I spent a large part of the wee small hours this morning watching ineptitude in action as England fell apart in their first innings in Auckland in the First Test against New Zealand. Just for the record, England regard themselves as a vastly superior cricketing nation and through the munificence of Sky and the way the ICC cake is carved up these days, they are infinitely better funded……
You have to ask yourself whether English cricketers are that bothered to play Test cricket or that bothered at how they play Test cricket. Time there was, not so very long ago, when cricketers earned the square root of bugger all, that it was a real honour to play for England and regarded as such. Not so long ago, no one regarded cricket as a sport in which you could earn “life changing” or “made for life money” even of you were the England Captain.
With the advent of central contracts, that all changed. But now the world has moved on yet again as vast riches can be earned travelling the world playing T20. Players who will or may never turn out for England can now eclipse the earnings of England players. Little wonder then that certain people have abandoned the red ball form of the game. Others will follow and it is not hard to see why. Even Joe Rood threw his cap into the IPL ring and seemed distinctively peeved when no one took up his services. He may be the top dog of English Cricket and a big earner out of it, but, now a man of mortgage and family, it is not hard to understand why even he might cast envious glances at those who earn so much with far less graft.
Only Overton showed any nous in standing out of his crease and negating the swing of Southee and Boult. The batting was an embarrassment. But does it matter? Does it matter if you are embedded in the “England set up” in other forms of the game? Does it matter given that the chances of some players getting dropped is remote to say the least. Just ask yourself what Cook has contributed in the last six months apart from a double century when it did not matter. And as for Moeen Ali, well what can you say? Lamentable does not get close. He is not alone. Of course one of the troubles these days is that those that run the England set up think they have the best players and all too often will trot out the mantra, “well who else is there”? Well they would wouldn’t they!
The answer actually is players with potential who are hungrier and who cannot do any worse than the current incumbents. I always thought that Root would turn out to be a real leader, but I am beginning to wonder. By the end of this summer, we may have a clearer picture and by then, any ambition he harbours of a return to captain an Ashes side in Australia may have disappeared. And oh yes, Trevor Bayliss said he had no explanation for his players’ performance. Might we have yet another Australian brought into one of our national sports on a wave of fanfares and optimism who turns out to be all smoke and mirrors? It’s about time he got a grip on things and justified his salary.
SW
Sticky Wicket 