Playthrough - England in the 1990s... and beyond

[Ed Smith]

Well, that's some boring ass boring boredom you've had to sit through

 

[Aislabie]

Well, that's some boring ass boring boredom you've had to sit through

It really is. The last thing I expected after lengthening the tail

 

[blockerdave]

England Tour of Australia, 1990-91

Itinerary
23 Nov 90 - Australia vs England - First Test at The Gabba
26 Dec 90 - Australia vs England - Second Test at The MCG
04 Jan 91 - Australia vs England - Third Test at The SCG
25 Jan 91 - Australia vs England - Fourth Test at Adelaide Oval
01 Feb 91 - Australia vs England - Fifth Test at The WACA

England Squad

Graham Gooch

Mike Atherton
Rob Bailey
David Gower
Graeme Hick
Allan Lamb
Tim Robinson
Robin Smith

Paul Nixon
Jack Russell

Chris Lewis

Martin Bicknell
Phillip DeFreitas
Neil Foster
Angus Fraser
Devon Malcolm
Gladstone Small

Phil Tufnell

So far, the thing that has really characterised this "new era" for England has been clarity and consistency of selections. The 18-man playing squad has seen only two changes from the group that got obliterated by India: first was the retirement of Ian Botham. There can of course be no like-for-like, but Neil Foster's 94-wicket season simply demanded to be rewarded with an England recall. The second change was that of Wayne Larkin being dropped; this can come as no surprise: he is a 37-year-old opener with 10 Test matches and no Test fifties. His replacement is Michael Atherton: the young Lancashire opener has had an excellent county season with both bat and ball, and has already shown that his leg-spinners can be an attacking weapon against the West Indies. Again, Phil Tufnell has the responsibility of touring as England's only spinner, but with a Barrington Medal under his belt, he'll have plenty of confidence.

Was there no Rebel Tour and bans in your timeline?

 

[Aislabie]

Was there no Rebel Tour and bans in your timeline?

I should 100% have mentioned it at the time, but my approach to the Rebel Tour was as follows:

It happened in 1990, so counts under my "how would I run the 90s better?" remit. Players who signed up for the Rebel Tour were offered an ultimatum: if they go on the Rebel Tour, then they are banned from both international and county cricket for three years. Given that county cricket was still their livelihood, even the large sums of money on offer from the South African government still might not have been enough to persuade them to effectively end their careers. (As far as I recall, banning players from county cricket was very much on the table, but the TCCB ultimately didn't do so.)

I still suspect that the rebel tourists would have burned up a significant amount of trust at that point though, so it would be a very slow process to reintegrate any of them into the side (currently only looking at Robinson and Foster, maybe Jarvis a little way down the line).

It's probably not a perfect solution, but a well-run TCCB might look at some of the players who were signing up and think "maybe we're not looking out well enough for our players"

If the rebel tour had been called off at the 11th hour - maybe even after Peter Hain's "explosive situation" warning - then this is roughly how I feel things would have played out. Although most of the players would have been forgiven, senior figures like Gatting would have had a tough time getting straight back into the team.

I'll link this on the index post so it's clear

 

[blockerdave]

I should 100% have mentioned it at the time, but my approach to the Rebel Tour was as follows:

It happened in 1990, so counts under my "how would I run the 90s better?" remit. Players who signed up for the Rebel Tour were offered an ultimatum: if they go on the Rebel Tour, then they are banned from both international and county cricket for three years. Given that county cricket was still their livelihood, even the large sums of money on offer from the South African government still might not have been enough to persuade them to effectively end their careers. (As far as I recall, banning players from county cricket was very much on the table, but the TCCB ultimately didn't do so.)

I still suspect that the rebel tourists would have burned up a significant amount of trust at that point though, so it would be a very slow process to reintegrate any of them into the side (currently only looking at Robinson and Foster, maybe Jarvis a little way down the line).

It's probably not a perfect solution, but a well-run TCCB might look at some of the players who were signing up and think "maybe we're not looking out well enough for our players"

If the rebel tour had been called off at the 11th hour - maybe even after Peter Hain's "explosive situation" warning - then this is roughly how I feel things would have played out. Although most of the players would have been forgiven, senior figures like Gatting would have had a tough time getting straight back into the team.

I'll link this on the index post so it's clear

They couldn't ban them from county cricket, since it's a professional livelihood and would fall under restraint of trade, as with the Procter/Snow/Greig WSC case.

 

[Aislabie]

They couldn't ban them from county cricket, since it's a professional livelihood and would fall under restraint of trade, as with the Procter/Snow/Greig WSC case.

Looks like I just got fired from being head of the TCCB then my flimsy defence would have been that there would be no restriction on counties' right to employ the players, merely on their ability to play in TCCB sanctioned matches (which would be all of them)

 

[Aislabie]

Australia (0) vs (0) England - Fifth Test at The WACA

Australia XI
Geoff Marsh
Mark Taylor
David Boon
Allan Border
Dean Jones
Mark Waugh
Greg Matthews
Ian Healy
Craig McDermott
Merv Hughes
Terry Alderman

England XI
Graham Gooch
Tim Robinson
Rob Bailey
Robin Smith
David Gower
Jack Russell
Chris Lewis
Neil Foster
Gladstone Small
Angus Fraser
Devon Malcolm

- - -

Australia win the toss and choose to bowl

- - -

Both sides will have arrived at the WACA praying for any kind of result other than a draw. Certainly England were - dropping Atherton after a disappointing Test as makeshift spinner, and bringing back both Chris Lewis and Devon Malcolm to assemble a five-man pace attack borne out of hope for a fast and bouncy WACA deck. Australia meanwhile brought in the series' leading wicket-taker Alderman after he was rested from the fourth Test. The overcast skies persuaded Border to bowl after winning the toss; perhaps they reminded him a bit of Headingley.

Conditions were very difficult for batting, with both Gooch and Robinson falling prey to some excellent fast bowling. Things could have been far worse, but for the fact that the clouds were also full of rain; as a result, only 31 overs were possible on the first day, with the second dawning far sunnier and more promising for batting. Bailey and Smith capitalised with a very impressive partnership of 155. Bailey (72) and Smith (97) both fell short of deserved centuries, but further strong contributions from Gower and Russell (both 62) allowed England to build up a competitive total of 437 by the time they were bowled out early on the third morning.

By now, the famous WACA bounce was growing uneven, something that was most obvious when the ball was in the hands of the fast and motivated Malcolm. His Test-best six for 75 was like a who's who of Australian batting. Geoff Marsh? He was the guy who got clean bowled by a yorker. Border? Caught behind fending one off. Jones? Caught in the leg side off a short ball. Matthews? Caught behind trying to drive. Waugh? Trapped in front of the stumps. It looked like it could be a Malcolm eight-for, but Foster stole the last two tail-end wickets from him. Australia though were 151 runs behind and the pitch was only getting worse.

The English approach was clear when they went out all guns blazing to set a target of 376 for Australia to win. In order to give themselves enough time to take the ten wickets, all the batsmen played their shots. Those who did so with most success were Chris Lewis (51 off 67), David Gower (47 off 48) and Jack Russell (45 off 75). McDermott might have picked up a five-wicket haul, but the English batsmen took him for almost a run a ball while he did it.

England were ten wickets away from a famous Ashes victory, all thoughts of "worst Test series of all time" suddenly forgotten by players and pundits alike. First to fall was Marsh, caught in the slips off Fraser. Then Taylor the same way. Neil Foster then got Boon LBW, and Australia were reduced to 18 for three. Though Border and Jones tried to rebuild, Devon Malcolm's pace just makes things happen. He took two wickets in two balls to bring in Matthews before the fourth day had even finished. Once Small had got himself into the wickets, Australia were left with just four wickets to make last across the whole of Day Five. It couldn't be done, and Matthews ran out of partners shortly before lunch.

Against all the odds - especially after losing 3-0 to India - England had won the Ashes in Australia for the second successive tour. Oh and somehow David Gower got the Man of the Match award. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Spoiler: Barrington Medal Points

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Spoiler: Points system

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Tim Robinson - 8 points
2. Robin Smith - 7 points (+3)
3. Devon Malcolm - 5 points (+5)
4. Graham Gooch - 4 points
=5. Neil Foster - 3 points
=5. Phil Tufnell - 3 points
=7. Angus Fraser - 2 points
=7. Jack Russell - 2 points (+2)
9. David Gower - 1 point (+1)

And Tim Robinson wins the Barrington Medal! A deserved accolade, but still a remarkable one for a batsman who still has yet to register a Test century since 1987.

 

[blockerdave]

Looks like I just got fired from being head of the TCCB then my flimsy defence would have been that there would be no restriction on counties' right to employ the players, merely on their ability to play in TCCB sanctioned matches (which would be all of them)

Absolutely, they can't force the counties to hire them, but also being contracted they can't be given a "properly" lengthy ban

 

[Aislabie]

Records

Highest Innings Score
529 all out vs Australia, The SCG, 1991

Lowest Innings Score
122 all out vs New Zealand, Edgbaston 1990

Highest Innings
196, Rob Bailey vs New Zealand, Lord's 1990

Best Innings Bowling
6 for 70, Chris Lewis vs West Indies, Kensington Oval 1990

Best Match Bowling
10 for 188, Phil Tufnell vs India, The Oval 1990

Partnerships
1. 190 - Graham Gooch & Tim Robinson vs Australia 1991
2. 154 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs New Zealand 1990
3. 170 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs Australia 1990
4. 173 - Robin Smith & David Gower vs West Indies 1990
5. 103 - David Gower & Jack Russell vs Australia 1991
6. 90 - Jack Russell & Chris Lewis vs Australia 1990
7. 81 - David Gower & Phillip DeFreitas vs West Indies 1990
8. 47 - Jack Russell & Phil Tufnell vs India 1990
9. 69 - Gladstone Small & Angus Fraser vs Australia 1990
10. 29 - Gladstone Small & Devon Malcolm vs New Zealand 1990

Honours Board

vs , 1989-90
Graham Gooch - 112
Robin Smith - 101
Robin Smith - 112
Graham Gooch - 100

vs , 1990
Graham Gooch - 127
Rob Bailey - 196

vs , 1990
none

vs , 1990-91
Robin Smith - 110
Graham Gooch - 170


vs , 1989-90
Angus Fraser - 5 for 47
Gladstone Small - 5 for 72
Chris Lewis - 6 for 70

vs , 1990
none

vs , 1990
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 116
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72

vs , 1990-91
Angus Fraser - 5 for 116
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 75

Career Statistics

Batting & Fielding

Player	Mat	Inn	NO	Runs	Avg	100s	50s	Best	Ct	St
Mike Atherton	8	14	1	355	27.31	-	-	47	4	-
Rob Bailey	11	20	1	657	34.58	1	2	196	12	-
Martin Bicknell	2	2	0	8	4.00	-	-	5	-	-
Ian Botham (RET)	108	176	7	5656	33.47	14	25	208	135	-
Phillip DeFreitas	16	24	2	309	14.05	-	-	43*	4	-
Angus Fraser	17	21	0	202	9.62	-	-	34	1	-
Neil Foster	33	49	11	501	13.18	-	-	39	8	-
Graham Gooch	89	162	5	6075	38.69	12	36	196	92	-
David Gower	122	211	17	8409	43.34	15	46	215	75	-
Eddie Hemmings	13	19	3	332	20.75	-	1	95	4	-
Graeme Hick	2	4	0	107	26.75	-	-	36	2	-
Allan Lamb	60	105	9	3224	33.58	9	12	137*	53	-
Wayne Larkins	10	19	0	348	18.31	-	-	43	5	-
Chris Lewis	10	15	1	356	25.43	-	2	56	7	-
Devon Malcolm	11	20	5	96	6.40	-	-	14*	1	-
Tim Robinson	36	61	6	2184	39.71	4	11	175	12	-
Jack Russell	23	38	11	1132	41.92	1	7	128*	59	5
Gladstone Small	18	25	7	363	20.17	-	2	59	2	-
Robin Smith	24	44	3	2075	50.61	5	13	143	8	-
Alec Stewart	1	2	0	7	3.50	-	-	5	-	-
Phil Tufnell	8	12	3	51	5.67	-	-	36	3	-

Bowling

Player	Mat	Ovr	Runs	Wkts	Avg	Econ	5WI	10WM	Best
Mike Atherton	8	62	249	9	27.67	4.0	-	-	3/32
Rob Bailey	11	39	167	2	83.50	4.3	-	-	1/0
Martin Bicknell	2	106	269	6	44.83	2.6	-	-	3/72
Ian Botham (RET)	108	3779	11223	400	28.13	3.0	27	4	8/34
Phillip DeFreitas	16	548	1588	31	48.12	2.9	1	-	5/86
Angus Fraser	17	741	1793	53	33.83	2.4	2	-	5/47
Neil Foster	33	1243	3309	104	31.82	2.7	5	1	8/107
Graham Gooch	89	303	728	17	42.82	2.4	-	-	2/12
David Gower	122	6	20	1	20.00	3.3	-	-	1/1
Eddie Hemmings	13	513	1454	31	46.90	2.8	-	-	4/90
Graeme Hick	2	26	95	2	47.50	3.7	-	-	2/61
Allan Lamb	60	5	23	1	23.00	4.6	-	-	1/6
Wayne Larkins	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chris Lewis	10	315	791	19	41.63	2.5	1	-	6/70
Devon Malcolm	11	379	1207	30	40.23	3.2	1	-	6/75
Tim Robinson	36	1	0	-	-	0.0	-	-	-
Jack Russell	23	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gladstone Small	18	718	1826	56	32.61	2.5	3	-	5/48
Robin Smith	24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Alec Stewart	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Phil Tufnell	8	281	860	33	26.06	3.1	2	1	5/72

​

Post-Ashes stats and records update. Look at those early career numbers for Tufnell; pretty much exactly what @blockerdave keeps saying he was capable of

 

[Ed Smith]

Aye, Tuffers without all the extra curricular should be one hell of a bowler

 

[blockerdave]

Post-Ashes stats and records update. Look at those early career numbers for Tufnell; pretty much exactly what @blockerdave keeps saying he was capable of

I mean, he was never gonna be Murali. But he was streets ahead of the other English spinners and just needed good management.

Tuffers for me was very similar to Malcolm. A fine bowler who was never gonna be sustainably world class but when inspired could be “touched by greatness”, and needed better man management. They both have similar records and arguably should have played double the matches, taken around 300 wickets at a much better average.

 

[Aislabie]

I'm genuinely looking forward to that India tour tbh. I know I'll get battered by the Indians, but sharing all the overs out between Tuffers, Emburey and Salisbury should be fantastic meme material.

I might try to work the game a little bit so that Salisbury actually does okay

 

[Ed Smith]

I'm genuinely looking forward to that India tour tbh. I know I'll get battered by the Indians, but sharing all the overs out between Tuffers, Emburey and Salisbury should be fantastic meme material.

I might try to work the game a little bit so that Salisbury actually does okay

Unpossible

 

[i.n]

Thank you very much. No point building an alternate universe if you aren't going to keep statistics!

That's True .

 

[Aislabie]

Unpossible

Cricket Captain is quite a good game for creating weird career stats; worth looking at how I was able to stat-pad Athers' pre-AS leg-spin by bringing him on against the West Indian tail - yet as soon as he ended up having to be used as a makeshift spinner at Adelaide, he got absolutely tanked.

If I can make Salisbury average under 40, that would be the weirdest yet