Current England captain has never been a leader of substance and virtually gained the job because there was no other candidate and it was hoped he’d grow into it
England captain Joe Root during the third Ashes Test in Melbourne recently. Pic/AFP
There's no doubt England is a badly chosen Test side, poorly led and needing a drastic overhaul. Is it also a prime example of Test cricket’s future?
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Test cricket could eventually be limited to matches between the eight major nations. Sometime in the future Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe won’t be featuring in longer matches. For reasons that include lack of ability as well as lack of home ground facilities that is easy to visualise.
What about the major nations?
Unless something is done to bolster the West Indies finances there will continue to be a question mark over Caribbean participation. The lack of cricket initiative deserves criticism for letting the West Indies Test team sink to a low level.
Concerns over SA cricket
Because of the unsettled political situation there will continue to be concern about South Africa. This becomes even more apparent when the highly capable Quinton de Kock retires from Test cricket while still in his prime.
Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand have problems ranging from political uncertainty to player pool depth. Nevertheless, they do have an affinity for producing players and particularly Pakistan and New Zealand appear to prosper in adversity.
That leaves the big three; India, Australia and England.
India has proven they can win away from home and are now the best all-round side. With a huge player pool there is no reason this should change but a lot will depend on whether the captain following Virat Kohli has the same passion for Test cricket.
Australia will always be a reasonable Test nation despite the concern about future young batsmen. The Australian infrastructure, whilst severely diluted, still serves a purpose and has a tendency to produce capable captains.
Pat Cummins is a good example. He leads with commonsense and has a team under him who knows what’s required in the five-day game. Experience says a team of competitors who want to play for their captain will usually achieve decent home results.
That leaves England. The current tour suggests a five-nil loss and a humiliating defeat at that.
If that occurs England will have featured in 25 Tests in Australia including 2006-07 for 20 losses and only two draws. Their three wins all came on the successful 2010-11 tour when Andrew Strauss led a determined outfit. That is a disgraceful record and cannot be fully explained by any blustering at press conferences.
There is no doubt England is a presentable home side but considering their travelling record under Root’s captaincy they struggle to be considered a top level nation. This was obvious in India where England badly lost the series 3-1 and in Australia they are in danger of having lost nine of the ten Tests Root has led.
Fading England
Even in England Root’s lack of inspiration as a leader is starting to show. Albeit in some trying years because of the pandemic, England is starting to lose its reputation as a team that is difficult to beat at home.
It’s incorrect to make Root culpable as he is easily England’s best batsman but he has to accept some of the blame. He’s never been a leader of substance and virtually gained the job because there was no other candidate and it was hoped he’d grow into the job.
It’s become patently clear Root’s not the man for the task if England want to be recognised as a tough team to beat in all circumstances. That is the easy part, bringing something to an end; the tough job is finding a better solution.
In the current side only Ben Stokes could be considered captaincy material. He has the qualities of a good captain; he’s aggressive, inspirational and has the ability to lift the side.
It would be an extremely tough task given his already demanding role as a three-way player. However he has the ability to do the job but it could also break his spirit.
The other major point to consider is the ECB doesn’t have a renowned reputation for taking tough decisions.
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