New faces can lift England out of the doldrums

England have endured a torrid campaign Down Under, losing the Ashes series 5-0 for only the third time in history.

They have lurched from one batting collapse to another and have spent the best part of two months on the back foot.

The last thing the homesick tourists would want is a five-match one-day series against a host nation feasting on this English famine.

Yet Yorkshire’s Sidebottom, a veteran of many an England tour, feels the current team can still lift themselves out of the doldrums.

Having been in similar situations himself, he appreciates how the injection of new blood can help raise morale among a group of players whose confidence has been obliterated.

“It’s a different format, a different group of players and the new lads coming in will offer a new lease of life and freshen it up a bit,” said Sidebottom, who made 65 appearances for England across all formats, including the 2010 World Twenty20 triumph in the Caribbean.

“To be honest, if you’re playing for England you’ve got to go out there to try and win.

“You’ve got to come back with a bit of pride and try and win something for your country. There’s a lot of fans out there still and a lot of young lads vying for a place in the one-day squads so the opportunity is a big one to do well.”

Sidebottom has some sympathy with the players who are out in Australia and preparing for the switch from Test cricket to the one-day game, with the first match scheduled for Sunday in Melbourne.

He appreciates how hard it can be to turn around a losing tour after suffering setback after setback.

“It’s tough, especially in Australia,” he said. “The press are very patriotic out there and together with the crowds they all get behind their team and it’s relentless.

“If you’re in a bad place you’re only going to go downhill. The abuse and the way Australia played, with hard cricket and aggression – I don’t think they recovered from that.

“When things aren’t going well that’s when you’ve got to stay really tight as a team, stick together and try and get that enjoyment back into your cricket, because when you’re losing it’s not easy.

“Credit to England, they’ve said they didn’t play well enough, they were outplayed in all areas so it’s back to the drawing board.

“They are no longer the team they used to be, we’ve seen that, so this is a kick up the backside for them, maybe for Andy Flower and Alastair Cook to think there’s things we need to improve on and aspects of our game that need to be better and I’m sure they’ll take stock. The key is not to get too carried away. There’s still some good players in the team.

“Graeme Swann won’t be coming back and Jonathan Trott may not, and like Andy Flower said it’s the end of an era. So maybe it’s time to get some young lads in and give them time to bed in.

“Hopefully then the transitional stage takes a couple of years and England will be back where they belong.

“We’ve seen it with Australia; the last two or three years they were in a mess, a lot of players retired at the same time and England are in that same position at the moment and they’ll be looking to get some younger players in.”

While England look for old hands to put a guiding arm around fresh talent, that is exactly the role Sidebottom hopes to continue doing at Yorkshire this coming season.

The veteran is the elder statesman of the White Rose dressing room, and imparting his wisdom is something he relishes.

“When I came back to Yorkshire it was about playing, trying to win something and trying to pass on a bit of knowledge,” said Sidebottom, who won county titles with Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

“I get asked a lot by the younger guys for advice. It’s nice to help them and offer them a bit of my knowledge – however good or bad.”

Sidebottom was back in nets practice this week as preparations for the 2014 campaign gathered pace. Yorkshire’s title challenge went to the wire last season as they continued their year-on-year progression under first-team coach Jason Gillespie.

They will be judged this year on whether they can win a first title for 13 seasons, and Sidebottom believes they are equipped to challenge again.

“We know there’s a few areas we need to work on and, hopefully, this year we can go one better,” said Sidebottom, who took 49 wickets in the Championship last year.

“The belief is there that we can. I suppose it depends on how many players we lose to England and other factors. But you can look at that as a positive and how well we did without them last year with young guys coming through like Alex Lees.

“We probably don’t have the depth of most counties but what we have is a lot of young guys chomping at the bit. They come in with nothing to lose and they play with a bit of freedom.”