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Early stumbles come back to haunt England
They have played the better cricket in the last two Tests but they started the series on the wrong foot and they only have themselves to blame
On Sunday, as the rain refused to relent at Old Trafford in Manchester, England came away feeling a sense of superiority not for the first time in this series. After the loss in the first Test at Edgbaston, England coach Brendon McCullum was bullish about continuing their attacking style, choosing to blame the rub of the green not going their way for the result and suggesting that the “loss felt like a win”.
After the loss in the second Test at Lord's, they demonstrated a holier-than-thou attitude, invoking that archaic ‘spirit of cricket’ argument to feel aggrieved over Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow.
They might have justification for feeling wronged at Old Trafford after dominating from start to finish, but the bottom line is they have won only one of the four Tests with Australia leading 2-1 in the series. Irrespective of the outcome in the final Test at The Oval in London this week, Australia will head back home with the urn in their grasp.
England can moan how much ever they want about the rain ruining their hopes of levelling the series heading into the final game, but it’s not the first time that inclement weather has interfered with a Test. England should know that more than any other team.
While there’s no denying the entertainment value they have brought, they will perhaps benefit by reflecting on some of their missteps during the series. Especially in the first Test at Edgbaston, where a first-innings declaration on 393/8 with Joe Root unbeaten on 118 reeked of overconfidence.
Australia ended up responding with 386 before England’s second-innings total of 273 set the visitors a target of 281. Thanks to Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon’s unbroken partnership of 55 runs, Australia won with two wickets in hand.
If you were to look back, a favourable outcome for England in Birmingham may have changed the complexion of the series. But eventually, it’s results and cold numbers that will define a team’s standing, even if Ben Stokes and this England team think otherwise.
At the post-match presentation on Sunday, former England captain Mike Atherton asked Stokes whether he had any lingering regrets about the game at Edgbaston. “No,” came Stokes’s blunt response.
Stokes was probed further with that line of questioning in the press conference that followed. “When you look back at the cricket that was played, we did everything we possibly could,” Stokes elaborated. “Regardless of what we did, we would have ended up in the same situation. I think anyone who is going to question the declaration in this game probably doesn't understand the game as well as we do.”
That last line is illustrative of the thin line between confidence and hubris. Stokes may point to their record of 12 wins in 17 Tests with four losses and a draw in the Bazball era, but if the England captain continues going down this road of thinking that their methods are beyond question, he runs the risk of ending up in a perilous destination. Though their desire to entertain is appreciable, they need to be flexible enough to recognise when to retreat.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said England spurned advantageous positions in the first two Tests. “I said right from the start, if they want to play that way, that brand of cricket and they’ve talked about it so much, they sort of back themselves into a corner where they’ve got to play that way,” Ponting said on Sky Sports on Sunday.
“With this approach there’s a time and a place against the very best Test teams to be able to play that way. I don’t think they’re going to be able to do it all the time, and I think the fact that they went as hard as they did in the second innings at Edgbaston and then probably losing those wickets to the short ball at Lord’s were the reason that they found themselves 2-0 down after the first two games.”
