In the 21st century being dropped from the England cricket team has become a seismic event; in the 20th it was a routine occupational hazard. The decision to omit Jos Buttler from the Sharjah Test team has been trumpeted for days; within cricket it was headline news and a source of much agonising about Buttler’s state of mind and his future prospects. England cricketers do not get dropped so frequently now.
Clearly this is preferable to the chaotic days of the late 80s when there was a constant, not-so-merry merry-go-round. In the summer of 1988 England selected 34 cricketers (I was reminded, in Neil Robinson’s illuminating publication, Long Shot Summer, that I was the 34th, albeit for an end-of-season ODI against Sri Lanka). In 1989 29 players appeared in the Ashes series in England. Wisden lists 13 of them, who appeared in just one Test. What a shambles.
John Childs, the smiling Devonian left-arm spinner, who played two Tests in 1988, recalls in Robinson’s book receiving congratulations from the Essex chief executive, Peter Edwards.
“But my birthday is not until August”, replied Childs before being gobsmacked that he had been picked for England. He then recalled the custom of the new boy sitting next to the chairman of selectors at the pre-Test dinner. “I wasn’t sitting there for the next match as Mr [Peter] May had two new ones sitting on both sides of him.”
The system is so much better now. Which is not to say it is perfect. There have been times in the 21st century when England have been too shy of dropping players – either out of obstinacy or extreme sensitivity for the feelings of those who might be omitted. Three players in the current Test team have never been dropped: Alastair Cook, remarkably, after 121 Tests, Moeen Ali, a little surprisingly, after 18 matches and, on a technicality, Adil Rashid who has only just started.
There is no disgrace in being dropped. If it was good enough for Don Bradman after one Test, the rest of us should be able to cope. No stigma should be attached to a good player out of form. Being dropped is a painful experience, provoking anger and despair in equal measure, but it can also be an extremely productive one.
Joe Root is the latest witness of that, recalling in the Telegraph last week how he felt when Cook informed him that he would be dropped for the Sydney Test of January 2014. “I was an empty vessel for an hour. But then I was absolutely spewing. I was so angry and gutted … Then it hit me and I thought I might not play for England again. In my first Test back against Sri Lanka at Lord’s I sat there waiting to bat and all I could think about was reliving Cooky telling me I was not playing in Sydney. I was using it as an inner motivation. I did not want that happening again”.
Root, of course, is now ranked as the No1 batsman in the world. It may well be that this landmark owes much to the decision to drop him in Sydney. That experience prompted Root to reassess his game and was a chilling reminder of how important it was to him to play for England. Ian Bell experienced something similar after being dropped after England were bowled out for 51 in Jamaica in 2009. So did Andrew Strauss in 2007 when he was left out of the tour party for Sri Lanka. The same applied early in the careers of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, as well as Geoffrey Boycott, David Gower, Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting (mind you, they all played in the dark ages of the 20th century).
The best players are bruised when dropped but they bounce back. Buttler will be miserable if consigned to the sidelines in Sharjah with too much time to contemplate his demotion and whether he will keep his place in the ODI team. It is probably even worse to be dropped as a wicketkeeper since there is only one place in the side for the man with gloves.
Buttler will also spend some time analysing his game and talking to the coaches about how to restore his batting. It was mildly alarming to read Root’s comments on this process even in the enlightened 21st century. He recalled how, on his disappointing 2013-14 tour of Australia: “I went to the coaching staff and said: ‘I don’t think my game is in the right place’, which as an inexperienced player is probably the worst thing you can do … basically, it’s taking your name off the team sheet.”
Buttler should look at Root now and recognise the way back. The good players always return. Few doubt Buttler’s talent, intelligence or his eagerness to play international cricket.
He is in a trough but it would be a major surprise if he does not return to the Test team before long. One day he may even be grateful that he was dropped.
