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The appearance of a pastoral English cricket scene in Danny Boyle's
Olympics opening ceremony went down so well in one cricketing outpost
that it has been reported that it could be turned into a musical stage
show in Beijing this Christmas, complete with the farmyard animals and
some Beatles songs thrown in.
After England's innings-and-12-run defeat against South Africa in the
first Test, "Help!" is the track that springs most readily to mind.
Confirmation of a musical in China involving village cricket could yet
represent one of the highlights of a bedraggled summer, so making it the
first occasion when the cricketing slur "that's village" became
something to aspire to rather than an England player's favourite
putdown.
Presumably any impresario taking on the job would have to rely on
Chinese sheepdogs, which might bring difficulties in translation, but
after England's capitulation at The Oval, a ready supply of ducks should
be easier to find.
Since that Oval defeat, the Olympics has dominated the news agenda to
such an extent that if England are about to lose their No. 1 ranking by
succumbing again to South Africa at Headingley now is as good a time as
any, as in many media outlets news of their demise will come somewhere
below the handball results.
The defeat, according to England's offspinner, Graeme Swann, was "a
public humiliation," a lesson in how a slack session can set in motion
an irreversible pattern. England's captain, Andrew Strauss,
was at his most diplomatic, talking of the need to retain perspective
and of "a steely determination among the troops" but the somewhat spiky
mood of the director of cricket, Andy Flower, is perhaps a more accurate
reflection of the uncertainty within the England set-up.
England have lost five of their last nine Tests, since they thrashed
India last summer. If that does not say much for England, it says even
less for India, but it is England who have lost impetus since ascending
to the No. 1 ranking, their form as dismal in south London against South
Africa as it had been in the UAE against Pakistan's attack. And it is
England, barring a remarkable turnaround in the last two Tests, who will
go to India later in the year with their confidence shaken.
Strauss rightly views the Olympics as "pretty irrelevant", waving aside
suggestions that there might be a feel-good effect if Great Britain
start winning medals; a negative effect if it is felt that nobody
outside Yorkshire takes much notice of their efforts over the next five
days; or any sort of knock-on effect at all.
"It is an important Test and the fact you only get one page at the back
of the paper rather than four is of no consequence to us," he said.
"It's rightly the case that everyone's attention is on the Olympics, and
we are rooting for British medals with everyone else, but we have to
divorce the two completely. If someone gets a gold medal it is not going
to help me get a hundred tomorrow unfortunately."
Headingley is a good place for a defeated side to seek to recover lost
ground. It is a ground with a mind of its own, determinedly unwilling to
follow a pattern set earlier in the series. Victors and vanquished
alike arrive at Headingley as potential playthings. It is a Test that
often exists independently, wilfully following its own mood. It is a
ground, much like many of the more traditional Yorkshire folk who attend
it, that does much as it pleases, wilfully turning from swing-bowling
haven one minute to flat batting track the next.
Strauss, who much prefers Lord's, conceded that it was, "a slightly
intriguing ground". As concessions go, this might entirely please the
Yorkshire populace, many of whom view it more mystically. Some people
may even feel slighted. They may feel more slighted at 10.30am on
Thursday morning if England, as they are tempted to do, omit the local
favourite Tim Bresnan in favour of Steve Finn
"Maybe there are slightly more unique challenges that it does throw at
you," Strass added. "There are times at Headingley when bowling looks
unplayable and there are times when it looks very flat. Conditions are
going to be different here, the challenges are going to be different and
we obviously need to make sure we react well to those challenges and
overcome them."
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The fact that Bresnan is on his home turf did not appear to be working
heavily in his favour. Strauss has been inspired time and again by
Lord's, not only his home ground for Middlesex, but also the
headquarters of the English game, a ground that feeds his sense of
self-worth. But on Bresnan he did not draw similar comparisons, saying:
"You just select the best XI to win the game of cricket, regardless of
where people are from. Obviously Bres knows the wicket well and the
lengths to bowl and he will be feeding that information to the other
bowlers."
Bresnan's Championship appearances at Headingley are a rarity, in any
event, and he has not often looked at his sharpest this summer. The same
could be observed of Stuart Broad, but for Broad to be omitted would be
the selectorial shake-up of the summer.
It is England's final batting position that has given the selectors
uncertainty. Moving on from Paul Collingwood has been a difficult task.
Eoin Morgan's emphasis is too centred upon one-day cricket for comfort,
the gamble on Jonny Bairstow misfired and has set him back ever since,
and Ravi Bopara's Test career remains a sea of troubles.
It can be debilitating for anybody when personal issues intrude upon a
sporting career. Bopara, it should be stressed, has not been emotionally
broken by any cricketing failures, but has issues outside cricket that
are having a debilitating effect. England, in their desire to protect
Bopara's privacy, should not allow false assumptions to take hold.
Strauss recognised this. "I feel for Ravi," he said. "He is going
through a bit of a hard time personally. It was a big call on his part
to say 'look, I'm not in the right frame of mind'. I think that is quite
a brave thing to do and we are all behind him and will offer him any
support that we can."
In place of Bopara, James Taylor steps in for his Test debut. His move
last winter to Trent Bridge, where batting is no picnic, was a brave
one, and his technique has benefitted from it. His chance has perhaps
come a year earlier than England would have liked.
"He is a proper batter at six who can play really long innings," Strass
said. "For a young guy, he knows his game very well. His temperament
looks very solid. He has always played well for the Lions so that
suggests that he can handle the step up. And you can see by the way he
holds himself that he has quite an old head on young shoulders. Those
are all the constituent parts you look for in a young player."
David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: David Hopps
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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