Nasser Hussain, the former England captain lashed out at the English batters for their below-par show on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test. Nasser Hussain said England’s struggles extend beyond their technical shortcomings, and the ECB must revamp the entire system.
England’s batting unit again collapsed for a below-par total after Australia inserted the visitors in. The tourists managed only 185, with captain Joe Root being the only one to make a half-century. In response, Australia reached 61-1 by the close of play on Day 1, thanks to David Warner’s quick-fire 38.
Nasser Hussain: England Have To Look At The Quality Of Batting Coming Through
Nasser Hussain feels the quality of batters needs to be addressed, as the English system has loopholes. Reflecting how England solved their white-ball woes in 2015, Nasser Hussain highlighted the need for a similar overhaul in red-ball cricket.
“There’s clearly an issue with our system, and there’s no quick fix. We have to look at the quality of batting coming through. In defence of county cricket, it should be said that when England are playing well they take the credit and when things are bad it’s the fault of the counties, but England addressed their problems with the white ball game in 2015 to spectacular effect, and now we have to do the same with the red ball game.”
While England made four changes, including two in the batting unit, that hardly made a difference on the opening day of the third Test. Zak Crawley(12) and Jonny Bairstow(35) started promisingly, but couldn’t convert their starts into notable scores while Joe Root (50) was the top scorer yet again.
23-year-old Zak Crawley averages just 27.74 from 16 Tests which is only fractionally less than his first-class average of 31.33. They are hardly numbers to demand Test selection. After the first eight Tests, in which his constant improvement was capped by that 267 against Pakistan, he averaged 48.41. In 2021, he averages 11.2 from 8 Tests but yet was called up to replace Rory Burns.
Nasser Hussain: England Bowlers Become A Bit Defensive As They Are Constantly Bowling Without Much Runs On The Board
Nasser Hussain said that bowlers bowl defensively when they have fewer runs on the board, which was evident with England. The 53-year old believes the day couldn’t have gone any worse for Joe Root-led England.
“They are constantly bowling without runs on the board, and when that happens, there can be a tendency for bowlers to become a bit defensive and not want to go for boundaries. Or then suddenly go searching for wickets because they are chasing the game.”
“It was because England only had 185 on the field that Root immediately became defensive. If they had managed even 300, they could have attacked that much more, but I do feel for the bowlers. A Boxing Day I’m afraid to forget for England.”
James Anderson was the only wicket-taker on day one for England. They will need many more on the second day to keep their stuttering Ashes’ 2021/22 hopes alive.
England had made four changes to their side that lost by 275 runs in Adelaide to concede a 2-0 lead in the series, but again their batters struggled as Pat Cummins ripped through the top order by lunch on Day 1 and Nathan Lyon matched his captain’s haul of 3 for 36 as England succumbed for under 200 runs for the 12th time this year.
Marcus Harris made a battling 76 off 189 balls as he top-scored as Australia scored 267 in their first essay taking a first-innings lead of 82 runs. James Anderson was the pick of England bowlers picking 4 scalps while Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood picked 2 apiece.