Chris Silverwood has insisted he is the right man to coach England after their latest setback left the Test team with only one victory from their last 11.
As Joe Root’s side headed for Melbourne knowing that defeat in the third Test that starts on Boxing Day will officially end their already slim chances of regaining the Ashes, Silverwood admitted his job was on the line.
But he said some ‘honest chats’ in the dressing-room after England’s 275-run hammering at Adelaide, plus the support of his back-room staff, have convinced him he can help turn round the team’s fortunes.
On the day it emerged that fast bowler Jofra Archer would be unavailable until the 2022 home summer after a second operation earlier this month to address the stress fracture in his right elbow, England’s head coach was left to issue a cry familiar to so many of his predecessors on tours of Australia: ‘We have to be better.’
The question of his future may yet be taken out of his hands by Ashley Giles, the team’s managing director, though Silverwood can reasonably point to the fact that the last 11 Tests have all been against the three best sides in the world: India, New Zealand and Australia.
But a solitary victory during that sequence – against India at Headingley – is no basis for negotiation.
In that time, only Root and Dawid Malan have averaged over 30 with the bat, while of the regular members of the attack only Ollie Robinson and Jimmy Anderson have averaged below 30 with the ball.
Asked if he was the man to lead England out of their malaise, Silverwood replied: ‘Yes, I do believe I can do that.’
Asked why, he said: ‘I believe I can. We have had those honest chats and I believe I have the right coaching staff around me to make that happen as well.’
Pressed on whether he felt his position was in danger, he said: ‘It always is. When you take a job like this, you accept that. It is what it is. Do I believe I’m the right man? Yes I do, or I wouldn’t have taken the job in the first place. You’re under pressure constantly, aren’t you?’
With the notable exception of 2010-11, when captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower oversaw a memorable 3-1 win, Australia tours have not ended well for England coaches.
Duncan Fletcher lost his job after a combination of the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash and a failed World Cup campaign in the Caribbean, while Flower himself stepped down after England lost 5-0 in 2013-14.
It is inconceivable that both Silverwood and Root will still be in their posts if 2021-22 joins the list of disasters.
And that means England’s fortunes must pick up immediately, starting at the MCG. As Silverwood put it with regards to selection: ‘Everything is on the table.’
The process, he hopes, has already begun, following a ‘healthy’ discussion in the England dressing-room, in which Root reiterated the point he made in public about the bowlers’ erroneous lengths in Australia’s first innings.
