Steve James: Inexperienced English batting line-up could determine Ashes hopes
Bazball disciples Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope are largely unproven against Australia. Their Ashes adjustment could swing the series, writes STEVE JAMES.
There is a story told by Allan Border about his teammate, Geoff Marsh, on the 1989 Ashes tour. It was well before 6am on the morning of the first Test at Headingley when David Boon, Marsh’s room-mate, somehow sensed some movement and awoke to the sight of Marsh wearing nothing except his batting helmet and gloves, practising his batting in front of the mirror.
It was Marsh’s seventh Ashes Test, albeit his first in England, but despite Bazball’s proclamation of an absence of fear and worry, as reiterated by Harry Brook on Wednesday, the truth is that nerves affect everyone. You can imagine Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, in particular, shadow-batting like Marsh early this morning, before the series begins at Edgbaston.
The anecdote offers one small window into what the Ashes means, its special significance in the minds of players from both Australia and England and its unique straining of the synapses. The Ashes is different; always has been, always will be.
Which is why it will be fascinating to see how Ben Duckett and Brook, who are making their first appearances in this storied series, cope with all the hullabaloo. Looking at the England batting line-up, it will be no less a challenge for Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, whose three Ashes Tests each in the previous series down under were not exactly run-laden.
For all the talk of how Bazball will fare in this series, this is as much about individuals’ career paths as the collective commitment to almost relentless positivity. Names are as readily made as they are destroyed in these contests. Narratives move swiftly and trends materialise rapidly.
This can be Crawley’s defining hour. He has probably attracted more favour than any opener in England’s long Test history, with game-changing moments deemed his currency rather than mere runs.
It is a stance that is not entirely popular among the wider public, as precised by the pay-off to an article (his second on the subject) in the latest issue of The Cricketer magazine by Philip Collins. “One decent innings will see him in for the summer,” he wrote. “It’s a standard that applies to nobody else and it makes no sense.”
It is a fair point, but what if that one decent innings comes this morning and sets the tone, not only for this Test but the whole series? England have Ashes Bazball history on this ground, remember, making 407 in 79.2 overs on the first day of the 2005 Test at Edgbaston, as a rip-roaring riposte to defeat in the first Test at Lord’s.
Crawley actually played very well for his 77 in Sydney in January last year, prompting that shrewdest and most straight-talking of judges, Ian Chappell, to remark that he was “the future of England. You would want to go a long way with him before you drop him.”
England certainly have gone a long way with him. Crawley has tinkered with his set-up this season, attempting to keep his head further forward at ball release. This may aid his shot selection, because that is his greatest problem – that too often he drives at balls not full enough for the purpose, as well as aiming too straight (it seems that his right shoulder constantly clamours for attention), especially when the ball is swinging away from him.
Crawley can be a key figure in this series, with his success or otherwise becoming the Bazball barometer. We wish him well, and hope indeed that he does start well, because this cannot have been easy for him; backed unequivocally without the foundation of performance, whether at county or international level. We are all more sensitive than we like to admit, and one day we may discover how taxing this has all really been for him.
Duckett provides a useful contrast to Crawley at the top of the order – left hand to right hand, small to tall, square of the wicket to down the ground – but his method, particularly his reluctance to leave outside off stump (he has left only 1.1 per cent of all balls faced since his Test recall last year), will also face its sternest examination. The upside of that technique is that good balls are often scored off, but the waiting gallery in the slip cordon will certainly be on red alert.
Pope averaged only 11.16 in his six Ashes innings in 2021-22, with Geoffrey Boycott writing in The Telegraph: “How can you be young, talented, have a good technique and still keep failing? Ask Ollie Pope, who is making a mess of his opportunities.”
Pope has undoubtedly taken his chances well since, though. The vice-captain’s role does concern me a little – is he really ready to skipper the side and score runs if Ben Stokes falls lame? – but he has certainly taken to the No 3 role with vigour, bringing a clear vision of the Bazball philosophy to it. Will he run down the pitch as much to the seamers? Can he do so while preventing his head falling away to the off side, as he did early on in the Test against Ireland? This is his time to truly make his mark.
Brook is in an interesting place. He has enjoyed a stellar year, until the Indian Premier League dimmed the lights a little (he still scored a century there, mind), but the only red-ball batting he has had before this Test was nine not out off seven balls against Ireland. Joe Root may be able to adapt more quickly after inactivity at the IPL, but he is obviously much more experienced and savvier.
Brook is only 24 and still learning, and there is little doubt that the Australians will investigate the top tier of his technique, bombarding him with short balls early on.
It brings to mind the baptism of fire that West Indies gave Graeme Hick in his debut Test series in 1991. You suspect that Brook will fare better because, even though Hick was a much finer international player than many give him credit for, he was slow to recognise the scale of his problem against the quick stuff, with those at Worcestershire at the time saying that he simply did not adjust his practices to reflect that.
Brook will, I’m sure, have done that already, probably looking to hook down, as well as up, as Jonny Bairstow was advised to do by Stokes last summer at Trent Bridge against New Zealand ("Put it into the back of the stands,” said the captain).
Can Bairstow do that again now? Can Stokes repeat his 2019 heroics (he averages 40.12 at home against Australia, compared with 35.92 overall)? Can Root raise his home Ashes average (41.62) to somewhere near his phenomenal career figure of 50.24? Can Moeen Ali extract himself from Nathan Lyon’s pocket (he was dismissed seven times in nine innings by the Australian spinner on the 2017-18 tour) to add some useful runs from No 8?
These are all important questions, about hugely important players, but it is hard to escape the conclusion that the runs, or otherwise, from the four Ashes ingenues – Crawley, Duckett, Pope and Brook – will sway the outcome of the series one way or the other.
Originally published as Steve James: Inexperienced English batting line-up could determine Ashes hopes
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