Muristek
Promoting Pope means England’s new Test era starts with middle-order muddle | Mark Ramprakash
Young players need to be integrated slowly for best chance of success so putting Root and Bairstow lower down defies logic
The first Test of the summer and of a new era starts against New Zealand on Thursdayat Lord’s. Some will be expecting instant results from the new coach, Brendon McCullum, and his captain, Ben Stokes – after all, when the white-ball reset was triggered after the humiliation of the 2015 ODI World Cup in England’s next match on home soil, also against New Zealand, they scored more than 400 runs for the first time and set out on a path that ended in them winning the World Cup four years later.
The progress was remarkable, with a strategy of ultra-aggressive batting, Adil Rashid’s leg-spin in the middle overs and pitches flat enough for the batters to enjoy themselves. It was a formula that worked, but one-day cricket is quite formulaic. To take a single strategy into Test cricket isn’t so straightforward. A consistent mindset – if there are opportunities to score you must take them – is important, but you will be facing different conditions that require a range of skills and a variety of approaches. In England, the ball might swing all day, in Australia you will be facing pace and bounce, in Asia a turning ball, and no one formula will always work.
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