Ashley Giles has defended England’s rotation policy during their 3-1 Test series defeat to India, with the managing director of the men’s team saying a “basic level of care” is needed to avoid player burnout in the face of an “extremely tough year”.
The likes of Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, and Moeen Ali – regulars across all three formats for England – all missed playing time at some point during the Test series, travelling home to be with their families before returning for the white-ball leg of the tour which starts with the first of five T20Is on Friday.
Ashley Giles: England Want To Hold Both White Ball Trophies Besides Ashes
Ashley Giles has dismissed suggestions that England is prioritizing white-ball cricket over the longer format, instead insisting the rest afforded players is necessary given their hugely hectic schedule over the calendar year.
England did not play Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood in the first two Tests but have brought them back for the final two Tests as a part of rotation policy while first-choice keeper Jos Buttler is back home after the opening Test to help players cope up with life inside the bio-bubble. England continued with their rotation policy resting key players as spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali has been rested after playing only the 2nd Test.
“We can’t expect what is considered to be our best team to play every single game,” Ashley Giles said on The Hussain and Key Cricket Show.
“We’ve got an incredibly busy schedule from now right through until the end of the Ashes: 18 Test matches, including a very busy white-ball program, a T20 World Cup and series’ in Australia and against India. It’s an extremely tough year.
“And ultimately, what we’re trying to do is find a balance in some unbelievably difficult conditions and environments – from a scheduling point of view, a Covid point of view and a workload point of view.”
“The team I played with in the 2005 Ashes fell apart at the end of that period. I was injured, Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, Simon Jones never played for England again and Marcus Trescothick had his issues as well.
“We certainly don’t want that to happen and I feel the responsibility from a wellbeing and welfare point of view for all of our people.We have two really important strategic objectives that we’re heading towards at the end of the year: the T20 World Cup and the Ashes,” Ashley Giles said.
“We’ve still got a lot left in us; we want to hold both white-ball trophies – that would be a fantastic effort for this team – and we want to win the Ashes back in Australia. But, after that, there is still a lot of cricket coming up and it’s about trying to find balance in an environment where it’s particularly difficult to do that,” Ashley Giles further stated.
A strong show is expected from the England team as white-ball specialists will join the likes of Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, and Jofra Archer in the squad for 3 T20Is. England is the number one ranked T20I side in the world. England will be riding on players like Dawid Malan, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, and Adil Rashid, who didn’t feature in the Test series to make a difference in the series.
Ashley Giles: England’s Biggest Concern Was The Hectic Schedule And Needs A Bigger Pool Of Players
England will play New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan next before India tours England. England will then visit Pakistan for two T20s at Karachi before the T20 World Cup.
“Actually, about four or five days after we come back from Australia, the white-ball team goes to the West Indies. We’re going to need more players, a bigger pool of players capable of playing at this level, in order to play all of this cricket,” Ashley Giles added.
“We want to get to the Ashes and T20 World Cup with fit people – mentally and physically – and our biggest concern was, given the workloads, the schedule, that unless we were really proactive we wouldn’t be able to do that. I still think very much we can go to Australia and challenge. That’s still a big target of ours, and we know how tough that will be.”
Alex Hales was axed from England’s (eventual winners) 50-over World Cup squad in 2019 for failing a second test for use of recreational drugs. England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan said that top-order batsman Alex Hales has no room in the side as they have “very strong at the moment”.