Test Match cricket for England is back! Today marked the 1st Day of England's 1st Test of a 3 match series with Sri Lanka. Enjoying the experience required me to wake up at the eye-watering time of 4:30am this morning but the early start ultimately proved worth it after a rollicking start to the game.
England won the toss and on a pitch that had received torrential rain overnight, they choose to bat, no doubt hoping to avoid having to play Sri Lanka's plethora of spinners in the 4th innings on a pitch that spun from ball 1.
The early stages of the game felt more like an ODI than a Test Match as England scored at over 4 an over during the first season while also managing to lose 5 wickets. Rangana Herath got in on the action early in this his last Test with the prize wicket of Joe Root. 40-year-old Herath, who will retire after this match, is the last active player to have played a match in the 20th Century having debuted back in 1999. England were once again indebted to their middle and lower order, in particular, Ben Foakes who made an unbeaten 87 on his Test debut to rescue England from 103-5 to a score at the close of 321-8.
Broad is "rested" - back Leach for England's leading wicket-taker at 4.5
They say that diplomacy is the only true art form. If that is true then England's decision not to select Stuart Broad can be seen more as paint by numbers than a Picasso. Broad hasn't been rested in preparation for next years Ashes, he has been dropped. As I demonstrated in a previous post, this is a calculated decision based on his inability to deliver in sub-continental conditions rather than an inspired piece of leadership from England's management.
Jack Leach is the man who has replaced Broad as England decided to pick 3 frontline spinners in their side. Given that the pitch looks very slow and low with spin evident from the off, then that seems like a sensible selection. Leach is a bit of throwback to a bygone era. He doesn't really bat much, he's pretty average in the field and if you ask what the word "gym" means to him he'll probably tell you it's the name of the guy who fixed his boiler last year. However, on a pitch that is turning, I think that he's a good bet at odds of 4.5 (Unibet) to be England's leading wicket-taker in the 1st innings.
As well as Leach, England brought in Rory Burns for the recently retired Cook. His debut innings ended in unfortunate circumstances as he was strangled down the leg-side. Of all the possible permutations and ways that he might have envisioned that innings going, I very much doubt that Burns will have thought that knicking one behind off his pads was how things would end. I guess as a player trying to make your way in international cricket you are only going to be given so many chances and that's 1 gone! Can he put it from his mind and get a score to cement his place in the side for the rest of the winter?
England's top order get it wrong, again!
Prior to the start of the match Joe Root gave an interview and spoke about how England would be looking to implement a new and "unique" style of play that was to be "adventurous" and "bold". Instead what we got from England's top order was a frenetic first couple of hours play punctuated by moments of sheer recklessness from batsmen who should know better.
At one point Root and Jennings were going along quite nicely having brought up their 50 partnership from just 66 balls. At that point, it appeared that the aggressive intent shown by England had wrestled back the initiative after the loss of 2 wickets in as many balls in the 3rd over of the morning. Jennings was sweeping beautifully, Root looked his slick best in knocking the ball to all areas of the playing field and even the normally metronomic Herath was struggling with his line under the pressure of England's assault. However, rather than go on to dominate the day and give themselves the perfect platform for success, England succumbed to some poor judgment and terrible shots.
Root was the first man to go, charging down the crease and only succeeding in yorking himself to become Herath's 100th Test victim at Galle. It was yet another nice start by Root that he couldn't capitalize on. Once again, I have to say that the gap between himself Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson is obvious. Everyone gets out when set once in a while but for Root it is the norm. He has passed 20 11 times this year and has only gone on to score 1 century which was in the dead rubber against India this summer. Kohli, by comparison, has passed 20 on 14 occasions so far in 2018, going on to record 4 x 50s and a further 4 x 100s.
It seems to me that Root simply doesn't have the focus and hunger to score runs at present and if anything he seems to feel pressurized to go on and dominate the opposition come what may rather than just grind out a long innings. This failing is being passed onto the rest of the team both via his decisions as a captain and the status he holds as the side's best batsman. Jennings suffered a similar fate when he too looked to force the issue with just one shot too many, this time trying to cut a flat skidding delivery from Dilruwan Perera who went onto claim 4 wickets on the day despite not looking particularly threatening. Next was Ben Stokes who having survived an LBW shout against the same bowler the ball before decided he needed to try and impose himself on the game but instead was out playing an ugly flick to a ball that just wasn't there to be swept.
The English batsmen seem unwilling to trust in their technique and temperament at the crease. The game of cricket has moved on and for the most part for the good but in trying conditions on the 1st day of an away series there is still no substitute for some good old-fashioned graft! We should have been looking to score 450-500 in this innings, wearing Sri Lanka into the ground then rolling them over with ease. Sri Lanka's bowling, fielding (Matthews dropped a sitter )and captaincy (they had used both reviews within 12 overs) were all average at best. England shouldn't just be beating this lot, they should be annihilating them!
Ben bucks the trend
Fortunately for England, their new boy Ben Foakes hadn't arrived on the tour in time to receive Joe Root's memo on the whole unique new style of play and instead he set about playing the type of innings that the likes of Jennings, Root, Stokes and Ali (200+ Test caps between them) were unwilling or unable to.
Instead of being frenetic and reckless, Foakes was calm and measured at the crease, working singles around the ground and biding his time for the bad ball which he promptly dispatched. Rather than look to play high-risk cross batted shots or charge down the wicket, he played with a straight and correct bat. He was joined by Sam Curran who once again proved his worth to this team in adding 88 for the 7th wicket with Foakes. I'd like to think that sitting in the changing room this evening the truth of the matter has dawned on England's captain and senior players - this method is not one that is going to succeed! This is a team that has lost all 10 wickets 3 times in the past couple of years, a feat that had not been achieved before since the 1930s. Of course, it might help if they didn't persist in picking 3 or 4 number 6 batsmen in the same team as they have yet again and with Bairstow set to be fit for the next Test England have a real condurum on their hands. Do they drop the man who has just saved their collective bacon in order to re-instate an out of form senior-pro?
I've raised questions about the current England coaching/management set-up and their dedication towards Test cricket before and I think we will understand even more about their focus or lack thereof towards the longer form of the game by the way they handle the Bairstow v Foakes decision. Ultimately if players aren't performing and worse yet aren't showing a willingness to adapt their games to allow for more consistent success then they need to be left out, regardless of their name or former glories........
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