Anderson, Root and Ballance earn high marks - but not so for Trott and CJ...
Monday 4 May 2015 14:30, UK
How well did England’s players perform in their Test-series draw with West Indies?
West Indies’ victory in Barbados to level the contest at 1-1 may have negatively skewed your views, but we asked former England seamer Steve Harmison to rate Peter Moores’ charges across the three Tests.
The ex-paceman – who starred for his country when they toured the Caribbean 11 years ago – gave good marks to Messrs Cook, Ballance and Root, as well as the top accolade to a certain record-breaking quick.
But he also revealed his concerns for the out-of–form Jonathan Trott, who registered just 72 runs across his six innings at an average of precisely 12, and slip-catcher extraordinaire Chris Jordan.
Read on for Steve’s thoughts and then let us know whether you agree with him…
ALASTAIR COOK – 7/10
People got preoccupied with the fact it had been almost two years since his last hundred and thought he was out of nick - but he wasn’t. He had scored six fifties in nine innings so did have some form behind him, though, of course, he will be delighted to reach three figures, something that will benefit him and the team going into a really difficult summer. His hundred in Barbados was a tough grind, even though people will say he was helped by indifferent captaincy from Denesh Ramdin and some poor bowling. He fronted up, played the situation and looks like the Alastair Cook of 18 months-two years ago. I also think he captained the team well on some poor pitches.
JONATHAN TROTT – 5/10
Trott has a world-class batting record over a number of Test matches so once England took him on tour they had to pick him. That said, he has been under pressure and probably really apprehensive and that has seen him look massively out of nick. The first innings in Barbados was the only time he got out to a short ball but that dismissal is in his locker and with the quick bowlers coming up this summer – Boult, Starc, Johnson – I think he may be done as a Test opener. I don’t think it’s the end full stop as I believe he can score big runs for Warwickshire and get back in the middle order. But if he slips out of the side he will find it hard to come back in, such is the level of competition.
GARY BALLANCE – 8/10
I felt Ballance was unlucky in the World Cup when he got thrown in at the last minute. He wasn't superb in that competition but he wasn't the reason England struggled. I truly believe he is one of the best players in the world at the minute. He had a very good series in the West Indies with a hundred and a couple of fifties and is England’s rock at No 3. If the team can find a more expansive player to go with Cook at the top of the order, the dynamics of that top three would be just about right.
IAN BELL – 6/10
Ian is still one of England’s best stroke-makers, though he has fallen into the problem of getting tough runs at the start of series and then petering out. He will be disappointed by that as he will have been looking for a really big haul but he has had a couple of unlucky dismissals. You build your side around your most experienced players, though, and Bell is locked in, for me, at No 4 for the summer. England are perceived as a struggling unit and they need Ian scoring big hundreds to have any chance of winning the Ashes.
JOE ROOT – 8/10
Root is becoming a reliable character and a solid man at the crease. He is a baby-faced assassin no longer and instead the real deal who you can hang your hat on in the middle order, up there with the best in that position in recent times. He has had a very good series and got better and better as his Test career has gone on, bar when he was left out of the final Ashes Test last winter. Root will be aiming to ram home his dominance this summer and if he is looking for that I have no doubt he will achieve it. He is progressing with the ball as well and always looks capable of producing something.
MOEEN ALI – 6/10
Moeen is a work in progress. He hasn’t performed with the ball the way he would like but he was picked as England’s frontline spinner when he wasn’t ready for it and has had a side injury of late. He has had a very tough upbringing in international cricket, what with the fanfare and razzmatazz of India last summer and then a tricky World Cup in Australia, so I’m not going to be too critical. England need to be patient with him as down the line he should be able to get in the side as either a batsman or bowler alone, but I would like to see him at No 8 right now, to take the pressure off his batting and allow him to focus on his bowling.
BEN STOKES – 6/10
Ben has fire in his belly and wants to do well in whatever he does. I know I’m a bit biased having seen the lad grow up at Durham but England need to centre their side on guys like him. Ben has a great character and wants to be involved all the time, though I think England could use him better with the ball. No 7 is the right place for him to bat right now as he hasn’t quite done enough to suggest he should be at No 6 but they need to trust him more as part of their bowling attack. He has had a half decent tour, nothing more, nothing less, but as a player, he is a gem.
JOS BUTTLER – 7/10
I want Jos batting at No 6 as he runs out of partners far too often when he features lower than that. This is a guy who can be one of the best players in the world, yet we are wasting him a bit at present. He has got his head down in his innings in the Caribbean and shown his flair when necessary but there is so much more we can get out of him. His keeping has been, in the main, exemplary as well, standing up to spinners on turgid pitches. However, I cannot give him a bigger score out of 10 as he hasn’t had enough to do when it comes to batting.
CHRIS JORDAN – 6/10 (but 10/10 for his slip fielding!)
Chris is the best slip fielder in the world on current form but he is not in the side for that. We need to work out what we want from Chris – is he a bowler who can hold a bat or a batsman who bowls? I think we have enough all-rounders in the side with Stokes, Buttler and Moeen, so England really need a bowler with a bit of pace, up towards 90mph, who can take wickets – and that might not be Jordan. His enthusiasm and all-round effort are fantastic, I love watching him play the game and there is an international cricketer in there – but if he isn’t getting five-fors, people will question his place in the side. Six wickets in three Tests is not enough.
STUART BROAD – 7/10
It’s a strange one with Stuart. He is so experienced but he doesn’t get enough big wickets for me. I want him to get the big five-fors and six-fors like Anderson but it’s just not happening. His batting is 1/10 stuff at the moment but I don’t give a jot about that as he is in the side to knock people over, not chalk up the runs. I actually think he has bowled better than his figures suggest against West Indies on flat, flat wickets and if he continues to find those areas this summer then the added spice he will get from English pitches should help him. The good thing is that there is not a big gap between now and the New Zealand Tests so having grooved his action he shouldn't really lose it. Seeing him ratchet up to 90mph would be nice, too.
JAMES ANDERSON – 9/10
It’s very difficult not to give Jimmy 10/10. When England need him, Anderson delivers, in the way Glenn McGrath did for Australia and the way Dale Steyn does for South Africa. He proves time and time again that he is far and away the best bowler England have ever had, not just because the stats say so and because he has passed a legend in Sir Ian Botham, but because when every other seamer has gone through the mill trying to take wickets in these Tests, he has always looked threatening. He is a champion and superstar – but can’t get 10 because I take some pleasing!
