Hangovers and headaches
|
As the sun set on 2013, a small group of journalists gathered at an Australian cricket ground to hear the thoughts of Hugh Morris, the out-going MD of England cricket.
The talk was of legacy and continuity of success. Of systems and processes. Of good people in the right positions. Of investment in academies and sports science. No more boom and bust.
We should have known. By then, the façade that had held England together for a while had been loosened by Mitchell Johnson. Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann had already departed, broken in mind and body respectively, the relationship between Andy Flower and Kevin Pietersen, two architects of England's golden age, had dissolved. The sun had already set.
It took the England team management a while to realise. To see Matt Prior - a shadow of the fine cricketer who had served England with distinction - sprawl behind the stumps during the Lord's Test against India, or Alastair Cook cling to the ODI captaincy like a drowning man to driftwood was to see a team, a regime even, desperately trying to hold on to the last flicker of light. It was time to move on.
There was talk of a new era. Pietersen was sacked; Flower and the ECB chief executive, David Collier, resigned; and Ashley Giles was paid off. But Flower remained as an influential figure behind the scenes, and his replacement, Peter Moores, was not such a new face.
The insistence to stick with Cook despite a run of modest form that lasted the year was an anchor to the past that, in ODI cricket, held England back. But with the ECB having thrown its support behind him over the Pietersen affair, there was a reluctance to cut him loose. Sometimes it seemed losing face was more of a concern that losing games.
The year 2014 was the night after the party. It was the year after the gold rush. It was a time of hangovers and headaches, of rows and retribution. And, most of all, it was the year the ECB lost touch with the people whose sport it is meant to govern.
That divide was epitomised by a statement - released not just by the ECB but the Professional Cricketers Association as well - at the height of the Pietersen debacle in February, that rebuked comments made by those "outside cricket".
It was a phrase that spoke of an elitism, an arrogance and a disregard for those who pay the wages of every player, administrator and journalist: the spectators. And it showed how "disengaged" - to use Paul Downton's memorable word - the ECB had become from them. It was an impression underlined when Giles Clarke suggested that Cook's family were "very much the sort of people we want the England captain and family to be".
The sad reality of England cricket in 2014 was that there was sometimes more fight off the field than on it. It was not just the ongoing squabble between KP and the ECB - a saga from which nobody emerged with an enhanced reputation - or the childish posturing that led to an incident outside the dressing rooms at Trent Bridge.
While the focus should have been on recapturing the interest of the public, it was instead concentrated on a carve-up of world cricket.
Instead of developing the game around the world, the ECB was in the thick of a deal to take a larger slice of a smaller cake. Short-term it may boost finances. Long-term it may well damage the global development of the game. In time, it will hurt the ECB.
Meanwhile Pietersen, burning the bridges he might have crossed, released a book that slaughtered some of his colleagues from England's golden age, a document that detailed the ECB's gripes with Pietersen was leaked - most of which just made the board look petty - and lawyers squabbled over who had started the incident between James Anderson and Ravi Jadeja at Trent Bridge. It was all a bit sad. And a bit ugly.
The nadir? Losing to Netherlands in the World T20 is hard to beat. But the surrender in Sydney, the defeat to India at Lord's (bounced out by a far-from-express bowler on a far-from-quick pitch), a Test series defeat against Sri Lanka in England in early summer, all run that result close. Another ODI series loss in Sri Lanka did not promise an immediate improvement in 2015.
It was no surprise when one report detailed a decrease in the average number of spectators at the relaunched T20 competition and another detailed a decrease in the numbers of those playing the game at recreational level. The game was not as attractive as it once had been.
And yet, amid the rubble and recriminations, there were signs of hope. Joe Root made six international centuries - three in Tests, three in ODIs; Gary Ballance took to Test cricket with reassuring ease; Jos Buttler played one of the great ODI innings and made an impressive start to his Test career; and Moeen Ali showed class with bat and ball in all formats. Chris Woakes started to suggest he could live at the top level; and once he stopped the gratuitous chuntering, Anderson reverted to the world-class seamer he used to be and bowled England to a series victory over India.
All will face tougher tests. But all have the talent, the temperament and the time to overcome them. It is on such young men England must build their future and that, at least, is encouraging. By the time Cook's hands were prised off the ODI captaincy, England could look to the future with something approaching optimism.
So what a shame that the England international season should finish with Moeen being booed by a far-from-insignificant number in the crowd at Edgbaston. To hear the poster boy for inclusion jeered by many of those he sought to represent and inspire was a depressing snapshot of modern multicultural Britain.
Equally depressing was the ECB's supine attitude to the incident. It did not so much as let out a tut. Buy a ticket from a tout, post a TV clip to YouTube or set up an online commentary service and the ECB will crack down on you with all the legal might it can muster. But boo a man for his race, his religion, his heritage or his views and the ECB looks the other way.
Somewhere along the line, the ECB lost sight of what really matters.
One of the most disappointing years I can remember, in many ways worse than the desparte late 80s Illimgworth era. Whilst some new players made it to the national side, on the whole this was not by design and the selection committee were not proactive. They continued to back the same old underachievers time and time again and failed to pick young fresh talent until very late on - until almost too late. Cooks appointment as captain was incorrect, and as many feared at the time (not with hindsight), he failed in both arenas. The whole England set up, much like Cook, was incapable of implementing any form of a "plan b" when things went belly up. And things went bad big time, yet the same faces remained at the helm. I grew utterly sick of Cook's vacuous "we know we can play better" and "we need to do our basics" statements of which there were no end of during the year. Cook should've stood down as captain in both forms a long time ago.
Yes, it was a bad year, but it must be taken in context. England had done well under Strauss, but changes were necessary once he retired. For various reasons, England lost Strauss, Trott, KP, Collingwood, Prior and Swann- the nucleus of the side that beat Australia convincingly in 2010/11. That meant a massive rebuild, which was always going to involve a down year or two. The test squad that beat India 3-1 (and explaining that away by saying 'India didn't turn up' is an insult to both England and India) had 8 players 25 and under, with others like Taylor, Vince, Lyth, Lees, Rashid and Topley pushing for places. This group has a chance to be a strong test squad.
The ODI situation is a debacle and has to be rethought. England has the players to be a decent ODI side, if some modern thinking is applied. It's a tragedy that Swann has not been brought in to inject the ideas so badly needed.
Don't give up on England. There's much to anticipate in the next couple of years.
English cricket seems to be falling back to the 90s style. A few glints of sunshine on an otherwise miserable year although in this modern world some of it is not through problems on the pitch but that off it.
As chairman of a local cricket club, the decline in young players coming forward can be traced directly and precisely back to the apex of 2005. That and 2006 saw several new young players take up the game. The numbers decreased in a straight line from then. England's success was one factor for sure, but the loss of most cricket from "free to air" channels was the main one. 20 minutes highlights clashing with The Simpsons on Channel 5 is not nearly enough. Moeen was booed by Indian fans. The camera shots from Sky on the day, and the newspaper clips the following day show 100% Indian fans booing Moeen. They may have been UK based Indian fans, but that goes to show what a complete nonsense even the phrase "multiculturalism" is. As a concept it has never worked anywhere, ever, in the history of mankind. There is cross cultural development; retaining a single hybrid culture - a laudable and inclusive aim. Or there are ghettos of mono culture. "Multi Culture" is a myth
Another fine article.
For me, 2014 finished off what was already starting in 2013, but to much worse an extent than initially feared. England were already losing most ODI series in 2013. I'm pretty sure the champions trophy defeat took its toll on some players. And in the home Ashes, the 3-0 scoreline was flattering, with signs of decline showing. Then of course, most of the Australia ashes debacle occurred in 2013.
2014 was a disaster. The end of the Ashes. The KP saga (not the actual sacking, but all the nasty follow-up). The WT20 disaster, rounded off by the Netherlands defeat. The decline in ODIs. The test struggles during the summer. The falling crowd numbers in international and domestic games, and the lack of general cricket interest around. The disgraceful Ali booing.
There was some encouragement. The recovery in tests. Performances by certain players, Root, Ballance, Ali and Buttler (any bowlers!?). But if you compare England now to 2 years back, it really is a disaster.
@nutcutlet I cannot match your 50+ years of following English cricket as my earliest cricketing memories stem back only to the Barrington-Graveney stand against the Pakistan in 1967. Back in the 1990s, England were so utterly dreadful that any series win was rare. For a time I really stopped following completely. There were plenty of low points such as going to Zim and struggling in the Tests before a whitewash in the ODIs; going to India knowing that nothing would stop a whitewash, to the point that the Indians totally lost their respect for our team (which they have never re-gained); being out-played by New Zealand at home; conceding 700+ to Pakistan at The Oval & being spun to a massive defeat at home Test by Sri Lanka.
Right now our expectations have been coloured by a period of relative success since 2000 when, since that epoch-making comeback win against the Windies, we have won more than lost & now we expect to win most series, especially at home. It was not always so.
Unfortunately, all very fair comment (granted @Peppard11's point that the text is misleading on this point, but the ECB's lack of spine is the main point that George D. was trying to make there).
England were dire at Lords, having already lost to Sri Lanka. All that winter talk that we would hammer Sri Lanka and India out of sight and that all would seem well with the world was pie in the sky. That India seemed to lose all interest in the series after that win didn't fix anything much. If Alistair Cook had seen sense then, though and given up the ODI captaincy, he would have been reinforced as captain, had a long rest and come back next summer all the stronger for it.
As a person with a desk job I can listen to the brilliant radio commentaries. Kids though need to see their heroes to want to copy them and that means getting some cricket back on free-to-air somehow. If the ECB had the will to do it, it could happen, with cricket on BBC TV & even give Sky free publicity in the process.
The terrible 'head in the sand' management that the ECB persist in ruling this England team with, has finally caught up with them. Any nation that would put their worst one day player in charge of the team (Ashley Giles) and their worst batsmen (Cook) as captain, simply get what they deserve. There are some bright young sparks in this England team, such as Root, Ballance, Taylor, Butler etc, but they will have to fight every inch of the way to stay in the team, whilst Cook and Bell just stroll back in, bad performance after bad performance. It's been an utterly embaressing year to be an England fan. I watched Peiterson play in the Big Bash the other night, he looked like he would walk into any other nation's batting line up, but oh no, not Eng, we have Cook and Bell......sigh.....
@Nutcutlet after reading your comments we seem to have gone on the England roll-a-coaster ride for roughly the same amount of time.I agree that the last 12 months have hardly set the juices running,but in my opinion the nadir was surely after the New Zealand defeat that left them rock bottom of the ICC Rankings.The Pietersen saga has run along way out of control in my opinion,England decided that he was surplus to requirements end of.In my opinion people who want him back are backing the wrong horse.Next we come to Alistair Cook who in my opinion has been treated in a bad way,having again in my opinion taken more than 1 for the team.If you are going to change the Captain why not do it at the end of the English Summer and therefore allow the replacement Captain time in Sri Lanka to get the feel and allow the new openers match time.
Peppard11: A more careful reading of the article would reveal that the author did not suggest that Moeen was booed by England fans.