Batting collapses are no longer an aberration for England’s Test team, but on Thursday they were out-Englanded, done in by seam and swing and perhaps their own emphasis on short-form cricket
George Dobell at Lord's25-May-20181:09
A few things had crept into my game – Cook
Some things never change at Lord’s: there’s the slope, the grand old pavilion, the unique hum of the crowd and, just around the corner, another England batting collapse.This one was pretty special. Even by their standards. The first-innings total was their lowest here having won the toss since 1955. And in losing their last five wickets for 16 runs (and their last six for 35), they revived memories of … well, just about every game they play these days.It keeps happening, doesn’t it? England keep getting bowled out cheaply and leaving their bowlers under pressure. The opening partnership is now, statistically speaking, the worst in England’s Test history (of pairs to have batted together a minimum of 10 times) and, after totals of 58 at Auckland, 180 in Sydney, 227 in Adelaide, 195 in Brisbane, 198 and 133 in Nottingham, 158 in Vizag and 101 in Centurion – to name but a few of many – we can hardly dismiss such a score as an aberration. And, these days, there’s no Moeen Ali – or even Chris Woakes – to bail them out.They will remain fragile, too, until they start giving Test cricket the respect it deserves. Sure, the ECB say all the right things about it being their top priority. And sure, everyone involved is keen to do well. But all the evidence – the scheduling, selection, the language – suggests otherwise. All that evidence suggests the white-ball game (and we presume The 100 is to be played with a white ball rather than a rainbow-coloured decahedron) – offering more money and the chance to ‘engage’ a new audience, as it does – is the priority. That’s not necessarily a bad strategy, but let us not talk falsely and pretend that first-class cricket in England hasn’t been compromised in the race for a few dollars more.So, while we ask players to come into Tests without having played red-ball cricket for many months – Jos Buttler, for example, hasn’t played a first-class game since September and Ben Stokes hasn’t played one since returning from the IPL – and while others are expected to find their form on early-season pitches unsuited to grooming top-quality professionals, days like this will keep happening.But you know that already. We all know that already. It requires to actually act on that knowledge for anything to change.Let’s also give some credit to the Pakistan bowlers. They performed with skill and nous in harnessing the conditions expertly. It remains one of the wonders of cricket that, even shorn of their leading spinner and the chance to play much cricket in their home country, they keep producing fine cricketers who show up England – with their facilities, their salaries, their hubris – for the mediocre Test side they have become.The delivery that bowled Mark Stoneman, for example, (from the skilful Mohammad Abbas) moved up the slope to hit his off stump. Similarly, the ball (from the admirably persistent Faheem Ashraf) that bowled Jonny Bairstow held its line just enough to defeat his somewhat loose drive and take his off stump. And the ball that ended Alastair Cook’s fine innings was another that held its line just enough to defeat the outside edge. All three were victims of terrific bowling.Batting was not easy, either. History may well remember Joe Root’s decision to win the toss as a bit of a stinker – the pitch was green, conditions were overcast and Pakistan admitted they would have bowled first, anyway – but it may not have been quite as bad as it currently seems. His logic was that, after a tough couple of hours, conditions would ease and, with the pitch surprisingly dry under the covering of live grass, it may result in deliveries keeping low as the match progresses into a fourth or fifth day.Whether the match lasts that long remains to be seen. While Cook was keen not to throw his captain under the bus after play, he did admit there was “nip and swing” to deal with. He also reasoned that England were perhaps only 90 or 100 runs short of par and referenced a recent match, on a similar pitch, when he played for Essex against Worcestershire.Getty ImagesEngland are not completely out of this game yet. Pakistan’s batting is brittle, too.But these were classic English conditions. Conditions which most of these players should be familiar with and comfortable in. And conditions which Pakistan have come into and harnessed, to out-England England. It would be like England spinning Pakistan to defeat in the UAE or Lahore.Batsmen will receive good deliveries at the Test level, though. They have to be able to deal with them better than this. The ball that dismissed Dawid Malan, for example, was in a really good area – probing just outside off stump – but it moved little, if at all, and top-order batsmen have to find ways to negate such threats. Stoneman, too, might reflect that the delivery that dismissed him was the third that over to have left him up the slope. It should not have been quite the shock it seems to have been. Joe Root, tied down for 45 minutes in scoring just four, launched himself at a wide one too short for a drive and nicked to the keeper. “We’ve all played a bad shot,” as Cook put it. “He’s still a world-class player.”But perhaps it was the wicket of Buttler that best summed up England’s innings. There was a time when a specialist batsman might have been encouraged to leave the delivery outside off stump in conditions where the ball is swinging and when the team is in trouble.Not any more. The game has changed, we’re told. England have encouraged Buttler to “be positive” and, having accepted he doesn’t have much of a defence, feel that attack is his best method to deal with just about every circumstance. On his day and on true surfaces, it will come off and be spectacular. But there’s a reason why just about every successful Test batsman in history has had to possess a decent defence: and that reason is that, on days like this, it is the only percentage way to play. England’s thinking is too clever by half. The game hasn’t changed that much.Cook, at least, showed his side the way. The man who laid the platform for their win in India in 2012-13 and their win in Australia in 2010-11. The man who has scored more Test runs for this side than anyone in history, who equalled the record for the longest run of consecutive Tests in history. He’ll break it next week, too.He needed this innings. He had reached 40 only once in his 17 most recent Test innings and, in a richer playing age, would be far more uncomfortable in this side.But it is odd that it is Cook – with his record – who is the one that seems out of fashion. It is odd that it is Cook, with his patience and discipline, who seems out of step with modernity. Quite a few of his colleagues could learn plenty from his mindset and method.England may get away with it this week. But they need to confront the fact that their batting is flimsy and has been for some time. They’re doing something – whether it’s the coaching, or schedule, or approach – wrong.Pakistan were good, but are not the only team who have made England look mediocre. India did it. New Zealand did it. Bangladesh did it. And Australia did it brutally. And while there might, on occasions, have been some excuses – England have historically struggled with spin and pace and bounce – here they were undone by swing and seam. Conditions in which they are meant to excel. If they start to struggle at home, there really isn’t anywhere left to hide.
