Paul Farbrace: England's approach to Test cricket 'fantastic', says former assistant boss
- Published
Paul Farbrace (right) was England assistant coach under both Peter Moores and Trevor Bayliss
England have changed the face of Test match cricket with the way they have approached their tour of Pakistan, says former assistant coach Paul Farbrace.
An attacking declaration in Rawalpindi gave England an early lead in their first series in Pakistan since 2005.
"You could turn up and say it's really tough, a flat pitch, we'll play for a draw," Farbrace told BBC Radio Sussex.
"If you adopt that attitude to sport, I think it's pretty pointless - what England are doing is fantastic."
Farbrace, who took over as head coach at Sussex last week after leaving his role as sporting director of Warwickshire during the summer, was part of the England coaching set-up for five years from 2014 to 2019.
"I was part of the one-day team where we said enough is enough - we're not winning, not producing players to play international cricket at the highest level, we've got to change the way we play," he added.
"We did change the way we played - and through doing that, the world has changed the way they play white-ball cricket."
Robinson 'will get no favours'
Farbrace's appointment at Hove means he will take charge of step-son Ollie Robinson - the Sussex fast bowler who took 4-50 in Pakistan's second innings to help England to their memorable win on Monday.
While the 55-year-old knows their time together will be limited due to the seamer's international duties, he is hoping to tap into Robinson's experiences with the new England set-up.
"I hope he doesn't play too many games for us - I hope he continues to play for England and keeps performing well in Test match cricket," Farbrace added.
"But when he is available, I expect him to be here, setting a good example and showing why he is an England cricketer.
"At Warwickshire, when we used to have [Dom] Sibley, [Olly] Stone, [Chris] Woakes - when they were back in the dressing room, I wanted them there, talking about playing for England.
Ollie Robinson has played for Sussex since joining from Hampshire in 2015
"I wanted them talking about the upcoming series they were going to be involved in or the tour they had just been involved in because that inspires other people.
"If Ollie comes back and he's just played a Test match, tell the lads what you are learning. Why is [Brendon] McCullum so good? Why is [Ben] Stokes such a good captain? What can we learn from them, what can we get better at?
"He'll get no favours from me. I want him to play for England as long as he possibly can but if we've got an opportunity for him to play for us, we'll want him to perform - I'll want him to get five wickets."
'I want to win trophies'
By the time Sussex begin the 2023 season, almost eight years will have passed since they last competed in Division One of the County Championship, having been relegated in 2015.
They have often challenged for promotion during that time but finished seventh, just one place off the bottom, in 2022 and Farbrace says ambitions must rocket.
"The club is in a really good position with so many talented cricketers, fantastic facilities," added Farbrace, who led Sri Lanka to the Twenty20 World Cup in 2014.
"But you don't want to get to a point where your young players become complacent and think 'I'm a young player, I've got time' - there is a bit of patience but they've also got to perform.
"They might be 20, 21, 22 but they are professional cricketers and with that comes responsibility to perform. I'm excited by the potential but we've got to stop talking about potential and start talking about performance.
"And that puts me under pressure because I could hide behind the fact and say, well, it will take two or three years - I haven't got two or three years to mess around and waste, hoping that people come good.
"I want to get stuck in and start winning tomorrow and my expectation - first game of the season, I'll be expecting to win that.
"I want to win trophies, I want to be at Edgbaston for Finals Day with Sussex, I want to be winning the 50-over cup, I want to get into the first division and be fighting against the big teams, the big clubs on a weekly basis.
"No disrespect, I don't want to be in the second division - I want to be challenging against top teams for the County Championship so with that will come a level of expectation from our players."