Another poor batting display by England at Chester-Le-Street

Australia continued their recent improvement in the series, as a combination of disciplined bowling and reckless batting handed the initiative to the visitors on the first day of the fourth Ashes test in Durham. My conclusions after a day on which England imploded include:

1. I mentioned after his brilliant 180 at Lord's, that the facet that marks Joe Root as a long-term test player is the ease with which he plays off the back foot. I still stand by that assertion, however with one caveat. If Root is to establish himself as an opener in England's test team, he has to make a choice in order to score consistently. Either he plays a more natural attacking game to complement his more sedate captain, or he has to integrate a solid forward defensive shot in front of his pad to negate the swinging new ball. If Root continues to hang back on the crease without intent or improvisation, fast bowlers around the world will quickly work him out.
2. Jonathan Trott looked in imperious form while he was at the crease. Playing a free-flowing innings, Trott looked to be on top of the Australian bowling. Trott was assertive in a manner similar to his quick-fire batting stint in the first innings at Lord's, with some fluent drives off the fast bowlers through the leg-side reminiscent of the England number three at his best. However, what was also similar was the innocuous method of his dismissal, getting caught at short leg when flicking a straight delivery from Nathan Lyon. It would be easy for Trott to get down on himself after such a dismissal, but there were enough signs during his 49 to suggest a big innings isn't far away.
3. Kevin Pietersen's dismissal resulted in the familiar refrain of the English cricketing punditocracy chastising him for getting out to a wrong shot. While he certainly could have used a better option, the truth of the matter is you take what you got with Pietersen. For all the ill-judged dismissals, there are an equal number of significant match-winning innings, and curbing his natural instincts takes away a lot of what makes Pietersen and the England team successful.
4. Alastair Cook is one of the toughest batsmen to get out in test cricket, and he certainly puts a high price on wicket. A half-century when opening against the new ball in English condition's is certainly not to be scoffed at. However, his obdurate approach can at times backfire to the detriment of the team. Cook wanted to play with responsibility, but his inability to get the ball past the square for the vast majority of his innings was inexcusable. While the slow nature of the pitch made it hard to score freely, a batsman of Cook's ability should at least be able to rotate the strike. In stead, his ultra-defensive strategy enabled the Australian bowlers to find a good rhythm, and after being beaten several times around off stump, it was no surprise when Jackson Bird pinned him plumb to a perfectly pitched in-swinger.
5. Speaking of Bird, the lanky fast bowler bowled beautifully throughout the day. Mitchell Starc might deliver the occasional unplayable delivery but test cricket tends to suit bowlers who make the batsmen play on and just around off stump, and Bird's 21 overs of control suggested that the Australian think tank missed a trick by overlooking him to start the series. Bird constantly made the English batsmen play and miss, and even when he wasn't swinging the ball, he kept it straight playing his part in strangling England's run-rate.
6. Ian Bell has been magnificent this series, but his dismissal in the first over after tea was probably the worst shot played by an Englishman in these Ashes. Trying to clear the boundary after Nathan Lyon tied down England's batsmen by bowling around the wicket, Bell only succeeded in finding Ryan Harris at mid-off. It reminded me of Bell's dismissal in the first test of the tour to India in Ahmedabad. For a player of such elegance, it's a real surprise how tight spin bowling can scatter Bell's mind so often and so easily.
7. One of the many reasons that makes the story of test cricket so compelling is the regularity with which an unexpected protagonist can have the decisive say on a day's play. At times it can ground you down despite your best efforts, and then there are times when you can be rewarded for simply being a reliable performer. Nathan Lyon has seen the pendulum swing from one end to the other in the space of two tests. At Old Trafford, Lyon certainly deserved more wickets as he was generating troubling spin. On the other hand, today Graham Gooch said Lyon didn't spin a single ball. In stead he relied on bowling a tight line, and aided by some enterprising captaincy courtesy of Michael Clarke, Lyon snaffled four wickets.
8. I mentioned during the third test that Jonny Bairstow's struggles with the bat in this series are rooted in the fact that he isn't playing his natural game. Bairstow is still young, and if he is not to be scarred by this current rough patch, Cook and Andy Flower will do well to define his role and ask him to take the attack to the opposition regardless of the match situation. Such an approach might not always succeed, but at this stage of his career, an innings like his 77-ball 14 serves neither Bairstow nor the team.
9. A quick word on Shane Watson. His bowling has been under-rated this series, and he really should have had more wickets to his name in these Ashes. Watson is extremely deceptive with an off-cutter that jags back in from just outside-off stump, while a three-over spell to Cook just after lunch had the English skipper groping hopelessly against some fantastic away swingers. It defies belief that Australia considered asking Watson to drop bowling completely to prolong his test career as a batsman. This series is increasingly begin to show that Australian cricket might just have placed Watson's all-round priorities in the wrong order.
10. Tim Bresnan and James Anderson have already added 24 runs together for the last wicket. It will be absolutely vital for Australia to take the last English wicket as quickly as possible. Last wicket partnerships can infuriate, and can at times stall momentum for the fielding side. Even more crucially, Australia should maintain the good batting form witnessed at Old Trafford. The slow nature of the pitch should not necessarily be mistaken for a batting paradise. There was subtle movement on evidence throughout the first day, and Anderson will certainly be looking to exploit any kind of swing on offer. Anderson has been quiet since his match-winning display in the first test, and how Australia cope with England's bowling spearhead tomorrow will have a decisive bearing on the complexion of the match after the second day.

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England criticized for failing the nostalgia test

In the wake of England's 2-0 test series win over New Zealand featuring two crushing victories, one would expect superlatives, praise and congrats galore. In stead, we have the cricketing punditocracy especially England's finest in the commentary boxes, criticizing captain Alistair Cook and the team for negative tactics - both while batting in the second innings, and bowling during the Kiwis chase which was nothing more than a victory lap in reality.

Now, I get that both the traditionalists and the doom-mongers alike seem to believe that test cricket is truly only at its best when captains are attacking. That love for attacking cricket also now seems to be a benchmark for defining the greatness of a winning team. Memories of the great Australian and West Indian sides of the past are based on their much lauded aggressive intent, and I would say rightly so.

However, constantly comparing the good test teams of today with the all-conquering teams of the past can at times be a disservice to the excellence of cricketers efforts in the present day. One of the most ubiquitous sentiments shared by aficionados of all sports, is that setting standards and then comparing them across eras and generations is a futile effort. Somehow though, this debate rears it head more prominently in the British press across a wide variety of sports. Just winning simply isn't enough, there is almost more appreciation for the noble defeat.

Let's have some perspective, by breaking down exactly what transpired at Headingly:

1. England won the 2nd test by 247 runs. Let me spell it out. That's two hundred and forty seven runs more than New Zealand.
2. The first day was completely washed out, and half of the final day was washed out. So that's a 247 run victory in three and a half days.
3. In the first innings, Joe Root scored a scintillating century at a strike rate of 62, Jonny Bairstow an aggressive half-century at a strike rate of 64.
4. England bowled out New Zealand in 43.4 overs in the first innings with Graeme Swann taking 4 wickets in 10 overs, and Steven Finn taking 3 wickets in 12 overs.
5. England then scored 287 for 5 in the second innings at a faster run rate than they did in the first innings, 3.77 compared to 3.57.
6. Alistair Cook scored another century as captain at a fair clip of 68.42, and the two Yorkshire tyros Root and Bairstow hit aggressive twenty's at a rate of 127 and 118 respectively.
7. While attacking intent is indeed necessary to take twenty wickets outright, Hamish Rutherford and Ross Taylor played freely irrespective of the field settings, to score 42 and 70 respectively. It is easy to say that a defensive field allows batsmen to settle, but in the modern game ultra-attacking fields also allow batsmen to settle through scoring boundaries. 
8. England did take longer to bowl out New Zealand in the second innings. However, can a true fan of test cricket genuinely lament Graeme Swann bowling thoughtfully and deceptively for 32 overs and get six wickets? I would argue it made the game so much more enjoyable watching Swann work so hard to get his ten-wicket haul for the match, and the Black Caps batsmen desperately try to draw the game.
9. None of England's leading bowlers conceded more than 3.5 runs an over. What has been the English bowling attack's single biggest strength in their ascent to the upper echelons of test cricket was clearly demonstrated in the fourth innings of the match, and is probably going to be their key strategy against Australia as well.
10. Despite being clear favourites for the Ashes, England cannot take it for granted that the Australians are just going to turn up and roll over. Ashes cricket is usually intense combat, and  I would argue that at least two matches might go down to the final session. Experience at winning a time trial like the one surpassed at Headingly can come in handy during the Ashes.

So the stats, facts and outcomes all clearly point to one conclusion - England played extremely well and also quite aggressively to win the second test against New Zealand. Alistair Cook and his men should be commended and lauded for a job well done, rather than being criticized for failing to meet nostalgic standards set by the demanding English cricketing punditocracy. I will leave the last word to the English captain:

"There are lots of different ways of attacking - you don't always have to crowd the bat.

"There are many different ways of skinning a cat." 

"But as a captain you are judged on your results. The result vindicates the decision."

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