David Gower laments India's conduct amid fifth Test cancellation: "If they wanted to play they could have done"

HUW TURBERVILL: The ex-England skipper is saddened by the idea that missing out on the Indian Premier League motivated the decision to pull the Old Trafford match

David Gower has concluded reluctantly that staying fit for the Indian Premier League was the guiding force behind India's withdrawal from the final LV=Insurance Test of the summer against England at Emirates Old Trafford.

He is also pessimistic about England’s chances in the Ashes this winter and says he has never seen a team so reliant on one player as this side are on Joe Root.

The former England captain, who attended Sunday’s Voneus Village Cup final, was in Manchester for the fifth Test.

“It took me by surprise as much as anyone else,” he told The Cricketer.

“I was at Old Trafford expecting to do things in hospitality boxes, talking about a great series coming to a splendid conclusion, all being well. It was an opportunity for India to cement a series that they probably deserved to win, but also for England to square it. Then it was about trying to find an excuse for what had happened. 

“My instinct was thinking ‘Surely India had a lot to play for here, to finish England off in style – their concerns must be real’, but a lot of people were saying it was purely about the IPL. I said: 'No, it can’t be just that', but it appears I was being rather naïve… as all the evidence now appears to be that the driving force for it was very much the IPL. 

“I find that very disappointing. When Virat Kohli was here in 2018 he made a point of saying how important Test cricket was to him, and I’m sure it is.

"I’m sure like most of us when he looks back on his career in due course the first thing he’ll look at are his Test figures. And if they are good he’ll say ‘great’. And then he’ll look back at the white-ball career and say: “Yes that was fun too”.

"I still think that great players value the game at the highest level. But actions like that at Old Trafford detract from that principle. I find it disappointing that they couldn’t somehow, with their big squad, and no positive tests, have got a team together to play the game. 

“You have to preface everything by saying: ‘Yes these are weird times, and Covid is part of every equation that we have to look at’, of course, but it does seem to suggest that if they wanted to play they could have done…”

Gower doesn’t think they can conclude the series with a Test next summer, as is being suggested by both the BCCI and ECB.

“There isn’t much spare time," the former skipper added. "It’s not practical to play a one-off Test. And if they did it couldn’t feasibly be linked with this series just gone. The entire fate of that depends on ICC’s decision as to what caused the cancellation… so good luck with that.

^{Can England win without a Joe Root batting masterclass?}

"It’s now a legal problem, whether it’s abandonment, forfeiture or something else. If there are a couple of T20s at Old Trafford to make up some revenue then that’s a diplomatic gesture.”

Though it remains to be seen if the Ashes are played, Gower believes Australia are the outstanding favourites to retain the urn this winter.

“I don’t think that England are going to have Ben Stokes or Jofra Archer. So a next-best England side (without those two) against a full-strength Australia side will be very hard for the tourists.

"I’d still have to say Australia, with their current strengths – Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner, and Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc – and home advantage, are favourites.

"The problem for England is that for so much of the last 12 months all things have depended on whether Joe Root gets 150 or not. He’s been fantastic to watch, awesome even, but it’s a worry that it’s him or nothing. That may be unfair but it’s true.

“I can’t remember an England team that has been so reliant on one player. Obviously in Botham’s Ashes 40 years ago, Beefy’s (Ian Botham) influence on the three Tests, allowing for the fact that Ian says Bob Willis should have been the joint man of the match at Headingley, show one man’s influence on those pivotal games changed the course of the series… with a slice of luck thrown in of course.

^{It was a day for celebrating for Calmore}

"But you did have Willis too, you had Graham Dilley getting a 50 at Leeds, you had Chris Old making 29… so yes, going back to Joe, I have never been part of a team so reliant on one batsman.”

Calmore Sports Club prevailed by six wickets over Alvanley to claim their first Village Cup success in a rain-affected final at the home of cricket.

“I am one of those people that if I drive past a village cricket match I will stop and have a look for a while," admitted Gower. "That’s where it all starts. So quintessentially English and cricket.

"My village has a team that bears the name of a pub that no longer exists: the Newport Inn Cricket Club. The inn is now six houses, but the club survives: it’s an old roller, some grasscutters and a shed. The ethos of the game at that level is very important.”

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