England are number one, but the real test is ahead

Tough battles on the Subcontinent and with the South Africans will be the true measure of this England side

English cricket is scaling dizzy heights. The England cricket team are now officially ranked the best side in the world. They are currently demolishing the previous holders of that position, India, in a manner so ruthless and comprehensive that it is scarcely believable to an English media and public unaccustomed to watching such scintillating performances.

Listening to post match interviews following the 3^rd Test at Edgbaston, the England players were at their media-trained best, although the joy was evident. However, it was Kevin Pietersen who offered the most revealing insight, when he implied that England must learn the lessons from the 2005 Ashes and not allow this summer to be a high watermark before a fall.

The England team cannot afford to, nor are they likely to, get caught up in the hype, which will inevitably go into overdrive. To justify claims of being “the best England side ever”, or to be mentioned in the same sentence as the West Indians of the 1980s or the Australians of the Taylor/Waugh/Ponting eras, this England side must maintain their current dominance and form for at least the next 18 months. They must beat Sri Lanka and India in the Subcontinent and overcome the mighty South Africans at home, all significant tasks confronting them.

Strauss is still a long way off emulating Ponting. Source: pj_in_oz

It would be much easier to assess where exactly this England side rates at the present time if Sehwag, Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan had all been fit for the entirety of this series. Regardless of the problems of the Indian side, the England bowling displays have been magnificent, the fielding generally top class. Borderline faultless. Nevertheless some concerns still remain with the batting, particularly against quality seam bowling.

It seems to have been quickly forgotten that during two of their first three innings this series, England had collapsed to 62-5 and 124-8 in the face of good seam bowling from Khan, Kumar and Sharma, before Broad and Prior came to our rescue. Cook, Strauss and Morgan were all struggling and not many would have been predicting a 4-0 series whitewash.

While you could argue that the fact we won from these positions shows the best qualities of this side, it is hardly a case of complete domination. In fact, it should raise concerns about how we fare when South Africa and their attack of Morkel, Steyn, Kallis, Parnell and Tsotsobe arrive here next summer. Let us not forget that the only series we have not won in the past nine was in South Africa. And we escaped with a 1-1 draw only when Graham Onions twice held off the South African pace attack with the South Africans requiring only one more English wicket for victory. Anyone remember Friedel de Wet in Centurion?

 The last time the South Africans toured in 2008. Source captainsticky

This is not to advocate any changes, far from it. England must stick with their trusted players and formula for success. It is only to serve warning that everything might not be so rosy against Pakistan or South Africa in the coming 12 months.

To highlight some key examples. Alastair Cook, England’s most prolific batsman of the past year and now 3^rd in the ICC Rankings, still has some problems in home Tests when the ball is swinging, as exhibited against Pakistan last summer and against India in the first two Tests. It seems bizarre to say this in the aftermath of a wonderful 294, but it comes as no surprise that Cook averages 55 away from home in Test cricket as opposed to ‘only’ 45 in English conditions. The South Africans may well see Cook and Strauss as presenting good opportunities to strike early.

Eoin Morgan, a class act against spin and when the ball is more than 30 overs old, will have a testing 12 months ahead of him. He has scored well in less pressurised periods (a similar charge to the one Ian Bell faced for a number of years), but is not as prolific against the new ball, either after a spate of early wickets or at the 80 over replacement mark, as was witnessed by two ducks and Kumar dismissing him with his second ball after a new ball was taken at Trent Bridge. Andy Flower would no doubt like to see a big innings under pressure when England are 30-4.

England have a testing 12 months ahead. Source gareth1953

Although these seem minor issues, there is just a small sense that the wonderful bowling and fielding performances have masked over the fact that the English batting has been under pressure at key points. Pakistan will be a big test this winter (I can see a number of low scoring matches, with the ball dominating), as will playing in the tough conditions of Sri Lanka and India (and how we fare at accommodating a second spinner).

Yet it is South Africa next summer that should mark the time at which we are either confirmed as the best cricket side of a generation and worthy of comparison with great sides in history, or a side that reached its high point during 2010-11.

An Ode to MS Dhoni

The Indian captain has shown himself to be a great sporting figurehead for cricket and world sport

While England skittled India for a mere 158 at Trent Bridge to inflict a second huge defeat on their rivals in a compelling series, there was one particularly sad note when Indian captain MS Dhoni was trapped lbw first-ball not offering a shot to Tim Bresnan.

While it was magnificent to see the England bowling machine ruthlessly demolish the Indian batting line-up, no many would have begrudged Sachin Tendulkar hauling his side partially back into the contest with a 100^th Test century. But even more so, the vast majority of cricket fans would have been happy to see MS Dhoni put up significant resistance and contribute to a more respectable scoreline than the 319 run defeat, which was especially astonishing given India were dominating the Test match for much of the first two days.

24 hours prior to his unfortunate dismissal, Dhoni had of course made the ultimate sporting gesture to reprieve Ian Bell when he had been run out as a result of a genuine mistake, with Bell believing a ball to have gone for four and the tea interval to have begun.

For all the wonderful cricketing performances from Bell, Broad, Bresnan and Dravid during the match, the Test match will forever be synonymous with Dhoni and the Indian team’s noble decision to re-instate Ian Bell to continue his innings, a sign of incredible sportsmanship which serves as an example to cricketers around the world and to other sports.

MS Dhoni showed great sporting qualities. Source: Pulkitsinha

There has been plenty of debate about the rights and wrongs of the original dismissal and the decision to bring Bell back to the crease. What cannot be denied is that it highlights Dhoni as a character almost without equal in modern sport.

One would struggle to name an international sportsman with more intense pressure placed upon him than by one billion fervent Indian cricket fans desperate for continual success as well as the high demands of the BCCI. The dismissal of Bell could have brought India right back into the match in a series that was fast slipping out of reach, yet it could have poisoned relations between the sides for the rest of the series and beyond.

Stripped of key figures Zaheer Khan and opening pair Gambhir and Sehwag, there must have been an element of temptation to uphold the dismissal of Bell and find a way back into the series. Yet it is a tribute to the man that sportsmanship was placed above success at all costs.

Throughout the rollercoaster of the past 6 months, from a victorious World Cup campaign to the trials and tribulations the Indian team has faced over here, as well as question marks over his own captaincy skills and form with bat and gloves, Dhoni has remained calm, modest, articulate and honest about his team’s abilities and failings.

Ian Bell. Centre of the controversy. Source: gareth1953

His entire demeanour throughout the Bell episode was fantastic, composed and measured. The sporting gesture was the correct thing to do and will be entrenched on his permanent record as the type of captain he was and the way he wished to see the game played.

There is a frequent charge against modern sport, most notably football but extending to most major sports, that an element of sportsmanship has been lost in the last few decades. Under attack from corporate interests, high financial stakes and the thirst for success at all costs, there has been a rise in unsporting practices, from diving and harassing referees to gouging, drug-taking and numerous match-fixing probes. This is not to suggest that they did not previously exist, but that they have become more prevalent.

MS Dhoni exhibited a genuine example of proper sporting conduct, rivalling Paolo di Canio’s catching of a football to ensure attention was paid to an injured goalkeeper during a West Ham v Everton match in 2000 or Andy Roddick’s arguing for his opponent’s serve to be called ‘in’, which ultimately cost him a match, in 2005.

Roddick sacrificed victory for sportsmanship against Verdasco. Source: mirsasha

Looking at cricket more specifically, two of the greatest cricketers of the past 20 years come to mind. Adam Gilchrist and Jacques Kallis, both legends in their own right, have earned plaudits for their sporting behaviour, whether that is ‘walking’ when they believe they are out or trusting opponents’ claims to have taken a clean catch.

The postscript to this the Second Test of England v India in 2011 will always centre on the conduct of MS Dhoni. He has added his name to the ranks of honourable sportsmen for all time.

Class is permanent. Form is fickle. A cricketing tale.

England must stick with their under-performing Test stars Broad, KP and Strauss

Friday 20^th August 2010. England v Pakistan. The third day of the Third test at The Oval. Alastair Cook is on 23 and playing for his England Test place. Wahab Riaz runs in and finds the edge as Cook plays a terribly unconvincing shot. 

Alastair Cook is caught at 2^nd slip and trudges off the field following another failure.

Successive scores of 8, 12, 17, 4, 6 and 23 finally convince the England selectors to make a change with only one more Test before the Ashes squad selection. Cook is dropped and not included in the squad to Australia. In his absence Jonathan Trott moves up to open, with Eoin Morgan brought into the side. In the event, England lose the First Test of the Ashes in Brisbane, falling 221 runs behind after the first innings and despite a valiant effort, are eventually beaten by 6 wickets. Australia ultimately retains The Ashes with a 3-1 victory.

Except this is not how events transpired. Cook’s loose cut outside his off-stump to Riaz dissected the slip cordon at easily catchable height with 2^nd and 3^rd slip leaving it for one another. I recall this moment very clearly as commentator Ramiz Raja wryly observed, "Shouting 'yours' is really not much use in the slips”. But more importantly, there was a real sense that something important might just have happened.

Arguably this was the most important ball in world cricket in 2010. Cook went on to score 110.

Image: cormac70

The rest is history. Cook went to Australia and produced one of the finest series displays of batting in history. He scored 235 not out in the First Test and dominated the Australian bowling attack from the outset, doing more than anyone else to secure a famous Ashes victory with an astonishing 766 runs and a world record time batting in a five Test series, 2,171 minutes (36 hours).

This immediately raises plenty of questions on form, class, belief in ability and confidence, and their relative importance in all team sport, not just cricket. If ‘form’ can be re-discovered as a result of a moment of lucky escape, should we not place more faith in long-term class? If confidence can be restored on the basis of one display, should we not place more faith in constant selection and loyalty?

Indeed, what is form? There is an argument to suggest, “form does not exist”. A player is either good or bad, form is fickle and one moment can change an entire notion of a player being in form. Perhaps this is too far, though I would advocate that maintaining confidence and technique are more important factors to focus on rather than any idea of ‘form’, especially for a player with the undoubted ability to have already reached the top level.

Cook is now relentlessly setting about breaking English cricket records. 67^th consecutive Test, a record. Youngest Englishman to 5,000 runs. Four centuries away from England’s record centurion-makers.

 Resurrection. Image: stuandgravy

The esteem with which our new ODI captain is held in by the England fans, media and selectors is a far cry from 12 months ago. Before his career-saving Pakistan century, the Daily Telegraph was running polls entitled “Can England afford to pick Alastair Cook for the Ashes tour?” The Evening Standard asserted that “If Alastair Cook fails one more time, then selectors must drop him” and message boards were awash with fans calling for Cook’s head.

Surely the example of Cook’s resurrection is a lesson to be learnt. Yet a similar level of clamour for dropping an England player has recently surfaced with Kevin Pietersen and the spotlight is currently fixed firmly on Stuart Broad and even more worryingly on Andrew Strauss. All are under pressure to justify their places in the England Test side.

Yes, these players have been slightly out of form, but not to the extent Cook was in 2010, and certainly not enough to warrant being discarded. Key to the success of this England team has been the consistency of selection and fostering of a strong team ethic.

Lessons should not only be learnt from the Cook case but also from comparison with our vanquished Australian opponents.

Australia chopped and changed through 17 players during The Ashes, particularly unsettling their bowling attack. Doherty, Beer, Smith, Harris, Bollinger, Johnson, Siddle, Hilfenhaus – only Siddle was an ever-present and it showed. England on the other hand, made only one non-enforced change, when Bresnan came in for Finn prior to the 4^th Test.

 Australia in trouble. Image: piesgardiner

It has always struck me as a universal truth that the best teams in sport, and particularly cricket, are those who keep faith with their chosen men and build a winning side with a strong team mentality. 

Continuity, a winning mentality and a strong unit breeds success. The Australian cricket team of the 1990s and early 2000s was characterised by an almost unshakeable faith that an under-pressure player would come good. Players should only be dropped when performances and technique are dire or a young pretender is making strides impossible to ignore. Too often media and fans leap on to the next out-of-form target for criticism overly hastily.

Class is permanent and worth persevering with, as Alastair Cook demonstrated. The England cricketers deserve support for the entire summer series with India and the chance to finish off a spectacular 12 months.