Batting coach Marcus Trescothick pleaded for England’s Caribbean tour not to be written off as a failure after “one bad day” left them staring at a demoralising series defeat in Grenada.
England made the running during drawn games in Antigua and Barbados and had everything to play for as they arrived for day three of the third Test decider against the West Indies.
Desperately disappointing with the ball, they watched on passively as Josh Da Silva compiled a maiden century, expertly shepherding number 11 Jayden Seales in a stand of 52.
Their efforts turned their overnight advantage of 28 into a dangerous lead of 93, enough scoreboard pressure to incite the latest shocking collapse from a batting line-up that is building up quite the collection.
At stumps they had limped to 103 for eight, a paltry lead of 10 after Kyle Mayers claimed a rousing haul of five for nine. A West Indian win looks to be inevitable, a result which would leave England winless in their last five series and a solitary win in their last 17 Tests.
But Trescothick did his best to spin a hint of optimism from an ugly scorecard, framing it as an aberration in the narrower context of the last three weeks.
“It’s all gone wrong, yes. We’ve had a really bad day and we’re really disappointed. But it’s easy over the course of what we’ve had over the winter to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he said.
“We believe as coaching staff and players in that dressing room that we’ve made strides as a team over the course of the Test matches we’ve had here.
“We’ve had one bad day today and over the course of the series this is the first bad day we’ve had. Day one in Antigua we had a challenging day but fought back really well and then in Barbados we were really strong and controlled most of the game.
“Today it’s gone wrong, but it’s one bad day among 13 other days. We’ve been better than that over the course of the series but we’ve not turned up and made it work as we have done in previous games.
“We didn’t stand up on the pressure moments when it was going down to the wire.”
England made significant changes after the 4-0 Ashes defeat in January, with head coach Chris Silverwood, assistant Graham Thorpe and director of cricket Ashley Giles all losing their jobs while eight squad members were dropped. Among those were record wicket-takers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, both of whom remain highly interested in resuming their storied careers.
Any further hunger for change would centre on captain Joe Root, who has insisted he wants to remain for the long term but is struggling to post the kind of results he needs to back his position.
“I don’t think you can pinpoint the captain and say it’s his fault. I think it’s the group,” said Trescothick.
“Everyone will regret what happened because we haven’t been good enough as a team and we haven’t performed to the level we’ve put our standards at in the previous two Tests.”
