The worrying form of England's batsmen in 2010

Yesterday, we looked at England's worryingly frequent habit of batting collapses, of which there have been five in six innings in the current test series with Pakistan - see story here.

This prompted us to find out how each of England's top six plus Ian Bell have fared in 2010. The findings are concerning ahead of the fourth test tomorrow and even more so considering what awaits this winter. The table below gives a summary of the 2010 to date performance of each of seven batsmen who will contest the six batting spots available in the Ashes XI.

England top order batsmen - Averages since 1 Jan 2010
Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100s	50s
IR Bell	6	9	1	572	138	71.50	2	2
IJL Trott	9	17	2	696	226	46.40	1	3
AN Cook	9	17	1	700	173	43.75	3	2
PD Collingwood	7	12	0	444	145	37.00	1	2
EJG Morgan	5	7	0	256	130	36.57	1	0
KP Pietersen	9	16	2	507	99	36.21	0	4
AJ Strauss	7	13	1	397	83	33.08	0	3

Let's start with the positive. Ever since his recall to the side at Edgbaston last summer, Bell appears to have added steel to his immense talent. His century at Durban (not included in the above analysis as it was in the last test of 2009) and his back-to-the-wall rearguard at Cape Town seems to suggest that Bell is about to justify his obvious class. Set against that though is his poor record against Australia, which sees him only averaging 25.68 in 13 tests with no hundreds.

Elsewhere, most observers would agree that Trott has been England's batsman of the summer. He also seems to have the number three spot nailed down where his obdurate style would seem to be well suited. Cook's average, which appears healthy on the surface, is inflated by his two hundreds in Bangladesh. Whilst he is to be applauded for the mental strength and positive approach he exhibited during his place-saving hundred at The Oval, he also has a poor record against the Australians. And one swallow does not make a summer. Cook's fragility just outside off-stump has not suddenly disappeared and will likely be exposed again by the Australian bowlers. 

Despite their match-winning partnership at Trent Bridge, Collingwood and Morgan have had fallow series' thereafter. Collingwood's spot should be safe however. He has a better record away from England, averaging 47.88, did well on the last tour of Australia and is someone you want in the trenches with you when the bullets are flying. Morgan's place would seem most at risk from Bell's return. His hundred at Trent Bridge was a remarkable innings, but Pakistan's seamers and Saeed Ajmal have since exposed chinks in his armour for the Australians to focus on.

But most worrying of all for England supporters is the form of the team's best batsman and its captain. It is probably safe to say that if England are to retain the Ashes, then they will need Pietersen and Strauss to fire. The former seems to have lost his inimitable swagger and confidence and has now gone 15 test matches without a hundred. Pietersen doesn't seem to have recovered from losing the captaincy and one wonders if we will ever see the batsman of 2005-08 again. Hopefully, the prospect of retaining the Ashes in the Aussies backyard will get KP's juices flowing again.

Strauss too is having a bad run and is without a hundred in 12 tests since hitting 161 in the Lord's test during last summer's Ashes. He had a poor tour of South Africa and although he has looked in decent touch most times that he has come to the crease this summer, the big scores are still eluding him. After his Atlas like performance in 2009, when he pretty much carried the England batting during the series, it is absolutely crucial that Strauss is back to his best come Brisbane in November.

The manner of defeat at The Oval last week exposed the cracks in the England batting that had lain partially hidden by Pakistan's even worse batting woes and the fact that England kept winning. Doubtless a sharp operator like Andy Flower was already aware of this growing problem and has put measures in place to retrieve the situation. England's hopes in Australia will depend on these measures paying off.

Comments

[Ceejaypee]

Even more concerning is that most of these averages are buoyed by 4/7 tests so far in 2010 coming against Bangladesh.

Morgan's hundred aside, there was merit in selecting him solely for limited overs cricket and keeping him fresh and focussed on those forms where England have been poor and inconsistent for a number of years.
Somehow Pietersen needs to shake off the press and all that has been said and I believe look to play his natural game. He was a matchwinner for England, averaging 50 when he took on bowlers and looked to score whenever he could and dominate. Trying to rein his game in and knock the ball around because he has had criticism when getting out has got to him I think. Part of his success has been that he has an effect on the bowlers that he is going for them and any bowler starts to bowl differently when you feel that. We have Trott and Colly for blocking. I'm not advocating slogging Ajmal when Eng are 32-3 but he should remain positive and play his natural game.

[Hayley]

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[The Reverse Sweep]

Totally agree with you on KP ceejaypee. he just needs to play his natural game with the exception of Ajmal who he needs to learn to read first. We should be ok as Bell looks to have added steel to his talent and Trott is an obdurate so and so. I reckon Morgan will miss out.

[Ceejaypee]

Indeedy. And having suffered Englands ODI fortunes during the last 20 years having Morgs fresh for T20 and ODI is no bad thing.

Bell + 11 in last test a shoe-in for Australia test squad. Next 4 will be very interesting, think Sidebottom and Monty might be on the plane, although I'm not sure about either.

[Mahek]

I'm not sure KP is shelving his natural game. It's hard to be aggressive against such a good bowling attack in conditions that assist them. Sometimes you just have to take your medicine. Hopefully he takes something away from this summer by learning how to not throw it away when runmaking is difficult.

[The Reverse Sweep]

The quality of the bowling attack and condiitons haven't helped, but KP has admitted himself that he is low on confidence. Hopefully, some good scores in the ODI series (if it takes place) will help get him back into the groove. He's shut the door on county cricket, so he'll have to hope that the shorter form of the game provides the much needed remedy.

[The Reverse Sweep]

I'd agree with you on Monty ceejaypee - just ahead of Rashid. I'd take Davies or Kieswetter as the spare keeper, don't mind which. With Bell being the seventh batsmen (although personally I'd take Carberry instead of Morgan), that leaves three spare bowling spots. I'd opt for Shahzad, Siders (purely for variety) and Tremlett (having a good season for Surrey, is now fully fit and would do well on Australian wickets), but the selectors will go for Bresnan instead of the latter.