Cricket is played on the field, not in the imagination of the contestants. But it seems England’s Ashes plans were based more on hope and bravado than on pragmatic analysis.
Calling Australia a ‘Dad’s Army’ would have felt good, as if youth is a guarantee of success. Then when several players of the first-choice XI for the hosts dropped out due to injury, they would have thought they were halfway to regaining the urn
But as things stand, Australia are 2-0 up after less than six days of cricket, and though England winning the remaining three Tests to take the series is still mathematically possible, reality suddenly seems to have dawned on those who had felt Ben Stokes and his men simply had to turn up to get the job done.
Suddenly, the Bazball ship is full of holes. The emphasis on having a good time despite defeats is being interpreted as players and the coaching staff not caring enough.
Batsmen are now reckless and bowlers bite-less. And the less said about the fielding, the better.
Brendon McCullum’s stint as coach is said to have revolutionised the way England play Test cricket. They had won one of the previous 17 Tests before the New Zealander took over. But as the honeymoon period gave way to cold logic, it became obvious that ‘style of play’ and ‘vibes’ had taken precedence over results on the field.
If drawing home series against India and Australia – England’s two most high-profile opponents – is the regime’s biggest achievement, it suggests hyperbole and performance had not gone hand in hand.
England had not won a Test Down Under since 2010-11, losing 13 of 15 matches before the start of the current tour, so it was never going to be a cakewalk, irrespective of the quality of the Australian squad. But things always look better through rose-tinted glasses.
England overestimated their strength and the merit of the players they were taking into battle. Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope play the odd spectacular knock, surrounded by lot of average ones. Harry Brook is highly rated and ranked, but his risk-heavy game is unsuitable to anything other than the flattest of pitches. Jamie Smith was largely unproven.
A lot was made of the English pace battery, the fastest they had taken to Australia in more than half a century. But if history was anything to go by, it was always going to be an effort to keep them on the park. Those who managed to stay fit lost pace and potency, not being effective enough as the heat, pressure and dogged resilience of the Australians took their toll. The lack of experience meant there was no leader of the attack. There is no quality spinner to speak of. Shoaib Bashir was selected keeping in mind conditions in Australia and without any first-class record to speak of – a common approach under the current dispensation – but as of now, there’s no assurance of him getting any game time in this series.
Their best men
The two quality players in the touring party, undeniably, are skipper Stokes – who seems to have the burden of the world on his shoulders as he hardly gets much support and guidance when England are in the field – and Joe Root, one of the greatest batsmen in the longest format of the game. The latter got a monkey off his back with his first Test century in Australia at Brisbane, but there’s hardly anyone else who can be relied upon to keep the home side bowling for a long time.
Stokes’ statement after the defeat in the second Test that ‘Australia is not a place for weak men’ and ‘the dressing room I’m captain of isn’t for weak men either’ has been much talked about. But strength doesn’t always mean running towards the danger – as the mantra of the McCullum era seems to be.
Australia, on the other hand, have relied on old-fashioned virtues of dogged determination, hanging in through tough times, and finding someone to do the job at every juncture. Travis Head had to open in the second innings at Perth with the hosts facing a stiff fourth-innings target. What the left-hander achieved in the subsequent couple of hours has gone down in Ashes folklore.
No player is indispensable for the Aussies. This is in contrast to what former England captain Michael Vaughan said on commentary to emphasise Stokes’ importance to his team: “With Ben in the side, they can beat anybody. Without Ben, they can beat nobody.”
For Australia, no Pat Cummins, no Josh Hazlewood, no problem. Steve Smith stepped in seamlessly in the captain’s job while Mitchell Starc seemed to grow an arm and a leg as he led the attack light on Test experience. Leaving out veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon was probably the wrong move in Brisbane, but Michael Neser ensured Australia didn’t feel the pinch by taking his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests.
Respect Tests
Test cricket has been here for almost a century and a half, and it cannot be played like its younger cousins – One-Day Internationals and Twenty20s – especially for a significant period of time. One has to respect the conditions and the game situation; one’s natural game can’t always be the go-to option.
Like it or not, an Ashes series defines Australian and England players – especially the latter, who had been preparing for this series ever since the last one ended with honours even in 2023. It has been more than a decade since England won the Ashes, and it has much to do with the fact that they make their obsession with it – everything else is just a preparation or warm-up – pretty apparent.
The Australians, while being immensely passionate about these contests, don’t make it the be-all and end-all of their existence. They focus on what’s ahead of them and as a result win more often against different opponents, making themselves a better team in the process.
The penny seems to have dropped on the fourth day of the Brisbane Test when Stokes and Will Jacks took the old-fashioned approach to stay in the game. They would have seen the match-defining partnership between Starc and Scott Boland in the Australian first innings. In the final analysis, it only delayed the inevitable but was a viable blueprint to follow.
The last three Ashes series in Australia have finished 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 in favour of the hosts. England, publically at least, still hold the ambition to reclaim the urn. A draw or an Aussie victory in the Adelaide Test, starting on Wednesday, could end all that speculation. But if the visitors want to avoid this tour becoming the most disappointing in recent history – as it was considered their best chance to win away from home – they need to go back to basics.