ASHES...AND SACKCLOTH

17--12-2006

So England have lost the Ashes they regained with a flourish just 15 months ago…and it was nothing less than they deserved for sloppy preparation and putting their trust in unfit players.

As we wrote here recently, we should never under-estimate our achievement in 2005 in taking on and beating a team universally recognised as one of the best not only in the world, but also in cricket history.

The winning margins were slim too; we succeeded by two tests to one, and our victories were by two runs and three wickets respectively.

All that pointed to the need to put out the best England side we could possibly muster. We needed players who were fresh, fit and eager. And what did we get? Dad’s Army veterans like Ashley Giles hauling their creaking bodies through one series too many in the improbable hope that they might magic another performance of a lifetime.

Giles – now back in the West Midlands to look after his seriously ill wife – is a much-loved player deserving of the accolades he received after the last Ashes series.

But as he’s been out of the game virtually ever since with a hip injury, his inclusion as a front line bowler had to be classed as a far greater risk than playing his young spinning rival Monty Panesar from the start. Once selected, young Monty proved (once again) that whatever his shortcomings as a fielder he can take wickets to order.

The injury to Giles along with those suffered by skipper Michael Vaughan and swing king Simon Jones all point to a team whose bodies have given out under the strain of too much test cricket; that said, in Australia, they had only five days serious competitive cricket before the first test which is surely too little.

One also wonders how much those in authority knew of the behind the scenes issues between Marcus Trescothick – one of our finest batsmen – and new bowling coach Kevin Shine. The couple had off the field issues dating back to their time together at Somerset, which our sources suggest made it impossible for them to be on the same tour together.

The accompaniment of the players wives and girlfriends is also a controversial issue though in the circumstances it’s hard not to agree with Geoff Boycott’s view that while family life may have a place on tour, it should be midway though – to revive flagging spirits – not from the start, as was the case with this series.

More than any of this though, certain players have to look at themselves and ask if they deserve their place in the national side.

Does anyone believe that Anderson will ever become a top-line Test bowler? Can the permanently cosseted Harmison be relied on again on a long foreign tour? Should we continue to select Jones – or a decent wicket-keeper? Should the heroic Flintoff accept that being captain as well as Superman is simply too much.

These are issues that coach Duncan Fletcher has to address and quickly. Otherwise the questions about his own future will multiply ahead of a difficult World Cup assignment in the Caribbean.