Monday 22 August 2011

Test Match Special

Here is a blog I wrote last January as England won the Ashes... looks even better as they move to No.1 in the world - and since David Cameron spent time with the team last Friday some lessons he might learn.

The signs in Australian cities exhorting the public to “watch history be made” as England took on Australia for cricket’s Ashes disappeared very rapidly as the sponsors realised that this was the wrong sort of history – the first England series win in Australia for 24 years. But before the dust settles completely , it is worth looking to see whether there are any general lessons that might be learnt from England’s success.

Lesson 1: prepare well
The 2005-6 Ashes debacle (when England surrendered 5-0¬) was partly caused by a totally inadequate preparation. This time the team went out early; warmed up and was ready for playing in Australian conditions by the time of the first test.

Lesson 2 : have a strategy based on analysis

England had a plan for every Australian player – for example where usually every Australian beats their average in an Ashes series, this time they collectively underperformed. Their backroom staff had developed their strategy based on an in depth analysis of the weakness of each player.

Lesson 3: don’t panic in the face of setbacks

One of the most impressive things about this Ashes victory was the reaction of England’s management to their loss at Perth. Rather than panic the reaction was simply to admit that they had played badly – but to recognise that this was a failure to execute rather than a flaw in the underlying strategy. So England stuck to their plan – while the Australians got carried away on the back of a single win.

Lesson 4 : be ruthless when necessary

Man of the series, Alastair Cook, the England opening batsman who was nearly dropped in the summer when he lost form, paid tribute to the way the selectors stuck by him. But England also made one very ruthless decision – to drop their leading wicket taker, Steven Finn, after the Perth test. Finn’s problem was that although he was taking wickets he was also conceding loads of runs – undermining the whole England approach of strangling Australia’s “get runs fast” batsmen. So Finn was out and Bresnan in – and played brilliantly in Melbourne.

Lesson 5 : manage the egos, build team spirit and make it fun

England’s successful captains are those who can manage the big beasts – and turn them into team players. This time Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower had to contend with the mega-ego of Kevin Pietersen. Some of the stars, like Graeme Swann, didn’t play quite as big a part as predicted- but claimed that they were happier as supporting players in a successful team than in boosting their personal average in a losing campaign. And finally, after tours when there has clearly been a lot of dressing room dissent and disruption, player after player attested to how good the team atmosphere was – a tribute both to the leadership and the supporting, non-playing, members who all contributed.

Finally: keep focus until the job is done

England’s job was done by day four at Melbourne — the Ashes were retained and the nation celebrated. But captain Strauss made it clear that there was to be no loss of focus and England wanted to win the series – not settle for a dissatisfying draw or loss in the final test in Sydney. And England stuck to their plan in Sydney and delivered a textbook win.

That said, it clearly helped that Australia was far from the team they were only four years ago – and far from clear that these ingredients would have been enough to win against the likes of McGrath, Gilchrist and Warne. But opportunities have to be taken. This series was England’s to lose – but this time England planned and delivered a memorable win