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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by barmyarmy -
So the curse of the number 1 side continues. The number 1 side in test cricket has now been defeated in its past 8 tests and has not won in 11. At this rate England will be only too glad to hand the mace over to South Africa and, if they bat the same way in Columbo as they did in Galle, they will be doing so. For all England?s excuses about mystery spin against Pakistan this was an abject defeat against a side who contain no world-beating bowlers, have not won since Muralitharan retired and were defeated at home by Australia only 6 months ago.
If we attempt to track down the reasons for England?s defeat this week it is hard to look beyond the first innings batting failure. Even if we take into account the dropped catches, missed runouts, failure to apply enough pressure when Sri Lanka were 15/3 and of course the no ball wicket, the fact remains that England failed to score 533 runs over two innings on a pitch doing very little.
Some credit should of course go to the Sri Lankan bowlers and in particular to Rangana Herath, who returned career-best figures, but England made him look a better bowler than he is. Far too few batsmen were got out and far too many got themselves out. The range of strokes required to score on slow turning pitches seems to be beyond many of the English batsmen who were content instead to play pre-meditated sweeps shots to half volleys or miscue down the track slogs to close-in fielders. Even Ian Bell, who played so well in the first innings, looked haunted by the memory of Saeed Ajmal. His first innings dismissal was caused by him playing inside the line with his bat in order to avoid lbw and getting bowled past the outside edge. Of the England batsmen only Alistair Cook can claim to have got a good ball in both innings.
There appear to be two schools of thought on England?s sub-continental malaise. The first states that they are shot mentally, scarred by their recent experiences and can?t play spin. Drop them. This theory goes on to say that that good players can play spinners on turning pitches no matter how much experience they?ve had. The second that the county championship is not producing players who can play under these conditions and only playing more tests and sticking with the same players until they learn is the only solution. Clearly there is some truth in both arguments. Several of the English players are playing spin bowling with a haunted look in their eyes but equally two ?expert? players of spin on the county circuit Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel have failed to do any better. It is an interesting question to consider why a club season in Australia is seen as an essential part of a player?s development yet going and playing in the Ranji trophy is not. Neither season overlaps with the county one.
So what next for the side? We should avoid knee-jerk reactions for Strauss?s head. Despite his poor dismissals and sometimes negative captaincy he is clearly in good form with the bat as a 100 in the warm-up match showed. It is also too early in my opinion for Alastair Cook to be burdened with the test captaincy. I think the most vulnerable player in the top 5 is Kevin Pietersen. Since the explosive start to his career he now has just 3 test centuries in the past 3 years. The number 6 spot is clearly an issue. I don?t believe Samit Patel would get into the side for either his batting or bowling alone which for me still has to be the basic litmus test for a test all rounder. Perhaps England will decide after bowling Sri Lanka out twice that they can manage with just 4 bowlers and Ravi Bopara will get another chance.
Columbo is now a huge match for England as they will move behind not only South Africa but also potentially Australia if they suffer defeat. Considering that several high profile Sri Lankan batsmen also failed in this test they will be seeking to make amends. Columbo is well known for high-scoring draws and, despite England?s failures against Herath, a flat lifeless 600+ pitch is now more likely than another slow turner. The sole consolation for England is that if South Africa turn up in the UK as the number 1 ranked team there?s a good chance England might beat them.
Player reviews
Andrew Strauss (4) ? Poor dismissals and both innings and negative captaincy when Sri Lanka lost their first 3 wickets.
Alastair Cook (5) ? Two poor scores but was at least out playing defensive shots.
Jonathan Trott (7) ? A bizarre dismissal in the first innings and a battling century in the second which was gritty but not quite enough to see England home.
Kevin Pietersen (4) ? Gave away his wicket both times. Mis-judged the pace in the first innings and a very poor shot in the second.
Ian Bell (6) ? A bright spot on an otherwise dismal first innings, he got out lbw to a pre-meditated sweep in the second. Again.
Matt Prior (6) ? Kept well as usual and batted brightly second time round. His dismissal triggered the collapse.
Samit Patel (3) ? Didn?t look up to test standard. Struggled with control when bowling and out to two mindless shots (or non-shots) when batting.
Stuart Broad (6) ? May not have been fully fit coming into the game. Bowled too short at the Sri Lankan tail but provided useful runs with the bat.
Graeme Swann (8) ? His best game for some time. Expensive in the first innings but created chances which led to his 6-for second time round. Batted well in the first innings.
James Anderson (8) ? Bowled exceptionally well in unhelpful conditions and even hit some nice shots.
Monty Panesar (6) ? Provided a timely reminder of his fallibilities in the field. Bowled with control but not much threat.
More...
So the curse of the number 1 side continues. The number 1 side in test cricket has now been defeated in its past 8 tests and has not won in 11. At this rate England will be only too glad to hand the mace over to South Africa and, if they bat the same way in Columbo as they did in Galle, they will be doing so. For all England?s excuses about mystery spin against Pakistan this was an abject defeat against a side who contain no world-beating bowlers, have not won since Muralitharan retired and were defeated at home by Australia only 6 months ago.
If we attempt to track down the reasons for England?s defeat this week it is hard to look beyond the first innings batting failure. Even if we take into account the dropped catches, missed runouts, failure to apply enough pressure when Sri Lanka were 15/3 and of course the no ball wicket, the fact remains that England failed to score 533 runs over two innings on a pitch doing very little.
Some credit should of course go to the Sri Lankan bowlers and in particular to Rangana Herath, who returned career-best figures, but England made him look a better bowler than he is. Far too few batsmen were got out and far too many got themselves out. The range of strokes required to score on slow turning pitches seems to be beyond many of the English batsmen who were content instead to play pre-meditated sweeps shots to half volleys or miscue down the track slogs to close-in fielders. Even Ian Bell, who played so well in the first innings, looked haunted by the memory of Saeed Ajmal. His first innings dismissal was caused by him playing inside the line with his bat in order to avoid lbw and getting bowled past the outside edge. Of the England batsmen only Alistair Cook can claim to have got a good ball in both innings.
There appear to be two schools of thought on England?s sub-continental malaise. The first states that they are shot mentally, scarred by their recent experiences and can?t play spin. Drop them. This theory goes on to say that that good players can play spinners on turning pitches no matter how much experience they?ve had. The second that the county championship is not producing players who can play under these conditions and only playing more tests and sticking with the same players until they learn is the only solution. Clearly there is some truth in both arguments. Several of the English players are playing spin bowling with a haunted look in their eyes but equally two ?expert? players of spin on the county circuit Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel have failed to do any better. It is an interesting question to consider why a club season in Australia is seen as an essential part of a player?s development yet going and playing in the Ranji trophy is not. Neither season overlaps with the county one.
So what next for the side? We should avoid knee-jerk reactions for Strauss?s head. Despite his poor dismissals and sometimes negative captaincy he is clearly in good form with the bat as a 100 in the warm-up match showed. It is also too early in my opinion for Alastair Cook to be burdened with the test captaincy. I think the most vulnerable player in the top 5 is Kevin Pietersen. Since the explosive start to his career he now has just 3 test centuries in the past 3 years. The number 6 spot is clearly an issue. I don?t believe Samit Patel would get into the side for either his batting or bowling alone which for me still has to be the basic litmus test for a test all rounder. Perhaps England will decide after bowling Sri Lanka out twice that they can manage with just 4 bowlers and Ravi Bopara will get another chance.
Columbo is now a huge match for England as they will move behind not only South Africa but also potentially Australia if they suffer defeat. Considering that several high profile Sri Lankan batsmen also failed in this test they will be seeking to make amends. Columbo is well known for high-scoring draws and, despite England?s failures against Herath, a flat lifeless 600+ pitch is now more likely than another slow turner. The sole consolation for England is that if South Africa turn up in the UK as the number 1 ranked team there?s a good chance England might beat them.
Player reviews
Andrew Strauss (4) ? Poor dismissals and both innings and negative captaincy when Sri Lanka lost their first 3 wickets.
Alastair Cook (5) ? Two poor scores but was at least out playing defensive shots.
Jonathan Trott (7) ? A bizarre dismissal in the first innings and a battling century in the second which was gritty but not quite enough to see England home.
Kevin Pietersen (4) ? Gave away his wicket both times. Mis-judged the pace in the first innings and a very poor shot in the second.
Ian Bell (6) ? A bright spot on an otherwise dismal first innings, he got out lbw to a pre-meditated sweep in the second. Again.
Matt Prior (6) ? Kept well as usual and batted brightly second time round. His dismissal triggered the collapse.
Samit Patel (3) ? Didn?t look up to test standard. Struggled with control when bowling and out to two mindless shots (or non-shots) when batting.
Stuart Broad (6) ? May not have been fully fit coming into the game. Bowled too short at the Sri Lankan tail but provided useful runs with the bat.
Graeme Swann (8) ? His best game for some time. Expensive in the first innings but created chances which led to his 6-for second time round. Batted well in the first innings.
James Anderson (8) ? Bowled exceptionally well in unhelpful conditions and even hit some nice shots.
Monty Panesar (6) ? Provided a timely reminder of his fallibilities in the field. Bowled with control but not much threat.
More...
Anyway, for my nitpick...Trott deserves more than a 7. A 100 in the 4th innings when no one else could stay with him is worthy of at least 8. Swap him and Swann IMO. I thought Swann bowled quite a few loose ones, and while he certainly was threatening when he got it right, could have done even better if he'd been more consistent.
