So the World Cup winners were humbled with two balls to spare and they lost a home series of one-day internationals for the first time since 2015. However you would have to be a Victor of Meldrew proportions to rail at that after a remarkable and, hopefully, unique summer of cricket.
England’s head coach Chris Silverwood is one of the more cheerful Yorkshiremen on the planet and he was not minded to spend too long agonising over the defeat. “It’s always disappointing to lose,” he said. “But it’s been hard fought, two good teams going at each other and it’s provided some really entertaining cricket.
“I think cricket as a whole has won. We won’t be getting too down about it. There are things we can work on – fielding is one thing we’ve started pushing coming into this series and we need to continue to work on that because we can always improve.”
He looks back over the summer “with a lot of pride”. There were some “fantastic” games, an adjective he started to use as frequently as our prime minister. “I think a lot of credit needs to go to all the people involved, whether that be players, staff, the ECB, the hotels, the grounds – everybody involved to make this happen because it’s been absolutely fantastic.”
But there were no claims that he was overseeing a “world-beating” side. After all they had just lost the series 2-1 against Australia. “It certainly wasn’t through any lack of effort or passion. But I don’t think we have performed at our best. I think there’s a few more gears in there and we’ve got to continually strive to improve.”
So the future is looking rosy enough but very uncertain. “There’s quite a bit up in the air,” Silverwood said, “but we’re hopeful that the tours after Christmas [against Sri Lanka and India] will go ahead. We’re looking at South Africa before Christmas for a white-ball tour and then a red-ball camp in the UAE as well to prepare the guys going to Sri Lanka. We’re learning every day about how we deal with Covid 19 and hopefully if we continue to do that we’ll play.”
This seems a highly optimistic – and exhausting – outlook especially for the increasing number of key England players with IPL contracts. “Obviously the contracts are good for them,” says Silverwood, who can see some benefits with the World T20 on the horizon. “The more high-class T20 they can play will be good for us. But I have encouraged them to keep talking to us. We need to make sure they don’t burn out so we’ll have to keep an eye on them.”
The 22 IPL players from England and Australia were booked on a charter flight from Manchester to Dubai on Thursday to enable them to enter yet another bubble.
Burnout is an unlikely problem at a time when it has been such a challenge to deliver any live sport, but it does now seem to apply to our top cricketers. Jofra Archer, for example, spent 87 days in a bubble this summer and he is among those heading for another one. “It’s been difficult,” Silverwood said. “I think Jofra’s found being locked up difficult at times. But he’s not the only player; that’s been the case with quite a few. We have had to do it and I’m very proud of how the guys have dealt with it.”
Such sentiments of pride and gratitude should also apply to the cricketers of West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia, who have helped to demonstrate that the game can somehow remain alive and compelling without spectators and, as Meldrew might conclude, without recourse to any silly formats and team names.