My first test match was the 1980 Centenary Test at Lords. I was six years old and I remember sitting with my family, on the grass in front of the old Mound Stand. I don't remember too much about the day except that it rained a fair amount and we went home early.
As I grew up I was Captain of my year groups at Weybridge CC, had a trial for Surry U-15's, and also played alongside my Dad in the senior teams until leaving for university. After a bit of a hiatus I continued to play for St. Anne's CC in Lancashire until injury curtailed my playing career.
I try to watch as much first class cricket as time allows, and being in the fortunate position of having my aforementioned father be an MCC member, the odd trip to Lords occurs from time to time.
I am traditional enough to think of Test Cricket as the pinnacle of the sport. These days this is becoming somewhat controversial. With the advent of Twenty20 cricket, the soul of the game has become invested in the IPL and other franchise leagues around the world. England have responded with The Hundred which is in my opinion the absolute worst piece of vandalism to be inflicted on the game I love. My reasons for this are probably another blog post all on its own, but it is beyond my comprehension that we should invent another format that is not played anywhere else in the world solely for short term financial gain.
Now being a traditionalist, brought up in the school of old style test cricket, I have been genuinely surprised at the transformation of the England Test Team since the appointment of Brendan McCullum as Coach and Ben Stokes as Captain.
Thinking back to the position of the team in March. England were a team in freefall. Captain Joe Root was carrying the batting, no-one else could score a run. They failed to take twenty wickets in any of the matches and lost the final test in Grenada by 10 wickets. This followed another Ashes humiliation and the dismissal of Coach Chris Silverwood and Director of Cricket Ashley Giles. England were in disarray and not for the first time.
Growing up with the England team in the 1980's and 1990's failures were many with a few high notes in between. The home Ashes triumph of 1985 for example was proceeded by a whitewash against the West Indies at home in 1984 and followed by a similar result against the same opponents on the winter tour of 1985/6. Captains chopped and changed. In the 1980's England had no fewer than ten different captains: Brearley, Botham, Brearley (again), Fletcher, Willis, Gower, Gatting, Emburey, Cowdrey, Gower (again), Gooch and Lamb. England would have a good series here and there notably the Ashes in Australia of 1986/7, but that success could never be sustained. Even the fantastic Ashes victory in 2005 was followed by defeat in Pakistan the following winter.
So as the reset button was pressed yet again with the appointment of Rob Key as Director of Cricket I had no great hopes of any fast revival. Test series against World Champions New Zealand, followed by the completion of last summers disrupted series against India, followed by a series against South Africa looked on paper to be a tough summer.
As I write this, England have demolished both New Zealand and India in incredible style. The instillation of a new positive attacking mindset has paid immediate dividends. The players involved are largely the same ones that have been playing without much success over the last few years, but they are transformed.
During this winter my Dad took us to an MCC Dinner at Headingley. The guest speaker was Yorkshire's favourite son, Sir Geoffrey Boycott. I have to say he was utterly charming and made a point of taking the time to speak to everyone personally, quite unlike the negative public perception of the man. Asked about England's struggles against India in the summer he was typically blunt.
"They can't defend!"
He blamed the obsession with limited overs batting techniques. Bemoaned the lack of application and the willingness for batsmen to dig in and soak up pressure. The greying heads of membership nodded in sage agreement and longed for the days when Geoffrey himself would be 25 not out after batting for what seemed like days.
Fortunately for the paying public the England team have taken a different approach.
The batsmen have attacked without fear. They have put the opposition bowlers under pressure and not allowed them just to bowl. They have realised that high quality bowlers like New Zealand's Trent Boult are good enough to get you out, particularly in England, if they are allowed to exert pressure. Instead England's batsmen, led by Joe Root and Johnny Bairstow have taken the fight to the bowlers. Suddenly the opposition bowling plans have unravelled and England have cashed in.
This positive approach has been followed by the bowlers. The veterans Stuart Broad and James Anderson have led the attack. They have been supported by debutants Matthew Potts and Jamie Overton, Captain Stokes himself and a revitalised spinner Jack Leach.
As the matches have progressed, other batsmen have risen to the challenge. Alex Lees has played positively at the top of the innings. Ollie Pope has scored two centuries. Wicket Keepers Ben Foakes and Sam Billings have kept tidily and scored crucial runs.
One Batsman has been singled out though, opener Zac Crawley. The Kent man has struggled. He has given his wicket away driving outside the off stump, and sloppily ran out his opening partner Lees during the third New Zealand Test.
Going into the final innings chase against India though I was very impressed by the way he played. Knowing that he was vulnerable driving outside his off stump he put the shot away. He left well and when the bowlers strayed straighter he punished them through the leg side. As the ball got older and moved less he was able to cover drive with more freedom and began to score freely. True he was dismissed leaving a ball from Jasprit Bumrah that clipped his off stump, but his patience and opening stand in excess of 100 with Lees set a foundation for Root and Bairstow to complete a famous victory. The chase of 378 runs to win in the 4th innings is a record for England.
So was this innings more Boycott than Bazball? I don't think so. The press have made a lot of the aggressive way in which England have batted, exemplified by Johnny Bairstow in particular scoring hundred after hundred. But the attack has not been reckless. The batsmen have generally played good attacking shots, not slogging every ball, but punishing loose balls and defending the good ones. Where England have improved is they are always looking to score. If they can't hit boundaries they will rotate strike with quick singles. This approach gets the scoreboard ticking and puts pressure on the bowlers. Before Bazball England would often be going nowhere and pressure would build leading to a clatter of wickets.
I have no doubt that this remarkable turn around in fortunes will not be plain sailing forever. There will be innings when the attacking approach will lead to the team being bowled out cheaply. In the field Stokes attacking instincts will mean that opposing teams may score too many runs too quickly. England will lose matches playing this way. But when they lose it will be just as spectacular as when they win, and from what we've seen so far they win spectacularly.
Lets hope for more brilliant cricket against South Africa. Wednesday 17th August at Lords. Can't wait!
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