England assistant coach Graham Thorpe has slammed his side’s struggling batting attack after their series defeat to New Zealand. Notably, England has suffered their first home Test series defeat in seven years after crumbling against New Zealand at Edgbaston.
While the first Test ended in a draw, most of the top batsmen in the England team were out of form and New Zealand played brilliantly as well. However, Joe Root’s tally of 891 runs in eight Tests this season puts him before Dan Lawrence, who is England’s second-highest scorer over that period.
However, Graham Thorpe, who works under the head coach Chris Silverwood, wants to see more players fight for the top spots with the all-rounder Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler aiming to return for the five-match Test series against India in August.
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“These players have to show a desperation to stay in the side, they’ve got to earn the right to stay in the side,” Thorpe said. “They will be fully aware of that, because we’ve got some players who will come back into that team and there are others on the outside putting pressure on too. There is competition for places which is a healthy thing for a team.”
He further added: “That competition should drive the individual on so when they get in, they smell that opportunity to perform and go and do it. You do have to keep producing and your right-hand (runs) column is very important; it’s what keeps you in the team.”
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Meanwhile, Zak Crawley, who was chosen as a potential despite having a modest first-class record, showed his class when he scored 267 against Pakistan last August. But, he failed to maintain that and could manage only single figures nine times from his last 12 innings as well. And, Graham Thorpe said that Crawley should learn from his struggles.
“He’s young, both in terms of age and his Test career. If he goes away and keeps working at his game I’m sure he will be successful, but you do have to learn from these moments so that when you come back you are better for it. As coaches that is what we are looking at: do you have the game, (and) the mental fortitude to improve and learn and push yourself forward when you have a bump in the road?,” Graham Thrope concluded.
