England do not play South Africa, the No1 Test team, again until 2015, but even a whitewash over Australia in this series, while allowing them to leapfrog India into second place, would only take them within hailing distance of Graeme Smith’s team. As such, any notion that Cook’s side are the best in recent times does not yet hold up, though it has the potential.
Most dominant teams have five or six pillars that maintain their excellence, players on whom they can depend to perform more times than not. Before this Ashes series, they were James Anderson and Graeme Swann with the ball and Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior with the bat. But while Anderson and Swann have played their parts in England’s two wins against Australia, the other pillars have not, with Ian Bell and Joe Root instead playing the telling innings. Happy situation though that is for the two leading run-scorers, it means this England team have consigned Australia to two defeats without ever firing fully.
With hundreds in each match, Bell is making up for when he was Shane Warne’s meek figure of fun in 2005. The “Sherminator”though has since sprouted pecs and discovered a self-belief that comes from within rather than from a pep talk with the psychologist.
Warne has a theory that players such as Bell do better when they have Pietersen alongside, something that will be tested should the latter not recover from his calf strain before the third Test at Old Trafford in nine days.
Root’s continued rise to prominence has not been a revelation for everyone. For those who have been involved in his recent development, his ability to cope with the pressure, expectation and extra quality of international cricket and treat it like a fun game in the park, has not come as a huge surprise. Yet, still only 22, his record at under-19 level is not sparkling so those who have known him longer reckon something crucial has clicked in the past few years for him to rival Cook’s impressive start to Test cricket seven years ago.
“Well, they are both mature for young men and Alastair had a similar mentality when he was Joe’s age,” said Graham Gooch, England’s batting coach yesterday. “He was mature in the mind, he knew exactly how he could score runs and I think anyone who saw Joe in the winter saw that too.
“When he was suddenly promoted to the one-day side in India last winter, he walked straight in and you’d have thought he’d been playing this sort of game the whole time. He has a confidence about him.”
Australian supporters at Lord’s were certainly lusting over his calm authority. While their young batsmen were careless, uncertain and impatient at Lord’s, Root exuded control that sets up winning scores in Test matches, at least until he was caught playing a ramp shot for 180. Yet even that was an attempt to reach his 200 with the minimum of hold-up after Michael Clarke put most of his fielders on the boundary.
Australia felt they had a good plan for Root, to pitch it up and swing it, given his preference for playing off the back foot until well set. But plans are all very well if you have the bowlers to activate them, which Australia do not seem overly blessed with at present.
Normally, injury to Pietersen would be a concern for England but apart from a handy 64 in the second innings at Trent Bridge, his lack of runs (21 in the other three innings this series) has not been much missed.
Last time Australia were here England managed to win the Ashes without him playing the last three Tests after he damaged his Achilles tendon, which could be repeated unless he recovers fully from his calf strain.
Who would come in for Pietersen is not clear, as England do not have great strength in depth apart from in the pace bowling department. Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan both trained with England in the build up to the Lord’s match while Ravi Bopara has been happily restored to the England one-day team where he once more shone, with ball as well as bat. But while occupation of the crease retains its appeal for sides 2-0 up in a five-match series, you cannot rule out Nick Compton.
While England’s batting has discovered new pillars, the bowling has been reliant, as ever, on Swann and Anderson, which is perhaps how it should be in a four-man attack. Although not quite Warne and Glenn McGrath, they are nevertheless a potent combination on the dry, bare pitches ordered by England, though their best performance has yet to coincide in the same match this series.
When it does, and when Cook, Trott and Prior find their appetite, Australia could need trauma counsellors.
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