Testing Times for English Cricket

Since those heady days of 2005, when England looked as though they were finally about topple Australia from their long sojourn on the summit of world cricket, England have been slipping quickly down cricket’s pecking order.

From a worthy second to a debatable fourth in just three years is a lot of ground to lose, especially when you consider that many of the same players inhabit the current squad.

At the time of the last Ashes defeat and subsequent poor World Cup, I wondered if Duncan Fletcher had been discarded too soon. There's little doubt that the team hadn’t made much progress in the one day form of the game under Fletcher, but the Test side was second only to arguably the greatest team of all time.

In his short time in charge, Moores has managed to rectify that situation, turning England from a poor one day side into an average one, whilst simultaneously turning the Test side from a good one to an average one.

Moores can’t be apportioned all the blame—prolonged periods of poor form and injury have plagued many of the 2005 heroes, most notably Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan.

In Panesaar and Broad they now have two players who arguably might improve on the 2005 side, and today's Ian Bell is a superior version than the 2005 one. However, the wicket keeper position still remains a problem as does finding the right bowling combination.

Sidebottom has looked jaded in recent Tests, and Anderson continues to be a hit-and-miss option. With Harminson, Hoggard, and Simon Jones waiting in the wings, it would be easy to re-form the Ashes winning bowling attack.

The batting lineup also presents several problems. Whilst Cook and Strauss have provided several solid platforms this summer, Strauss still seems to have a technical flaw in his game. Their opening stints also lack the dash and aggression offered by Trescothick.

Bell and Pietersen seem to be cemented in the side at present, but Collingwood is still looking over his shoulder despite a recent century. Whilst Owais Shah must be wondering what he has to do to get in the side, Bopara’s inclusion would mean that there are potentially three all-rounders in the team, adding both depth to batting and cover for the bowling.

On paper the team looks good, but as Vaughan discovered against South Africa, paper teams have a tendency to fold under pressure. The loss of Vaughan as a batsman is of little consequence to England, as his current dearth of runs overshadows the heroics of his early career.

How much England will miss Vaughan as captain remains to be seen. But with Fletcher long gone and Vaughan’s future international career uncertain, the prospect of re-creating the golden summer of 2005 seems increasingly unlikely.