Where to start? This has been the most dramatic, turbulent and downright crazy summer of English cricket since the early 90s, when every summer seemed to be the most turbulent in living memory.
From captaincy debates to endless selection issues, to rows over pitches and groundsmen, to players involved in physical altercations (according to MS Dhoni at least), to the sad scenes at Edgbaston on Sunday with Moeen Ali being booed by a supposedly ‘home’ crowd – the last few months have raised an awful lot of questions, with not all of them being satisfactorily answered.
To start with the ODI results against Sri Lanka and India and the general selection debate concerning whether Cook should lead England in the World Cup next year. While Cook has been in poor form in one day internationals for some time and his captaincy may not be the most proactive in world cricket, it could very easily be argued that removing the leader of the team – and make no mistake, Cook is the leader here, no one else – only a few matches before a World Cup could be a fatal error and have the effect of destabalising an entire team culture.
There is no doubt however that Cook in the ODI format is not the most natural of batsmen, and possibly should have been rescued from the job last year or early this season. However, in order to avoid chaos and totally messing up the preparation tour to Sri Lanka, I believe Cook should stay in place until after the World Cup, when he can leave after the cycle of his reign comes naturally to an end. The ODI results over the summer, a 3-2 loss to Sri Lanka and a much worse 3-1 loss to India, were extremely concerning, but it could definitely be argued that just a few small tweaks are needed for England to be a force in Australia and New Zealand.
The form these tweaks take is yet to be decided; but something needs to change in either the strategy or personnel of the ODI team. While we keep being assured that England have batsmen who can take the game to the bowlers and post scores in excess of 300, there is as yet no real hard evidence of this mystical potential. And as usual, as a World Cup approaches there are still 3 spots in the line-up being intensely debated-and that’s ignoring the whole Cook issue. With Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root as batsmen, whilst Anderson, Broad and Steven Finn form the attack, we may just have the nucleus of a strong, powerful team; the question now is how to create a line up and a strategy which gets the best out of these key players.
The Test format was a much more pleasing one, with a 3-1 series win over a disjointed, lackadaisical India offsetting a brutal, last-gasp 1-0 loss to Sri Lanka. The shape of the team appears solid and capable of competing fiercely in home conditions, with a young but promising batting line-up preceding Jos Buttler as an exciting keeper-batsman and a redoubtable seam bowling attack. The spinning options are a little thin on the ground, but if Moeen Ali keeps up his form from the India series, when he took 19 wickets, such worries should be put to bed for at least a little while.
Issues for the selectors will be the openers’ position; with young Sam Robson initially grinding out runs, but enduring a lean run in the India tests and having his place constantly questioned. There is an England Lions tour over the New Year; one gets the feeling he simply has to score runs in order to play in next year’s Ashes. Another issue is that of who will support Anderson and Broad as a third fast bowler. In this case however there is no real incumbent, but all who have played in that role over the summer have at various points acquitted themselves well. Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan looked lively, while Ben Stokes and Steven Finn both showed glimpses of their undoubted talent. The only other possible issue could be if England feel the need to play two spinners at any point in the coming year-however given who and where the team will play, this seems unlikely.
A topsy-turvy summer then, with England continuing to frustrate and excite in equal measure. However, given the absolute chaos in which the team entered the English season, we should be thankful for this relatively stable few months. And there can be no doubt that players first seen this summer, such as Ballance, Moeen Ali and to a lesser extent Woakes and Jordan, will go on to play key roles in England’s future. It has been a summer of transition in English cricket, but the future definitely looks bright.
Euan Cunningham
Picture: Telegraph