WHAT is it about England that makes them call up Dad’s Army regulars when beseiged by a crisis? Doesn’t English cricket throw up enough young talent regularly? Why do they begin contemplating has beens for relief whenever they are in the eye of a crisis? English cricket is peculiar to say the least.
Lambasted and lampooned by media when they are thrashed, they are turned into instant heroes when England begins winning. So, the great escape at Cardiff was much appreciated and then Freddie Flintoff’s heroics in the famous English victory were hailed as the greatest sporting event in recent memory by England’s media.
Now when they are once again staring into the barrell of the gun with numbers three, four and five – Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood – scratching 16 runs between them in six innings, a crisis of confidence has gripped them again.
So, what do they do? They toy with the idea of bringing back ‘Gramps Ramps’ Mark Ramprakash and even Marcus Trescothick. Now England has a history of doing this. The other day in one of the Tests against the Aussies, Mike Atherton and Co were taking the mickey out of David Lloyd while giving commentary because a man called Jeff Thomson was seen loitering in the box behind them. Athers told Lloyd that your colour has turned ashen at Thommo’s sight. Lloyd called Thommo a maniac because both Lillee and Thommo destroyed English pride like never before in the infamous 1974-75 series. Lillee and Thommo with Max Walker and Gary Gilmour were the deadliest bowling attack those days, doing the same
thing to the West Indians a year later. Bumble Lloyd had just come off a double century against the khadi pace of the Indians in the summer of 42 as it is now called, India’s tour of England in 1974. So, he was at the peak of his prowess. But when facing against Thoomo and Lillee, he disintegrated as did his career.
This is the same series that saw the return of 41 year old Colin Cowdrey. With England’s batters in tatters, Cowdrey was summoned out of retirement. In 1963, Cowdrey displayed exemplary bravery under fire when he came out to bat with his arm in plaster against the West Indies. He didn’t face a ball, but ensured that England drew the match. It was typical English bravado and derring do. Not having played a single Test match in three and a half years, Cowdrey landed in Australia to take on a rampaging Lillee and Thomson at Perth, scoring 22 and 41. At 41, he played the entire series and was a moderate success in the face of sustained aggro from the Aussie bowlers. He managed only 165 runs at an average of a tad over 18.
A couple of years later, this scenario was reprised. Only the dramatis personae changed. West Indies arrived in England in May 1976 after suffering a humiliating hammering at the hands of the same Australian line up, the result 5-1. Clive Lloyd had almost lost the series to India as well, India pulling off an amazing 400 plus run chase in the fourth innings. So, he was smarting. England skipper Tony Greig didn’t help by saying that, “We will make West Indies grovel.” With Lloyd’s ploy of using a three spinner routine boomeranging badly against India, Lloyd decided on out and out raw pace for the final Test at Sabina Park and then the tour of England. The fact that Greig was a white South African ensured that his comment had racial overtones as well.
Lloyd threw Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Wayne Daniel at the Poms. England were in disarray. They recalled 45-year-old Brian Close to pad up. Playing for Somerset, the 45-year-old showed courage in a tour game scoring 88 and 40. That was enough for English selectors who had realised that their young batters’s psyche had been brutalised by the weaponry on display in Australia earlier. He was a revelation scoring 60 and 46 in the first Test at Lord’s. I still remember his pictures in Sportsweek,with bruises all over his body from the barrage that he faced up to. It was a stunning act of defiance against genuine quick bowling. In the next Test, he opened the innings with yes, you guessed right – 39-year-old John Edrich. This game at Old Trafford can never be forgotten by cricket lovers. Edrich and Close took a non stop barrage of short pitched bowling, many blows on their bodies – to survive what was a tumultuous session. They scored 20 each, the highest in a total of 126, sharing a partnership of 54. Next game both Edrich and Close were summarily dropped. But that is English selectors for you.
Now there was the talk once again of bringing Mark Ramprakash back after a seven year absence from Test cricket. He is a fortnight shy of his 40th birthday. Right up till late Friday, he was still hot favourite for a call up (fortunately better sense prevailed and the English sekectors opted to give Jonathan Trott a Test debut). Ramps has had an up and down Test career, mostly down, never really playing to the potential that he displayed as a youngster. I have watched him scoring his highest – 154 against the West Indies – and it was a fine innings, but cricket is also about consistency. I remember watching Graeme Hick smashing the most sublime hundred against India at Chennai and wondering why Hick did not play consistently like that. Yet Ramps has played 52 Tests for England with a poor average of 27, scoring 2700 odd runs. Strangely Ramps and Hick debuted in the same game and both were unable to fulfil their potential.
Now Ramps was in the race for the number three slot. Facing off against him was Rob Key, no callow youth either. Also with a failed record for England. What is it that drives English selectors to constantly call up older men to step up to the plate? Why can’t they simply blood youth and throw them into the deep end like everyone else? Now there is talk that South African born Trott is the next big thing. So, give him a chance, play him in the series deciding Oval Test. Let him perform or perish. Incidentally, Trott is no spring chicken, he too is 27 years old. No, the English prefer experience to youth and they will always exercise restraint and caution in this matter. Where is the real home grown, home spun English talent then?
Half the side is made up of domiciled players – Trott is South African, his grandparents are English so he qualifies. Ramps is of Anglo Indian descent, Monty Panesar is a Sikh residing in England for years, as is Ravi Bopara. Adil Rashid, the leg spinner on the fringes of selection is of Pakistani origin. Their best batsman Kevin Pietersen is also a South African. Peter Roebuck writing in the Sydney Morning Herald recently says that at last count there are 119 players of foreign origin in English county cricket. And this doesn’t include the 23 locally born and bred Asians on county rolls. Captain Andrew Strauss, wicket keeper Matt Prior and coach Andy Flower are all foreigners, the first two from South Africa and the last named from Zimbabwe. Other South African born players that one could hear of in the immediate future – donning English colours that is – are Stephen Moore, Ryan McLaren and Craig Kieswetter.
Think of the England line up in the first couple of games against the Aussies – Strauss, Pietersen, Prior from South Africa, Bopara and Panesar from India. Why do you think England’s football team suffers at every big football event despite all the hype about the English Premier League? Well, there are only foreigners playing for Chelsea, Man U, Man City and the other clubs. Ditto for English cricket. This morning’s papers had VVS Laxman and S Sreesanth doing well for their respective counties. Hick was also a Zimbabwean, just as Phil Edmonds was, Owais Shah is of Pakistani origin, former captain Naseer Husain was of Indian origin, the list is endless. What is the point of cricket academies and numerous tournaments if England cannot breed its own players. Look at Adil Rashid – boy of Pakistani origin, trained by Australian spinner Terry Jenner in one of the academies and now on the verge of playing for England. Such is the plight of English cricket.
Don’t give youth a chance. Of course first find a youth, and that too English and then give him a chance. Disgusting!
