England’s bowling coach gap bewildering

Among England’s 13 support staff currently on this Ashes tour are three security men, a media liaison officer, physio and team manager.

But the omission of a full-time bowling coach, or indeed any bowling coach, was made to look more glaring with every run Australia accumulated on a third day of this final Test that saw England’s players wilt under an unforgiving Sydney sun.

What makes this situation even more remarkable is the fact England do actually have a full-time bowling coach in Chris Silverwood, who was appointed in October to fill the gap left by Ottis Gibson’s departure to take over South Africa.

But by the time the tourists had agreed a deal with Silverwood, they had signed up New Zealander Shane Bond on a part-time basis until the end of the second Magellan Ashes Test in Adelaide. 

Since then, England’s bowlers have been pretty much left to their own devices apart from the occasional word from Paul Collingwood, the fielding coach who was an occasional medium-pace bowler at Test level, taking 17 wickets over eight years at an average of 59.88.

Quite why Silverwood was not brought in at least from the third Ashes Test onwards is bewildering. At least he’ll arrive in Australia next week in time for the start of the Gillette One-Day Series.

Whether a full-time bowling coach would have made any difference to the outcome of this Ashes series is debatable. Surely Australia would have still won, but England might have conducted themselves better if it appeared they had a coherent and effective plan.

Bowling ‘dry’ always seemed like the conservative option and in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have more than 900 Test wickets between them, are two bowlers don’t need much coaching.

However, having a voice to bounce ideas off and to occasionally guide them would have been beneficial? As for the young bowlers, a senior coaching figure would have helped them immensely in the second half of this series.

Anderson complained after England’s defeat in Adelaide, when explaining why the attack bowled far too short on day one, saying: “It was an oversight from the players on the field but also from the coaches who could have had an input too, which is frustrating.”

But was Bond, a man who was tied to his commitments with Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash from Adelaide onwards, the right choice even as a temporary coach given his ordinary record in Australia (two Tests, three wickets at 96.33) and the fact didn’t know the players before this tour? 

England clearly knew they were going to be outgunned by Australia in terms of pace. So a voice who could ensure they were able to be smarter on the field and adaptable would have been wise.

The tourists also had a part-time spin coach in Saqlain Mushtaq at the start of their time in Australia, but like Bond he too departed after the Adelaide Test. 

Coach Trevor Bayliss confirmed the former Pakistan spinner will be signed up for more days this year.

Yet his absence for the business end of this Ashes series has resulted in Moeen Ali, an all-rounder but still England’s premier spinner, tinkering with his own action and suffering a terrible ordeal on the field as he searched for form.

Speaking at the start of day three at the SCG, Moeen admitted: “After the first couple of games, the harder I tried the worse I got. It’d be nice to have a specialist bowling coach with you all the time.”

Surely it is not beyond an organisation as rich as the England & Wales Cricket Board – whose turnover in the last financial year was $204 million - to ensure they at least have the right staff in place for the biggest tour of them all?

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Scorecard

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21