 |
| Advertisement |
The first Ashes Test in Perth arrived amid much posturing, plenty of fighting talk and a whole lot of hype.
It burned out in spectacular fashion in less than two days as England suffered one of the most calamitous implosions seen in recent times.
It went from seemingly having the game in the palm of their hands to humbling defeat in the space of a single session.
It was so bad that for many it’s hard to see how they will bounce back.
America writer John C Maxwell is credited with the quote, “fail early, fail often, but always fail forward,” an expression, the core idea of which, is to embrace experimentation and learn from errors quickly, rather than being paralyzed by the fear of failure.
It is very apt in this situation. England have failed early. They will be hoping not to fail too often. What they need to do is take on board the lessons and make the changes required to be better in time for the second Test.
Here are five things that England should look to change before Brisbane, at the start of December.
1. Understanding aggression
Quite possibly England’s biggest problem at the moment is their failure to understand what aggression means. What it isn’t is shouting and flailing arms.
In sport, aggression is a very simple thing – it’s the act of imposing your will on your opponents and dictating the terms of engagement.
Aggression has been a key element of winning teams since the beginning of time – because quite simply, the team who is able to impose their will (game plan) on the other is the team that will win.
England talk the talk very well. They have pulled together the fastest quintet of fast bowlers assembled in a long time. They bat with aggression and seek to dominate from the first ball.
Their much-vaunted batting boasts three players in the top ten of the ICC Rankings. But their mental game is sadly lacking. It lacks subtlety and nuance and the ability to adapt.
Steve Waugh, who was one of the most successful and aggressive skippers of all time, made no secret of his tactic of mental disintegration. Waugh played so hard that his opponents simply ended up falling apart.
And in Test cricket, part of that success is about stonewalling – occupying the crease and defying the opposition.
England are so completely one dimensional that it’s almost impressive. Like lemmings off a cliff, it verges on tragic. On Saturday England went from 65 for one to 88 for six. So hell bent were they on trying to dominate that they lost all perspective and gave it away.
And once again it comes back to the mental game. Part of dominating and dictating terms is about being unpredictable.
With more than three days to play and (in the context of the game) with a healthy lead building, England doubled down and did exactly what Australia expected.
They kept up with the overt aggression and they kept paying the price when, almost certainly, toning it down and reverting to a more traditional style would have left the home side perplexed and caught unawares.
A great example of doing the unexpected and putting your opponent on the backfoot was Australia’s decision to promote Travis Head to the top of the order. It was a calculated gamble, and it worked. Well played, Australia.
2. Play the stars into form
England need to get Zak Crawley and Joe Root into form. Lanky opener Crawley bagged a pair in Perth while Root managed eight runs across two innings – England need to get them firing.
Crawley is an undoubtedly talented batsman, but he does have the tendency to blow hot and cold. He came into the Perth Test having not played much cricket in recent times.
He made a solid 83 in England’s only warm-up game against the Lions, but prior to that his last games were T20 encounters in late August and early September.
One First Class game is simply not enough to play yourself into form. It could be argued that what you get out is based on what you put in.
In a world where Australia went to great lengths to play their stars into form (the likes of Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Cam Green all given time to play Sheffield Shield cricket), it is surprising that England didn’t do a bit more to acclimatize their team.
Their selection for the team to play against the Prime Ministers XI will be important. It looks like only players not involved in the first Test, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts and Jacob Bethell will get a run in that game.
It’s a controversial decision and one that on the surface looks horribly wrong. England’s batsmen need to feel ball on bat, and they have one opportunity to do it before Brisbane.
Joe Root will be painfully aware of the fact that he has never scored a Test ton Down Under – how good would he feel if he could walk out at The Gabba with some tour runs under his belt?
Read more: Joe Root is an Australian Ashes century away from cricket immortality
3. Find the positives – Stokes with the ball was a highlight
As much as they were horribly humbled in the first Test, there were still positives to be found. They did enough to secure a useful first innings lead and they performed well with the ball in the first innings.
They were good in the field. While not all the players will look back fondly on the game, Stokes, Carse and Archer will be pleased with their first innings returns while the likes of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook had solid innings.
These may be small starts, but this is a five Test series and all journey’s start with a first step.
The loss will undoubtedly have left England shaken and impacted on their confidence, but there are elements to build on, and they must hold onto those. Ben Stokes’ return to bowling form is probably the highlight.
4. Maintain perspective
In a match of fine margins, England’s loss was down to two things – the first was their inability to apply themselves and occupy the crease, and that is something they can fix.
The second was the freak knock from Travis Head who won the game for Australia almost singlehandedly with the second fastest ton in Ashes history.
Head was outstanding as he took the attack to England, seeing their aggression with the ball and raising it with his aggression with the bat.
It isn’t hard to imagine a world where it didn’t come off for Head. The decision to push him up the order could easily have backfired and left Australia in early trouble.
If that had been the case the game may have ended very differently. England need to remember that the margins at this level are fine. On another day it could have gone differently, and all the angst and soul-searching would have been Australia’s.
Having said that, maybe England should also take a moment to assess where exactly they sit in the pecking order of world cricket… perhaps they are simply performing at their level, and they are not as good as they think they are.
England were not good enough to win their home series against India in the summer. That’s the same Indian side that are currently being outplayed by South Africa and an Indian side that lost 3-1 to Australia less than a year ago.
Perhaps Perth was simply England playing at their best against a team that is just better than them! If this is the case, and England are able to embrace it, then it is a genuine gift. It’s much easier playing as the underdog because you have nothing to lose.
5. Don’t panic
There is a fine line between not panicking and not adapting. England has a philosophy and a game plan, and they may need to tweak it. What they don’t need to do is make wholesale changes to their team.
If Jacob Bethell scores plenty in the tour game, or if Brisbane looks like a spinner might be needed, then sure, tweak the starting XI.
But in a world where a team was backed to do a job and was considered good enough to play in Perth, then less than two days’ worth of cricket is not enough time for anyone to show what they are worth.
So much of top-level sport is about the silent ‘messages’ that are sent. England cannot afford to let Australia see signs of fear, panic or lack of belief.
Now is the time for England to shut out the noise, to back each other and to let the cricket do the talking in a game that they should strive to see into the final day.
Read next: Test cricket’s century count: England primed to increase lead over Australia
The post 5 key areas England must address before crucial Brisbane Test appeared first on Cricket365.
from Cricket365 https://ift.tt/ifwtebd
0 comments: