Stewart praises 'top' coach Lloyd (6 January 1999)

6 January 1999

Stewart praises 'top' coach Lloyd

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins

ALEC STEWART, England's captain, expressed the hope after the final Test in Sydney yesterday that he would be able to continue working with David Lloyd as coach.

Stewart made a point, when he spoke to the crowd, of praising England's back-up staff and in particular Lloyd, whose position had come under increasing pressure.

Stewart told a press conference later: "He's done a tremendous job as coach and prepared us well, but once we've crossed the white line there's nothing he can do. He's one of the top people in his job, and I'm looking forward to working with him in future."

The England Cricket Board are believed to have other plans, but as Lloyd stays on for the one-day matches and Graham Gooch, manager of the first-class section of the tour, returns to England with several of the 17 players who represented England in their sixth losing Ashes series in succession, the managers at Lord's would be wise to think hard before determining any future role for these two.

Lord MacLaurin, the chairman of the ECB, said: "We'll have a thorough debriefing and talk it all over when the complete tour is over."

Mark Taylor confirmed his availability for Australia's tour of the West Indies when the two captains reflected on Australia's victory by 98 runs on the fourth day. Stewart said the three victories to one margin was a fair reflection of a series in which England had "underperformed in the first three Tests".

Taylor again expressed the view that a world championship of Test cricket, to be discussed at the International Cricket Council meeting in Christchurch next week, was unnecessary. "I've never really believed in a world Test championship," he said.

"I've always believed in playing Test cricket the way it should be played and that's the way we play it in Australia. That's why 142,000 people came here in the last few days. Test cricket is entertaining. That's the way it should be played around the world."

Taylor approves of the division of the Tests and one-day internationals, which has been tried this season in Australia for the first time for many years. "I think it worked well. It can be a little bit tight with two back to back Test matches, but I think everyone knew the Ashes were up for grabs, and now the one-day series is starting everyone can gear up for that."

The Sydney victory was the most satisfying of the series as far as Taylor was concerned. He said: "We got a big scare in Melbourne when everything was going along beautifully. We didn't play our best in that game and deserved to be beaten, but it's how you bounce back from that sort of loss that is the sign of a side.

"We bounced back very hard. England played well, better than they had in Melbourne, right from the word go. They came out hard and gave it everything with the ball, in the field and with the bat, but they were still 98 runs short."

Fielding, said Taylor, was at the heart of England's late revival, especially the work of Nasser Hussain and Mark Ramprakash. "If a batsman hits a good shot and doesn't get a run for it, the pressure builds up. That's what they did in the last two Tests and didn't do in the first three. That's what they'll have to do again if they want to beat us next time."

Australia's continuing right to be considered the best side in the world would depend, he concluded, on filling the holes left by himself, Ian Healy and the two Waughs.

Taylor said: "We're producing a lot of good cricketers at the moment. Whether they're going to be of the same Test hardness as the four of us are at the moment I don't really know, but the development of our cricketers is good and our love of the game is second to none, so there's no reason why we shouldn't remain at the top or near the top for many years to come."

Though Taylor could retire to the commentary box next year, a seventh successive Ashes victory in England in 2001 cannot be discounted.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)