Ashes: Where do England go now?

It has been gruelling for England’s players but they should not forget this Ashes tour in a hurry. Every humiliation, every defeat should be stored away.

Remember it well: the preposterous head-butt, the missed opportunities such as Australia’s 209 for seven becoming 328 all out in Brisbane and England’s 368 for four becoming 403 all out in Perth, Steve Smith batting, the Marsh brothers reuniting, the bouncer barrage at the tail, Smith batting, left-handers groping against Nathan Lyon, the hashtag “Beat England” everywhere and repeated on our screens by prime minister Malcolm Turnbull one moment, Usain Bolt, even more curiously, the next, Smith still batting.

Remember it well and use the memory of being pummelled and patronised for hours on end from every Australian vantage point just in case England start to get on top again, something which is more likely to happen in 2019 at home rather than in 2021 back in Australia.

England were emphatically defeated but not disgraced. They fought hard and lost. They were outgunned. They lacked Australia’s ammunition with the ball and their ruthlessness and skill with the bat. Wittingly or not (probably not) the pitches tormented the tourists. The gap between the sides was exaggerated when the surfaces were true and unyielding.

England look on in the aftermath of losing the Ashes 4-0 in Sydney. Changes need to be made, including Joe Root watching his workload. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Without lateral movement for their seamers England’s bowlers were neutered, despite Jimmy Anderson’s persistence. Only in the dark in Adelaide did they threaten. By contrast the Australia pacemen with their extra speed through the air – and their expertise – could muster 20 wickets with the help of Nathan Lyon, the only quality spinner on view. So the post-mortem can easily identify that England have a dearth of pace bowlers and quality spinners. It may not be critical in 2019 but it will be in the Ashes in Australia in four years’ time.

We all have our hobbyhorses when the time comes to pick over the entrails of English cricket; so what follows may sound familiar but that does not make it irrelevant. We have a domestic structure that militates against the production of fast bowlers and spinners. The bulk of our red-ball cricket is played at each end of the summer when 78mph seam bowlers can so easily hold sway; in the spring and autumn extreme pace and resourceful spin often becomes unnecessary. This will only get worse in 2020 when there will be two T20 competitions dominating the middle months of June, July and August.

It seems a balanced domestic schedule is less important to the England and Wales Cricket Board than generating as much cash as possible and keeping the counties onside with their £1.3m annual bonus for accepting new T20 plans, which will deny swathes of followers outside the conurbations – and their children – any top-quality cricket to watch and emulate.

It is possible the next batch of fast bowlers, neutered or ignored because of the schedule, will come to the conclusion they should channel all their energies into bowling four lucrative overs per innings. Likewise prospective leg-spinners might follow suit since they are so sought after in the shortest form of the game. So here is one final, probably futile, plea for one all-singing, all-dancing T20 competition in an English summer – but not two.

So much for the politics, what about the personnel? There are always calls for dramatic changes after a failed Ashes campaign and generally there is a rota system that involves the captain, coach and cricket director. The 2006-07 and 2013-14 tours saw important heads roll but those defeats were calamitous rather than just emphatic. On both occasions the dressing room, which contained far more talent than now, was in turmoil. Something had to give.

This time Joe Root will continue as captain and he should do but he must watch his workload. He may need to be more selfish – to spend more time concentrating on his own game rather than contemplating head-butts and the like. His runs are his most important asset to the team. He batted well all tour but sometimes seemed preoccupied by the wider picture when at the crease. That might help explain the absence of a hundred.

Moreover he can have only a limited supply of energy. He has been selected for the T20 squad. No doubt he wants to scotch any thoughts he is not suited to this format. He may also be keen on an Indian Premier League contract and some barnstorming T20 innings in Australia would help. The ECB hierarchy and his management team are duty-bound to consider his schedule. With so much cricket on the horizon would his future and that of England be jeopardised by him playing in the IPL in April after such a demanding winter?

This is one of many conundrums Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket, Trevor Bayliss, the head coach, and the selectors must ponder. If Bayliss were a football manager he would have been sacked by now but the division of responsibilities in cricket is inconveniently complex for those who like a quick scapegoat. So, too, is the notion the coaching of the one-day and Test teams can be easily shared – we are just recovering from that process. Bayliss is probably secure as well.

Selection is just as critical as coaching at this level. It is a process that pores over the talent, technique and temperament of the likely lads and it involves intuition as well as research. One concern is that too much emphasis is given to the attitude and character of players (which are important) as opposed to their records. How they gel into a Lions squad may be deemed more important than runs and wickets in first‑class cricket. Hence the punts on Tom Curran and Mason Crane.

Moreover the pattern of selection in recent times has made the dropping of a player – especially if he is a batsman – a traumatic event, a life-changing body blow from which there seems to be no return. It does not have to be like that. It is possible to be dropped but not discarded for good. There is virtue in shuffling the pack when players are not performing, to allow them to recuperate and regroup. Such players might include James Vince, Mark Stoneman, Moeen, Curran, Jake Ball and Crane on this tour – it is even harder to come to a conclusion on Gary Ballance or Ben Foakes.

England are selecting their New Zealand squad hastily. Why not pick 10 or a dozen now if necessary and add the rest later? Over the next month there are white-ball games in Australia and a Lions tour to the Caribbean in February, where possible Test players can display their credentials. “Never change a losing side” is an even worse mantra than “Never change a winning one”.

(GUARDIAN)