English cricket was dealt a blow after being destroyed in the fourth Ashes test by the rampant Australian team. Buoyed by their encouraging stand at the crease during the third test where they faced defeat Australia made it extremely difficult for England to win the Ashes by levelling the series at 1-1. Whether England manage to pull off a heroic victory or not, it remains to be seen whether England are going to be able to replace Andrew Flintoff who will play his last International match in the fifth Ashes Test.
With Kevin Pietersen injured and suffering a major set-back in his treatment after getting an infection in his scar tissue, Flintoffs absence and England’s subsequent collapse identified some gaps in the team. Any team used to fielding these players would feel their absence, particularly at the crease but England failed to respond in any way to their absence and lost heavily. Pietersen is a world class batsman capable of high scoring runs and classy strokes. When wickets begin to fall you need a natural leader and Pietersen offers this stability. Flintoff is an all-rounder so England must replace quality batting and bowling with his retirement. England failed to blood Jonathan Trott in time for the series and are now considering recalling Mark Ramprakash after seven years out of the team. This suggests a worrying lack of confidence in young county cricketers currently coming through.
One encouraging positive development to emerge from the Ashes series has been the improved wicket keeping of Matt Prior. Prior had dropped some catches in the past that put a large question mark over his ability. His solid performances will help stabilise the England side that have been spoilt in the past by long and reliable runs by wicket keepers Jack Russell and Alec Stewart. Prior must now improve on his batting contributions as both Russell and Stewart were constantly reliable with the bat.
Players like Stewart Broad, Graeme Onions and Graham Swann will form the core of the new players in the team with the leadership coming very much from Paul Collingwood, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. It is imperative, however, that other players currently unknown to viewers playing county cricket be given the chance to get some experience. There is currently a large gap between the England players and everyone else, highlighted in the consideration of 39 year old Ramprakash over other young cricketers. England has failed to give any players a chance coming through. Ramprakash or other older players may fail to recapture previous achievements at the highest level, despite their undoubted talents.
Also required to leaders on the field and in the dressing room are the likes of Alistair Cook and Monty Panesar. These experienced campaigners must accept that without the star quality of Flintoff the onus is on them to replace the benefits he brought to the team. A comparison can be found in Manchester United coming together to replace the unmatchable gifts of Cristiano Ronaldo. The success or failure of English cricket depends on the key decisions the selectors make in the next six months regarding the blooding of players and nurturing of current players currently suffering a loss in form like Ravi Bopara.
Whatever the result of the last Ashes test the biggest fight will be securing the future of English cricket as great players like Andrew Flintoff bid a sad goodbye to top level cricket having served the game so well. Hopefully other emerging stars can pick up the mantle and run with it, so we can win the Ashes more comfortably next time round.
By Malcolm Clarke
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