<\/p>\n
J<\/span>ust a few weeks ago I was so demoralised. The England team was a mess, a shambles. The management was terrible. One red-ball coach had just been sacked<\/a> and the other wasn\u2019t going to turn up for ages<\/a>. The Test captain, whose skillset as a high-class batter who bowls at an elite standard was so important for the team\u2019s balance, had abruptly retired<\/a>. The squad seemed ill-disciplined and better at manufacturing scandals than victories<\/a>. And now here I am, heading into the winter full of optimism.<\/p>\n The second half of the summer brought a series of outstanding Test and white-ball performances. There is a group of really talented cricketers, a coaching unit that has strong individuals and combinations across formats, and I feel we\u2019re well placed to take on South Africa, who are always going to be tough and competitive, in our next Test series, and to go into next summer benefiting from a sensible, consistent approach.<\/p>\n It has been a long way from the perfect summer, but it is obvious that England are in a stronger position now than they were at the start. From the madness that followed Ben Stokes\u2019s and Gus Atkinson\u2019s night out<\/a> after a promising win over New Zealand at Lord\u2019s, England have rebounded and refined. The Kiwis, in the first red-ball series of the summer, played extremely well and actually exhibited a lot of the attributes England talk about adopting \u2013 resilience, adaptability, doing the basics really well. But against Pakistan we saw a more grownup style of play, leaning on a group of four pace bowlers, all different in their own ways and excellent as a combination.<\/p>\n The removal of Brendon McCullum as red-ball coach felt necessary, and the appointment of Stephen Fleming as his replacement seems astute. It took a while for him to get here, but he seems to have had a series of really good conversations with people in the game, and I believe he and Joe Root will forge a really good partnership.<\/p>\n When Fleming spoke to the media last week<\/a> the word identity came up a lot, as it does often in modern sport. When I joined Middlesex in 1987 they had just won six trophies in six years, they were an elite team, and that word was never mentioned. In the other successful dressing room I experienced, at Surrey in the early 2000s, we had individuals who were highly motivated and highly skilled, we challenged each other every day \u2013 but nobody spoke of identity. But I happened to hear an interview with Fabian H\u00fcrzeler, the Brighton head coach, after his team beat Arsenal in the Premier League<\/a>, and he also spoke about it, and how you can make a big impact from changing small habits. He wants players to be accountable to each other, to give them a say and make sure they\u2019re invested in the team and how they play.<\/p>\n Modern sportspeople thrive off being given more clarity than anybody provided me with in my career, on being given that sense of identity. McCullum arrived with an idea of what that word meant to him, and for a while it helped England thrive, but to me, judging from the messaging that came out in public, it was always a bit one\u2011dimensional. I believe Fleming and Root will create a more satisfying and lasting identity for the Test team.<\/p>\n