AP, Leeds :
From the euphoria of Lord’s to the disappointment of Headingley, England’s fortunes swung wildly in the drawn test series against New Zealand.
So, heading into the main event of the summer – the Ashes against old foe Australia – what state is England’s test team in?
Invariably there’s a mixture of good and bad news.
The main positive is that Alastair Cook is well and truly over his sticky patch, and back in the kind of form that made him one of the world’s best and toughest opening batsmen. The England captain was the top scorer in the New Zealand series with 309 runs, showing authority and those renowned concentration levels, and will take confidence from becoming the youngest player ever to reach 9,000 test runs.
There were some other crumbs of comfort: Ben Stokes looks to have sewn up the allrounder slot after two punchy innings in England’s win in the first test at Lord’s, while Cook finally seems to have found an opening partner in Adam Lyth – a centurion in the lost second test at Headingley.
Otherwise, it’s slim pickings for England fans going into a five-match series against the world’s No. 2 test team after South Africa.
Gary Ballance and Ian Bell are woefully out of form at Nos. 3 and 4 in the batting lineup, averaging 10 and 9, respectively, in the New Zealand series. Bell has scored 55 runs in his last eight innings and is bereft of confidence.
Within minutes of their latest failures in the second test in Leeds, one British bookmaker gave odds of 6-1 that Kevin Pietersen will be back in an England shirt some time in 2015. Those calling for the return of Pietersen – an outcast since the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash Down Under – fell silent after the 124-run win at Lord’s but they will back given England’s middle-order problems.
Moeen Ali hasn’t convinced as England’s main spinner, and is “lacking consistency” according to Cook, and England’s pace bowling attack lacks variety without a left-armer and consistent length.
England’s fielding was also a big problem, dropping catches in both innings at Headingley – including three in eight balls in the first innings.
It’s not enough, however, to stop Cook believing England can still win back the Ashes.
“Yes I do,” Cook said Tuesday after the Headingley defeat, “… but we have to make that step forward as a side and we have to do it quickly. When you get in that habit of real seasoned pros winning games, people stand up at certain times to do it. We’re just probably lacking a little bit of that – those crucial moments of getting through, taking those wickets, taking those opportunities with the ball and in the field and getting through with the bat, we’re just not quite doing it.
“It’s a big learner for those guys and for us as a team, but if we want to win the big series we’re going to have to do that.”
Cook said the dip in form of Ballance and Bell is a concern and challenged them to get back in the runs in county cricket in the five weeks before the first Ashes test on July 8 in Cardiff.
“Cricket’s a strange old game. They are fantastic players, there is no doubt about that, and both their records suggest that. It wasn’t so long ago I was really struggling. Form comes and goes.
“They have got a lot of work to do but two games in isolation doesn’t make you a bad player.”
