Four wins out of four for England this summer. Plain sailing. Yet Old Trafford was three-quarters empty when Joe Root drove the boundary that completed England’s victory over Sri Lanka. It was chilly and windy, certainly, but the absence of spectators didn’t look good.
It was the first Test staged after the horrible Hundred, which now means more to the bean-counters at the England Cricket Board than five-day cricket. How else can one interpret the announcement to get next summer’s series against India out of the way before the end of July, so that August is dedicated once again to that ghastly 100-ball thrash? One commentator this month apparently said a ‘batter’ had ‘hit it to the left’. What fun they must have.
For the time being young cricketers still value Test cricket above all other forms of the game. How long that will last is another matter. The more completely people get behind the Hundred, as though it represented the sport’s highest level of achievement, the more Test cricket will come to be regarded as an exotic sideshow, enjoyed only by the elderly, the house-bound, and the befuddled.
There’s actually quite a lot to be happy about. Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith of Surrey have joined Harry Brook as members of the Test XI without betraying any nerves. Fast bowler and wicketkeeper-batsman have both won man of the match awards for their stellar performances, and given every indication they will add a few more verses to the chorus.
Smith batted superbly in Manchester. It was clear from the moment he walked out to bat at No 6 that he had a century in his sights, having missed out by five runs at Edgbaston. He was becalmed in the forties but not for a moment did he mislay his sense of purpose. I shall get there, one sensed him saying, no matter how long I have to wait.
He is 24, a year junior to Brook – or Brook-Root, as we should call him, for there are times when it is hard to distinguish one from t’other. Will Brook become a finer batsman than his Yorkshire team-mate? It’s hard to imagine, yet it is possible. As for Smith, people are already making comparisons with Kevin Pietersen. In one important respect he is Pietersen’s superior. He is clearly a player committed to the team. What fun we shall have watching this pair, if there is enough Test cricket to sustain them.
My word, what a difference Ben Stokes has made. For so many young players to come into the team, and contribute so much so early, offers a remarkable tribute to the captain. For it was not always so. During the Old Trafford Test tongues wagged, as they often do, about the likes of Mark Ramprakash, John Crawley and Graeme Hick, batsmen of great talent who failed to make the most of their ability. Or were they perhaps failed?
High talent, obviously, is the sine qua non. Brook and Smith have it in spades. But other qualities are important. Look at how Chris Woakes has made himself a key member of the side, at least in this country. Nobody looked at the young Woakes, when he was growing up in Sutton Coldfield, and said ‘there, you may be sure, is a star’. But he’s climbed the hill, and finds the view lovely. Good for ‘Woakesy’.
The mind goes back to the Lord’s Test of 1998, when Steve James was invited to open the batting against South Africa, when Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock were in their prime. James was a very good opening batsman for Gloucestershire and had faced Donald and Pollock on many occasions. At Lord’s, playing in a different register, he was lost.
‘He looks terrified’, said Alan Lee, the Times cricket correspondent. And he was. It isn’t often that one sees a cricketer at that level look so concerned about his immediate prospects, and James did not last long. Was it a lack of talent, a flawed temperament, or just circumstance? A bit of each. Donald and Pollock were great fast bowlers.
In Test cricket, as in The Magic Flute, there are trials of fire and water, so it is possible England’s new bugs may be singed or soaked. The signs are good, though. Smith bats with an engaging directness; Atkinson bowls an awkward ball at 85mph and above. Neither is scarred by fear. We live in hope.
The series resumes at Lord’s, before the team go to the Oval. Both grounds will be full, comme d’habitude, and so England’s ‘Potemkin village’ will look lovely. Behind the cheering villagers, however, lies something less agreeable. Enjoy it while you can.
PS It has been brought to my attention that Steve James, now a journalist, played his cricket for Glamorgan. Why on earth has he never mentioned it?
Smith so good keeper as well that you don't notice him. And his ability to bat with the lower orders (which seems to be why he has been chosen before Foakes - this not being his forte) is clear. I enjoyed the test, and look forward to the next two.
The Hundred, frankly, makes me fear horribly for the future of red ball cricket. I have come to watch some international T20, as it is less frenetic than the franchise stuff, by a long way, and has some merit.
The IPL has had one big plus - players of different countries playing in the same teams and becoming mates reduces such as uber sledging. But who cares about the teams? In The Hundred, for example, no South West county is represented. So even were I the slightest interested in it, why would I watch it? The ECB fills me with despair. An August without Test cricket is a sacrilege.