‘Speaking a language not all of them truly believe’: UK reaction to ‘horror show in the Himalayas’

After England suffered its first Test series defeat under the leadership of Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, its skipper questioned critics who claimed his team lacked the “ruthlessness” to beat India.

“Ruthlessness? What is it? How does it show itself?” Stokes said.

“Everyone goes into the game with their best intentions, when it doesn’t pay off people say we’re not ruthless but when they do, they say we are.

“I don’t really understand the saying. That’s from my point of view; we try to do what we think is the best way to win the game. It can be a throwaway comment when people say we’re not ruthless enough. What does it mean?”

Well, according to former England captain Michael Vaughan it means not showing enough accountability or proper self-reflection.

And that was one of Vaughan’s biggest concerns to come out of the series against India, which ended in a comprehensive defeat by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth match.

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Writing a column for The Telegraph, Vaughan argued England’s obsession with “putting fun before winning” is preventing the team from developing the “ruthlessness” Stokes referenced earlier.

“The great frustration is that they have the talent to be really competitive all over the world but they have blown two big series and in this case it was because their batting failed miserably,” he wrote.

“I worry that they are speaking a language that not all of them truly believe, which is dangerous.

“Positivity is good, and inspiring, but honesty is also required.

“The team message is never to doubt anything, never admit they were wrong or they could have done things differently … that does not breed an environment of ruthlessness.”

Simon Wilde of The Times UK, meanwhile, wrote that the “cultish thinking must end” and that extended to Stokes and McCullum’s loyalty to underperforming players.

“Of the batsmen, only Alex Lees has been dropped in two years, and even though the series was settled, Stokes and McCullum opted against giving an exploratory game to Dan Lawrence or the uncapped Gus Atkinson in Dharamsala,” he wrote.

“Their mateship knows no bounds.”

Wilde went on to describe Stokes’ post-match comments, where he backed in his batting line-up as “the best six or seven batters in England”, as “startling”.

“It doesn’t always work out as you want to, but you back your best players, pick your best players … look at what we managed to do over the last two years. We ain’t, I ain’t, going to let the last two years go to waste over this series in isolation,” Stokes added.

While understanding that Stokes wasn’t likely to criticise his teammates right after the heavy defeat, Wilde wrote that he hoped behind closed doors the England skipper would more realistic about the team’s struggles at the top and middle of the order in the fifth Test.

“In the immediate aftermath of a thrashing, a captain is hardly likely to turn on his troops, and you would hope that in moments of cooler reflection Stokes realises that some things need to change,” he wrote.

“Apart from anything else, room has to be found for Harry Brook when England next play Tests against Sri Lanka and West Indies in the summer. Someone is going to drop out.

“They might start by admitting that their big idea, which was for batsmen — especially those starting against spin with men around the bat — to force early changes in the field, was a failure.”

Wilde wrote that Jonny Bairstow, who earned his 100th Test cap this series, is the “likeliest casualty” but added “it would be little surprise” if Ben Foakes was dropped and Bairstow replaced him at keeper.

“No one can argue with Foakes’ keeping skills but his batting may be too sedate for the tastes of this team, in which case they may look at alternatives,” added Wilde, offering up options such as Ollie Robinson and James Rew.

Alastair Cook also cast doubt over Bairstow’s spot in the Test side, questioning whether England needs to plan towards the future and specifically the Ashes in 20 months’ time.

“He has been one of our few successful all-format players but ultimately in this series he hasn’t scored enough runs. Once the dust has settled it will be a hard decision for the selectors,” Cook wrote for The Times UK.

The other selection dilemma facing England is a welcome one, with a tricky decision as to which of Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir misses out with Jack Leach’s eventual return.

Stokes said in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat that England will draw on its Bazball philosophy to move forward.

“In the face of defeat and failure, Bazball will hopefully inspire people to become better players and become even better than what we are,” he said.

However, some UK pundits believe England has placed too much of an emphasis on the Bazball approach, to the extent that it has at times been too reluctant to diverge in strategy.

That was consistent with Jonathan Agnew’s take on the series for the BBC, writing that the 4-1 defeat to India proved Bazball, while at times successful, is not a “one-size-fits-all approach”.

“It wasn’t always about India producing some magic, it was generally poor shot selection and unforced errors,” he wrote.

“India were probably feeling that whenever England were going along nicely with the bat, all they had to do was bowl a couple of tight overs, the mistake would come and someone would get themselves out.

“[Bazball] is not a one-size-fits-all approach. The recent results speak for themselves: it is not a winning formula.

“It seems there is a lack of responsibility and a lack of accountability … winning does matter, winning is paramount.

“Losing is not just a shrug of the shoulders.

“It is frustrating, but that’s where you have to be accountable. If not, the fans will start to see through that.”

Chris Stocks of inews.co.uk, meanwhile, wrote that this series has “seen the wheels well and truly fall off Bazball”.

“Not even James Anderson grabbing his 700th Test wicket could mask the gruesomeness of this horror show in the Himalayas as England collapsed to a febrile innings defeat in this final Test,” Stocks wrote.

“There can be no complaints about the series scoreline either after Stokes’ Bazballers were thoroughly dismantled during three days of horrendously one-sided cricket.

“This was simply awful. Having competed well across the first four Tests, this was a game too far for a team who had bloodied India’s nose by winning the opening match in Hyderabad in sensational fashion. By the end, though, they were already in the departure lounge.

“Indeed, a seventh defeat in 12 Tests is proof that coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes need to go back to the drawing board ahead of the start of the home Test summer in July.

“If the summer saw chinks in England’s aggressive method exposed then this series has seen the wheels well and truly fall off Bazball.

“There has to be consequences for performances such as this. It just isn’t good enough.”

Of course, the result of this series was hardly a shock. After all, the last time India lost a Test series at home in 2012.

But the hosts were down a number of big names, headlined by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, and as brilliant as India was England also lacked a “proven Testing batting line-up” and “proven spinners” in the subcontinent conditions according to Cook.

“That was a very clear difference to the series in 2012, which we won,” he added.

Stokes said in the lead-up to the fifth Test that England “want to win this week”, stressing that even with the series lost the visitors were more determined than ever to end it on a high.

Instead, the last 48.1 overs of the series were a “gross mismatch” according to Vithushan Ehantharajah, who delivered a poignant reality check in a column for ESPN cricinfo.

“The scale of this defeat ladles on the unwelcome context for a team that has gone beyond winning, flattering to deceive in defeat, and is now just losing,” he wrote.

“They were bullied, roughed up and, at their most vulnerable, several individuals were forced to hand over a few of the principles they have tried so desperately to hold dear these last eight weeks.”