England must shun knee-jerk reaction – Moxon

Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket feels a measured review rather than a knee-jerk reaction is required into England’s sobering campaign Down Under.

He feels experienced hands like Tim Bresnan remain integral going forward, while the likes of White Rose trio Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance are all capable of providing the national squad with fresh impetus – even if that deprives his own county of valuable resources.

The inquests have already begun into the whitewashing of Andy Flower’s men with some calling for a full-scale review into the failings of English cricket.

But Moxon says that team manager Andy Flower and captain Alastair Cook remain the best-equipped men to lead England into a new era and that the four years of success before this sudden collapse should be taken into consideration.

Moxon said: “The scale of the defeat is the problem, it’s got people jumping up and down demanding answers and change, but when the dust settles the people out there will be able to assess the mood of the camp, and assess the senior players.

“They need to know who’s up for the fight, and who wants to rebuild the team.

“Clearly the team has to be built around that senior group; you can’t throw 11 kids into an international team and expect them to be successful straight away.

“They need the right balance of youth and experience and the key now is picking those players and sticking with them for a bit.

“There’s no point chopping and changing. We don’t want to get back to those days where we were one-Test wonders. They’ve got to be really clear about who they are going to pick and stick with them.

“But it needs a rebuild of some sort because you’ve lost Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann, two big players for England, whose loss would affect any team.

“If Trott is not available for the start of the season then that No 3 position is a key one to fill and the spin position is another one.

“Then the next big decision is who is going to back up Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, because we’ve been chopping and changing at that and we need someone we can stick with.

“It doesn’t need a knee-jerk reaction; just review it and assess which players want to take England forward. They’re the big decisions; which are the players to back for the next two years? Then you give them the opportunity to play. That’s been the strength of England recently, they’ve identified players and stuck with them.”

With any rebuild comes a transitional period and Moxon feels it could take up to two years for England to rediscover their top form.

To help them do so, the Yorkshire chief believes Bresnan can still be one of the bedrocks on which to build.

The Ponterfract-born bowler returned for the third Test after a period out with a back injury but was unable to turn the tide back in England’s favour.

Moxon believes the 28-year-old was not match-fit, but that his reliability with both bat and ball should keep him in the frame.

“It was tough for him to come in having been out for so long with only one warm-up game. Clearly for me he wasn’t match fit and that’s understandable,” said Moxon, who led Yorkshire’s first indoor training session of the new year yesterday.

“But we know what he can do and he’s been very reliable in an England shirt.

“They can build around Bres because you know what you’re going to get with him day-in, day-out. He chips away. Every now and again he’ll get you five wickets an innings but by and large he’ll get you two or three wickets and he’ll score two and a half runs an over.

“As long as he stays healthy he’s definitely got a part to play.”

Moxon is also confident the young trio of Root, Bairstow and Ballance can all have a big role in helping rebuild England.

That would deprive Yorkshire of potentially four key players for the 2014 County Championship campaign, but Moxon has reassured the membership that they have enough talent coming through to cushion the blow.

“If all four are missing it’s a big hole to fill,” said Moxon, who hopes to have Bairstow available for at least the start of the season after the wicketkeeper’s role with the England Lions.

“We’ve got the numbers to cater for that, but they are four quality players and we are a better team when they are in it. But if they’re playing for England then that’s obviously good for them.

“With Root we know what he’s capable of, he won’t be too scarred by the Ashes series. He’ll learn from it and I’m sure he’ll be a better player because of it.

“Jonny Bairstow just needs to be playing regular cricket which he hasn’t done for a couple of years. It’s been very stop-start for him and he’s a rhythm batsman.

“When you’re sat on the sidelines for as long as he has you lose that rhythm.

“I’m pleased he’s going to be touring with the Lions because he needs regular cricket. I fully expect by the end of the tour to Sri Lanka (February to March) he’ll come back and be back to his best.

“Gary showed good capabilities in the time he was in. In that first innings when everything around him was falling apart he showed good character to rebuild the innings with Ben Stokes.

“You couldn’t have been under more pressure than that, but he showed a calmness, he showed good qualities and I’m sure he’ll be on the radar.”