The World Cup is over, yet more over for some than others. For England, the vultures have been circling for some time over a corpse that has reached a curiously grotesque stage of decomposition. But even as coroners’ inquests are made the cadaver must rise again, embalmed in white this time, to undergo a Test season so gruelling it’s enough to make a zombie retreat quietly to the grave. 17 Tests are on the books: three in the West Indies, two at home against New Zealand, five for the Ashes, two in the UAE against Pakistan, and four in South Africa to ring in the new year. An intimidating list, and made more so by the World Cup performances, in which England came a distant second – whether empirically or statistically – to each of these future opponents. The question is: will England be the traditionally shuffling zombies of comedy horror or the shock menace of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later?
Life in the Old Corpse? England’s Transition to Test
For all the by-now-generic gloom, there’s actually good reason to believe the latter. This is, after all, England’s preferred format to play the game, and where the Ashes are concerned England has found home to be an unexpected fortress. Moreover, this West Indies tour is in large part preparatory for the pace-dominated attacks England will face in 2015/16. But after the World Cup, after the appointment of a new ECB chair, after rumours of a Pietersen return, and after the now-notorious ‘data’ has been scrutinized, this is also a pivotal series: the time and place for England to resurrect itself.
To abate the symptoms of World Cup withdrawal and manage our own transition from one format to another, my spouse and I sat down to watch Fire in Babylon, the award-winning documentary on the emergence of Clive Lloyd’s dominant West Indies team. History, as always, can be instructive, even inspirational. Licking their wounds from a humiliating defeat in Australia, the West Indies looked both to their strengths and to their deficiencies, finding their ultimate resolution in aggressive yet disciplined fast bowling. Power and pace came to dominate West Indies cricket in the subsequent decade, and there’s an open question about whether England has the requisite talent to create their own Holdings and Marshalls, or today’s Boults and Starcs. Almost certainly not within the next few months. But what was striking about the West Indies’ rise was the utter willingness to do whatever it took to win: aggression, fitness, resolve, and a collective unity even in the face of centrifugal forces far stronger than any England can reasonably complain about – island identity, absurdly low pay, and South African temptations to name only three. Put in that context, the arguments about KP – either for or against – reveal their awesome triviality.
Pace will play an important role in what’s to come for England, as will the ongoing mission to establish Swann’s inheritor as a full-time spinner. But what really matters is finally shaking off the Australian hangover. In the West Indies, England must find their hostility and intent, but without losing what is distinctive about the English game. Graft and power must find a way to co-exist, and what better place to marry them than the Caribbean?
England will be sending an interesting mix of players on the tour, with plenty of combinations to explore. Some questions seem too old to still be around: who to open with Cook, who for first change? For, however much Cook, Broad, Anderson or Bell have come under criticism recently, they remain the backbone of England cricket, and removing them, whether or not KP comes back into the fold, will leave Joe Root exposed and alone as the most senior player. There are intriguing options, however, and England would do well to balance new and old: Lyth, fresh from a magnificent season with Yorkshire, to open with Cook, perhaps, with Trott, Ballance and Root anchoring the innings, and with Wood and Rashid coming in as first change, and Stokes rotating in and out to relieve any pressure on the bowling unit. This series, one would think, should be ripe for experiment, and better now than against the stronger attacks and deeper batting to come.
There’s life in this old corpse.
