Ashes 2019 | England need to stay calm, says Nasser Hussain ahead of second Test
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has called for composed clear thinking ahead of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Wednesday. Hussain is of the opinion that the management and the selectors need to graft their white-ball pattern of complete trust onto the longest format as well.
World champions England were pulled down from Cloud 9 quite drastically in the space of the last two days of the first Test against their long-standing rivals. Australia swept the floor with them with their mammoth 251-run victory at ‘fortress’ Edgbaston. However, Hussain does not want the team to cave into the scenario with a major portion of the series still to go. He correctly noted that England need to avoid collapsing in chunks.
“The big problem is the collapses. Once England go they really go and they need toughness to overcome these chinks. Their middle order have been able to bully some sides but I'm not sure they can bully Australia. And above all they need to stay calm. They need frontline batsmen to get big runs and they need clear thinking to pull that off," Hussain wrote in the Daily Mail, reported CricketNext.
Instead, Hussain proposes that England’s successful strategy in the limited overs format must be applied in red-ball cricket as well.
"This is not a time, at one down with four to play, to panic. It's a time for crystal-clear thought processes just like we have seen from Eoin Morgan, Trevor Bayliss and the white-ball side over the last four years. That white-ball revolution came from having firm beliefs and never doubting them and it is time for exactly the same approach in the Test game without any self-doubt either from the players or the selectors. England showed belief in Burns before Edgbaston and he repaid them with a hundred," Hussain wrote.
The former skipper was baffled how Jonny Bairstow was singled out for criticism after the loss last week. Bairstow has suffered a lean patch with scores of 2, 0, 0, 8 and 6 in his last five Test innings. However, Hussain pointed out that England’s batting problems were a collective mess.
“There seems to be a perception that everything would be all right with England's batting if they took the gloves off Jonny Bairstow. I just do not understand why Bairstow has copped any more flak after England's defeat in the first Ashes Test than, say, Jos Buttler. Bairstow has six Test hundreds and has proved himself time and again. Yes, he is going through a lean patch. But everybody does at times during their international career and Bairstow has shown he is a very talented keeper-batsman and should be backed now ahead of this week's second Test," Hussain added.