Ashes 2013-14: Baffled England seek inspiration

Alastair Cook

Like a hare in the middle of a forest highway staring into the headlights of an onrushing truck, England are stuck in the middle of their tour Down Under, with the WACA staring at them and nowhere to hide. An unsettled dressing room is never a great place to be in; an unsettled dressing room right in the midst of an away Ashes tour is possibly the worst place to be in.

It is not that this team has not been in such situations before, most notably after the walloping at the hands of India in Ahmedabad, to which they responded brilliantly by winning the next two tests, and thereby the series. This time though, it is not so much about England’s ability to play the bouncing ball, as about the team’s willingness to shake off the weight of the ‘miles on the clock’. Their batting has looked jaded right from the start of the tour while the bowling, after looking fairly threatening at The Gabba, has regressed.

Stability and hence a minimalistic change approach has been England’s strength during the Andy Flower reign and while it has served them so well over the last few years, the sudden loss of a few trusted performers has left them grappling. While Joe Root has been the victim in an ever changing batting line-up and, in his short England career, has played as an opener, at No. 3 and at No.6, the failure of the senior batsmen has added massively to England’s woes.

If England had to bounce back in Adelaide, they needed one of the senior batsmen to play an authoritative innings and push the Australian bowling on the back-foot. The only semblance of a counter-attack came in the form of Ian Bell’s 72 in the first innings, with the batsman left frustrated after he ran out of partners. But what Bell did right and what showed in his game, was that he enjoyed his time out in the middle. There are few players in this English side who can say that they have enjoyed being out there during the first two tests and Bell, Michael Carberry and Root are three of them.

You really can’t blame the senior players for being weary for the demands of international cricket are relentless, but there are some better equipped than others to shake off the residual fatigue of the team, and that is exactly the call of time. Carberry, in his debut tour has looked fresh while Root has relished the challenge of proving his immense talent right. Bell, on the other hand, still retains the touch that contributed so heavily towards England’s success in the home Ashes earlier this year.

The ability is obviously there but the joy has gone away. This team thrives on each other’s success and lately, they haven’t been celebrating. There was a pivotal moment in Adelaide when Anderson, in the middle of a probing spell, caught Shane Watson off his own bowling. Watson had fallen for 51 and Australia were 155/2, giving England a significant breakthrough. It was surely a moment to rejoice but even as Swann came around to hug Anderson, the bowler quietly walked away with not even as much as a smirk on his face.

Looking ahead at Perth, it will be a good idea for England to re-kindle the winning feeling within the squad. One way to do that is by bringing in players who have tasted success in the past, and Tim Bresnan coming in for Monty Panesar seems like an obvious change. Bresnan, along with the likes of Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott, has been a silent contributor in England’s success and his return should help calm a few nerves. One of Johnny Bairstow or Gary Ballance could also be brought in for Ben Stokes, giving the batting added muscle.

Whichever line-up the management finalizes on, the big task ahead of Andy Flower and his men is to ensure that the ‘will’ is re-kindled enough to put the ‘skill’ on display. It is ironic that in what could be Andy Flower’s final engagement with this England team, he needs to tell his men to relax, take a step back, and ensure they ‘have a good time’ on the ground. This team owes a lot to Andy; he has been the torchlight for so long, and it remains to be seen whether he can set them free one last time.