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scrphil

Listed below are comments made by scrphil between Monday, 11th August 2008 and Thursday, 13th August 2009.

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Mixed emotions for Capello 12:42pm on 13 Aug 2009 Although Ferdinand is an excellent player, in a metaphorical 'fight to the death' where England have to win in adversity I wouldn't want him on my team. I don't think he has the heart of a Gerard or Rooney.
Edgbaston ratings 1:04pm on 04 Aug 2009 Chopping and changing a side rarely works, I'd probably stick with the same English side although I'd be tempted to rest Flintoff for the Oval, where he should be much more effective than Edgbaston or Headingley, and let Sidebottom or Harmison have a go.

You have to bear in mind that England were pushing to score quickly in the 1st innings, also the 2nd innings at Lords so it's a little unfair to criticiase the batsmen for not making 100's. Prior's latest knock although small was significant in resting the initiative, similarly his 50 at Cardiff, he's a great asset.

Swann would be a lot more effective if he had a consistently tight bowler bowling with him, even better if that was a spinner but Colly could fill the role. I wouldn't consider dropping Swann, his dismissals of Ponting at Edgbaston and Clarke at Lords show his ability to bowl wicket-taking balls. He could yet come up trumps for us.

Sure the Aussies have a stronger batting line-up but their bowling really is weak. Johnson has yet to prove himself in English conditions although he's definitely getting better.

The teams are pretty well-matched really but with England there are too many uncertainties and inconsistencies to give me much confidence that we'll hold onto our slender lead.
Getting away with it 10:15am on 13 Jul 2009 It was unbelievable that England got themselves into this situation and a miracle that they got themselves out of it.

I really don't think the Aussies are that much better than us, the batting looks stronger but I don't think their bowling is anything special.

Do we have a team psychologist? The batters can bat but excluding Collingwood they were terrible this time. Somehow, they've got to step up to the plate at Lords.

For me the variety that Sidebottom offers puts him just ahead of Onions. Playing him instead of Monty is the only change I would make. Broad, Anderson and Swann have all performed well enough in the past to be excused a bad match.

And no more 12th men interruptions please, we embarrassed ourselves with that.
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 12:28pm on 13 Jan 2009 I really don't understand the point of this article. He was a combative cricketer with a superb record. He didn't go out there to win friends. Harbajan is pretty obnoxious.

I'd say he was very close to being one of the all-time greats and I'm sorry to see him go. Well played Matthew.
Capello shows the Midas touch 11:22am on 21 Nov 2008 Strong performance but of the reserves only Carrick and Johnson really looked good enough to challenge for places now, Agbonlahor maybe with more experience.

For me, Gerard wastes the ball too often and tracks back too much, but he can score some great goals. I'd probably keep him in.

Lampard seems to have lost the knack of scoring in Internationals and Carrick looked better than him on Wed.

J.Cole is inconsistent but I can't see a strong contender for his place.

Only Barry is a certain pick.
Wallabies devour undercooked England 11:34am on 17 Nov 2008 I've never played rugby so I'm probably talking rubbish, but I don't understand why England never seem to pass the ball along the three-quarter line. Surely the best way of breaking through a good defence is to run at them at pace comitting them to the tackle and then passing short.

Yet England continually slow their attacks by throwing long passes, missing out players, or running into a pack of players and forming a ruck where it takes precious seconds for the ball to emerge. When it does, the defence has re-formed.
No shame to European defeat 5:27pm on 22 Sep 2008
Average40 wrote - birdies is what matchplay is all about.

>> I don't see why that should be the case. I wasn't advocating Carnoustie 1999, just a more standard course. How many times was the 1st halved in birdies ? Too many.
No shame to European defeat 4:53pm on 22 Sep 2008 I wonder whether the course setup should be independently controlled rather than down to the home captain.

Azinger used his control over the setup to great effect. Fair enough, he didn't break any rules by doing that but there were so many birdies on offer, as compared to regular tournaments.

A normal Championship type course would have suited the Europeans much more.

This is not sour grapes. The US played the better golf and deserved their victory.
Graham Gooch's England ratings 4:29pm on 11 Aug 2008 I don't understand why the selectors did not take the chance to try out some of Key, Bopara, Shah, Prior, Foster in the Final test. The win in a dead rubber proves nothing. All of the batsmen with the exception of Pietersen and Cook haven't done enough to ensure selection but we have no basis to judge any of the others.

Panesar looks to have gone backwards in all departments. We have to remedy this quickly.

Anderson did well but he is not as effective abroad where the ball doesn't swing. At least, Siders provides a little variety.

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