‘Fragile’ Poms savaged after batting farce

When England’s batters crumbled against a classy Indian bowling attack earlier this year, several British pundits blamed dusty wickets for the lack of runs.

What’s the excuse now?

England has suffered its first Test series defeat on home soil since 2014, with New Zealand claiming a 1-0 victory on Sunday.

Watch The England v NZ Test Series Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

The hosts were rolled for 122 in the second innings at Edgbaston, the 16th most intimidating venue in world cricket.

The Kiwis were missing several of their biggest stars, with skipper Kane Williamson, all-rounder Kyle Jamieson and paceman Tim Southee each unavailable for the second Test.

But that didn’t stop our trans-Tasman rivals securing a convincing eight-wicket victory in Birmingham this week.

It was New Zealand’s first Test series win over England since 1999.

England was also without Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, but their inclusion would not resolve the glaring problems within the side’s top order.

No. 3 batter Zak Crawley scored 21 runs from his four innings against New Zealand — Australian bowler Pat Cummins scored more runs in one over during the Indian Premier League earlier this year.

Middle-order batter Ollie Pope has not passed 34 in his 15 most recent Test innings.

Meanwhile, England’s most experienced batter, captain Joe Root, has not reached 50 in his last 10 Test innings.

England's top 7 have collectively bagged 18 ducks in 8 Tests in 2021. This is already, halfway through their Test year, the joint second most top-7 ducks they have had in a calendar year. Only in 1998 (27 top-7 ducks in 16 Tests) have they had more. https://t.co/2ERfPPMvWo

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain blasted the side’s batting on Saturday, pleading for Root’s men to readjust their technique.

“What stands out most for me is the difference in batting,” Hussain told Sky Sports. “It’s just chalk and cheese.

“New Zealand let the ball come to you, leave it well, play with a straight bat. And England … there seems to be a reinvention of the wheel out there with batting.

“We are going to have these odd little techniques, we’re going to have the bat coming down across it, we’re going to stand funny, we’re going to swing outside off stump … they are right, and everyone else is wrong.

“And I don’t see a young batting line-up — I see Sibley, Burns, Crawley, Root and Pope — that’s their top five, there’s no one missing from that top five. Then comes Stokes and Buttler.

“Please, just get back to playing normally.”

The promising performance of opening duo Dom Sibley and Rory Burns was one of the few positives England can take from the series defeat.

Sibley showed his class with a gritty half-century on day five of the first Test at Lord’s, while Burns finished as the team’s highest run-scorer against New Zealand with 238 at 59.50.

The duo survived until the lunch break on day one at Edgbaston, combining for England’s longest opening partnership in the first innings of a home Test since 2009.

Dom Sibley and Rory Burns.Source:Getty Images

Legendary opener Alastair Cook accused England’s top-order of lacking the temperament required for Test cricket — a worrying assessment six months out from an Ashes series.

“From what I’ve seen of this batting line-up, when the pressure comes on, the intensity of Test cricket, the scrutiny of it, they can’t handle it,” Cook said on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special.

“They have quirky techniques, but they’ve scored a lot of runs in county cricket and at times scored Test runs.

“When the pressure comes, they are not handling the mental pressure that you need to do.

“It is a massive area of concern for me.”

There are undoubtedly problems within Australia’s top-order as well — the identity of David Warner’s opener partner remains a mystery, while few candidates are pushing their case for the vacant No. 5 spot.

But England now has five Test matches against India to finetune their batting attack before flying Down Under in November.

“They now have just five chances to sort the batting out before the Ashes,” former England captain Michael Vaughan told Test Match Special.

“They can’t arrive in Australia with a batting line-up this fragile – they’d have no chance.

“England have tinkered too much.

“Everything has gone downhill for England since they went up 1-0 in India. Don’t muck about with Test cricket. England aren’t a good enough team to muck about.”

Joe Root of England.Source:Getty Images

England coach Chris Silverwood told ESPNcricinfo: “It’s obviously not good enough. We need to improve, there’s no doubt about that. There are things to work on without a shadow of a doubt. No one is going to hide from that or deny it.

“I’m not going to lie, I thought it was a great opportunity for some of the younger lads to come in and stamp their mark on the game. I’m sure one or two will be disappointed they haven’t been able to do that.

“When do we stop talking and start delivering? I think we need to start seeing starts turned into big scores now. That’s one thing we’re looking for; people pushing on and being greedy when they get in.”

The first Test between England and India gets underway on Wednesday, August 4.

Source: Read Full Article