Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has described English cricket as a “circus” after the departures of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
Stokes announced his retirement from England’s Test captaincy and international cricket during the final Test against New Zealand in June.
Soon after, head coach McCullum also left the England setup. He apologised for the team’s poor results during the Test series.
England have lost seven of their last nine Test matches. The results have increased pressure on the team and its leadership.
Finch, who previously captained Australia, has now criticised England’s recent situation.
Circus
Finch has questioned several decisions made by England during a difficult period.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Finch said:
“You never want to see players feel like they’re being forced out or coaches be sacked.
“But the way that it’s all panned out, it has been a little bit like a circus.
“When you look back to the preparation of the Ashes, everyone’s got their opinion on why they weren’t able to have [a warm-up game] at the WACA, which is the closest replication you can have to Perth Stadium.
“And almost shutting everybody out saying: ‘No, we know best. We know what we’re doing. We’re here to win.’
“And then for it to fall apart like that, to see where it goes in the New Zealand series, where New Zealand played traditional hard Test cricket and found a way to grind out a win.
“They go on and win a series, which is hard to do away from home. Every team says that winning away from home is their biggest challenge.”
Finch pointed to England’s Ashes preparation as one example.
He also questioned the team’s decision-making during the New Zealand series.
New Zealand showed patience and discipline during the Tests. They eventually secured a series win away from home.
England’s Ben Earl talks about the rugby Nations Championship
England’s Ben Earl talks about the rugby Nations Championship
Laughable
The tactics of England’s Test team are something that Finch says could make an Australian sit back and laugh.
He stated: “I think that, when you look at it as a whole, you say there’s been a few decisions that – whether it be style of play, shot selection, decisions behind the scenes – as an Australian, you sit back and giggle a little bit.
“Because at different times we’ve been in that position as well.
“But you can understand it.”
Curfew
One talking point from England’s decisions is a midnight curfew ordered for players on every day of a series at home or on tour.
This policy came about after an incident involving Stokes and Gus Atkinson outside a nightclub.
When asked if any of his Australia sides had been put under a curfew, Finch said: “Never.
“If there was, that would have been played out in black and white.
“It’s hard to know exactly what is going on without being inside those four walls.
“So you can speculate all you want, but from the outside, it has looked like a bit of a mess.
“So they’re in this tricky situation now where they’re trying to obviously find a Test coach.”
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