Former England opener Mark Butcher has called out for wholesale changes in England’s test team after the Ashes debacle. Butcher believes that changes should start from the positions of captain and coach.
On Sunday, Australia beat the visitors by 146 runs to win the series by 4-0. And their wait for this first test win in Australia since January 2011 has been going longer and longer. The series has been quite a struggle for England as they failed to compete in all three departments. Had the last pair of Stuart Broad and James Ander not survived 2 overs in Sydney, it would have been another whitewash.
“Joe Root will probably stay on as captain”- Mark Butcher
Butcher demands some big changes in leadership for England. Though he agrees that Root might continue as England test captain as there ain’t too many alternatives for that role.
“I think Joe Root will probably stay on as captain – more because there isn’t anybody obvious to take over from him,” Butcher spoke to BT Sport.
But he demanded Chris Silverwood to step down from his role. He also slammed ECB to offer him multiple roles as selector and coach.
“So you then look above that, and who’s decision was it to make Chris Silverwood not only the head coach but also give him the responsibility of being a selector? I said it at the time – it was an absolutely ludicrous decision to have a guy in the dressing room, who not only is responsible for results and preparing the team for games, but he’s also the guy who can hire and fire you,” he added.
“Can you go up to the coach of the team and have a chat with him about struggling with your form knowing that he’s responsible for your selection? You can’t have that guy do two jobs and be in the dressing room at the same time,” he added further.
He warned that England might have to face similar thrashing in West Indies as they are set to travel West Indies for the 3-match series in March.
“When it comes to preparing for the tour of the West Indies – it’s a notoriously difficult place to prepare as a team because it doesn’t matter how long you’re out there, Practise facilities aren’t up to much and you don’t know what you’re going to have in terms of warm-up games,” he stated.
Before the test series, England will play 5-match T20I series against West Indies but none of the members from the Ashes squad will be part of the series as the series will start on January 23.
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