Can’t blame hapless Joe Root for all the ills of English cricket, his resignation won’t make any difference: Greg Chappell
Joe Root (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
England lost the ongoing Ashes in a record 11 days as Australia defeated the English team in the Boxing Day Test by an innings and 14 runs. England’s batters, apart from Joe Root and Dawid Malan, have not been able to compete in the tournament and Australian bowlers took advantage of that. Also, the playing combination used by England in the first three Test matches was criticised by former English players.
Former Australian cricketer Greg Chappell wrote in his column for The Age that sacking of Root from his captaincy position or removing Chris Silverwood and other coaching staff would hardly affect England’s performance. He mentioned that England Cricket Board (ECB) should look at the loopholes in the domestic structure and start working on them.
“There is not much point blaming the hapless Joe Root for all the ills of English cricket. His resignation or sacking will not make an iota of difference to the quality or quantum of players available or worthy of Test honors,” Chappell wrote.
“Instead, England have to take a long, hard look at their structure and decide whether they want to excel at the long form of our game or merely delight in the gimmickry and shenanigans of their various short-form circuses, supposedly catering to the box office,” he added.
The country that invented cricket cannot languish anymore: Greg Chappell
Several former cricketers have blamed ECB for prioritising white-ball cricket over red-ball cricket and it is haunting the team currently. Chappell believes that ECB should look at the problems and take immediate action.
“The current English team is a result and reflection of the shortcomings of its system. The ECB has to acknowledge that and start remedial action. Failure is not an option. The country that invented cricket cannot languish anymore and be its widely scorned, perennial underperformers. The English public deserves much better of its cricket board,” Chappell added.
