Surely this is the outcome everyone expected ( ok maybe not an innings defeat to a side scoring below 300) but is being 3-0 down on the way to another whitewash that much of a surprise?
With the exception of 1 series we've been routinely hammered down under for the last 30 years with a whole host of scores below 200 featuring much better batting line-ups than this current crop. A whole host of top names have had their techniques and mental fortitude questioned after a mauling in Australia. This is nothing new.
Having said all that it does feel like we've reached the bottom of the barrel and the reality is we've been on this downward spiral since the Strauss/Flower years and in particular since the 13/14 whitewash under Cook. Take the openers for example. In the 7 years after Strauss required we tried a ridiculous number of players to partner Cook before he packed in. There's even a sporcle quiz to see if you can name them all, from memory I think there was 18. 3 years on from Cook we are still looking for 2.
You can apply that to every part of the team. Aside from Root no other middle order batsman has took the spots left by Bell Pietersen Trott. Since Prior we have gone backwards and forwards between Bairstow and Buttler with Foakes getting the occasional look in and are still no closer. The spin cupboard is bare but again we persevered with the idea that Moeen would fill the void left by Swann for far too long. Other spinners have come and gone but have spent too much time carrying drinks because they cannot be trusted to at least tie an end down and apply pressure.
The pace attack has been carried by Broad and Anderson and between them they have kept us competitive and papered over a lot of cracks but they have suffered, particularly overseas from a genuine pace option to complement them. A couple of years ago with Wood, Archer and Stone it looked like we might have genuine options for this tour but Archer seems permanently injured, Stone has suffered another stress fracture to his back and Wood, as much as I like him, has managed 23 tests in 6 years. When the 2 legends retire there will be another drop off in quality.
Going foward I'm not buying this idea that getting rid of Root as captain is some sort of magic bullet. I get the idea that he is too conservative at times but a captain is only as good as the team around him and I doubt even Mike Brearley in his prime would overcome the deep rooted problems in this side. There is also a lack of a viable alternative within the current set up aside from Stokes who isn't a candidate for me given the Botham/Flintoff precedents. I see James Vince being touted as the man for the job and maybe if he had took his chance as a Test player or not been discarded too early (take your pick) he or any player who had cemented a place in the top 6 could be seen a natural successor. The idea that bringing in a player from the cold after 3 years with the task of establishing himself as a Test batsman while simultaneously being a game changing captain is riidiculous. That's not even getting into the fact that these days he's doing well for himself as a gun for hire around the various franchise leagues.
Root is certainly culpable as he's part of the 2 man selection committee along with Silverwood who for my money should be the first to go along with Giles, who holds the title of director of cricket but has abdicated all responsibility for selection downwards. Never been keen on Silverwood since his interview after we won in S.A. when he informed us he was taking the team in a new direction based on big 1st innings runs delivered in the style of someone who thought he was reinventing the wheel.
So yeah heads need to roll, principally Silverwood and Giles but I can't get away from the fact that selection issues alone can't explain this debacle and the Root of the problem lies further up the food chain with the whole structure of the domestic game. Too much power amongst the counties and frankly too many of them together with the ECB and their obsession with the bottom line meaning the vast majority of 1st class cricket is played outside the high summer window.
Never mind the long run up I feel like I've done 10 overs straight into the wind ...... had to get it off my chest
