Someday, a book will be published about the bizarre administration of cricket in the early 21st century. A significant portion of it will be devoted to the domestic scene in England, where the suits expect fans to watch four different formats simultaneously – and the poor old players are like the employees at a 24-hour supermarket.
One chapter may focus on July 2022 in the lives of England’s players. A month during which they were obliged to play a decisive Test against one of the superpowers of cricket, India, followed by four white-ball series in 25 days. A series a week! ECB, thy name is insanity.
A timetable that is overloaded is like lengthy Covid, a malaise with tentacles. Ben Stokes retired from 50-over internationals as a result of this particular folly, which was not entirely the board’s responsibility due to India’s abandonment of the fifth Test the previous year.
After Eoin Morgan, the man who contributed the most to England’s World Cup victory will not be present to defend it.
In addition, it gave Jos Buttler a terrible start as England’s white-ball captain following Morgan’s departure. These four series inside 25 days were Buttler’s first as captain. One of the benefits of a baptism by fire is that you only have to experience it once.
Buttler, together with the new coach Matthew Mott, who had only played against the Netherlands, had to overcome four of them. It is not surprising that he lost three series and drew the other.
In a situation such as this, you must employ your strongest weapons. Buttler was without England’s top four one-day international bowlers, namely Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood (all injured), and Adil Rashid (on leave for the first six games, making a pilgrimage to Mecca).
Reece Topley rose to the occasion so effectively that he may retain his position even when Woakes and Wood return, but the other seamers, except Chris Jordan, performed like the backups they are.
On paper, the batting lineup featured a reunion of the so-called fab five: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler. However, three of them (the middle three) were exhausted after participating in four Tests within five weeks. Stokes’s playing style is pure electricity, which consumes a great deal of fuel.
Roy and Buttler, one-day specialists, both battled on the sticky wickets. And here, Buttler, who deserves sympathy on the majority of these fronts, committed two errors of judgment.
One was his out-of-form treatment of Roy, which was excruciating to observe. This was similar to when Roy played his only Test series, the Ashes in 2019. His timing of the ball was so poor that his opponents may have desired to keep him in the game. Even his success rate plummeted, from 130 to 80 percent.
Roy was doing everything he could to be dropped, and England already had a substitute for him in Phil Salt. Buttler chose to demonstrate faith, even though it was clear of the blind sort.
That will have benefits, as others will feel more secure when they have a poor trot. And it’s wonderful that we’ve moved on from the Alec Bedser and two-flops-and-you’re-out era. But this did neither the squad nor Roy any favors.
With Zak Crawley in the Test squad, Stokes and Brendon McCullum share the same philosophy. At least he’s not awful to watch: a Crawley innings is beautiful for the half-hour it typically lasts.
And he did score 46 runs in his last Test innings, laying the foundation for Bairstow’s current ferocious run chase. Crawley is unlikely to succeed as an opening batsman in Tests since he consistently guides the seamer’s stock ball to second slip.
Buttler’s other error was a common pitfall for captains: his management of himself. He elected to bat at the top of the order for the Twenty20 team. As the opener for Rajasthan Royals, he is an international sensation.
True, but he is not the captain of that ship. He’s not even the goalie. And performing successfully in all three roles is nearly impossible.
Ask Alec Stewart, who played the position for England from 1998-1999. In 20 matches as captain, goalkeeper, and starter, ending in a disastrous World Cup, Stewart’s average was 18 as opposed to his typical 40.
When batting second, when his eye was already in and he had the measure of the pitch, he was frequently fluid. However, he rarely lasted long since he required frequent breaks. The previous month, Buttler repeatedly had the same occurrence. When England need a captain’s innings, he was only able to contribute a cameo.
At the time of Stewart, there was no other English goalkeeper who could score quickly. There are currently three: Bairstow, Sam Billings, and Salt (who keeps for Manchester Originals, ahead of Buttler, his captain there).
Bairstow must open, keep, or both, freeing Buttler to be the captain and either an explosive opener or, more likely, a brilliant finisher – similar to MS Dhoni with extra smiles.
Even a decade into their careers, with a World Cup winner’s medal on each mantelpiece, Buttler and Bairstow still have a fragrance of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. In another ten years, they will likely be controlling counties in the middle of the table.
