England lost the Test series in India 4-1 last week and ended up losing by an innings and 64 runs in three days, leaving head coach Brendan McCullum and captain Ben Si Tox made several tough decisions. However, they will be given enough time to conduct a thorough review and there will be no further red-ball action for their side until July against the West Indies at Lord’s. AFP Sport looks at some of the key issues currently facing England in Test cricket:
“Refined” Bazibol
If self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, then McCullum’s acceptance after the series that England will have to “perfect” their approach is the start of the road to recovery.
“Buzz” McCullum and Stokes won 10 of their first 11 Tests in charge but have since lost seven of their final 12 Tests.
Few would disagree with the basic premise behind “Bazball,” the idea behind the method is to try to get players out of their fear of failure and attack their opponents.
But there were times when England seemed to get carried away with their rhetoric, particularly when star batsman Joe Root was dismissed for a high-risk reverse tackle in the third Test collapse at Rajkot.
Notably, when Root recovered to score 122 not out, they were followed by 11, 26 and 84.
Had a more nuanced approach been adopted, England might still have been beaten – 12 years on from India’s series defeat on home soil – but former New Zealand captain McCullum said: “We will allow dust and damage, That still speaks volumes.” To settle in a little bit and then use that to make changes, we need to make sure we’re a better version of ourselves than when we started.
“We will have some time to reflect and come back bigger, stronger and more refined.”
100 out for Bairstow?
Taking away Jonny Bairstow’s Test career often only inspired him to reach greater heights. But having now reached the milestone of 100 Test appearances, a feat all the more impressive given England were often unsure whether he should be their red-ball wicketkeeper or specialist batsman, doubts over his five-day future have resurfaced .
The 34-year-old has not reached 40 once in 10 Test matches in India, while Ben Foakes, a more adept gloveman, has impressed behind the stumps.
England do have a ready-made mid-order replacement for Bairstow, with Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook also waiting in the wings.
England dropped Graham Thorpe after his 100th Test in 2005, with Kevin Pietersen replacing him for his Test debut, and Bairstow may now suffer a similar fate.
in rotation
One of the successes of the England tour was the performance of young spinners Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, who managed to score 39 despite their virtual obscurity A wicket.
But now there are fears about what will happen to the pair when they return to England, where conditions in the early stages of the season tend to favor seamers over spinners.
This means counties can play with just one slow bowler.
Bashir will face England colleague Jack Leach at Somerset (if he recovers from knee surgery), while Hartley will return to the Lancashire side, who have just signed Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
“It would be frustrating if they didn’t get a chance at the county level,” McCallum said.
“It does happen but, not wanting to dictate to the counties because they have their own agenda, I think you’d be a bit offended if you didn’t give them more opportunities for county cricket.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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