Andy Flower has backed England’s batsmen to recover from the shambles of their first Test clean-sweep but has warned them he will not be afraid to make changes if they continue to flop.
The England team director reacted to the hapless batting which cost England the series here and has put their world No1 status in jeopardy by confirming that the bulk of the under-performing batsmen will go to Sri Lanka for a two-Test series next month.
But he has opened the door to the next generation by urging them to show they can play spin in the four-match one-day series that begins on Monday and force their way into Test contention.
Rallying the troops: Andy Flower is confident his side will recover their form
'To the England supporter who wants changes I say that I can understand why they think that way,' said Flower as the dust settled on one of England’s worst defeats for years. 'But they’ve got to realise that these players have built up a lot of credit over the last few years. They have won a lot of cricket matches and Andrew Strauss, for instance, is the player who has won most matches with England.
'One series is not enough to eliminate all the credits that have built up and I say don’t condemn this side for losing so badly to Pakistan. These guys are not robots, they are human beings.
In a spin: England struggled against the Pakistani bowlers
'But in saying that this is not a closed shop and if changes are required and are deemed necessary then it’s part of my job to have the courage to make them. Most definitely we will be looking at players in the one-day series. We’ve got to find batsmen who can play spin and those skills are transferable from one-dayers to Tests.'
Eoin Morgan is the one England batsman whose Test place in Sri Lanka is under threat so it is now up to Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow to prove in the 50-over matches that they should be on the plane next month in his place.
It is inconceivable that Bopara will not be included in the next Test squad as England are huge believers in continuity and he has done nothing wrong as Test under-study here but one of the others could also force their way in to the Test picture against a Pakistan side likely to include four spinners in their one-day line-up.
Flower remains convinced that England can solve their long-standing problems against spin in sub-continental conditions but believes their preparation for this tour, which included a two-month rest, was wrong and should have featured a longer training camp.
Whitewash: England lost 3-0 in their first series as world No 1
'I do retain faith because they are quality players and they’ve operated under pressure in all sorts of conditions,' said Flower. 'What they have to do is adapt their games to one that will succeed against these type of bowlers in these conditions. They’ve shown they can adapt before and they’ve got to adapt quickly now.'
England are likely to send Strauss and Ian Bell, not included in the one-day squad, to Sri Lanka in advance of the rest of the party to put in more practice against the type of bowling that no modern England side have ever conquered. It remains the final frontier.
No comments:
Post a Comment