GEORGE DOBELL IN GRENADA: At some stage, we are going to have to accept that individuals aren't the problem. The structure, the priorities, the schedule of English cricket are all going to have to be looked at again
We've witnessed many low moments in the history of England cricket.
We've seen whitewashes, blackwashes and brownwashes. We've seen the entire side out bowled out in a session and we've seen them bowled out by a chicken farmer. We've seen them beaten by Scotland, we've seen them beaten by the Netherlands and we've seen them knocked out of their own World Cup before the theme song was released. England cricket supporters are no strangers to ignominy.
But, as they slipped to the brink of a three-day defeat in Grenada against a side placed eighth in the World Test Championship, it was hard to escape the feeling that this was a new low. At least in recent years.
It was hard to define the lowest moment.
It could have been when they learned from the replay screen that Jayden Seales could have been out for a duck, if only they had not squandered their reviews the previous day.
West Indies enjoyed a dominant day on Saturday in Grenada
It could have been when, with the impotence of their attack laid bare, they were obliged to turn to a sixth bowler to break a 10th-wicket stand which generated more runs than England's top six batters in the first innings.
It could have been when Zak Crawley, driving without due care and attention once more, nicked off to slip as softly as if he were butter left out in the Grenada sun.
Or it might even have been when Ben Foakes, who in averaging 19.20 on the flattest of wickets in this series and has as a consequence failed to take his chance, called for a second run and but was caught short by Kyle Mayers' rocket arm.
England, having been 114 for 9 in the first innings, slipped to 101 for 8 in their second. Had it not been for a couple of dropped catches and a plucky last-wicket stand, they could have lost this match by an innings.
But perhaps it was somewhere within all those moments – less tangible but undeniable all the same – when the poverty of England's Test cricket was laid bare. When it became undeniable that they had no bowlers – well, none here, anyway – with the skills to unlock batting line-ups on such surfaces. When it became apparent they didn't have the batters with the technique and temperament to survive on a surface on which West Indies' No. 11 – who came into the match with a Test batting average of 4.35. – had survived for 26 overs. When it became clear that the whole rotten system is broken and unfit for purpose.
If any of that sounds over the top, consider this. Defeat here, means England have won none (and arguably lost all) of their most recent five series. It also means they have won just one of their 17 most recent Tests. It leaves them rooted to the bottom of the World Test Championship table despite possessing riches and resources of which nearly all their rivals can but dream. It is a fitting legacy for Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive. For it has been on his watch that the first-class game has been compromised and devalued.
And they'll keep being beaten. They'll be beaten by New Zealand in June. They'll be beaten by India in July. They may well be beaten by South Africa in August and September, too. And does anyone, anywhere, expect them to win in Pakistan in December?
Ben Stokes cuts a frustrated figure
Such results are likely to render Joe Root's hold on the captaincy as mightily precarious. Yes, he's a fine player. And yes, he's a fine ambassador for the game. But to see England drift around in the field against West Indies' final pair and to see them collapse with the bat like a sandcastle against the tide on Grand Anse Beach was to be underwhelmed by his ability to coax a performance from the team. If he is sacked, he can have few complaints.
The problem with this is that, eventually, the ECB are going to run out of people to blame. In recent weeks, we've seen Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood and Graham Thorpe pushed through the exit. Jos Buttler, Rory Burns, James Anderson and Stuart Broad have gone, too. At least for now.
But at some stage, we are going to have to accept that individuals aren't the problem. And there's no individual who can fix this mess. The structure, the priorities, the schedule of English cricket are all going to have to be looked at again. It is an irony that Andrew Strauss, an architect of The Hundred and the white-ball revolution, has now been placed in charge of the reboot.
Might it have been different if Anderson and Broad were here? Maybe. Certainly it's hard to imagine them wasting the new ball with the leg-side deliveries Chris Woakes has produced across this series. It bears repeating, though, England's top order have, in 14 innings combined in this match, produced just three double-figure scores. Anderson and Broad wouldn't have changed that.
Kyle Mayers and Josh da Silva were West Indies' heroes on the day. Da Silva showed England how to bat on this surface: each ball was played under his eyes and he refused, until the dying moments of his innings, to push at anything away from his body. It was patient and intelligent batting.
Mayers, meanwhile, showed England how to bowl. He hit the seam, he bowled straight and he allowed the variable pace and bounce to help him. Like Scott Boland in the Ashes, he was rewarded with almost unbelievably good figures.
Sounds simple, doesn't it?
Kyle Mayers claimed five wickets
But both things were beyond England. Their bowlers, with the notable exception of Saqib Mahmood, failed to hit the lines and lengths to exploit the cracks in the surface, while their batters flashed as if they thought they could hit their way out of trouble. It was feckless, gormless, naive stuff. Sure, the system is broken, but the individuals have to take responsibility, too. Indeed, cricketers from an earlier time – those who didn't have the benefit of central contracts among other things – could well be forgiven for wondering what they could have done with such backing.
The worry here is that those running English cricket – and many of them are the architects of this calamity – will exploit the situation to bring in the changes they've always wanted: a cut to the number of first-class counties; a reduction in the County Championship schedule; an increasing emphasis on white-ball cricket played on pitches and with balls that don't deviate.
None of that will improve England's Test fortunes. It will take the ECB really investing in the Championship programme to do that. It will take them valuing it above the next white-ball payday. It will take them cutting the international schedule and understanding that, to produce Test players, investment is required at every level of the domestic game. They'll need to demonstrate that they really care and aren't just paying lip service to the oldest format.
It is hard to believe anyone is still in denial about the extent of the problem, though. English cricket is at the lowest of ebbs.
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