Can England walk the talk?

I’ll be watching the Lord’s test unfold very closely. I am still astonished that England dumped their best player and biggest game-changer because it was too difficult to rein him in.

Good teams don’t do that. They manage the brilliant mavericks for the betterment of the side. All I can say is England must have some seriously good players in their reserve ranks to be able to bin KP.

For months England have been predictable, lacklustre and uninspiring, and they desperately need to inject some genuine buzz, enjoyment and performance back into their game. Coach Moores blustered that England will play an attractive game that will resonate with their supporters. We have seen no evidence of this since he took over the coaching reins. Captain Cook has his issues. He is not a pro-active skipper and tends to allow a game to unfold rather than attempt to influence it. That doesn't auger well for the coach's desires.

The key is identifying clutch moments throughout a test match and acting accordingly to gain the ascendancy. The other key is having the talent to force the issue.

After being invited to bat, day one for England ended up being seriously rewarding following a gutsy recovery when they were teetering at 5 for 209. An impressive run rate has them ahead of the game and if they bat well early on day two they should set things up, seeing the weather for the test is set fair. Who knows, England might even get to 400 runs in this knock. They haven’t done that for 26 innings!

There is still a long way to go in this initial encounter but a victory at Lord’s in the first test of the summer, with an Indian series looming, will do wonders for their psyche. England are promising a new era and this is a perfect opportunity to kick-start it on a dry, patchy pitch that will become uneven and variable.

During this first test we will see what sort of stuff they are made of and how willing they are to change tactically. Attractive and aggressive cricket is the call but can they walk the talk?

Do ‘lions’ change their spots? We’ll soon find out.