Who cares most wins, it seems, and a less sloppy England might well have prevailed in the one-day series against Australia had they been less naive in manipulating the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after autumnal weather added an extra layer of complexity in Bristol.
Batting first, England were 200 for two in the 25th over and looking at a mammoth score of 400-plus. But some careless batting against Australia’s second-string spinners, the product of a collective mindset which eschews sensible match-management for something more reckless, saw them lucky to reach 309, which they did in the final over of the innings.
Weather radar rarely gets much wrong these days so with match-ending rain on its way, the DLS method was always going to decide the game provided Australia faced a minimum of 20 overs. What England needed was either for bad weather to arrive before that benchmark (which would tie the series 2-2) or to take wickets (every wicket raising significantly the total Australia would need under DLS).
What ensued, tactically, was the exact opposite of what was required, especially on a pitch offering sideways movement in the shape of seam and spin.
Obsessed with the shortness of Bristol’s straight boundaries England’s pace bowlers banged in short in order to get the Aussies hitting to the bigger square boundaries (a relative thing only) which they did, with glee. The result: a hail of sixes and the fastest one-day 50 (off 23 balls) ever made by an Australian against England, Matthew Short the mighty smiter.
England don’t appear to have a white-ball bowling coach at present though I wonder if it would have made much difference if they had. If wickets improve your chances of increasing the DLS score, and there is lateral movement in the offing, you want your opponents to hit straight. That way the bowlers are in with a shout of an edged catch, a miscued drive, etc, whenever the ball moves.
But no. Bang in short persisted until even Adil Rashid (introduced too late) couldn’t do much about matters with his crafty wrist-spin. Instead Australia, who had reached 165 for two when rain arrived in the 21st over (they needed only to be 116 for two under DLS) won by 49 runs, which is a shellacking.
Despite the bone-headed approach to their bowling, and the second half of their innings, England must take some credit for making a series of it after going 2-0 down.
Under stand-in captain Harry Brook, they fought back well. Brook himself batted superbly after making his ‘who cares?’ remarks when queries were raised about the sloppy nature of England’s batting following defeat in the first game.
One of England’s few all-format players, perhaps we should forgive Brook his crass utterings as he has a lot on his plate.
Until Brendon McCullum decided to amalgamate the coaching of England’s white-ball team with his duties as Test coach, it was thought such a job was too demanding for one man to do in the modern era. But if that is true, spare a thought for Brook who plays all three formats with enormous expectations of him in each.
This week Brook (pictured) is off to Pakistan for three Tests. It was in the equivalent series two years ago that he first announced himself as a ‘special talent’ after making three hundreds in three successive Tests.
Scoring big runs in Pakistan is nothing new, the pitches there tend to favour batters. But Brook made his so quickly England had enough time to winkle out the home team twice and win all three Tests.
It will be astounding if England can repeat their 3-0 victory there. The back-to-back-to-back nature of the matches will make it tough on bowlers but also the wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
An exciting batter, Smith does not even keep wicket for his county Surrey, so you do wonder if he can stay the course stamina-wise. So far he has kept without too many blemishes but he is a big man for a keeper and Pakistan conditions will make him bend and stoop more than he is used to.
England’s selectors often pick players on potential rather than established excellence but it can backfire as with tall fast bowler, Josh Hull, who has pulled out of the Pakistan tour with a strained quadriceps muscle. Hull sustained the injury when bowling 11 overs (in two spells) for England against Sri Lanka at the Oval three weeks ago.
I know he is a big lad (6ft 7in tall) but that is no workload to speak of until you realise he had only bowled 68 first-class overs in his entire career.
This is the risk when picking bowlers like him and Jofra Archer, who are used to four overs in T20 and long fielding stints on the boundary.
Their bodies are not used to operating when fatigued. It’s a shame Hull will not be going to Pakistan, it would have done the stamina side of his game, and the mental toughening that comes with it, a power of good.
Money matters but keeping the best players playing has real value
The selling of the Hundred to private investors is courting controversy, with critics such as Indian Premier League founder Lalit Modi even branding it a Ponzi scheme, so inflated are some of the projected profits.
Naturally, impoverished counties are also interested in what money a sale might bring though Mervyn King, the latest MCC president and a former governor of the Bank of England, reckons you need to think carefully before selling off something he regards as the ‘family silver’.
Money is always important but I reckon the England and Wales Cricket Board is actually more interested in protecting the cricketing calendar with the sale.
If it can get rich owners of other franchise teams like those in the IPL interested in owning Hundred teams, they will not set up rival tournaments in August and attract our leading players away. Keeping our best for the best of summer – that’s where the real value lies.