundred and two nineties (Hales is a real nervous nineties merchant) and everything is looking rosy again. The World Cup might come too soon but if Cook’s and England’s ODI form continues there will be a vacancy at the top of the order at the end of that tournament.

18 (17) – Tim Bresnan

Bresnan was finally dropped from all formats for the Sri Lanka series, but with Chris Woakes only playing one game and Plunkett only the Tests, he’s still in with a strong shout with his multi-format game. Has a huge advantage as he goes back to play for the best side in county cricket, so his wickets and runs are likely to contribute to a successful Division 1 side, which always counts for that little bit extra. Might not feature this summer but a winter tour spot is certainly achievable.

17 (15) – Chris Woakes

Only played in the t20 despite being in all three squads, it was hard to get a feel for where Woakes is an international level. Pleasingly he touched the high 80s with his speed, which suggests that the loss of speed that hurt him chances so greatly might be gone. To get into the side, Woakes needs to find the excellent batting form from the previous two years that has deserted him in 2014.

16 (8) – Steven Finn

When I last wrote about Finn he was the top wicket-taker in the country, whilst England had the untested Chris Jordan and the cheap imitation Liam Plunkett. The past eight weeks couldn’t have gone much worse for Finn – he’s been injured and struggled when selected, Jordan has nailed down his ODI spot and Plunkett his Test spot. It is a fairly obvious statement, but I am going to say it anyway – he needs to get fit, take wickets for Middlesex again and show he possesses everything that Plunkett does.

15 (NE) – Liam Plunkett

England’s phoenix from the flames, Plunkett bowled quickly with Lords without actually delivering much, before nine wickets at Headingley backed the selector’s faith. This was a win for the England Lions, for whom Plunkett was superb on the tour of Sri Lanka during the winter, a win for the selectors who choose to take a 28 year-old on that tour, and a huge win to the fast growing reputation, utterly deserved, of Jason Gillespie. England may be forced to choose between Chris Jordan and Plunkett for the first Test against India, and at the moment it should be Plunkett who plays.

14 (11) – Ravi Bopara

A good fifty at Lords aside and a t20 cameo aside, Bopara was a disappointment against Sri Lanka. His bowling, so effective over the winter in positions of weakness, was completely ineffectual when he often found himself bowling in a position of strength. That said, Bopara has, and deserves, credit in the bank for his performances over the winter and in white ball cricket for Essex seems unstoppable.

13 (14) – Chris Jordan

Superb in the ODI series, Jordan bought some real aggression and pace, along with a slightly wonky radar. His Test performances could be summed up as acceptable, although Plunkett’s emergence overshadowed him. His performances in the ODIs, given the World Cup is in Australia, makes him a certain squad member there and in truth only Anderson among the bowlers should start ahead of him.

12 (12) – Eoin Morgan

Last time I wrote about Morgan he had been superb for England and a disappointment for Middlesex. This time, Morgan was disappointing during the white ball cricket for England, but has delivered for Middlesex, with a blistering 191 against a very good Nottinghamshire attack. I might have pushed him down the list further, had it not been for Cook’s continuing struggles, and Morgan’s own pleasing captaincy for Middlesex. It would be a big surprise for him not to be confirmed as full-time t20 captain at the end of the summer.

11 (13) – Sam Robson

A very good hundred, and three failures. Sam Robson managed in his second Test to do what Alistair Cook hasn’t done for 12 and make a Test hundred, although Cook’s struggles and Robson’s low scores in the other innings mean England still haven’t had an opening partnership of note for well over a year. Until a pair settles down and starts making regular fifty partnerships, and whilst Cook remains captain and out of form, there is going to be pressure on the second opening spot and Robson is currently in the hot seat.

10 (19) – Moeen Ali

Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention, and that was certainly the case for Moeen Ali at Headingley. Three awful shots in the first three innings of his Test career, his spin bowling good but not making a case for a full time role, Ali was under big pressure but produced an innings of real substance. It gets quite irksome to hear professional commentators marvelling at the attractiveness of Ali’s stroke play – it’s no secret on the county scene – but innings of substance have occasionally been lacking, and here Ali delivered.

His bowling and hundred leave England with a big problem. His bowling is good but not good enough to be the full time spinner. The simple call before the final innings at Headingley was to drop Ali for Stokes, and Jordan for a full-time spinner, for the first Test against India - now that’s all up in the air. Ali’s performances should mean however that he gets a chance in the ODIs later in the summer, as an alternative to Tredwell this winter could be playing Ali at three, and using him and Root as the spinning options.

9 (7) – Ben Stokes

England’s new dawn got off to a staggeringly hypocritical start when Stokes wasn’t selected for the Test series against Sri Lanka, having played two First Class games for Durham, whilst Matt Prior was selected having only played once for Sussex. It gives rise to the feeling that for all his talent, England don’t really fancy Stokes as an individual, which is extremely concerning. He does have black marks against his name, but he also has a rare talent. For Durham, the batting hasn’t really fired, but the bowling has, with great comic timing – as England laboured on the 4^th day at Headingley, Stokes took seven wickets for Durham.

8 (10) – Jos Buttler

If you are looking to get your name up in lights, then a chanceless, brilliant, near match winning hundred at Lords is probably the best way to do it. As England’s top order poked and prodded England to defeat, Buttler boomed and blasted his way to a superb 121, an innings described by some as England’s best ever ODI innings. His wicket-keeping was at best average, and was seen as the main reason for his non selection from the Test team. After Prior’s performance behind the stumps against Sri Lanka and more runs for Lancashire, Buttler is knocking on the door.

7 (9) – Gary Ballance

It was perhaps a surprise to see the best number five in the County Championship batting three for England, but maybe only Liam Plunkett comes out of the Test series with as much credit as Ballance. After a middling ODI series, Ballance produced a hundred of real quality (whether England should have let him get it is not a question for him), and backed it up in the 2^nd Test. His fielding could do with a little bit of refinement but he’s in the England team for the long haul.

6 (5) – Matt Prior

If Peter Moores was hoping for the Matt Prior of 2011 and hoping not for the Matt Prior of 2013, he got neither – he got the Matt Prior of 2007. Flashy, and perhaps lucky to get the runs he did (the review system played into his hands), Prior produced the runs of a front line batsman. The problem was his keeping, which was decidedly dodgy. Prior was bought back to provide Cook with support, but that is reaching a lost cause now. It’s hard not to get the feeling that Prior is on the downward slope whilst Buttler’s star rises.

5 (6) – Joe Root

Having avoided the World t20 disaster with his broken thumb, Root had a very similar series to Ballance. A very middling ODI series was followed by an excellent double hundred, then nothing else. Root has a lot of credit in the bank, and rightly so, but are England going to continue to flog him to death by picking him for every game in every format?

4 (4) – Stuart Broad

It’s hard to avoid the obvious conclusion that England need to stop mucking about with Broad and send him for the knee surgery he admits he needs. England needed the spectacular from Broad and got average, bar a hat-trick, but with a World Cup around the corner, it seems foolish for England to force Broad through a Tests with bits floating around in his knee, giving the long term problems suffered by both Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen.

3 (2) – Ian Bell

This series was Ian Bell at his very worst. Looked in dazzling touch from the first ODI, Bell produced several fantastic shots, and not a single innings of note. As Ballance, Robson, Root and Ali showed, England do not need the pretty at the minute, but the runs, particularly in ODI cricket where given Cook’s form and Ballance’s inexperience, Bell might just be England’s most important batter. Last summer’s Ashes mean Bell is well in credit, and he destroyed India last time around – England may well need that again.

2 (3) – James Anderson

Subdued during the Ashes, quite possibly due to the broken rib he suffered at the hands of Mitchell Johnson, Anderson was back to somewhere close to his best against Sri Lanka. Almost forced an unlikely win in the 1^st Test, and an unlikely draw in the 2^nd, Anderson re-iterated his importance to this England attack in home conditions. Also gets bonus points for the funky field setting that perhaps led to Sangakarra’s dismissal in the 1^st Test.

1 (1) – Alistair Cook

This was supposed to be the series where everything got back on track for Alistair Cook, where demons could be laid to rest, runs could be scored and wins could be had. At the end of the series, all of the troubles that were there before are still not only present but magnified. This was not Australia, with bowlers like Harris and Johnson and batters like Clarke and Warner. This was Sri Lanka in England in June, and England and Cook couldn’t get the job done.

The excuses are running out. Critics of Cook’s captaincy have been told to just look at his results, and then we started losing. We were told he was good off the pitch, and then things got so bad the ECB sacked Kevin Pietersen. We were told it was Andy Flower creating the negative mindset, and then we started giving the mighty Angelo Mathews one against the new ball. We were told Cook would do his talking not with his tactics, but his runs, and it’s now 12 months without a Test hundred.

Why is he still number 1? That’s because the ECB have backed him for the long term, and he is refusing to resign. English cricket’s success remains inexorably linked to Cook, he is the basket that the ECB have placed all their eggs in, and several reputations are based on his appointment and success as a captain. This really is make or break for Cook – England can win this series and he can score runs against this Indian attack, giving him momentum before the World Cup. If England lose, and Cook fails to deliver with the bat, it’s hard to see how his position would not be untenable.

England's Top 25 Cricketers After the World T20

Here’s England’s top 25 after their Dutch disaster, the start of the county season and the return of Peter Moores:-

On the bubble – so many potential name but the ones just missing out are Monty Panesar (he’s been the best spinner in the country so far this year), Scott Borthwick (He bowls loosely, but bats and fields better than the other proper spinners), Luke Wright (Not such a t20 specialist anymore after a horror tour of the West Indies), Craig Kieswetter (sneaking back up the list), Harry Gurney (Just your average county seamer were it not for being a left-armer, but England need a left armer).

25 (RE) – James Tredwell

There are lies, damn lies, and James Tredwell’s bowling average for the West Indies tour and the World t20. Tredwell, whilst taking few wickets, bowled very tidily. Had this been a young man of 24, everyone would have been saying how promising he looked. Unfortunately for Tredwell, he is an older man who perhaps doesn’t look the part, and so his chance may have passed him by for further Test caps. The main priority must be to keep his spot in the white ball sides, and get his Kent spot back.

24 (21) – James Taylor

All those runs during the last two county seasons, and when his chance is really here, he can’t get that big score. He continues to operate on the periphery of the England set-up, and most hold some kind of record for England Lions appearances. He has to hope some of the players ahead of him cool off, or for some kind of injury. Will Peter Moores prefer him a bit more than Andy Flower ever did?

23 (17) – Jonny Bairstow

Bairstow, injured with a broken finger, falls through no particular fault of his own, but the circumstances around him. Jos Buttler did himself no great favours but no great harm during the World t20, Matt Prior has made runs, and seen his former coach re-appointed to the England set up. It may be a season for Bairstow to concentrate on his Yorkshire form with both bat and gloves – a plan that should have happened last summer.

22 (NE) – Steven Davies

After a period of extended struggle after the death of his teammate Tom Maynard, Davies has looked very sharp so far this summer. Davies never really got a fair crack of the whip first time round, and of the four wicketkeepers on this list, he is undoubtedly the best. The appointment of Peter Moores, with his relationship with Prior, was a hammer blow to his chances of making his Test debut this summer.

21 (18) – Alex Hales

Injury prevented him from making his ODI debut, an opportunity that Michael Lumb took with both hands (and subsequently hasn’t been rewarded for), but for one glorious night in Bangladesh, Hales took the best t20 bowling side in the world apart, underlining his talent. England have to be taking his claims for an ODI spot seriously, and the loan move to Worcestershire completed today enhances his chance no end. A big summer of cricket awaits Hales and this is a great chance to progress his career.

20 (NE) – Simon Kerrigan

A horror, horror debut at the end of last summer masked the fact that Kerrigan has been the most consistent English spinner in county cricket over the past two years. Had it not been for that game, there would be no doubt that Kerrigan would be making his Test debut in the first game against Sri Lanka. As it is, Kerrigan still has a strong chance due to being both the best available spinner, and a close working relationship with Peter Moores at Lancashire. The worrying thing for Kerrigan is given the amount of ECB news that has been rumoured in public (KP’s sacking, Moores appointment) then proved true, there are a lot of Moeen Ali as the spinner stories around.

19 (16) – Moeen Ali

According to the media, this man is England’s next first choice Test spinner. For those who didn’t know Ali before (casual cricket fans, TMS and Sky pundits), he is an exceptionally attractive batter to watch who used to play a shot too many far too often. So whilst the pundits were cooing and dribbling over Ali’s driving and pulling, those who had seen him before saw him falling back into old habits.

However, its Ali’s bowling that seems to have caught the eyes of the England’s selectors, with his ability to bowl the doosra particularly impressive. The theory seems to be if the selectors believe that none of the spinners are good enough, then they should pick Ali as a batting all-rounder. I would view this as misguided, because if Ben Stokes plays as he should, England suddenly have batting at eight but only three genuine international bowlers. The selection has to be either three seamers, one spinner and Stokes, or four seamers and Ali. There is only one winner there and it is the ginger lad from Durham.

18 (24) – Nick Compton

A change of both head coach and batting coach greatly benefits Compton, whose poor relationship with Graham Gooch was the beginning of his removal from the side (the story goes that Compton requested after the New Zealand tour that he be allowed to choose his own batting coach). The problem for Compton since then has been the continued impressiveness of Sam Robson. However, there is a potential vacancy at three if England choose to bat Bell at four and Root at five, but then Gary Ballance is demanding a spot with his form. Compton probably won’t start the first Test of the summer, but I have a sneaking suspicion he will play in the last.

17 (13) – Tim Bresnan

For a start Bresnan is injured again, and what with the army of young seamers being given an opportunity in county cricket, he seems set to fall down the pecking order. His bowling was simply dismal at the World t20 (he did bowl well in the West Indies), approximately about as threatening as a kitten pawing balloons towards a batter with a tennis racket. However, his batting was fairly impressive, scoring quick handy runs. In a hypothetical world, if he was fit for the First Test and Stokes wasn’t, would England play Bresnan at eight and as the fourth seamer with Ali as the spinner? I think they would and that’s why Bresnan still has an international career.

16 (23) – Graham Onions

Another player who will clearly benefit from a change of coach, although he would have loved to have seen the back of David Saker too (wouldn’t we all). Onions still takes bundles of wickets for Durham, and whilst it is a handy place to be a seam bowler, his figures are generally that extra cut above. He could have done a with a better start to the season but if England either favour four seamers in the First Test or don’t fancy Chris Jordan then Onions will add to his Test caps.

15 (15) – Chris Woakes

With Stokes injured, Chris Woakes will look back at this period in his life and maybe wonder what if he had scored a ton in the early county games of 2014. His maligned bowling is very effective in this weather, and he is the obvious replacement for Stokes. His batting though so far this year doesn’t scream Test number six or seven, and you imagine he’s behind Ali in the ODI side, which given the amount of white ball cricket before the 1^st Test, will hurt him. Still, he has a good all round game for all three formats, and on paper he looks superb.

14 (11) – Chris Jordan

The wickets that didn’t come in Australia came in the West Indies, and he also exhibited his powerful stroke play that means Sussex believe he can become a genuine all-rounder. Victim if some rather unnecessary snides from journalists that he would rather play for the West Indies, Jordan is in pole position to be the third seamer in the first Test against Sri Lanka, given that his main competitors (Onions and Finn) are not in the white ball squads. Gave Jonathan Trott a thorough roughing up in the county game, and looks like a man on an upward curve into Test cricket, but with every wicket Steven Finn takes he is one step closer to having to wait.

13 (14) – Sam Robson

Robson continues to look very, very solid when he plays for Middlesex, and there seems to be a growing sense that he is the right man to open with Cook. Robson’s main worry has to be that someone on the outside goes absolutely ballistic during the ODI’s, and England push Root back up to open without giving Robson a chance. Other than that, he should play against Sri Lanka, so get ready for the “he isn’t really English comments”

12 (7) – Eoin Morgan

Morgan was unfit during the West Indies tour, looked unfit at the World t20, and has since failed to make enough headway in county cricket to get himself into the Test side. England’s Test team is desperately crying out for someone with his natural tempo, but Gary Ballance has really put the hammer down, and Morgan needs a huge ODI series to overtake him.

11 (20) – Ravi Bopara

Bopara was actually very, very good in both the West Indies and at the World t20. His bowling continues to be completely undervalued by England – he clearly needed more overs whilst Bresnan and Dernbach needed less, whilst his batting is a nice fit for six in both white ball sides. The Netherlands game kind of summed of Bopara’s career unfortunately. Having performed a role where he allowed others to win games for England, when England really needed Bopara to step to the plate to win them a game, he was unable to do so. It’s that kind inability which means Bopara has 13 Test caps and Paul Collingwood has 68. That said he is now an early pick in both white ball sides.

10 (9) – Jos Buttler

Buttler has neither furthered his case nor harmed it since I last wrote about him, but the combination of Prior’s form and Moores’ appointment does not help him one bit. The case for a Test debut can only be made if he absolutely tears up the white ball series and Prior continues to remain unfit, but it’s looking like another summer of white cricket for England and red ball cricket for his county.

9 (12) – Gary Ballance

So much of selection is about either scoring runs or taking wickets at exactly the right time, and Ballance has found the right time to be the top run scorer in the country. Three hundreds in six innings shows an appetite for big runs, and were it not for England’s obsession with fitness, he’d be a certain starter against Sri Lanka. Has got his ODI recall, and has the chance to make his case beyond dissent.

8 (10) – Steven Finn

Finn has been freed from David Saker, and is top of the wicket taking charts already for Middlesex. His economy rate remains high, but this is a bowler who can get any player in the world out, a bowler with a Test record better than Morne Morkel’s at a far younger age, and England have to have the confidence to pick him. Unfortunately, we are not Australia or South Africa, we sadly seem to demand accuracy from our seamers before wicket taking, and Finn, despite being the best prospect in county cricket, may continue to be out of the side. At his current wicket taking rate, it won’t be long before he forces himself back in.

7 (3) – Ben Stokes

Whilst punching a locker and breaking his wrist was a childish and stupid thing to do, if people didn’t already know that Stokes is a partially volatile character, then they weren’t in a position to make an informed judgement on him. Given his form in the West Indies, missing the World t20 might have been a blessing, giving him time off after a winter when his career has changed beyond all recognition. He needs careful management, and with Peter Moores having previously lost the job as England coach due to his inability to manage his best players (not just a certain South African born batter), the relationship between Stokes and Moores might be the most fascinating internal aspect of England’s cricket this summer.

6 (6) – Joe Root

Having missed the World t20 after breaking his thumb during a simply outstanding maiden ODI hundred, Root now finds himself in a bit of a funny position. No-one knows whether he is definitely in the Test team, or playing for his place, and it’s hard to work out whether he should just relax and find some form, or whether he needs a big score early in the season. One thing that certainly needs to be sorted is where he is going to bat in the Test side, because he can’t keep being moved around the order.

5 (8) – Matt Prior

The feeling was always that if Prior scored runs for Sussex at the start of the season, then he would return to the England Test squad, and with his mentor Moores as coach, it would be a huge shock if he wasn’t selected for the Sri Lanka series. Given the influence he seems to hold over Cook on the field, if he plays then he is essentially the de facto vice-captain, and at times frankly the de facto captain.

4 (2) – Stuart Broad

The rumour during the tour of the West Indies was that had the World t20 not been part of that tour, then both Morgan and Broad would have been far too unfit to play. With Broad, that was palpably clear, as he struggled through the tournament before having a knee operation afterwards. He retains a huge amount of credit from the away Ashes series (one expects that Broad will be given a pass by the Barmy Army when it comes to dissatisfaction with the events of the winter). The bowling attack should now be built around Broad, but he is likely to lose the t20 captaincy to Eoin Morgan after two group stage failures at World t20’s, although his captaincy has shown promise.

3 (5) – James Anderson

It could be a statement on the quality of the pitches in the county championship, or the quality of the players, but Anderson has been utterly unplayable since his return from Australia. Often looked off the pace in Australia, which could be explained by his broken rib that he kept from the medics (undoubtedly brave, but it would have been interesting to see the ECB reaction if, say, Kevin Pietersen had done the same). Anderson is a man with a point to prove this summer, as since the summer of 2012 he has produced his best against the best very sparingly.

2 (4) – Ian Bell

Forget losing to the Netherlands, the moment that should have finished Ashley Giles was when he selected Bell for the World t20 – and that is meant as no offence to Bell, who hadn’t played a professional t20 match since 2011. What is does show is the high regard in which Bell is now held, with his ODI form particularly impressive given his previous problems in that format. This will be an odd summer to mentally prepare for Bell, who having spent a long time hidden from the limelight by Pietersen, Cook and Strauss, enters an English summer for the first time as England’s best batter. Judging by his performances so far for Warwickshire he is ready for that challenge.

1 (1) – Alistair Cook

Nothing has really happened to change my view that English cricket is now irrevocably tied to Cook’s performance, given how many of the ECB’s recent decisions have been with his best interests in mind, and he will continue to remain at number one until that changes. Moores and Cook may well be a good mix as coach and captain, but both have a lot of flaws to overcome, ones that may have been overcome easier with Stephen Fleming as coach. Graham Gooch has been cast aside, a necessary move, but one that continues to build the unease that fingers are being pointed everywhere except at the England captain.

In terms of his actual cricket, Cook has started the season in excellent form, second behind Ballance in the batting charts. There has still been the odd concern about his strike rate (In one game, having passed 100, Cook scored only 15 in an hour), but he looks in generally very good form. The real test has yet to start though, and it begins on the 9^th May. Cook’s captaincy, abysmal in Australia, will be under the microscope every time he leads England onto the field this summer.

England's Top 25 Cricketers After the Away Ashes

Utter humiliation all-round for England, making this a rather more difficult task than previously.

Gone forever – Kevin Pietersen (Court Martial), Graeme Swann (Deserted)

Probably gone forever – Chris Tremlett (A lot like a vintage car, still looked good but lacked power), Monty Panesar (Off to the former England cricketer retirement home, called Essex)

On the bubble – Jamie Overton (Quick, tall, bouncy, injured), Steven Davies (Needs early runs and catches), Simon Kerrigan (Thanks to that 5-0 thumping his disastrous debut seems years ago), Tymal Mills (Brings something different, England aren’t interested in anything different), Stephen Parry (No, really), Michael Lumb (Underrated in t20 cricket, so underrated in fact England dropped him), Luke Wright (Conceded more runs in his single over in the t20 series than he scored runs, but had a great Big Bash), Jade Dernbach (Until someone steps forward other teams will continue to enjoy the late innings Dernbach powerplay), Michael Carberry (His multi-format skills may get him another chance) and James Tredwell (clinging on, a safe pair of hands for white ball cricket, has to be praying for Giles as coach).

25 (NE) – Scott Borthwick

Ah leg-spin, that most alien of arts to English cricket. Since, and in part probably because of, Shane Warne, leg-spin to English cricket seems to bring this mixture of apprehension and excitement, which probably explains Alistair Cook treating Borthwick with a degree of suspicion on his debut. His bowling was “raw” (journalist for inaccurate), but looked like there was talent there, and it helps that he bats a bit, and fields a lot. If England are going to be consistent, he probably should start the first Test of the summer, but given that Giles is the favourite for the England job, you worry that his innate conservatism will lead to a spinner less risky.

24 (RE) – Nick Compton

I’m really struggling to think of anyone who would benefit more from England appointing an outsider as coach. 24 is a bit of a fudge for Compton, because if Giles is coach and Gooch remains batting coach, he’s somewhere in the 40s, but a new head and batting coach, and he’s in the top 15. The facts on Compton are that he has scored a lot of runs for Somerset over the last two years, and a lot of those runs have been hard runs. He has two Test centuries, but rumours of a difficult nature do not help his cause one iota.

23 (RE) – Graham Onions

It might be counter-intuitive, but Onions might actually fancy seeing the Riverside become a bit of a road this year. The general fear from the England management is that the Riverside’s bowler friendly surface and climate is the cause behind Onions astonishing figures over the last two years, and what happens when he plays on a pitch providing him with nothing. Hard to not get the feeling that he may end up going the same way as Martin Bicknell, county stalwart who doesn’t ever get the chance he deserves.

22 (15) – Boyd Rankin

Looked to having about as much fun as dental surgery on his Test debut, the look of exhausted relief on Rankin’s face when he took his first Test wicket summed up the level of enjoyment in the England camp. It was a shame Rankin felt so uncomfortable on the big stage, because his attributes are obvious to the most casual of cricket fans. Overtaken by Chris Jordan, he’s not out of the picture, particularly if Steven Finn continues to struggle.

21 (RE) – James Taylor

Forever seemingly stuck in the England Lions side, Taylor continues to score enough runs to get him close to the Test side without ever actually getting into it. England like his character, but don’t seem to fancy his stroke play. Given Stokes emergence it appears that there are only five batting spots to play for, and he isn’t an opener, chances will be limited, but he could be a long term solution for England at three.

20 (17) – Ravi Bopara

His batting continues to tease, blasting a sensational innings in the first t20 when the game was dead, having got out stumped in the most incredibly lazy manner in the final ODI. His bowling however was excellent, and that will keep him in the white ball sides for now.

19 (8) – Jonathan Trott

Looked out of sorts in the home series, completely jittery in the 1^st Test, before the reasons why sadly came clear at the end of the match. Without delving into the complexity of Trott’s particular problem, you would have to worry about a 32 year old player suffering a potentially long term injury, although a fit and healthy Trott would walk straight back into the side.

18 (22) – Alex Hales

Not particularly impressive in Australia, the questions about his personality do not go away, particularly when the opposition captain tells you how he’s going to get you out six weeks before the match, then executes it. More by accident than design, Hales will get his chance in ODI cricket before the world t20, and he could provide England with a bit more firepower opening the batting.

17 (13) – Jonny Bairstow

It is a truly damning statement on the England management that in the two and a half years that Jonny Bairstow has played international cricket, he has barely improved. Likely to be out of all three sides at the start of the summer, England would be well advised to give him a summer back at Yorkshire, so that the talent that was once so obvious can remerge. If it does, he is a huge part of England’s future.

16 (NE) – Moeen Ali

A fairly intriguing cricket, Ali is the dasher that became the reliable middle order batsman, the part time bowler that became hugely effective, and the child who grew into an adult overnight. Ali deserves his chance in a red England shirt, although he has been hugely fortunate that it has happened to coincide with a major tournament. Ali is immensely entertaining to watch bat, and often infuriating, but less so than when he was younger, as the flashing drives now head more often towards the boundary than the slip cordon. He could, if his bowling continues to grow, offer England an intriguing spin option to play in home Tests, with three seamers, Stokes and himself.

15 (18) – Chris Woakes

Didn’t play a single game for England this winter, and that will be to his eternal benefit. His bowling remains down on pace from his pre-injury days, but he could become a hugely valuable back-up to Stokes in Tests, and an alternative when Stokes is rested in white ball cricket. As his bowling has become less effective, he has improved his batting, and he will continue to get opportunities as, on paper at least, his game as an all-rounder is extremely attractive to selectors.

14 (NE) – Sam Robson

When he decided whether he was English or Australian, Robson was always likely to shoot straight into the reckoning for either Test side. Superb technique, immensely strong mentally, well linked through playing for Middlesex, Robson must have been delighted with the appointment of his county head honcho Angus Fraser as a selector, and if England don’t move Joe Root again, he has to be the favourite to open 1^st Test of the summer.

13 (9) – Tim Bresnan

He looked very, very average in Australia, but then so did James Anderson, and his England career is nowhere near over. Bresnan is a truly uninspiring cricketer, but he has an outstanding track record of doing what he’s told by David Saker, and his continued selection in all three squads means he is only ever one injury away from getting another chance. Despite whatever people think, he’s going to keep getting selected, so we better all hope that elbow starts working properly again.

12 (24) – Gary Ballance

Spent most of the winter dealing with comments about his weight rather than on his actual ability as a cricketer, so much so that it’s a wonder he hasn’t developed anorexia. Given a chance in the final Test, didn’t look out of his depth but didn’t make any runs either, and was a more solid number three in the ODI series than Stokes. Everyone assumed the number three spot in reds was being kept warm for Kevin Pietersen, but that’s not an option, so England would be well advised to keep Ballance at three in ODIs this summer, and work out from there whether he is good enough for Tests.

11 (NE) – Chris Jordan

I remember seeing a fairly disinterested, fairly unremarkable young bowler called Chris Jordan playing for Surrey two years ago, but then again, Sussex have always done a fantastic job with rough diamonds. During the winter Jordan looked to have pace, accuracy, and most importantly given it had been questioned before, the heart for the battle. Hopefully the front runner for the third seamer spot (unless Finn rises from the dead), he gets a chance to impress in the world t20. There is a slight worry, that despite bowling well this winter, he didn’t actually take many wickets, but he was definitely a bright spot.

10 (14) – Steven Finn

Having railed against the injustice that is Steven Finn’s lack of Test matches several times before, I am going to admit that he got very lucky this winter. To have been sent home by the England management for being “unselectable” in any other series would have led to a lot of awkward questions about his personality and ability. This series, it was seen as simply symptomatic of Flower and Saker’s coaching. Quite simply, he is the most talented bowler England possesses, and the sooner he fires, the better for all concerned.

9 (12) – Jos Buttler

Looked very good in the ODI series, and it was extremely pleasing to see that he didn’t take a step back from Michael Clarke when Morgan refused to walk on Dan Christian’s word, given he has a bit of a reputation for shyness. Given the sudden flux around the Test keeping position, a Test debut for Buttler is not out of the question, but if he maintained his form in the white ball cricket this summer, whilst settling in strongly at Lancashire, he would have done everything that should be expected of him.

8 (7) – Matt Prior

Completely deserted by his batting form since the England returned home from New Zealand, during the Perth Test, Prior’s wicket-keeping went as well making his position untenable. Given events since, if he scores runs in the early county season, he will almost certainly return to the side, as England love his personality and Cook is going to need a friend. England may want to relieve him of the vice-captaincy, as he will still be a leader either way, and give it to the man below.

7 (11) – Eoin Morgan

The most telling shot during Morgan’s century in the 2^nd ODI came in a moment that looked to have shown up a huge weakness. On 1, Morgan attempted a completely unnecessary slog against Michael Clarke’s left arm spin, and was easily caught. As the Aussies ran around celebrating, Morgan called Ian Bell through for a single, and calmly informed the umpire that it was in fact a no-ball as the Aussies had one too few fielders in the circle. It was as confident a piece of cricket as any of the shots he produced afterwards, and showed behind a cool exterior, his cricket mind was functioning.

There are many questions about Morgan, although the IPL has been answered emphatically. His Test record is unimpressive, his technique unconventional, his motivation for long form cricket questionable. But he has an aggressive nature England are crying out for, and in his brief forays so far, has shown far more natural aptitude for captaincy than any other England player. Now is not the time for England to be timid with Morgan, he should be made captain of both white ball sides, not to undercut Cook, but to free him, and picked in the Test team to play his game, not the bastardised version Flower and Gooch tried to get him playing. He may fail, but England right now are better failing trying someone potentially sensational than mildly succeeding with someone potentially good.

6 (10) – Joe Root

Not very impressive in the Ashes, as his constant movement in the batting order came home to roost. Root clearly struggles to get his bodyweight into the right position on balls of a good length, making it difficult for him to score runs. However, similar to Finn, his failings are not all his own fault, and English cricket is better for having him. A rest however may do him a lot of good, and as he is going to Bangladesh, he should be rested from the white ball cricket against Sri Lanka. He should start for England this summer, and has a massive future, but England need to give him a chance by deciding whether he is a two, a three or a five.

5 (3) – James Anderson

Anderson was extremely disappointing in Australia, not only from a bowling point of view but from a leadership point of view as well. For a player who is happy to dish out as much sledging as Anderson is, to see him moaning to the umpires about George Bailey and Michael Clarke was weak, hypocritical, and the Aussies had him beat from that moment. That said, no-one in England is better at swinging a cricket ball, and he should be a certain starter in the summer. However, it’s time to move on from him being leader of the bowling attack.

4 (4) – Ian Bell

Quietly poor in the Ashes series, Bell recouped some goodwill by looking very handy in the ODI series. England need to decide whether to stick him at three again, position of his greatest failings, or potentially have a new opener and a new number three. As said before, Bell had a poor series, but he has plenty of cash in the bank from the summer, and his position is under no threat.

3 (16) – Ben Stokes

The real success story of the winter, the talent was always been evident, but now the off field attitude has caught up and he is every bit as good as hoped. His batting remains a stretch at six, because as any Durham fan will tell you, he plays plenty of good shots, but quite a few bad ones as well. His bowling is very, very good for a fifth bowler, mixing some neat outswing with a decent pace. His on field attitude is going to get him in trouble now and then, but he showed no fear of a rampant Australian side and never looked anything less than completely committed to the battle. He had always had a big future ahead of him, hopefully now it will be the present.

2 (6) – Stuart Broad

England’s best bowler in Australia by a country mile, and in the face of near constant abuse from the Aussie crowd as well. Broad bowled superbly given his lack of support, particularly from the spinners, the lack of rest between innings, and the foot injury he suffered during the series. Now is probably a good time for England to start giving Broad the first over of the innings, and really backing him as the attack leader. The problem for Broad is given his importance, England have a lot of important cricket coming up, so finding time for a rest is not going to be easy.

1 (5) – Alistair Cook

Given that Cook’s just captained a side that lost a series emphatically 5-0, then the ODI series 4-1, you might think that his position as captain would have been severely weakened, particularly after he struggled with the bat. However, Cook has been backed by all at the ECB since, and in stunning fashion, given how Kevin Pietersen has been retired. The rights and wrongs of this move can be debated from now to the summer, and quite probably will be, but the sole facts is that after one of the worst winters in the history of English cricket, the captain from this winter has been given more power, not less.

Cook is now not just the England captain, but his place enshrined by Paul Downton. The coach will have to have him as captain. The direction of English cricket for the short term is inexorably tied to Cook’s performance as captain. To a good captain, this would be a huge leap of faith – to an at best unproven one, it may prove a step too far.