Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
England’s dismal effort in the first Test in Perth last week stunned many leading cricket observers. Michael Vaughan, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad weighed in on the performance of tourists in Australia’s far west. However, probably the sharpest and most incisive criticism came from Greg Chappell, Australia’s most complete batting legend. It might be easy to accuse a former Australian captain of gloating in normal circumstances, but this was not an old leader claiming bragging rights after a catastrophic failure at the hands of 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 admitted that England had “Lots of positives from the game and we were probably in a winning position more than once.” However, he did not hesitate to assess their batting failures, among which he observed that the entire batting unit had “adopted a singular and uniform initial movement which will not serve them well against the swinging pink ball (in the 2sd Test in Brisbane). Chappell added:
“Too many top-order batters perform a defined movement in two parts: a substantial step back and across with the back foot, followed by planting the front foot. They move effectively from a static stance to a new static stance, with the front foot often finishing in front of center stump. From this position, foot movement is severely restricted, forcing them 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. Commentators talked about his head falling regularly, but they couldn’t explain why. These early movements have him bringing the leg towards the line of straighter deliveries, meaning his head should be on the outside side of the ball. He needs to address the leg issue before the head position is addressed.
Another technical misstep identified by Chappell was the England batting team’s propensity to bowl upwards, a miscalculation on surfaces with extra bounce. Of England’s best players, it was Zak Crawley and Harry Brook who Chappell said had the most remedial work to do. Call for Brook’s Method in Perth”a needlessly complex case study,” he then observed “His earlier, highly successful method was simple, involving a minimum of movement, allowing him to use the bowlers’ angle against them. Its current The movement pattern deprived him of scoring options, forcing him to take riskier shots. He needs to go back to the band, re-evaluate and simplify.
It was Crawley, however, who, according to Chappell, “the most introspective thing to do», adding that “His ‘stand up and deliver’ method of driving, although apparently aesthetically pleasing, will be no more successful in Brisbane than in Perth. He will not be able to change the habit of his life in 12 days, so he must be very disciplined in his selections, only driving half volleys and full throws at the Gabba. Unless he can introduce real defense and leave the ball with confidence, his pain will only increase.
On England’s bowling effort, the former Australia captain noted that in the home side’s second innings, as Travis Head ran wild, England got carried away with the extra pace and bounce and bowled too short, offering the corrective that the visitors need to bowl a longer 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 typically less guarded broadside, maintained that he found it “impossible” take Ben Stokes’ side seriously, adding “Before this series started, Ben Stokes told the world that any former player who criticized them or had a different opinion was a ‘has-been’ because Test cricket had changed and the past was irrelevant. Well, the message is simple: when you keep ruining test matches by doing the same stupid things, it’s impossible to take you seriously. They never learn, because they never listen to anyone outside their own bubble, because they really believe their own advertising. Now it has bitten them in an Ashes Test, the biggest challenge of all and unless they make a spectacular comeback they will regret it for a very long time.”
Even before Brendan McCullum’s tenure as English cricket supremo, there was a mindset that eschewed technical orthodoxy in favor of all-out attack. As George Dobell observed of England’s top spot on the 2019/20 tour of South Africa: “there has been a tendency in the English system to trust natural instincts in the belief that talking about technique clutters the mind.”
Having been bludgeoned in their previous three Ashes tours, can England adjust and adapt their game to achieve parity with the Australians? Neither Chappell nor Boycott are arguing for abandoning Bazball altogether, although Boycott was about right when he called for “Bazball with brainsChappell also called for a reevaluation, stating that “The biggest mistake England could make today is abandoning the fundamental game plan that has been built over the last three years. The key is to assess where the approach, sound in principle, went wrong against a ruthless Australian unit.”
However, can an England team so deftly schooled in the art of performative bullshit – whereby offensive intent and spectacle trump actual results – regroup in time and make the necessary technical and tactical adjustments? With a day/night Test match in Brisbane starting on December 4, the wait to find out won’t be long.
