If Australia want evidence of how long it can take to rebuild a Test team, they need only look at England. It can be a long and bumpy process, spiked with deep troughs and false dawns.
Near the end of the last Ashes, a leading English cricket reporter wrote that the home team was better placed for the future than Australia.
Fast-forward four months and it’s the Australian Test team that is arguably in a healthier state.
The reporter, Cricinfo senior correspondent George Dobell, signed off his piece in August by writing, “While the life cycle of their team is in its early stages – the team at Trent Bridge will contain only two men aged more than 30 – the life cycle of the Australian team is markedly different. Indeed, it speaks volumes for their predicament that they are considering dropping one batsman in his mid-30s for one only three years younger. Win or lose this series, doesn’t England’s future look a little brighter?”
At the time Dobell’s assessment was fair – Australia had just collapsed in embarrassing fashion against the Old Enemy. England cricket was awash with good vibes.
Right now though, the Australian Test team has just as sunny a future as England’s, despite being two years behind them in the rebuilding process.
Australia are now in the same position England found themselves in at the start of 2014. Back then, England had just lost the core of their team, with Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Matt Prior and Kevin Pietersen all out of the side for various reasons after a horrendous Ashes series.
Australia have suffered similarly extensive losses, with Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson all retiring in a matter of months.
Two years on from their mass exodus, England are yet to unearth one new proven Test cricketer.
There have been some exciting performances from the likes of Ben Stokes, Gary Ballance, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Robson, Adam Lyth, Mark Wood and James Taylor. But Buttler, Balance, Robson and Lyth have since been dumped after being found out by quality Test bowlers, Stokes and Ali are struggling in the roles they are chosen to fill, and Wood looks too physically fragile to become a regular Test player.
Right now, there are only four English players who are bona fide Test players – skipper Alastair Cook, gun batsman Joe Root, and opening bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
Australia have a similarly limited number of proven Test players – captain Steve Smith, opener David Warner, spinner Nathan Lyon, and pacemen Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Anderson debuted in 2003, Cook in 2006 and Broad in 2007. In other words, in the past eight years England have produced just one bona fide new Test cricketer, Root, who is still playing. In the Ashes and again in England’s 2-0 loss against Pakistan in the UAE, England relied heavily on that foursome.
They have high hopes for Stokes, yet in his past nine Tests he has averaged just 20 with the bat and 40 with the ball. Like Australia’s Mitchell Marsh, there is no question about Stokes’ talent. But all-rounders, particularly young ones, need patience from the selectors – they take time to develop consistency.
Buttler, too, raised English pulses with a barnstorming start to his Test career, before crashing back to earth with a sorry thud. Australia will be hoping new keeper Peter Nevill can be less dynamic but more reliable than Buttler.
Finding a sturdy gloveman is crucial to the development of a Test side. Nevill still has a lot to prove, just like the recently dropped Buttler and his replacement Jonny Bairstow, whose keeping is ordinary and who, after 20 Tests, averages a poor 26 with the bat.
Similar to Marsh, Nevill requires time to grow into his role. So do new batsmen Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja. They may have returned to Test cricket in startling fashion this summer but the tough periods will come.
Three times England thought they had unearthed top-order gold when first Ballance and then Robson and Lyth took to Test cricket like old pros.
Openers Robson and Lyth both made tons in just their second Tests, while Ballance scored four centuries within his first nine matches. Those intoxicating highs quickly became deflating lows as each batsman had major technical deficiencies exposed by skilled Test pacemen.
Robson and Lyth were punished for their addictions to sparring at balls outside off with hard hands. Ballance, meanwhile, was allergic to taking a full stride towards the ball and so became an easy wicket.
All three are gifted enough to have another crack at Tests. But Australian fans must take note of their stories and recognise that unearthing long-term Test players is remarkably difficult.
Cricket followers from all nations tend to crave instant gratification. They want new players to dominate and they want them to do it now.
The reality is that it typically takes many failures and subsequent recoveries for a player to truly find their feet in Test cricket.
Two years into their rebuilding process, England still are relying on the old guard and young Root. Don’t be surprised if Australia’s established players have to carry most of the burden over the next 18 months while the rest of the team slowly grows around them.
