England's Test team came under the scanner right after Ashes fiasco where they suffered a 0-4 humiliating defeat against Australia. This caused a lot of turbulence in the English cricket. Owing to the post Ashes shake-up English cricket went through a turbulent time where head coach Chris Silverwood, assistant coach Graham Thorpe and managing director Ashley Giles resigned. On the other hand, former Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur blamed the highly touted Indian Premier League for this.
Mickey Arthur, who took over as head of cricket at English county Derbyshire after stepping down as Sri Lanka’s coach late last year, said county cricket should not be blamed for England’s poor performance in recent years. Mickey Arthur has given important suggestions to the board to improve the defeat in the Ashes and improve the England Test team. Mickey Arthur while putting his views on this context said," England did not score enough runs in the Ashes series. If you want to blame, you can blame it. County cricket should not be blamed. County cricket has been a really good producer of international players for so long. I don’t think there is any problem with the system. If you want strength in the opening season, unfortunately you have to stop your players from playing in the IPL. They are playing there in the early part of the season just before the first tests. You have to prepare your best players who play county cricket to make a better Test team."
While England continues to enjoy their white-ball format success including the 50-over World Cup title. Not only that, but England also reached the top of the Twenty20 rankings and are currently placed second in ODI rankings. However, their form in the longest format of the game has been poor of late.
England have so far lost 15 consecutive test matches in Australia, as they are placed fourth in the ICC Test Rankings. Three Lions will take on West Indies in a three-match test series at their home turf. The series is scheduled to start on March eight with the first match to be played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua.
Meanwhile, the auction for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League took place with a number of England stars joining a number of IPL franchises.
Liam Livingstone was sold as the most expensive overseas player in the entire auction, joining Punjab Kings for over Rs 11.50 crore while speedster Jofra Archer was roped in for Rs 8 crore by Mumbai Indians.
English players who were picked in IPL mega auction 2022:
- 1. Liam Livingstone (Punjab Kings)
2. Jofra Archer (Mumbai Indians)
3. Mark Wood (Lucknow Super Giants)
4. Jonny Bairstow (Punjab Kings)
5. Chris Jordan (Chennai Super Kings)
6. Jason Roy (Gujarat Titans)
7. Tymal Mills (Mumbai Indians)
8. Sam Billings (Kolkata Knight Riders)
9. David Willey (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Retained:
- 1. Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings)
2. Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
