England's cricket team faces heightened scrutiny following their Ashes loss, with upcoming series against New Zealand and Pakistan carrying significant weight. The situation differs from past failures, as there are no major player changes or coaching dismissals this time.
Key points
England's Ashes loss raises questions for the home summer
Upcoming series against New Zealand and Pakistan are significant
No major player changes or coaching dismissals this time
2014 Ashes loss led to a seismic shift in the team
First Test against New Zealand starts at Lord's on Thursday
The fallout from England's Ashes loss means the home summer arrives with more intrigue and questions than any other in recent memory.
The series against New Zealand and Pakistan – starting with the first Test against the Black Caps at Lord's on Thursday – carry more significance than they might if results had gone well.
In 2014, I was part of the side that returned home with our tails between our legs after losing 5-0 to Mitchell Johnson and co. It was the end of the road for that team as we knew it – it was clear there was going to be a seismic shift.
Andy Flower stood down as head coach and Kevin Pietersen never played for England again. Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar all never wore the whites for England beyond that point.
This time there has not been a high-profile sacking, or wholesale changes of players. It's been more a shuffling of the pack and a slap on the wrist.
Opener Zak Crawley is the most high-profile casualty. He definitely has the talent to play international cricket again, but I wonder whether he would benefit from dropping into the middle order to make the most of the obvious strengths in his ability.
While there has been a simple switch in the batting order – Crawley replaced by Emilio Gay – there are as many as eight frontline bowling options in the 15-man squad, including captain Ben Stokes.
It is a curiously large squad for the first Test of the summer, especially after England have had so much time to make their plans – almost five months since the Ashes ended.
As a player, I always preferred limiting the amount of deliberation inside my head in the build-up to a Test.
Quite often, I'd be part of a 12-man squad and knew I was competing with one person – usually Tremlett, Bresnan or Graham Onions – for the final bowling spot in the XI. It meant we all knew our chances of playing in the build-up to a Test.
I'm not privy to the conversations that have been had within the current set-up, but the naming of such a large squad suggests a certain amount of uncertainty.
England squad for first Test against New Zealand: Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue.
Ollie Robinson celebrates a wicketImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
After his return to the England squad, Ollie Robinson was described as "one of the best bowlers in the world" by England director of cricket Rob Key
Q&A
What impact did England's Ashes loss have on their upcoming summer series?
The Ashes loss has created more intrigue and questions surrounding England's performance in the upcoming series against New Zealand and Pakistan.
How does the current situation of the England cricket team compare to past failures?
Unlike previous failures, such as the 2014 Ashes loss, this time there have been no high-profile sackings or major player changes, only minor adjustments.
Who were the key players affected by the 2014 Ashes loss?
The 2014 Ashes loss led to significant changes, including the departure of coach Andy Flower and the end of Kevin Pietersen's international career.
When does the first Test against New Zealand take place?
The first Test against New Zealand is scheduled to start on Thursday at Lord's.
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England made no secrets about their Ashes gameplan: hit Australia with hostile pace and try to make them uncomfortable.
What transpired down under was a more nuanced set of conditions, far more akin to what we would expect in the UK. The sight of an Australian bowling attack using a wicketkeeper stood up to the stumps for two of their seam bowlers tells you everything you need to know.
The best teams I played in had bowlers who fulfilled specific roles. Right now, the England attack needs bowlers to fulfill three roles, in addition to skipper Stokes. Those three jobs would be an attack leader, a supporting actor and the X-factor.
This doesn't mean a particular bowler has to perform only one role across a Test, because the game is more fluid than that. Teams and individuals have to adapt.
Still, I would want my three specialist seamers to fall into those categories.
Ollie Robinson has been recalled to be the attack leader. His ability has never been in question, because anyone who averages 22.92 with the ball in Test cricket has the discipline and skill to do this role.
The attack leader's attitude is essential – they set the tone for others to follow. When the going gets tough, they are the person the rest of the attack looks to for a reaction, both with the ball and with their body language. The leader has to be ready to be abrasive when required.
Robinson was dropped by England more than two years ago. In almost all of his 20 previous Tests, he would have played with either James Anderson or Stuart Broad as the attack leader.
Now, at the age of 32, he has said he is more mature and more ready to play Test cricket this time around.
He will need to make the correct decisions on when to engage with the opposition, and ensure he stays on the field for all five days. If Robinson can do those two things he has the opportunity to put his own stamp on this England bowling unit. He is the outstanding candidate in the country to be the attack leader.
Gus Atkinson is the supporting actor. The Surrey man is a more reserved character – an assassin rather than a warrior.
Atkinson has a tall, over-the-top style, which means there isn't a lot that can go wrong with his action. His scrambled-seam stock ball serves him well, he has good control and is quicker than he gets credit for. He should complement Robinson nicely.
Sometimes Atkinson gets criticised for the lack of emotion he shows on the field, but it's not something I have an issue with. At the age of 28 he has a great opportunity to establish himself as a fixture in the England team.
England's X-factor is the one man who made himself an automatic choice during the Ashes.
Josh Tongue elevated himself to a nailed-on starter with his hostility and ability to trouble the best players in the opposition. He has a strike-rate of 39.8 in Test cricket and 43.9 in first-class cricket, which makes him ideal for this role.
His awkward angle, coming from beyond the perpendicular, with the ability to move the ball away from right-handers makes him very challenging for a batter to line up.
Looking back, it seems inconceivable he didn't play in the first Ashes Test in Perth, when England went with five fast bowlers. Now he has the chance to prove he should never again be left out of the biggest matches.
With the control of Robinson, Atkinson and Stokes, Tongue has the freedom to be the wicket-taker every team needs to win Test matches.
There are a couple of notable omissions from this week's squad. Brydon Carse played all five Ashes Tests and was England's leading wicket-taker. When he's fit, I'd see Carse as an alternative to Tongue – a wicket-taking option when the ball gets older.
On the face of it, Jofra Archer is still England's best bowler. It is a sign of the challenges of the modern game that he is unavailable following his Indian Premier League commitments.
When Archer is back, he would fit into the supporting actor role because I don't think he is naturally suited to leading the attack. In saying that, Archer has the skills to fulfil many roles within a pace-bowling unit and is still so exciting to watch bowl.
From my experience, the pace-bowling attack sees itself as the engine room of a Test team.
There has been so much focus on changes to the England batting line-up, but it is actually the pace bowling that is in the biggest state of flux.
For the first time since 2007, England will go through a home summer without all of Anderson, Broad and Chris Woakes. If you add the injured Mark Wood, that is a combined 1,619 Test wickets England must replace.
As England look to move on from the Ashes, the new pace bowling engine room will be the ones to drive standards to produce the wins so desperately needed.
