England’s under-fire head coach, Chris Silverwood, on Wednesday (December 22), defended his team selection and said he picked the right bowling attack despite the tourists suffering two heavy defeats in the first two Tests of the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 in Australia.
England suffered a 9-wicket defeat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane before losing the day-night Test by 275 runs to Australia at Adelaide.
Following the defeats, England’s team selection was criticized heavily as they left out the experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad on a green pitch in Brisbane and then overlooked Jack Leach on a spin-friendly pitch in Adelaide.
Ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Sunday, Silverwood has insisted that he is the right man for the job and that he would pick the same team again in the ongoing Ashes series.
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Silverwood told BBC: “To be honest, I would. There is always going to be divided opinion. You pick a team and not everybody’s going to agree with you (but) I was happy with the skillset we had in the pink-ball Test, so I would pick the same team again.”
He further added, “We picked the best attack for those conditions and you look at the attack we had out, there’s a lot of experience. I was happy with that attack this game and I was happy with that attack last game as well.”
On the criticism, the head coach said: “Am I the right man to help the players get better? Yes, I believe I am. We have had those honest chats and I believe I have the right coaching staff around me to make that happen as well.
When you take a job like this you accept that (your job is on the line). 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.”
Silverwood signed off by saying, “You’re under pressure constantly, aren’t you? We knew it was going to be difficult when we came out here. Obviously, we wanted to win but that is always going to be difficult. We have to be realistic about what we have, but we have to learn.”
Notably, England has lost nine and won only one of the last 11 Tests under Silverwood so far.
(With PTI Inputs)
