England’s coach Trevor Bayliss has said that he can’t put his finger on why his England team are so prone to batting collapses.
Speaking to Sky Sports after England’s chastening 381 run defeat to West Indies, he said: “It’s more of the mindset thing. Be tough about it: ‘You’re not going to get me out.’ You lose one wicket and that’s the beginning of a collapse in any game.
The non-turning off-spin of Roston Chase takes a fourth wicket!
Moeen goes for a pair, a Test to forget for the all-rounder.#WIvENG | #WIvsENGpic.twitter.com/hjwXBQW0rV
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 26, 2019
“We’ve got to work out the difference when we lose one wicket and the next wicket puts on a partnership, and when we lose the next eight or nine very quickly. Before a game it’s no different to when we’ve been successful. I can’t really explain it. We’ll try and get to the bottom of it.
“The previous times we’ve done this, it’s kicked the boys into gear and they’ve come out played well in the next match. I hope they’ve not been taking it easy. We’ll have to have a chat about this. Is there a difference with our thinking? They did the hard yards this morning. Then the second session onwards was a bit like the first innings. A number of guys got starts.”
Batting averages since the start of 2018 for England's top seven:
Jennings: 26.82
Burns: 30.12
Bairstow: 29.59
Root: 38.96
Stokes: 25.95
Buttler: 41.57
Moeen: 16.75 #WIvENG | #WIvsENG pic.twitter.com/1mZzIyHV6z— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 26, 2019
England collapsed in dramatic fashion to the seemingly innocuous off-spin of batting all-rounder Roston Chase, whose 8-60 were the sixth best figures ever recorded by a West Indian.
Most of the England top order made starts – Rory Burns particularly impressing with his 84 – but Burns apart, none kicked on. Unlike the first innings, where few English batsmen were guilty of rash stroke play, a number of the England team played loose shots to give their wicket away.
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Both Joe Root and Moeen Ali – who averages just 22.50 under Root’s captaincy – both guided wide deliveries from Chase straight to the slips, while Jennings edged a wide half-volley to Jason Holder at slip.
Asked whether England’s lack of preparation – they played a pair of two-day games, neither of which carried first class status – contributed to their shortcomings, Bayliss said: “I would like to play some first-class games before. But when you’ve only got four days scheduled, it’s difficult to give everyone a game.”
