It was an international summer that began in chaos. Questions were asked about Alastair Cook’s continuation as Test captain, Kevin Pietersen saw his hopes of a return to the national side ended and the fallout from the World Cup, in which England achieved a new low in a tournament designed to usher the big teams through to the knockout stages, cost head coach Peter Moores his job.
It ended with the Ashes regained and the one-day team imbued with a new sense of optimism. Redemption for Cook, said some. Vindication for the early calls made by the newly installed director of England cricket, Andrew Strauss, said others. That second conclusion is one that Graeme Smith, the former South Africa captain, appears unready to draw himself just yet.
Smith, who led his country with distinction in a record 109 Tests before retiring in 2014, was one of Strauss’s chief critics before his appointment in May, insisting England needed “to move away from the head boy, old school approach”. He went further when the former Test captain began his reign by dismissing Pietersen’s chance of a recall, tweeting: “I see the head boy is making English cricket the laughing stock again!”
So now, after a memorable season that has seemingly lifted the gloom, is he prepared to give his old adversary his dues? “Whether the results are reflective of his role, I don’t know,” replied Smith, speaking before he and Strauss played in Thursday’s charity match at the Kia Oval for Help for Heroes. “He would say to judge him over a three-year period and in those roles you need to.
“I think back to the criticism and I felt at the time England had become very samey. I think about Cook and Strauss and all the guys who have been in charge, they have the same personalities and philosophies on the game. So whether it’s because of Trevor Bayliss coming in as head coach with fresh energy, or the guys simply hit rock bottom and had to change, I don’t know. And I wasn’t the only one saying it. I just thought Strauss was going back to that same old way. But in the short term they have had success and so no one can fault them, I guess.”
Strauss, who pulled out of the pre-match media session at which Smith was speaking – the game raised £300,000 for the wounded soldiers charity – was one of three England captains to retire following a Test series defeat to South Africa, with Michael Vaughan in 2008 and Nasser Hussain in 2003 those before him. None of these three moments are recalled with glee by Smith.
“I don’t reflect on it and I certainly don’t take pride in seeing people go through tough times. I was very young when Nasser went and didn’t understand it. The one that resonated with me the most was Vaughan. I had a lot of respect for him and thought he was very innovative, smart, cheeky in many ways the way he did things – I learned from him. Straussy is a very different man to me.”
More of a head boy figure, perhaps? “He has always been that way. He’s cut from a different cloth to me but in his own right has had a successful career, so I don’t want to take away from that.”
Cook, whose England side travel to South Africa in December after the small matter of playing Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month, can perhaps be grateful that Smith has hung up his bat, having admitted that, before winning the Ashes, he had considered his position. Smith, also a left-handed opener, had moments of doubt during his 11 years in charge too.
“I think Cook is very resilient. To open the batting and captain your country is extremely tough,” he said. “There are many stages as captain when you wobble, reach a crossroads and ask yourself questions. Had he not got runs this summer, he would have been wobbling. When he was failing [with the bat], he allowed the failing to affect his decision-making and that is the key: you have to separate the two.
“The key for me was creating consistency of performance. In my career as captain I grew to understand how I wanted to play and create a culture from which we had a lot of success. From 2002 to 2006 I made a huge amount of mistakes and the performances went up and down. From 2006 I settled into my own and we had success.”
On the subject of who should be Cook’s seventh opening partner since the retirement of Strauss for the tour of the UAE, a call seemingly between uncapped specialist Alex Hales or the temporary fix of asking the all-rounder Moeen Ali to move up, the scorer of 27 Test centuries is in no doubt.
“I think England need to take a long-term view,” said Smith. “When you are in a transition phase you want to create consistency, and allow people to stake a claim. They are trying to play two spinners but I would pick a proper opener and hope he gets confidence in the UAE going to South Africa, because that is probably the marquee tour and Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander will be a big threat.”
“I remember we tried [all-rounder] Andrew Hall opening the batting and he had reasonable success but it was makeshift and team as a whole never took that big stride forward. We decided from there that the top six must take responsibility for the runs, the bowlers must take the wickets. Since we did that we didn’t lose a series away from home since 2006. That is a record to be proud of.
As for who will come out on top this winter, Smith replied: “England coming to South Africa in December is the kind of series you live for. Perform in those series, it shapes your career. My heart says South Africa win but it will be a real contest.”
