Cruising Past West Indies Isn't Enough, England Must Change Brand of Cricket
Let's put it in football terms. This contest is the equivalent of Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United against Leicester City, Burnley or Sunderland.
England, with the country's vast resources and standing as one third of the game's all-powerful triumvirate, represent one end of Test cricket's spectrum. The West Indies, engulfed in administrational turmoil and missing star players, represent the other.
England won Day 3 in Grenada convincingly. They should win this Test handsomely. Ditto for the series.
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And so they should; England have everything in place to operate on a different level to their Caribbean counterparts—better resources, better coaching, superior pathways, a more professional governing body, a better domestic competition and a greater talent pool.
These are two teams on different planes. In the ICC Test Rankings, almost 30 rankings points separate them. Thirty. That number will likely be greater at the end of this tour, too.
Thus, winning isn't enough for Alastair Cook's side in the Caribbean; how they win counts. It's about the brand of cricket, not just the results. The bigger picture—the Ashes—is what matters here.
In that sense, Day 3 in Grenada was underwhelming. Frustrating, even.
Consider the West Indian attack: Jerome Taylor is missing, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Devendra Bishoo own averages hovering around the 40 mark, Kemar Roach is down on pace and Marlon Samuels (Test average of almost 60) is the fifth option.
Though it wasn't exactly tasteful, Colin Graves' labelling of this West Indies team as "mediocre" is hard to argue with.
Yet still, presented with an inferior opponent and in a position of dominance, England couldn't shake their own conservatism in Grenada.
At the top of the order, Cook chewed up 211 balls for 76. Jonathan Trott needed 147 for his 59. Gary Ballance consumed 188 for his 77. Collectively, England's top three operated at a strike rate a tick above 38. Cook and Trott's opening stand that lasted almost 50 overs meandered along at two-and-half runs per over.
Until Joe Root's arrival, the visitors spent a considerable portion of Day 3 going nowhere.
Of course, it can be argued that such innings set an ideal platform for Root, who, with a fine hundred, was able to capitalise on the work already done. In the confines of this Test, that much is true. But England, with the potential their infrastructure gives them, shouldn't be settling for a gear that's simply enough to cruise past the game's eighth-ranked outfit.
Performance in Test cricket is founded upon habits. And those habits are more than just the way one looks to rotate strike; the key ones centre on mindset or mentality. With each time you play a certain way, you're ingraining that way into your game—practice aggression and you'll become aggressive; practice conservatism and you'll become conservative.
That's what England did for much of Day 3 in Grenada and have done for much of this series to date. They're doing enough to overcome their Caribbean opponents but simultaneously ingraining habits that won't carry them past significantly better sides.
In the rapidly approaching Ashes series, England won't escape a session or a day of going nowhere. Remove Roach and Co. and insert Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, and an England innings trudging along will be an England innings that ends quickly.
Australia won't fade and let the game drift. Their standards won't drop. In the field, they won't grow sloppy. Instead, Michael Clarke's side will seize upon the caution, emboldening their own aggressive approach further.
In this Test, England need to be preparing themselves for that, devising a brand of cricket capable of matching it with the best. In Grenada, the visitors have won the toss, have enjoyed the best conditions for batting, are playing on a remarkably flat surface and facing a West Indian attack missing its most threatening component.
But still conservatism reigns—the single characteristic holding England back. That's their brand of cricket. That's their habit.
Against the West Indies, it's enough.
In the bigger picture, it's not.
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