Join The Athletic’s Cricket WhatsApp Channel by clicking here.
English cricket has been in utter chaos for the last two weeks and the most damning indictment of those in charge is that this is a mess very much of their own making.
When England left Australia last winter the conclusion of all those who saw them lose the Ashes so badly was they were an unserious team. Their attention to detail was lacking. So England had to put that right this summer.
They did so at Lord’s against New Zealand in the first Test. Then it all went wrong again.
There are so many examples of that lack of attention to detail: England’s poor preparation for the Ashes, their poor shot selection during it and the insistence of managing director Rob Key that Test cricket, and Australia in particular, was not a place for any bowler operating at 80 miles per hour with the keeper standing up.
He overlooked the fact that things had changed and the new Kookaburra ball was doing far more for those skilful but not necessarily rapid bowlers.
Now there is the suggestion that the midnight curfew brought in after the 4-1 defeat Down Under had not been properly signed off and, in coach Brendon McCullum’s words, there was “ambiguity” over whether it was officially in place on the night England won at Lord’s.
But whether that curfew was written in stone or not, Ben Stokes would have been a big part of putting it in place, and he broke — or did not understand — those rules at the first opportunity he had. If you’re England captain, that’s unacceptable.
It is not, however, a sackable offence.
Ben Stokes performed wholeheartedly for Durham in his absence from the England side (Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
I could see why Stokes and Gus Atkinson were missing from the second Test at the Oval and that, combined with the absence of the injured Ollie Robinson and Jamie Smith on paternity leave, led to an England side with far too little experience for the job. As ever, the balance of the side was affected without the England captain which led to no spinner, seven specialist batters and Jofra Archer at No 8 heading up a tail almost as long as ours at the Oval against New Zealand in 1999.
And England did not back the vice-captain in Harry Brook to take over, leading to poor old Joe Root being given the biggest hospital pass of all time in being asked to lead the side four years after he last did it.
Duncan Fletcher would talk about the critical mass of a team when he was England coach. You could make changes, but not five between Tests. You could have a debutant, but not three in the same team. And you could have the odd difficult character, but you need the bulk of the side to set the right tone. England’s critical mass at the Oval was all wrong. New Zealand took full advantage by handing out an absolute drubbing.
And it all ended with another example of that lack of attention to detail when England were docked 12 points in the World Test Championship and the players fined 50 per cent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate. Are they taking that World Test Championship seriously enough?
Rob Key and Ben Stokes should not have had to impose a curfew (Philip Brown/Getty Images)
The biggest mistakes were made before the match. Yes, Stokes’ late night out, in the context of what went on before, was unacceptable. But when Key and McCullum went straight into the media, they should have backed their captain rather than distancing themselves from him and, in McCullum’s case, just talking about his mental well-being.
They should have said: “As long as nothing else comes out about what went on in Chelsea during the investigation, Stokes is still our captain. He is effectively banned for one game which will hurt him, but he’s done a lot of good for this team and led them bloody well for four years. He’s been there for us and others. We need to be there for him now.”
Instead, Key and McCullum sent out the message that they were uncertain about their leader, which again suggests captain and coach are not on the same page. Duncan would say to me when I was captain, and I make no apologies for mentioning again how Fletcher did it, “Whatever happens, we have to be tight. We have to be loyal and we have to be seen to be singing off the same hymn sheet.” He always had my back and I always had his.
I have never understood curfews. By introducing one you’re basically acknowledging that the players are not professional enough. That’s why poor behaviour — and there’s that attention to detail again — should have been nipped in the bud the moment the white-ball captain, Brook, was punched by a bouncer outside a Wellington nightclub last winter the night before he led the side in a one-day international against New Zealand.
Instead of curfews, just treat people like grown-ups. This isn’t an Essex Under-11s game where everyone has to be in bed by a certain time. They are adults and professional cricketers, and they’re playing for their country. They must know what they need to do, mentally and physically, to play a Test for England. And when they can go out for a drink.
But if players then let themselves down, management should come down hard on them. They will be banned if they misbehave and they will be fined. It’s how the game has always been and it’s how it should be with this England team now.
The comments of Key and McCullum must have come because they believed Stokes was thinking of quitting, but a few days later there he was playing and giving his all for Durham in the County Championship.
He did not look like a man who was about to give it all away, as he appeared to be earlier in the week.
You always know as an England captain when it’s time to go. It hits you between the eyes. It did me, Mike Atherton, Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss and anyone else you want to mention. All the stresses and strains get to you and you’re just done.
Nasser Hussain announces his resignation alongside England’s then chairman of selectors David Graveney at Edgbaston in 2003 (Tom Shaw/Getty Images)
So Stokes has to think very carefully about what comes next. He never does anything in half measures and he has to be fully committed to carrying on as captain. And he has to sort out his form with the bat because nothing undermines you more as a captain than if you’re not contributing fully to the side. Has he got the energy after four years in the job to do all that, because he did look drained even before the first Test?
If the answer is ‘yes’ — and he seemed to be suggesting it is by the way he went about things at Durham when he scored 95 — then he must return to the job at Trent Bridge and immediately end all the noise that is still surrounding this whole business. Put an end to all the chaos.
For a start Stokes should do all the media when the team gather on Tuesday before Thursday’s third Test. He hasn’t said a word about all this and he hasn’t apologised for what happened. He has to put the record straight and get everything out of the way.
Then England need to focus totally on the cricket because they need to win this Test and they need to win this series. To do that against this New Zealand side, they have to return to the levels they showed at Lord’s with all those missing players back in the side. Otherwise New Zealand will pounce on them and take the series themselves.
Brendon McCullum follows Ben Stokes down the steps at the end of the first Test at Lord’s (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Too many mistakes have been made in the last year for Key, McCullum and, yes, Stokes to be completely comfortable in their jobs now. They are all under enormous pressure going into the third Test.
I have really enjoyed watching this England side and, for a long time, they were very successful. Yet as time has gone on, less attention to detail has been paid and the less serious a side they have become. That comes from a lack of good leadership. All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
But if you’re asking me who is under the least pressure, I would still say Stokes. He has the most credit in the bank. Ben has been an excellent captain for England.
Just watching him as an ex England skipper, I have enjoyed seeing a captain, in these days of so much data, with a real gut feel for the job and an understanding of the game. And with emotional intelligence and great leadership skills.
Everything gets highlighted when a side is losing and the best way for everyone involved to get through this is for England to start winning Test series again, starting this week in Nottingham. They have lost six of their last eight Tests and can’t afford to lose again. It was only two weeks ago England were making good cricketing decisions at Lord’s and out-playing New Zealand. Go back to doing that and show the world you’re a serious cricket team who can make good decisions on and off the field.
When Key made Stokes England captain he knew he was appointing a man with flaws. What happened in Chelsea was always a risk. But with him comes a considerable good side that outweighs the bad, as we have seen so many times.
England have rapped Stokes on the knuckles. He is on his last warning. But the powers that be should want him to remain England captain and go out and show the world what a true leader and world-class all-round cricketer he still is.
Starting at Trent Bridge.