England’s dismal batting effort in the first Test in Perth last week has astonished many of cricket’s leading observers. Weighing in on the tourists’ performance in the Australian far west have been, among others, Michael Vaughan, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain, and Stuart Broad. Probably the most pointed and trenchant criticism, though, has come from Greg Chappell, that most complete of Australian batting legends. It might be easy to accuse a former Australian captain of gloating in normal circumstances, but this was no old head claiming bragging rights after a catastrophic flop from the historic enemy. Instead, Chappell offered the most thoughtful – and thought provoking – analysis of England’s batting problems in what he described as a “systemic failure” in Perth.
Writing in ESPNCricinfo earlier this week, Chappell acknowledged that England had “many positives from the match and were, arguably, in a winning position more than once”. However, he did not hold back in his assessment of their batting failures, of which, he observed the entire batting unit have “adopted a singular, uniform initial movement that will not serve them well against the swinging pink ball (in the 2nd Test in Brisbane)”. Chappell added:
“Too many of the top-order batters make a definite, two-part movement: a substantial step back and across with the back foot, followed by the planting of the front foot. They move effectively from one static stance to a new static position, with the front foot often finishing in front of middle stump. From this position, foot movement is severely restricted. They become rooted, relying solely on their hands and arms to search for the ball. This is fraught with danger, particularly against a full, straight delivery, where they are forced to play around the front leg to access the ball.”
Assessing the technical merits of Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root, Chappell identified a common flaw exposed by the bouncy Perth track when he noted “Pope has a similar problem to Root and Brook in that his initial movements leave his front leg exposed to full, straight deliveries. The commentators talked about his head falling over to the off regularly but they couldn’t explain why. These early movements cause him to take the leg to the line of the straighter deliveries, meaning that his head has to be to the off side of the ball. He needs to fix the leg issue before the head position will be addressed.”
A further technical misstep identified by Chappell was the propensity among England’s batting line-up to drive on the up, a flawed miscalculation on surfaces with extra bounce. Of England’s top order it was Zak Crawley and Harry Brook who Chappell felt had the most corrective work to do. Calling Brook’s method in Perth “a case study in unneeded complexity”, he then observed “His earlier, highly successful, method was simple, involving minimal movement, allowing him to use the bowlers’ angle against them. His current movement pattern has stripped him of scoring options, forcing him into riskier shots. He needs to go back to the tape, re-evaluate, and simplify.’
It is Crawley, though, who Chappell believes has “the most soul-searching to do”, adding that “his “stand and deliver” driving method, while apparently aesthetically pleasing, will be no more successful in Brisbane than it was in Perth. He will not be able to change a lifetime’s habit in 12 days, so he has to be very disciplined with his selections, only driving at half-volleys and full tosses at the Gabba. Unless he can introduce genuine defence and leave the ball with confidence, his pain will only increase.
Of England’s bowling effort the former Australian captain noted that in the home side’s second innings, while Travis Head ran riot, England became carried away with the extra pace and bounce and pitched too short, offering the corrective that the visitors must bowl a fuller length in Brisbane.
Greg Chappell is not the only former player to make his views known on England’s two-day disaster in Perth. Sir Geoffrey Boycott, in a characteristically less guarded broadside, argued that he finds it “impossible” to take Ben Stokes’ side seriously, adding “Before this series started Ben Stokes told the world that any ex-player who criticised them or had a different opinion were “has-beens” because Test cricket had changed and the past was irrelevant. Well, from this has been the message is simple: when you keep throwing away Test matches by doing the same stupid things it is impossible to take you seriously. They never learn, because they never listen to anyone outside their own bubble, because they truly believe their own publicity. Now it has bitten them in an Ashes Test, the biggest challenge of all and unless they mount a spectacular comeback, they will regret it for a very long time”
Even prior to Brendan McCullum’s tenure as England cricket supremo, there existed a mindset that eschewed technical orthodoxy in favour of all-out attack. As George Dobell observed of the England top order on the 2019/20 tour of South Africa “there has been a tendency in the England set-up to trust natural instincts in the belief that talk of technique clutters the mind”.
Having been pummelled on their three previous Ashes tours, can England adjust and adapt their game to achieve parity with the Australians? Neither Chappell nor Boycott argue in favour of ditching Bazball altogether, although Boycott has it about right when he called for “Bazball with brains”. Chappell has similarly called for a reassessment, stating that the “biggest mistake England could make now is to discard the foundational game plan that has been built over the past three years. The key is to assess where the approach, sound in principle, went awry in execution against a ruthless Australian unit”.
However, can an England outfit which is so adroitly schooled in the art of performative bullshit – that attacking intent and spectacle trumps actual results – regroup in time and make the technical and tactical adjustments necessary? With a day/night Test match coming up in Brisbane, beginning 4 December, the wait to find out will not be a long one.
source https://www.cricketweb.net/greg-chappell-offers-corrective-to-englands-perth-debacle/
