“This is a very tough tour whether you’re playing or on the bench,” said Jonny Bairstow on Wednesday. Seven Tests in 62 days is an unprecedented schedule and will test the stamina of those selected for every game. But England’s Test wicketkeeper was also right to highlight the demands upon those constantly not in the team. For them it is a case of retaining sanity rather than stamina.
In the modern era those on the bench troop off every day with the rest – they play their football, they hit some catches and throw some balls to those engaged in the Test match, they rush on to the field with drinks at every opportunity, they traipse off to the nets for one more lonely knock in the knowledge that there is no obvious chance of an innings in the middle on the horizon. They are obliged to stay cheerful, constantly encouraging and pandering to the lucky boys out in the middle.
I know from personal experience that this can be a mind-numbing experience. In India, 32 years ago, I was a spectator/gopher/cheerleader for all five Tests. Maybe I was lucky to have the distraction of writing a tour book (Marks Out of XI is still available for 1p, I see, but watch out for the delivery charge).
Most often the bystander role has been the lot of the second wicketkeeper. For years Bob Taylor of Derbyshire, the most silky keeper imaginable, toured as Alan Knott’s understudy and he was nicknamed “Chat” for a reason. Visits to high commissions and local dignitaries were once commonplace on tour and Taylor was an invaluable asset. He had the capacity to chat to anyone, anywhere about anything in the most engaging manner. In fact the recent visit of the England team to the high commission in Dhaka was a fine throwback, an evening enjoyed by all and enhanced by the moving witness of victims of acid attacks in this country.
On the tour of 1984-85 Bruce French, a mentor for England’s current keepers – and Jake Ball’s uncle – was the second keeper, who played one international match in three and a half months, a rain-restricted 15-over match in Chandigarh. That contest aside French soon recognised that he would only gain a place if the incumbent, Paul Downton, was injured and he remained remarkably cheerful throughout – in part because of the enlightenment of the management. French loves mountains – he still likes to climb them – and on that tour he was allowed to leave the party for a few days to explore the foothills of the Himalayas.
Back in 1977, Roger Tolchard of Leicestershire was England’s second wicketkeeper in India, a selection that appalled the purists and prompted one of the selectors, John Murray, a keeper himself, to resign. No one pretended that Tolchard was anywhere near the second best wicketkeeper in England but Tony Greig wanted him in his squad because this arch-competitor was an unorthodox yet effective player of spin bowling. Tolchard was soon selected alongside Knott, scoring 67 in his first Test match in Kolkata and he would end up playing all his four Tests on that tour – as a batsman.
Which brings us to Jos Buttler on this tour. Since the ODIs he has had to revert to a subsidiary role, batting late in the nets, helping out wherever possible while dutifully trying to conjure a spring in his step. His current lowly position in the pecking order must be especially hard to take. A fortnight ago during the ODIs he was running the show as the stand-in captain for Eoin Morgan, the focus of everyone’s attention and reacting to his additional responsibilities most impressively. Now he is in his bib carrying water bottles.
It is still possible that Buttler, like Tolchard all those years ago, will be drafted into the Test team as a batsman, though the longer that he – and Haseeb Hameed – are denied any batting in the middle, the harder it will be for them to have an impact if suddenly catapulted into a Test match in India.
Moreover there is another issue regarding Buttler. His precocious talent makes him a candidate for Test cricket despite a relatively modest first-class record, which cannot easily be enhanced because he seldom encounters a red ball nowadays. By the same token in recent times we have seen the virtues of so many “specialists” bringing such zest and freedom to the one-day side. Among these Buttler has obviously been a linchpin.
However spending months plodding around the periphery of the Test squad on tour is an enervating experience. If Buttler is a constant spectator throughout the Test series against India it is hard to imagine him being properly refreshed when the one-day matches take place in January.
For future tours a tricky decision will have to be reached about how to make the most of him. Unless Buttler has a very good chance of making the Test team it might be better to keep him fresh and to have another keeper on hand to deputise if there is an injury, to carry the drinks and, perhaps, to chat away to all and sundry at those rare official functions.
