Three early-season home Tests against Sri Lanka might have been a hard sell, in bygone days, for the England and Wales Cricket Board.
But surely only a chastened economy can have slowed tickets for next week's npower opener in Cardiff - a venue which struggled so badly to attract worthwhile crowds to last September's NatWest Twenty20 double-header against tainted Pakistan.
If a sub-continental summer against Sri Lanka and India appeared something of a chore to the less-than-hardcore cricket supporters of a decade or so ago, those same casuals need only scratch the surface to discover times have changed.
English cricket perhaps needs another main attraction, to re-engage fickle interest already waning after the winter high of Ashes victory down under and spring low of faltering progress and quarter-final elimination from the World Cup.
Once upon a time, the West Indies could have done the job.
But as Caribbean cricket has lost its way and much of its will, east has relentlessly usurped west.
The power shift, still easily traceable back to India's shock World Cup final win over West Indies in 1983, is complete on and off the field.
While India's 2011 superstars bask in wealth way beyond the once equally-adored West Indies, Sri Lanka too represent a significant hurdle for English aspirations.
Led, intriguingly, by Tillakaratne Dilshan following the resignation of Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka arrive ranked fourth to England's third in the International Cricket Council table and needing a bridge between eras thanks to the retirements of the great Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga.
Runs, unless the English weather does its worst as it did for so much of last summer, ought not to be a major problem for Dilshan and Co.
Wickets, however, almost certainly will be in the absence of those two surefire strike bowlers.
Sri Lanka ought nonetheless to provide a searching if eminently passable test - a mock exam, before those finals against India, as England dare to believe they could end this year as the number one force in Test cricket.
In Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, the tourists have their strengths; in an unproven and inexperienced attack they have an obvious weakness.
England's pros and cons are plentiful too.
Is world domination a dizzy dream, or realistic ambition?
Has that historic win down under, against an unremarkable Australia side, unfairly raised expectations?
Or do England really have the class and strength in depth to commute home advantage, first of all, into revenge against Sri Lanka for their 10-wicket World Cup trouncing in Colombo?
Then could they repeat the dose against Sri Lanka's own World Cup final conquerors and Test top dogs India?
The last question will have to wait, and may never properly arise if Sri Lanka burst England's bubble.
By mid-summer, answers will already be set in many minds about some of the variables in the England equation.
Looming largest, of course, is the wisdom or otherwise of Andrew Strauss' decision to retire from one-day international cricket in pursuit of Test excellence - and the management response to detail three separate captains for each of the formats.
It will probably be hasty to draw conclusions win, lose or draw against Sri Lanka. But that is the way of the world, so expect to be hearing of heroes or villains in the home camp long before India ship in from their own Caribbean warm-up in mid-July.
Strauss' success will depend on factors outside as well as within his control, none more so than Kevin Pietersen.
Something will have to give soon to help us discover whether Pietersen's career is to peter out or he is to overcome a comparative slump to restate his world-beating pretensions.
An invaluable Adelaide double-century is the only three-figure score on Pietersen's Test CV in 32 attempts since spring 2009.
The answer to the conundrum lies not with Strauss but the man himself, yet could have a brutal bearing on the legacy of both.Pietersen aside, Strauss and Andy Flower's England are a notably solid side - as they demonstrated in Australia, if not in their World Cup ups and downs.
Bowling resources are settled and substantial, although they will need James Anderson to return from sub-continental exhaustion to his match-winning best of the past 12 months.
Among the batsmen, England are being especially well-served in Tests by new ODI captain Alastair Cook - who conversely has many doubters to silence in the 50-over format - and ultra-reliable and prolific number three Jonathan Trott.
Further down the order, Paul Collingwood's retirement provides a fresh opportunity for Ian Bell at five and either Ravi Bopara or Eoin Morgan to cement number six.
Much but not all of the above will become clear over six weeks of what should be memorable and consequential cricket.
Let us hope there are some full houses, in Wales and England, to enjoy it all.
But surely only a chastened economy can have slowed tickets for next week's npower opener in Cardiff - a venue which struggled so badly to attract worthwhile crowds to last September's NatWest Twenty20 double-header against tainted Pakistan.
If a sub-continental summer against Sri Lanka and India appeared something of a chore to the less-than-hardcore cricket supporters of a decade or so ago, those same casuals need only scratch the surface to discover times have changed.
English cricket perhaps needs another main attraction, to re-engage fickle interest already waning after the winter high of Ashes victory down under and spring low of faltering progress and quarter-final elimination from the World Cup.
Once upon a time, the West Indies could have done the job.
But as Caribbean cricket has lost its way and much of its will, east has relentlessly usurped west.
The power shift, still easily traceable back to India's shock World Cup final win over West Indies in 1983, is complete on and off the field.
While India's 2011 superstars bask in wealth way beyond the once equally-adored West Indies, Sri Lanka too represent a significant hurdle for English aspirations.
Led, intriguingly, by Tillakaratne Dilshan following the resignation of Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka arrive ranked fourth to England's third in the International Cricket Council table and needing a bridge between eras thanks to the retirements of the great Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga.
Runs, unless the English weather does its worst as it did for so much of last summer, ought not to be a major problem for Dilshan and Co.
Wickets, however, almost certainly will be in the absence of those two surefire strike bowlers.
Sri Lanka ought nonetheless to provide a searching if eminently passable test - a mock exam, before those finals against India, as England dare to believe they could end this year as the number one force in Test cricket.
In Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, the tourists have their strengths; in an unproven and inexperienced attack they have an obvious weakness.
England's pros and cons are plentiful too.
Is world domination a dizzy dream, or realistic ambition?
Has that historic win down under, against an unremarkable Australia side, unfairly raised expectations?
Or do England really have the class and strength in depth to commute home advantage, first of all, into revenge against Sri Lanka for their 10-wicket World Cup trouncing in Colombo?
Then could they repeat the dose against Sri Lanka's own World Cup final conquerors and Test top dogs India?
The last question will have to wait, and may never properly arise if Sri Lanka burst England's bubble.
By mid-summer, answers will already be set in many minds about some of the variables in the England equation.
Looming largest, of course, is the wisdom or otherwise of Andrew Strauss' decision to retire from one-day international cricket in pursuit of Test excellence - and the management response to detail three separate captains for each of the formats.
It will probably be hasty to draw conclusions win, lose or draw against Sri Lanka. But that is the way of the world, so expect to be hearing of heroes or villains in the home camp long before India ship in from their own Caribbean warm-up in mid-July.
Strauss' success will depend on factors outside as well as within his control, none more so than Kevin Pietersen.
Something will have to give soon to help us discover whether Pietersen's career is to peter out or he is to overcome a comparative slump to restate his world-beating pretensions.
An invaluable Adelaide double-century is the only three-figure score on Pietersen's Test CV in 32 attempts since spring 2009.
The answer to the conundrum lies not with Strauss but the man himself, yet could have a brutal bearing on the legacy of both.Pietersen aside, Strauss and Andy Flower's England are a notably solid side - as they demonstrated in Australia, if not in their World Cup ups and downs.
Bowling resources are settled and substantial, although they will need James Anderson to return from sub-continental exhaustion to his match-winning best of the past 12 months.
Among the batsmen, England are being especially well-served in Tests by new ODI captain Alastair Cook - who conversely has many doubters to silence in the 50-over format - and ultra-reliable and prolific number three Jonathan Trott.
Further down the order, Paul Collingwood's retirement provides a fresh opportunity for Ian Bell at five and either Ravi Bopara or Eoin Morgan to cement number six.
Much but not all of the above will become clear over six weeks of what should be memorable and consequential cricket.
Let us hope there are some full houses, in Wales and England, to enjoy it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment