Mark Ramprakash: I wonder if there is something fundamentally unserious about the cricketers England are producing

England took a lead in the five-match series with a 28-run win at Hyderabad, but India bounced back at Visakhapatnam and Rajkot – the latter, by a record 434 runs – to go 2-1 up.

In his column for The Guardian, Mark Ramprakash did not mince his words in his criticism of the England team.

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I don’t want to minimise Stokes’s achievements

He mentioned how Ben Stokes’s 100th Test match (at Rajkot), was “preceded by countless breathless profiles, articles that portrayed him almost as a superhuman, playing his own game, dancing to his own tune,” where the England captain “was described as an innovator, a visionary and a masterly captain.”

“I don’t want to minimise Stokes’s achievements,” added Ramprakash, admitting to how he had “no doubt the public were enthralled by his team” as he recollected his “Q&As with fans in lunch breaks” during the 2023 Ashes Test matches at Lord’s and the Kia Oval. “As captain he inherited a group that were playing poorly and losing. He has taken the pressure off them, galvanised them and given them a method they are happy to use.”

However, Ramprakash also pondered about the definition of success: “Is that what success is? Is it success for a team to entertain the public whether they win, lose or draw? Or is success getting the job done: winning matches, winning series, competing for the World Test Championship?

“I don’t for a moment believe Stokes thinks it’s all crash, bang, wallop. The evidence for that is his superb innings in the 2019 World Cup final, when he adapted better than anyone to a slow wicket, and in the way he constructed his magnificent century against Australia at Headingley a few weeks later.

“He is a thinking cricketer and his 100th Test will have been a chastening one. It feels like as captain he has accomplished half a mission. He has transformed the mood around his side, but there is still work to do on their mindset.”

“If the only goal is entertainment… they don’t need to put themselves through any recrimination”

Ramprakash reflected on how England batted on the third day in Rajkot. Having bowling out India for 445, England resumed on 207-2, and their case was boosted by R Ashwin’s absence: at that point, he had withdrawn himself for the rest of the Test match, though he returned in time for the fourth innings.

“A ruthless team would have gone about trying to knock off the deficit, keep India in the field, wear down their bowlers and put themselves in a position of advantage. This England side collapsed,” said Ramprakash.

“As I watched, I thought about the great football teams and their refusal to become distracted, first winning the physical battle and then matches. I remembered Tiger Woods at his best, knowing he would sometimes have to be tactical and game-savvy when closing out tournaments, and the mental strength that took Novak Djokovic to 24 grand slam titles. The great athletes and teams share some characteristics that are still missing from England.

”The problem is, they don’t always seem to realise that. They are busy playing their game, being entertainers,on and off the field. Sometimes their press conferences are like listening to Muhammad Ali trash‑talking, like Ben Duckett saying ‘they can have as many as they want and we’ll go and get them’. Ali was a brilliant entertainer but he was known as the Greatest and, as good as his first‑innings century was, Duckett is not.

“Does he reflect on that moment? Does Joe Root reflect on his first-innings dismissal, reverse-ramping the ball straight to slip? Because if the only goal is entertainment then that is absolutely on-brand and they don’t need to put themselves through any recrimination, any learning, any honesty.”

“Where are the Test run-scorers of tomorrow?”

Ramprakash also raised concerns about the the system that produces English cricketers: “Sometimes I wonder if there is something fundamentally unserious about the cricketers we are producing. Many county academies are pushing power hitting. They want young players to have a strike rate of more than 100 even when the pitch and match situation are not necessarily conducive to that. Young players who are yet to hone their skills are being told not to worry, to have fun, to go for it. Where are the Test run-scorers of tomorrow and how are they being developed?”

He added how the “extraordinary childhood” of Yashasvi Jaiswal (“leaving home at 11, living in a tent for two years, selling street food”) was a study in contrast with some members of the English team: “Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley are superb players whose youth was spent at Cranleigh and Tonbridge private schools”.

“Sometimes they need to play smart cricket”

At the press conference, Stokes had mentioned England’s opportunity to win the series 3‑2. “You wouldn’t expect him to say anything different,” reminded Ramprakash. “When they were 2-0 down in the Ashes that seemed to reinforce their approach and improve their focus.”

England famously came from being two-down to level the 2023 Ashes, and would almost certainly have won the fourth Test match but for rain.

“Perhaps the carefree nature that contributed to them finding themselves in this position may help them to recover from it,” voiced Ramprakash. “If there was one team that has a chance of parking a terrible result and starting afresh it is this one. They have played a lot of fun cricket, but sometimes they need to play smart cricket – the kind at which Stokes on his best days has shown he is so gifted. It will take all of his inspirational leadership to keep this group together and convince them to look at the two remaining matches as real opportunities.

“He has already had a fabulous career and it is a remarkable achievement to play 100 Tests and to create such a fun side. As he starts on his second century, he needs to focus on creating a winning one.”