Mark Butcher on England: Put Jonny Bairstow up the order and give Jos Buttler the gloves
And pray inconsistent spinners keep a tight line against India to give skipper Alastair Cook one less headache
JONNY BAIRSTOW upgraded to bat at four or five and Jos Buttler behind the stumps… that’s the way to keep the fearsome Indian spinners at bay, says ex-England opener Mark Butcher.
England, fresh from a tortuous Test defeat in Bangladesh where they struggled to contain a less incisive spin attack than the one Ravi Ashwin and Co. will provide starting in Rajkot on Wednesday, need their top order to fire.
And Butcher thinks he has the solution.
He said: “It is highly unlikely that Gary Ballance will play in the First Test after his problems in Bangladesh and I think the problem is trying to replace him without moving Ben Duckett down the order.
“So I would play Bairstow purely as a specialist batsman. It’s too physically demanding to expect him to keep wicket as well so bring in Buttler to do that and bat him at No7.
“This is no reflection on Jonny as a wicket-keeper - purely a decision to help the team.
“There is a groundswell of opinion favouring Jos as a specialist batsmen. But remember…he has played precious red ball cricket, even for Lancashire, since being dropped during the Ashes series when Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon was his tormentor in chief.
“So given he was dropped for not scoring enough runs then he is in my side as the wicket-keeper, not as a specialist batsmen.”
England have brought in former Pakistan twirler Saqlain Mushtaq, who took over 200 Test wickets, to assist England’s quartet of spinners.
Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, and Surrey pair Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari, all struggled for consistency in Bangladesh, giving skipper Alastair a constant headache that he is desperately seeking a remedy for.
Explained Butcher: “It was difficult for Cook. The trouble is he wants to place a lot of fielders around the bat to give his bowlers confidence but the spinners were inconsistent; he couldn’t rely on anyone to bowl six successive tight balls.
“No one made a convincing case for themselves in Bangladesh. Assuming that India, unlike in 2012, do prepare pitches to suit their spinners, you need to bowl tight and let the pitch do the rest. But England haven’t shown they can do that.
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“If I was to criticise Cook I would say it’s his reluctance to bring long off up and try to tempt the batsman into trying a difficult shot against the spinner by hitting over the top.
“But he is desperately needs those spinners to bowl tightly.”
Many pundits, ex-England captain Michael Vaughan amongst them, fear a 5-0 England whitewash. But Butcher isn’t so sure.
“We have enough highly-talented players to win at least the odd Test but probably not the series,” he explained.
“Should it be a whitewash, it will be as much down to the planning of this winter tour as anything else. The fact is the Tests are crammed together and if you do run into trouble there is a distinct lack of time to do anything about it.
“But don’t forget that in Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad we have some of England’s best ever players, so all things can happen.
“It’s a pity Mark Wood and James Anderson aren’t there. England need their quick bowlers to revel with the new ball in order to make life easier for the spinners, so we’re looking for ‘Stokes the bowler’ to step up.
“Spin-wise I expect Moeen to be joined by Rashid and Ansar for the first Test, given India’s top order reliance on so many right-handers. Against that, if the selectors think Batty offers the best chance of performing consistently then he might be the best bet.”
Butcher concedes that England are on a downer and that it will be very difficult to rally themselves in the hot, humid and dusty sub-continent conditions.
“No doubt India will not make the same error of 2012 and prepare pitches that take our seamers out of the game,” he said. “But that’s Test cricket – you can’t set your stumps and cameras up and get home advantage all the time.
“But seven Tests in eight and a half weeks is ludicrous and pretty much unprecedented. It’s physically demanding and India’s spin factor makes it tough on our batsmen.
“The secret is the first 20 balls you face. That’s when you are most vulnerable. Get used to the pitch, the ball spinning, see how consistently it turns. Put a lot of trust in your technique.
“There will a lot of fielders around the bat and it helps to be in great nick so you feel confident and positive, and able to ignore them.”
England must hope their week-long course of therapy from spin guru Mushtaq does the trick…
>Mark Butcher was speaking on behalf of Betway ahead of England’s five-Test series in India.
, former England batsman Butcher discusses the secrets of surviving the subcontinent with journalist Simon Hughes and Betway’s Tom Clee.