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.

Post-Ashes Thoughts

Five thoughts on the Ashes after England won 3-0

1.       This series was about Australia more than England

History will record England won this series 3-0, but this fails to reflect the closeness between the teams. Australia could have won the 1^st Test, should have won the 4^th, and would have won the 3^rd without the intervention of the weather. Ultimately England won the series by a significant distance not because they were the better side (which they were, but not by that margin), but that they played the most important moments better than Australia.

But the overriding themes of this series were all Australian. The sacking/resignation of Micky Arthur before the series, the Warner punch, Agar’s debut, Ryan Harris’ comeback, leg before Watson, batting order shuffles and dodgy radio interviews, Australia dominated the headlines, if not the cricket. Having seen four previous home Ashes series, never before have Australia quite so much been the story, and provided so many moments for the cricket media, whether these being the brilliance of a swashbuckling teenager or the idiocy of a drunken moron, wasted reviews or the best bowler of the series.

2.       England need to up the ante

England deserve great credit for what they do, because for a side with very few great players, they win a lot of games. Their top order batsmen wear down the pace bowlers (although not in this series) and then their middle order milk the spinners. The pace bowlers work the new ball, and then bowl tightly with the old ball, whilst Swann spins his web. It’s not particularly entertaining, its real grinding cricket, but it gets the results, and it was too good for Australia.

The problem is Australia are no longer the standard bearers for Test cricket. Grinding teams down works very well when your opposition are worse than you, but as perfectly demonstrated by South Africa last summer, it doesn’t work when the opposition are better. South Africa’s batsmen simply played out the new ball, knocked the seamer around in the middle order, and blunted Swann. Their bowlers were simply too explosive for England, with the four seamers finding wickets on a regular basis.

For England to beat South Africa, they cannot try to grind them down. The only times South Africa have looked under pressure whilst winning away in both England and Australia have been when first Kevin Pietersen and Michael Clarke took the attack to their bowling, whilst their batting was hustled by the sheer guts and energy of Peter Siddle. To beat the South Africans, England must be able to take the attack to their bowlers, and the batsmen in particular must be prepared to risk dismissal to get the rewards for scoring quickly.

3.       Australia are slowly healing

Australia have now lost seven or their last nine Tests, several of them by large margins, despite only ten months ago being one victory against South Africa away from being the Test number one team in the world. Yet they may be in a better position than they were on that day.

Even if the Aussies had won that Test, their ranking was heavily based on performances in 2010, and based around pillars that were bound to disappear. Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey could not go on forever, Michael Clarke could not keen pounding double hundreds forever, and the decline was inevitable. Now that it has happened, and happened in such jarring fashion, it dampens the expectations on a team that is good but lacks both knowhow and the confidence to win Tests such as the one at Durham.

Towards the end of the series in England, Australia were beginning to bring things together. Hopefully, both for Australia and the cricket public, Ryan Harris will finally have an injury free run and show the world how good he is. Shane Watson may finally have found a home at three, Chris Rogers was an inspired, if short term, pick, Steve Smith has shown he now has the ability to match his Test ready temperament, and the young trio of Starc, Pattinson and Faulkner have shown they can get Test batsmen out. Free from the pressure of being in the race for being the best side in the world, the Aussies will have room to grow in time for the 2015 series.

4.       At last a signature series for Ian Bell

Before this series, Ian Bell was one of England’s more divisive players. To his fans, he was a player of rarely seen beauty who had made runs in some of England’s biggest wins, and to his critics, his technique hid a player incapable of making runs under pressure. It’s a failing Bell has admitted to in the past, and for him, this series buried that hatchet.

He made significantly more runs than anyone else at a significantly better average, made more hundreds than his teammates put together, and only one less than the Australians. It is arguable that of his twenty Test centuries, the three he scored this series are his best three. All were under pressure, all three came in low totals, and England won all three Tests.

In truth, three innings made Bell, all in 2009. One was his torturous 28 in the first innings of the first Test against West Indies, made batting at three, which saw him dropped from the Test side. Bell that he was forced to evaluate his career at that point, and realised that if he wanted to be remembered as a significant Test player, he needed to make pressure runs. The second innings was Jonathan Trott’s debut hundred, removing the need for Bell to bat three. The third was a gritty 76 to save the 3^rd Test in South Africa, against Steyn in full flow.

Since then, Bell has looked a different player. At home in the middle order (he averages 51 at 5 and 60 at 6), he’s scored runs more consistently and more heavily, and ultimately this summer, he can say without doubt that he won England the series.

5.       Darren Lehmann doesn’t get a free ride for his first series

The decision to sack Micky Arthur before the Ashes was a brutal but necessary move for Australia. If, as reported in Australia, that the confusion over Arthur’s role was the main factor in the poor relationship between Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, and that he had neither the skill to manufacture peace between the two or the mental toughness to drop one, then he had to go. Darren Lehmann was essentially given a free series to assess his players, and has been praised for bringing the fun back to the Australian setup. But in terms of the cricket, Lehmann has been found well short.

Firstly, Lehmann has been incorrectly praised for the selections of both Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin. They were Arthur’s picks, which Lehmann benefitted from. He does deserve credit for keeping Steve Smith on tour and then playing him, but this should be negated by the horrible decision that was the selection of Ashton Agar. Agar may well one day be a Test bowler, and his 98 was glorious to watch, but it shouldn’t hide the fact this was a selection error of Darren Pattinson proportions. Agar was patently not ready to bowl tightly at Test level, and the strong performances of Nathan Lyon, a man treated poorly by Australia for the crime of not being as good as Shane Warne, highlighted this glaring error.

Lehmann seems to be trying to bring a blokey element back to the Aussie side. But this isn’t a good club side; it’s an international side up against the very best in the world. Keeping Shane Watson happy may be an achievement but it’s no good to be his mate when he needs an answer to why he keeps getting pinned lbw. Making Peter Siddle laugh is no help when trying to find a plan to get Ian Bell out. Bringing drinks on dressed in your whites doesn’t help your left handers play Graeme Swann. Giving a matey interview to an Aussie radio station mid series doesn’t correct Mitchell Starc’s action. When England arrive in Australia they will know everything about every single possible player the Aussies will pick. Does Lehmann have it within himself to prepare the Australians well enough in return?

And three thoughts on the women’s Ashes, which England won 12-4

1.       The format was a huge success, but are the double headers?

The women’s series, for the first time, was decided across all three formats instead of just a one off Test. The idea was two-fold, firstly hoping to encourage positive cricket in the Test match, and secondly to create a greater buzz around the series as it would now last for three weeks as opposed to one. Whilst the Test match remained dull due to the points gained for a win (6) being too high, it did allow greater media attention for the women’s Ashes, as people were interested in the new format, and a longer series gave greater scope for televised matches with something really riding on them.

However, the previous established orthodoxy of playing the women’s t20’s before the men’s games needs looking at. The success of t20 cricket is built on the very sound principle that the entire game should take less than three hours, meaning people don’t lose an entire day watching. Playing two t20’s back to back defeats this purpose. Whilst in the past it’s been used to raise the profile of the women’s game, England and Australia both can feel as if they are beyond that, and can attract significant crowds on their own merits, as proved by the first t20 at Chelmsford last Tuesday, which saw virtually full capacity for a standalone game.

2.       Heather Knight comes of age

Whilst 12-4 looks a very comfortable winning margin, England were in all sorts of trouble during the Test match, 113-6 replying to Australia’s 331-6 declared, still needing 68 to avoid the follow on halfway through the second day. They were dug out of this hole by 22 year-old Heather Knight (helped by the stunningly obdurate Laura Marsh), who scored a virtually chanceless 157 to avoid the follow on and the get England nearly level, and thus ensure the draw. She backed this up during the 2^nd and 3^rd ODI’s, making a punchy 31 followed by 69 in a match winning partnership with Sarah Taylor, and despite a poor t20 series which ended with a badly torn hamstring, she was rightly named player of the series.

The short term benefit for England is that after a disappointing World Cup where they desperately lacked a third heavy run scorer after Charlotte Edwards and Taylor, they seem to have filled both this role and that of Edwards’ opening partner, a long term weakness. But the long term benefits for Knight may well be far greater. The big question for the women’s side is who will replace Charlotte Edwards as captain when she retires, and unlike when Edwards herself became captain, there is no obvious successor. If Edwards retires as expected in 2017, Vice-captain Jenny Gunn will be 31, and the other two obvious candidates both have considerable drawbacks: Holly Colvin is in and out of the side, and Sarah Taylor’s workload is already significant due to both her dual role and the extra attention her talent brings. Already considered to be a player who does and says the right things, Knight may well have jumped the queue to be Edwards’ successor.

3.       Average is not good enough for Australia

Although Australia entered the series as both t20 and ODI World Champions, this gave the false impression that there was some distance between the two sides. England have now won 10 of their last 12 t20’s against Australia (one of those defeats was the World t20 final by 4 runs), and had England won the group match between the two sides in the ODI World Cup this year instead of falling 2 runs short, it would have been them facing the West Indies in the final. The sides were already close, and the loss of Lisa Sthalekar probably made England favourites.

However, given the Aussies only needed to draw the series, were the better side in the Test and then won the first ODI, they had plenty enough talent and all the momentum. A lot will be made in Australia of the sudden loss of form of golden girl Ellyse Perry, but the reasons for Australia’s demise are a lot more subtle than that. Instead of a number of players struggling, Australia’s biggest problem has been the number of average performances from players on the tour. Only Sarah Coyte and maybe Erin Osborne can say they have definitely enhanced their reputation on this tour, whilst a number of players have stood still. Whilst Meg Lanning and Jess Cameron made five fifties between them, these are players that the Aussies need to score hundreds. The rest of the batting was characterised by wasted starts and slow contributions, and the bowling whilst serviceable often lacked a cutting edge. The Aussies need bigger and better to regain the Ashes down under.