Any one-eyed English cricket fan must have a smile on their face given the current state of affairs with the Australian team. What goes around comes around, but the current overreaction to the loss of five Tests is laughable.
If you followed the woes of English cricket throughout the late 80s and 90s this is simply a blip and the call for wholesale changes should be treated with caution.
Rewind to England versus West Indies in 1988 and England versus Australia in 1989 where over two home series and 11 Test matches England used 35 different players for a return of 4-0 thumpings in both series.
England made more changes than there are at a Beyonce concert.
The breakdown for 1988, was 23 players, four different captains, with only one player (Graham Gooch) playing in all five Tests.
Things were so woeful on all fronts that the selectors chopped and changed after every Test, bringing in and out 11 batsmen, three bowling All-rounders, seven bowlers and two wicketkeepers.
It was a merry-go-round of selector madness.
But if 1988 was laughable, 1989 is where things reached their peak.
In total 29 players (yes 29) over a six-test series, trying 13 batsman, three all-rounders, 12 bowlers and one wicketkeeper. Only three players made it through all six Tests and the captain (David Gower) lost his job.
Forward to Australia 2016 and there is some symmetry. Panic stations, jobs at risk, a disgruntled public and the selector’s knife at the ready.
14 players have already been used in this series, albeit because of injury issues, but the selectors will probably ask up to four to six new players to front at Adelaide. With another loss and a strong Pakistan team arriving in December there is the very real risk that the selection merry-go-round could continue.
But the selectors should be mindful of history, not just of how badly England managed affairs back in the 80s and 90s but the Australian selection method over the years where backing their decisions and giving players an extended run has been the theme of the day.
For sure make changes for Adelaide, but be careful what you wish for and what it could lead to.
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