Confidence shot to pieces
The eighth wicket stand between Paul Nixon and Liam Plunkett allowed England a small measure of respectability, but cannot mask the comfort of New Zealand's win.
The match was all but decided by the dinner break by which time New Zealand had exploited an inexperienced bowling attack and lumbering fielding side to register their highest one-day score against England.
New Zealand set England 319 to win, and such is the level of England's confidence that there was never any realistic prospect of them getting those runs.
They also had to contend with the wily Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel on a surface that offered considerable help to the spinners.
Predictably, their introduction stifled the run chase after England had made a competent start.
Ed Joyce's opening partnership with Mal Loye was the ninth England have tried since the start of last year.
It is anyone's guess who will open in the Caribbean, but Joyce did his previously flagging World Cup hopes no harm with his most assured innings so far.
Then he succumbed to the pressure of the situation by attempting a risky single.
Most of the damage, though, was done in the afternoon.
England bowled so many wides and no balls that they were in the field for close on four hours. New Zealand are a sufficiently able side to take full advantage
Jacob Oram batted magnificently again, powering 35 runs from his last 10 balls.
Chris Tremlett was given a harsh lesson in 'death' bowling. Two length balls were sent scorching back past him for six.
Two small incidents towards the conclusion of the innings symbolised England's powerlessness.
Andrew Flintoff kicked at the turf after Tremlett failed to pull off what looked to be a routine stop on the third man boundary.
Then, after bowling his final delivery, Flintoff hurled the ball at wicket-keeper Paul Nixon.
They were rare displays of public anger from the stand-in captain, understandable in the circumstances, but an acknowledgment of his frustration at being unable to haul his team out of a hole by the strength of his own character or performance.
Only Monty Panesar was able to check New Zealand's progress, admittedly on a pitch he would like to carry round with him.
Panesar is the model for any England recovery. He makes the absolute most of his ability.
We truly are useless. How did it get this bad? How about recalling Ramprakash, Hick and Thorpe as our one-day middle order for the World Cup? Would it do any worse than Strauss, Collingwood and Bell. Of course not! Or if Thorpe won't come out of retirment for Queen and country what about Stewart Law - that would really annoy the Aussies!
Desperate I know - but such is life as an england cricket supporter these days.
Complain about this postIf Andrew Flintoff says 'there were some positives to take from the game' one more time,then i'm afraid I wont be responsible for my actions!
Complain about this postComment? I'm speechless!!
Complain about this postAs usual Monty shows up the rest of the guys with his spirit and positive approach. Apart from him its only Nixon who shows any determination (much as I disagree with him being in the team).
Flintoff seems to have cracked and its a shame to see him looking so forlorn all the time but he did choose the captaincy.
Strauss' bizarre dismissal summarised the whole team - they're beaten and don't know what to do.
Complain about this postComing to Simon's latest blog I was half expecting a resurgent atittude along the lines of
'pluckly Panesar brings England to within a inch of a gloriously brave victory'
or
'Positive signs for England as they give New Zealand a mighty shake'
or even
'Poor umpiring cheats England of yet another victory in Australia'
I guess the English correspondants are all out of wool to pull over their eyes. Mores the pity, as that has been half the fun of this Ashes and ODI series - the continued failures and false dawns.
As an Aussie I will refer to that oft quoted philosopher Conan the Barbarian when asked what the best things in life are...
"...to drive your enemies before you and listen to the lamentation of their women"
I have to agree with that!!
You will have to excuse the schadenfreude.
Complain about this postWhy is Bopara out there? Strauss and Collingwood were out cheaply, yet again, as every Englishman knew they would be, yet Bopara waits in the wings for a chance.
I say it again, this world cup is gone. We should build for the next world cup. So far as I'm concerned, we should ditch Strauss now. He's never going to be ODI material.
Good to see Joyce getting some runs. Good to see Monty continuing to improve. As for Tremlett and Plunkers, well, horrible figures, but you can't expect inexperienced youngsters to be economical at this level. Let's hope they both get better over the next 50 ODIs or so.
Experience is the key. We need to develop 20 ODI players with bags of experience and talnet over the next 4 years.
Complain about this postits not even funny anymore, the way we keep getting trounced is embarassing, the bowling hasnt been bad until jimmy and lewis got injured but weve been batting down to eight in recent matches and stil could ony manage scores of 110,120, how can so many talanted players keep getting out?
Complain about this postEngland are suffering now from looking to far ahead, all the focus was on the Ashes 2006 since 2005, and then to to World Cup, to have sucess in a World Cup you need to have a balance or an idea of the balance of your side from for a few years leading in, England still dont seem to know which way they are going a few weeks before it all kicks of in the caribbean, on this form I wouldnt be suprised if England fail to get out of their group in the World Cup as we shouldnt forget Kenya did make the Semis last time.
Complain about this postOk, another crushing defeat but what did we expect after the dross on the tour so far and now being without our 2 best (remaining) bowlers?
On a positive note, Monty's figures were better than Vettori's, and at least our batsmen got past 200. With such an internationally inexperienced team, we're bound to struggle and putting so many debutants in at once does create problems, but at least Nixon and Joyce are starting to look ok. Loye will eventually come good and, when he does, it looks like he'll be able to win matches single handed.
Is there any news on Trescothick yet? Wouldn't be keen on him walking back into the test team but we certainly miss him in the one dayers.
Team for the WC,
Loye
Vaughan
Bell
KP
Fred
Colly
Nixon
Plunkett (Dalrymple if it spins, todays performance not cancelling out last summer)
Lewis
Monty
Anderson
Not gonna win, but if we ever get over this injury run we might at least compete.
Complain about this postNo Flintoff - there were no positives, we need to come home and think about what this game involves.
Fortunately there are only two more matches to go.
As an aside I got an email from my Bro in Oz this morning, reporting the new ECB phone number:
Complain about this post0800 101010
0800 won nothing, won nothing, won nothing...
Beaten again, this time it was the bowling, except for the mighty Monty that was below par. The batting was ok, if we'd had a target of say 280 we may have got them?
It must be hell being part of that squad. It's easy to knock them but I don't really think they are that bad! I doubt we'll get anywhere near beating the Aussies on Friday nor NZ again but to be fare we could have another 8 games against each and I think we would struggle. They're mentally shot.
Complain about this postAgree, with Nick's comments! The world cup should prove interesting - at present I reckon we should be competing with Scotland and Ireland in that tournament in Nairobi - though I doubt the results would improve! Fletcher out.
Complain about this postAwful awful awful again. Flintoff tells us about inexperience in his post match interview. This will not wash anymore, there are enough experienced players in that team to at least put up a decent fight of it. The guys an embarrasment when he tells the press at least we rescued the bonus point, what about winning the game!!! We must be so bad now Englands plans are to loose but within the bonus point rule
A run of losses is one thing but the gap and manner of the defeats is so humiliating, and not just this winter it goes back in all forms of the game till after the 2005 ashes win. If this was football Fletcher would be long gone and the rest of the back room staff, absolute joke the lot of them. Great holiday for them down under though 3 months in Oz cant be bad, check out Matthew Maynards suntan, can see where hes been focusing in the last few weeks, certainly not the batting prep
Camera scans to the dressing room as we are once again loosing touch in the run chase and what do we see from the England dressing room?laughing and joking eating ice - creams, what a bunch of clowns, could you see Ricky Ponting doing that?? MBEs read Miserable bunch of Emptyheads! Mines a vanilla 99 when your ready Freddie!!
Complain about this postWhen you think New Zealand has only 4million inhabitants to pick a side from and Australia about 15million it truly reflects just how weak we are as a sporting nation.
Complain about this postIt's beyond embaresment now, how low can we really sink. The one day team has been poor for years now but can anyone ever remember a team that was this bad. I cant see us qualifying for the super 8 in the WC, come to think of it we could actually lose all 3 games. Oh well atleast the players get cheared up when then have a pep talk from Fletcher, talk amout morose. Give Botham, Hussain, Gower & Athers a game.
Complain about this postEngland are just God awful at the moment.
I support India, but I'm no England basher. So I give these comments as a "neutral".
#1) Why is Duncan Fletcher being allowed to meander on to the World Cup??
Its no secret he's been rubbish during his tenure as coach in ODIs. I know England have their sights on one of Moody/John Wright/Woolmer, but appointing a temporary coach for the world cup mightn't be such a bad idea?! Ask one of the county coaches to step up?!
#2) Try opening with either Pietersen or Flintoff.
For us, Sehwag started out at no.6 and then went onto become an ODI opener. Sachin bats at no.4 for us in tests, Ganguly at no.5, but they all open. I don't think England should have their feet in concrete - ie, test places MUST be the same for ODI's as well.
I think Pietersen and Loye could be quite destructive.
#3) Who is your wicket-keeper???
England messed up the Ashes Tests by going for an ODI approach to the wicket-keeping solution. Reid was the better keeper, but Jones the better batsman (Allegedly). Now, God knows what they've done .... in the last 12 months, Nixon, Prior, Jones and Reid have all had a go.
Why not just stick with chris Reid??
#4) Harmison to come out of 'retirement' for ODIs.
OK, he's been rubbish in Australia, but the Carribean was the place of his finest hour. I think he should reconsider. Even if its just for that one-off tournament. Yes, its easy to picture him bowling a few 20 run overs at the start and its easy to picture Gilchrist, Ponting, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Sangakkara, Graeme Smith etc tucking into him, but he's got a lot of pace and can get wickets at any time. Even one quality four over spell in the middle of the match can turn a game. Even if he goes 0-30 in the first 4 or 5 overs that he bowls, getting 2-10 in the next 4 or 5 spell might swing a game.
My England team for World Cup:
Pietersen, Loye; 3.Vaughn, 4.Bell, 5.Collingwood, 6.Flintoff, 7.Reid, 8.Anderson, 9.Harmison, 10. Panesar, 11. Stuart Broad.
Complain about this postIt's beyond embaresment now, how low can we really sink. The one day team has been poor for years now but can anyone ever remember a team that was this bad. I cant see us qualifying for the super 8 in the WC, come to think of it we could actually lose all 3 games. Oh well atleast the players get cheared up when then have a pep talk from Fletcher, talk amout morose. Give Botham, Hussain, Gower & Athers a game.
Complain about this post"what about Stewart Law - that would really annoy the Aussies!"
No, that would immensly satisfying, knowing that the english are so desperate they have to resort to using Australia's old, second hand waste.
Complain about this postEngland are just God awful at the moment.
I support India, but I'm no England basher. So I give these comments as a "neutral".
#1) Why is Duncan Fletcher being allowed to meander on to the World Cup??
Its no secret he's been rubbish during his tenure as coach in ODIs. I know England have their sights on one of Moody/John Wright/Woolmer, but appointing a temporary coach for the world cup mightn't be such a bad idea?! Ask one of the county coaches to step up?!
#2) Try opening with either Pietersen or Flintoff.
For us, Sehwag started out at no.6 and then went onto become an ODI opener. Sachin bats at no.4 for us in tests, Ganguly at no.5, but they all open. I don't think England should have their feet in concrete - ie, test places MUST be the same for ODI's as well.
I think Pietersen and Loye could be quite destructive.
#3) Who is your wicket-keeper???
England messed up the Ashes Tests by going for an ODI approach to the wicket-keeping solution. Reid was the better keeper, but Jones the better batsman (Allegedly). Now, God knows what they've done .... in the last 12 months, Nixon, Prior, Jones and Reid have all had a go.
Why not just stick with chris Reid??
#4) Harmison to come out of 'retirement' for ODIs.
OK, he's been rubbish in Australia, but the Carribean was the place of his finest hour. I think he should reconsider. Even if its just for that one-off tournament. Yes, its easy to picture him bowling a few 20 run overs at the start and its easy to picture Gilchrist, Ponting, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Sangakkara, Graeme Smith etc tucking into him, but he's got a lot of pace and can get wickets at any time. Even one quality four over spell in the middle of the match can turn a game. Even if he goes 0-30 in the first 4 or 5 overs that he bowls, getting 2-10 in the next 4 or 5 spell might swing a game.
My England team for World Cup:
Pietersen, Loye; 3.Vaughn, 4.Bell, 5.Collingwood, 6.Flintoff, 7.Reid, 8.Anderson, 9.Harmison, 10. Panesar, 11. Stuart Broad.
Complain about this postEngland are just God awful at the moment.
I support India, but I'm no England basher. So I give these comments as a "neutral".
#1) Why is Duncan Fletcher being allowed to meander on to the World Cup??
Its no secret he's been rubbish during his tenure as coach in ODIs. I know England have their sights on one of Moody/John Wright/Woolmer, but appointing a temporary coach for the world cup mightn't be such a bad idea?! Ask one of the county coaches to step up?!
#2) Try opening with either Pietersen or Flintoff.
For us, Sehwag started out at no.6 and then went onto become an ODI opener. Sachin bats at no.4 for us in tests, Ganguly at no.5, but they all open. I don't think England should have their feet in concrete - ie, test places MUST be the same for ODI's as well.
I think Pietersen and Loye could be quite destructive.
#3) Who is your wicket-keeper???
England messed up the Ashes Tests by going for an ODI approach to the wicket-keeping solution. Reid was the better keeper, but Jones the better batsman (Allegedly). Now, God knows what they've done .... in the last 12 months, Nixon, Prior, Jones and Reid have all had a go.
Why not just stick with chris Reid??
#4) Harmison to come out of 'retirement' for ODIs.
OK, he's been rubbish in Australia, but the Carribean was the place of his finest hour. I think he should reconsider. Even if its just for that one-off tournament. Yes, its easy to picture him bowling a few 20 run overs at the start and its easy to picture Gilchrist, Ponting, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Sangakkara, Graeme Smith etc tucking into him, but he's got a lot of pace and can get wickets at any time. Even one quality four over spell in the middle of the match can turn a game. Even if he goes 0-30 in the first 4 or 5 overs that he bowls, getting 2-10 in the next 4 or 5 spell might swing a game.
My England team for World Cup:
Pietersen, Loye; 3.Vaughn, 4.Bell, 5.Collingwood, 6.Flintoff, 7.Reid, 8.Anderson, 9.Harmison, 10. Panesar, 11. Stuart Broad.
Complain about this postWe are pathetic. Australia will surely want to bat first and look to post 400 in the final game, that will be the final humiliation. It has long since stopped being funny. We invented one-day cricket, and as usual it is a game that has overtaken our capabilities and we have been shown to be incapable of keeping up. Another World Cup disaster beckons. Maybe Flintoff or Pieterson can find some bizarre way to get sent off in a match so we can blame a mad umpire rather than our own inadequacies?
And while we are on the subject why not ask Stuart Law to play? Although goodness knows why he would want to.
Complain about this postHad we not bowled all those wides (nothing to do with 'experience' - just bad bowling) and fielded like we meant it we could have 'only' been chasing 270ish. Less pressure for quick runs, good chance to win.
Complain about this postI can always accept it when we're beat by a much better team, it's just England's dire application of basics that is so depressing us supporters.
While it's the individual player's fault it must also bring into question the leadership, or lack of it, which is there to inspire that focus required to get the basics right.
So it's not just red-hot Australia who can beat England comprehensively. A New Zealand side making multiple errors can do so too......
Thanks goodness England won't make the final but how terrible that we all just want this team put out its misery. Correction- not all of us. If the rest of the review panel are as complacent as Angus Fraser then there isn't a chance of anything changing let alone improving.
According to Fraser, it's fine to treat one-day matches with contempt, any team in the world would have lost 5-0 to Australia and we're the second best team in the world. Even ignoring the arrogance of the first statement I find it hard to believe ALL other teams would have capitulated in the Adelaide Test the way sorry England did.
And can anyone say Australia would be satisfied at being the second best in anything? Would Shane Warne be satisfied being the second best spin bowler in the world? Would Tiger Woods be happy being runner-up in anything? My respect for Pietersen rises each day because I suspect he's the only one among this highly paid, cossetted and blinkered bunch who wouldn't settle for being an also-ran.
Graham Gooch had some interesting things to say on TMS - including that players such as Harmison should have to prove their form to be chosen for the first Test of the summer. But does anyone actually believe this will happen? We know the favoured few will stroll back in the team without having to prove anything and England will stumble on telling themselves how wonderful they are and then showing the exact opposite on the field.
Roll on this weekend and another round of England players' newspaper and online columns telling us how hard they are working and how much they are hurting. I just wish one of them would stand up and say "We're nota s good as we thought we were. We're ashamed and are going to hand our fees to charity because we haven't earned them."
There's no disgrace in losing but the lack of professionalism shown on this tour beggars belief.
Complain about this postWhy has no-one mentioned the fact that Dalrymple is completely useless. He is very average in the field, goes for 9 an over on the most helpful deck he'll ever come across in OZ and since he's played for England, the only thing he has ever achieved with the bat is a bunch of slow pointless 30s when the game is already lost. Utterly talentless. I would also argue with anyone who reckons that Nixon has "come good" after getting 49 today, it was after the game was already lost and there was zero pressure. Why did we fly Bopara out either??
Complain about this postYes, it was fun for a while to see England being bad and remind my friends about it. As it has continued for over a month and getting worse, it's not fun anymore. I actually start feeling sorry for England supporters... (Must be first time)
I have asuggestion; I could gather a bunch of expats from a local pub and we'd be better or at least we'd try harder. One of the boys has been hit by cricket bat so he would obviously be the opener and the boys who toss the pint glasses on regular basis propably could bowl... And as I am not English I would have to be coach.
Could ECB send us few tickets to Oz, please.
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postCan someone please tell me why Stuart Broad isn't in this current tournament squad?
I missed any references to why he wasn't included and don't understand why not.
Please enlighten me.
Complain about this postCan someone please tell me why Stuart Broad isn't in this current tournament squad?
I missed any references to why he wasn't included and don't understand why not.
Please enlighten me.
Complain about this postEngland's poor showing in these ODIs is obviously down to more than just personnel. We've got some decent one-day players, but they're just not getting their acts together. With hindsight the selections of Loye and Nixon were probably a mistake and smacked of desperation. England could do a lot worse than recall Vikram Solanki. He's still a fine player and has got better since taking on the captaincy at Worcs...
Complain about this postThis is not the consequence of a bad tour this is a consequence of 18 months worth of problems most of which have to be said go back to the ECB in a long term view
for example someone said about englands lack of ability as a sporting nation in 2005 were on the road to change that and get kids involved in cricket, with 12 million viewers watching the 4th test, then however the ecb sold out and gave the rights to sky and 200,000 people tuned in to see england play sri lanka, that is pathetic and its killing the sport, how can we expect young people to want to play the game when its not even seeable
The troy cooley issue has been mentioned to death but again the term SELL OUTS must come into it and since then englands bowling has been dire at times
The harmison issue is another appaling situation hes decided he doesn't want to play odis right before a tournement which has the best wickets for him in the world and yet will probably still just slot straight back into a test team with worse form than ever due to not playing, hopefully if moody or an aussie comes in this will be sorted
As for the world cup why has trescothick been counted out already thats ridiculous, we might as well just skip the world cup really and start PLANNING (we haven't done that for a while) for the next world cup
Complain about this postI did read somewhere that Ramps happens to have an average of 100 in county cricket for the last year. So if he is such a great batsman why don't England call him back (considering that England are in such a bad state). Maybe Ramps could turn out to be England's Maichel Hussey.
VN
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postI did read somewhere that Ramps happens to have an average of 100 in county cricket for the last year. So if he is such a great batsman why don't England call him back (considering that England are in such a bad state). Maybe Ramps could turn out to be England's Maichel Hussey.
VN
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postThis is not the consequence of a bad tour this is a consequence of 18 months worth of problems most of which have to be said go back to the ECB in a long term view
for example someone said about englands lack of ability as a sporting nation in 2005 were on the road to change that and get kids involved in cricket, with 12 million viewers watching the 4th test, then however the ecb sold out and gave the rights to sky and 200,000 people tuned in to see england play sri lanka, that is pathetic and its killing the sport, how can we expect young people to want to play the game when its not even seeable
The troy cooley issue has been mentioned to death but again the term SELL OUTS must come into it and since then englands bowling has been dire at times
The harmison issue is another appaling situation hes decided he doesn't want to play odis right before a tournement which has the best wickets for him in the world and yet will probably still just slot straight back into a test team with worse form than ever due to not playing, hopefully if moody or an aussie comes in this will be sorted
As for the world cup why has trescothick been counted out already thats ridiculous, we might as well just skip the world cup really and start PLANNING (we haven't done that for a while) for the next world cup
Complain about this postIt can't get any worse than this. The last time as an England fan I felt this low was that awful day walking through the pouring rain when we were eliminated from the last World Cup. Men like Andrew Flintoff don't kick the turf unless it is bad. THe pride has gone. We desperately need a nice hot morning on the first day at Lord's in the summer to remind the players what playing for England means. Some of them (Flintoff and a few others being exempt) do not care anymore. All they can think about is getting home. Sadly they won't have to wait too long.
Complain about this postAs a loyal England follower for about six years, I spent the early part of this winter livid with the poor performance of the team and the lack of any discernible plan for retaining the Ashes.
By the end, I was beyond all that, in the throws of a resigned malaise. One thing is now clear: give or take the odd pick here and there, I think we have had the best of english talent in the squads for both tests and ODIs.
The fundamental problem is that players raised in England are just not as good as those from Oz, even those from New Zealand. They seem much less driven than their opponents, less focused, less hungry for victory and so, less committed. It shows not only in their batting but their lack of intensity in the field.
Watching the top six Aussies (and even their bowlers) belt sixes over the boundary while our one or two 'big guns' kept on holing out in the deep (while the rest just 'hole out in the shallow') tells me that we're lacking something.
I don't think a quick fix committee will make much difference. It's engrained not only in the county system but into the British psychie. We want to win, but almost appear to be embarrassed to be seen trying.
Complain about this postDuncan - its an emergency, call Andy Flower, Stuart Law and Nic Pothas and send out the English qualified cavalry!
There is no one back in England equipped to sort this mess out. Fletcher must go. In football we see how a change in manager can have an instant impact - getting Peter Moores in now cannot hurt.
Complain about this postIt can't get any worse than this. The last time as an England fan I felt this low was that awful day walking through the pouring rain when we were eliminated from the last World Cup. Men like Andrew Flintoff don't kick the turf unless it is bad. THe pride has gone. We desperately need a nice hot morning on the first day at Lord's in the summer to remind the players what playing for England means. Some of them (Flintoff and a few others being exempt) do not care anymore. All they can think about is getting home. Sadly they won't have to wait too long.
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postwell done liam plunkett, only second chance he's had and did pretty good with bat abd ball in my view considering limited competitive cricket in OZ, plunkett,panesar and joyce were positives in my book.
Complain about this postTruly shocking, it is clear that none of the players want to play for Flintoff, he is an amazing captain, but is really clueless when it comes to captaining.
He has a relaxed attitude which is now being reflected in his teams bowling and fielding.
Why on earth pull Bopara away from the A team and not even play him thats a disgrace. Saj Mahmood offers genuine pace and yet Fletcher/ Flintoff continue to ingnore him.
Dalyrample is not even worth a mention.
Fletcher please choose this squad for the WC and we may have a chance to get to the knockout stages:
1.M. Prior (WK)
2.A. Strauss (V Capt)
3.M. Vaughan (Capt)
4.K. Pieterson
5.P. Collingwood
6.A. Flintoff
7.R. Bopara
8.S. Mahmood
9.G. Chapple
10.M. Panesar
11.J. Anderson
12. L. Sutton (WK)
13. M. Ramprakash
14. I. Bell
15. A. Giles
16. J. Lewis
We clearly need a wicket keeper who can bat. Even if Prior gets us a quick 20-30 that is all we need. We bat up until 9 - chapple has a very decent average. Luke Sutton is extremely positive and one of the best keepers in the country.
I dont care if Ramps is 38 or 78 he is still one of the best batsman we have and I am sure at this stage of his life he can overcome his mental issues which have blighted him in the past. Winning Celebrity dancing would have done him the world of good!
The above side has a mixture of youth and experience and players who wont give up!
Complain about this postas anyone ever given priority to one day cricket in England and now
Complain about this posteveryone is cursing the team, the system and coach. Fletcher should be
relinquished of his duties, not for poor show on field, but, also, for
lying. He said recently that after 2005 World Cup was their aim. He
never revealed that earlier and never said one day cricket was his
priority. As I have said earlier, we need to take some hard decisions,
make two different teams. I would stick with Bell, atleast he has
consistenly performed with score of 30's. Collingwood and Strauss they
are playing like novices, I know there is pressure, but, hey you are
playing at international level not village level. You have to handle
this pressure, well, the way they are playing now, I have no major
hopes for the World Cup. If they make it to semi-finals, I think they
should be given MBE's . Shane Warne rightly ridiculed Collingwood in
the last test match "Boy, you got MBE for scoring 7". We must not
forget that Flintoff is terrible captain and I have no clue who is
running ECB, people running ECB are like Bush running America. There
are no answers just decisions are made.. Well, England at least beat
the Aussies once man c'mon for Christ sake. I think Kiwis can
seriously beat Aussies without much divine help. Only Monty shows the
England pride, to some extent Bell also. I have no clue why Flintoff
keeps on saying Pride...Pride...Pride, but I dont see any when they play
Duncan - its an emergency, call Andy Flower, Stuart Law and Nic Pothas and send out the English qualified cavalry!
There is no one back in England equipped to sort this mess out. Fletcher must go. In football we see how a change in manager can have an instant impact - getting Peter Moores in now cannot hurt.
Complain about this postActually Australia's population is nearly 21 million, not 15. That figure would have been correct 25 years ago.
Complain about this postI would like to complain about all the entries here.
They are all far too nice. This team, and particularly the 'stand-in' captains captaining ability need to be flushed down the loo. Please.
Complain about this postSorry to say this guys, i am bit upset about England playing badly. But all the Gerenals in the Arm-chairs need to know that we have to support our guys for the world-cup. If Kenya can go to the Semis, we can sure aim for that. Our boys now need only our support and i am sure that they will make us proud again. Come on England.
Complain about this postHas anyone ever given priority to one day cricket in England and now everyone is cursing the team, the system and coach. Fletcher should be
relinquished of his duties, not for poor show on field, but, also, for lying. He said recently that after 2005 World Cup was their aim. He never revealed that earlier and never said one day cricket was his priority.
As I have said earlier, we need to take some hard decisions, make two different teams. I would stick with Bell, atleast he has consistenly performed with score of 30's. Collingwood and Strauss they are playing like novices, I know there is pressure, but, hey you are playing at international level not village level. You have to handle this pressure, well, the way they are playing now, I have no major hopes for the World Cup. If they make it to semi-finals, I think they should be given MBE's.
Shane Warne rightly ridiculed Collingwood in
Complain about this postthe last test match "Boy, you got MBE for scoring 7". We must not forget that Flintoff is terrible captain and I have no clue who is running ECB, people running ECB. There are no answers just decisions are made.. Well, England at least beat the Aussies once man c'mon for Christ sake. I think Kiwis can seriously beat Aussies without much divine help. Only Monty shows the
England pride, to some extent Bell.
There appears to be only only England player consistantly able to even equal, never mind surpass, our expectations of them.
Complain about this postWould anyone care to second my proposal that Monty be appointed England captain?
Ed Joyce "succumbed to the pressure of the situation by attempting a risky single?!!" That is simply not true, those are the margins in international cricket. It took an exceptional piece of fielding to meet the challenge of positive running between the wickets.
Frankly your lack of top flight cricket experience is showing....
Complain about this postwhat a mess we find ourselves in, im betting we crash out of the world cup in the first stages.
But before that lets have some sympathy on the players they have been out there for ages, ok its there jobs but its been bloody tough on them. And now they come home and head straight of to the windies. Keep going boys.
Finally someone needs to bring in a proper leader Vaughan is struggling again, freddie is not up to it( but will shine when the captincy has gone), please drop strauss, bring back ronnie irani, or someone who can lead these boys, and will stop making rubbish excuses after every game.
Complain about this postDalyrimple is the Ashley Giles of ODIs. Play Bopara instead. He will do better in both batting and bowling.
Why did England keep the squad "unchanged" last night? What did they like about the previous match performance?
Complain about this postWell what can Andrew Flintoff really say... the guys were awful and shuld go home now. Hes the skipper and he'z tryin 2 rally the team, even though it aint workin it iz worth a try. Ive said it before Flintoff is a great player... but since the Ashes he has been bigged up 2 much by the media. I Respect Flintoff greatly.... but thats my opinion.
Fletcher I think ive given the backing of everyone can bring some positives out of the team, however the performance since the ashes 2005 ave been hurrendous. If England mess up in WC den surely he HAS 2 go! No doubt about it.
Todays performance, there were minimum positives... Im a pakistan fan also, but England all the way in the next 2 games!!!!!!!!
Complain about this postI say, Freddie and KP to open!
They have great partnership and they would be a real successful pair and if not im sure it can't any worse then it is.
Any supporters for this idea??
Complain about this postas anyone ever given priority to one day cricket in England and now everyone is cursing the team, the system and coach. Fletcher should be relinquished of his duties, not for poor show on field, but, also, forlying. He said recently that after 2005 Ashes win, World Cup was their aim. He never revealed that earlier and never said one day cricket was hispriority.
Complain about this postI have always been described as a 'cup-half-full' kind of person, seeing the challenge rather than the problem.
But even I have to admit; England are useless!
They cannot bowl (MP excepted) and we cannot bat (there are a few injuries...)
Please, can they not all follow Harmison's lead and all retire from one day cricket to focus on tests; if they ALL do this then we will not have to face the whole world watching us in the world cup (at least we will not last too long!)
Complain about this postlucky nixon (dropped twice) who they going to bring in next without picking the best keeper by far suppose they will give chris read a couple of games under pressure to score runs, do the aussies pick magrath to score runs, did the windies pick holding and garner to score runs, no they picked them because they were great at their specialised field ie bowling, any runs they did score wre a bonus for their teams why not pick read for what hes brilliant at,(wicketkeeper) and send him in at number ten. let him do his job and get the others to score the runs, every time he manages to get a game,hes under pressure to score runs, doesnt matter that hes saved runs by taking six or seven catches and stumpings in an innings. for gods sake fletcher and flintoff, just because hes not one of the favoured few. see some sense and get him behind the stumps. mind you, suppose geraint has been having a word in your ears and it wont be long before hes back in again will it. so im sorry to say that once again ready your not part of the clicky club that exists and despite being the best at what you do, that isnt enough for the IN CROWD
Complain about this postDalyrimple is the Ashley Giles of ODIs. England should play Bopara instead. He will do better in both batting and bowling.
Why did England keep the squad "unchanged" last night? What did they like about the previous match performance?
Complain about this postbad to worse, we were told the aussies are just the best no one stands a chance, so it's okay, good old fletch has it sorted, remember the 'list'. paul asked why chris broad isn't in well he's not over 30 is he! boycs warned us, we need a new broom get rid of the glamorgan connection(all 3 + graveney) for a start. until they are gone it will not change. there is something not right in the england changing room and it's starting to smell! it is definitely down to management, good players/captain dropped old mates brought in, players stabbed in the back in the press! this tour will have scarred some, (freddy must not captain again, bell is not a good enough no3, mal was always going to hit or miss thats his game). how long must we wait? we could bring the management down, we just don't go to tests and we cancell sky and tell them why! malc
Complain about this postMichael Vaughan has been quoted as saying that the lack of self confidence is cancerous. What do we do with most cancers to treat them - cut them out, cut out the rot and play platers who at least have some confidence, those who walk to the wicket knowing they will be out soon - just shouldn't be playing. If Collingowood was Solanki he would have been dropped after 1 game or be batting at nos 8,9,10. It seems like Fletcher has one rule for him bum chums and another for teh rest of his squads
Complain about this post"Why has no-one mentioned the fact that Dalrymple is completely useless. He is very average in the field, goes for 9 an over on the most helpful deck he'll ever come across in OZ and since he's played for England, the only thing he has ever achieved with the bat is a bunch of slow pointless 30s"
I completely disagree, he is one of England's best natural athletes in the field (second to Collingwood), he is being batted too low (was quite impressive) at number 6 during the summer and his bowling during last summer was pretty useful, it is completely unfair to write him off as rubbish because of one bad bowling spell this tour
Complain about this postTres won't be back in an England shirt anytime soon, if ever, so Mal Loye's worth keeping. It'll be good to have someone (sans Tres) who doesn't treat a boundary like the enemy.
Vaughan at the top of the order. Strauss if Vaughan's unavailable (I mean he’s got to get better sometime, right), hopefully batting through the innings.
Bell has to go. He doesn't like runs. If a madman had a gun to his mum's head and a quick single could save here - sayonara mama! And his previously good fielding is getting worse.
Pieterson up to 3. Best batsman.
Can we do worse by bringing in Ramprakash or Hick to the No.4 slot? If the consensus is "yes, you idiot", then I guess Strauss, Joyce or, heaven-forbid, Bell should get the nod.
Flintoff at 5, Collingwood 6...or vice versa…
No.7: Wicket-Keeper: Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…When's my turn?
No.8: Blackwell - at least he can swing a bat, and let's face it, we're not giving all & sundry a 10 wicket beating as is…any more tickles through to the keeper when we need 4/6s and I'm gonna throw my TV out the window (even if the loss is 'not for the want of trying...') Dalrymple can get back warming the bench…
Panesar & Anderson deserve their spots in the team, but the final bowling place...
I'd lure Harmison back if I didn't think his opening delivery would fly across the Caribbean and through my living room window...I guess Tremlett/Broad/Plunkett/Lewis...pick your poison time.
My World Cup XI:
1. Loye
Complain about this post2. Vaughan (Strauss if MV unavailable)
3. Pieterson
4. Ramprakash/Hick/Strauss/Joyce)
5. Flintoff
6. Collingwood
7. Prior/Nixon/Read
8. Blackwell
9. Tremlett/Broad/Plunkett/Lewis
10. Panesar
11. Anderson
theirs not cheer for us fans. there's something begining to smell in that england changing room! no team spirit, worried players concerned fletchers going to slag them off in the press/ drop them and bring his favourites back. the glamorgan connection( +graveney) must be cleared out!!!until there gone nothing will change! moody /woolmer who cares.
Complain about this postwe could bring them down. don't go to any test matches and cancell sky sports and tell them why. come on lads lets start a union of unhappy fans? malc
Let's not be too hard on Liam Plunkett. The poor lad's bowled so little on tour to date that he should have gone on job-seekers allowance, and on a day that everyone went for 6 an over, is 3-54 all that bad? sure, 7 wides is 7 too many, but you can't expect the lad to do everything right coming off bowling in pub matches. There was a great deal of good bowling amongst that...well perhaps not a great deal of good bowling, but some steady stuff.
Back to the main issue: this is soul-destroying, desperate stuff isn't it? I'm bound to say that these fatuous plattitudes that pour forth after the game are extraordinary. if I didn't know better I would say that Freddie was attempting some sort of satire. i mean, 'we scored more runs than in the last game so that's got to be a positive'? Well yes, Freddie, it's a positive if England have now taken to chasing down their own scores. If you look at it like that we won by 150 runs today, so job done i guess! But seriously, what absolute claptrap! Not only that, insulting claptrap.
I quite agree with those who have expressed reservations, nay, horror at the form of strauss and Colingwood. It pains me to say so as a Middlesex man, but Strauss really does seem to be in need of a break and should not be a first choice batter going into the world cup. Collingwood is more problematic because you've got the perennial problem of the fifth bowler, and Jamy Dalrymple may not yet have the ring-craft for that. However, on balance it's difficult to see how Bopara could fulfil the role any less well, and surely we could share 10 overs between a combination of Bell, Bopara, Pietersen and dalrymple? On that point, what's happened to Ian bell's bowling? Has he gone off the idea?
PS: Graham Gooch's solution to our woes seems to be just to toss in young guns and in effect concede qualification for the super eights before a shot's been fired. so perhaps we can expect James benning and James Hildreth to open the innings in our first match of the tournament. after all, it doesn't matter if they get nought in the first match; so long as they get one in the second, two in the third etc. that's got to be a positive hasn't it?
Complain about this postThere's no excuse. The team playing today is not good enough however when people come back from injury then there's a chance to win World cup. Seriously. It all just depends on how we play on the day as anything could happen. Kenya went to semis and england went to final in ICC 2005 (granted they were at home though).
Complain about this postMy team: Loye, Joyce, Pietersen, Vaughan (cpt), Bell, Flintoff, Collingwood, Pothas, Giles, Lewis, Anderson.
When it comes to the world cup now every low rank team are going to think they are a chance against this current mob and unfortunately for you England fans the lowest point of your team maybe still yet to come.What are the odds of one of these low rank teams having one of their greatest victory in their cricket history?England are primed for that to happen and if it does that is when you will see heads roll.Humiliation could be on the way for this current mob of so-called cricketers and it could get ugly.
Complain about this postOne interesting facet of the game was an incident with Nixon.
He recently gave Hussey a real mouthfull when he got the faintest of edges, was given the benefit of the doubt and did not walk. Hussey was even called a cheat in some of the later blogs.
Noted when Nixon got a big edge, was given the benefit of the doubt, did not walk himself and took advantage of the mistake to post his best score.
Seems a bit of double standards on his part and not mentioned in any of the later blogs.
Wonder why.
Complain about this postAlthough I agree that Fletcher is a constant and not always pleasent suprise when in charge of the ODI squad, it is not all down to him.
He isn't telling the bowlers to dish up wides and half volleys, nor is he telling Colly to chip balls to mid off or Flintoff to keep his feet rooted to the ground. No matter how much any coach corrects/looks after/diciplines a side it's up to them when they're out there and at present it's a vicious circle. The more they get out cheaply the more preaure they feel to score big (which leads to the downfall again)
Complain about this postInjurys have been cruel to England but that is sport. Fletcher and all the back room staff have now got to earn their money and help this group of cannon fodder into a side that remembers what it feels like to actually play well. No miracle will happen in Austalia. They are broken and it's only out in the middle each one of them can start to put the pieces back together
I agree with dexters comment; 4 million nzers to pick a team from, yet england have about 50 million to pick from. Now, logic tells you that England, with cricket as their favourite summer past-time, would be able to notch up a pretty decent team. However, this is not so. England are a bunch of class A cowards when it comes to sport in general. They reach pinnacles ( ie: Ashes 05 and the Rugby World Cup) and then just slack off. There is just something about the sporting mentallity of the English that gives me great pride as a New Zealander to belong to a country where we actually WANT to win.
Complain about this postSeems Nixon suffers from double standards.
He gave Hussey a real gobfull when he did not walk when given the benefit of the doubt when he had a faint edge on a ball, but was happy not to walk himself when he got a big edge last night and got the benefit of the doubt.
Also noted later blogs even called Hussey a cheat.
Note no mention by anyone today and seems only an issue when invlolves others.
Complain about this postMy favourite moment during yesterday's game came early in the English innings, when Flintoff was shown on camera polishing off an ice-cream cone before he'd gone into bat. Soft serve for a soft team. Kenya, come on down.
Complain about this postyes freddie you can say there was a positive to take out of this game, it being you can be on your way home soon, because there sure as hell was no positives to be taken out of the cricket or your captaincy. get real admit the truth you lot (excluding monty) are an embaressment to the england shirt. hope you have asked that nice mr blair for an open topped bus ride through the streets of london, so you lot can stand drunkly, wave and laugh (like your dressing room) while the adoring english public who spent thousands of hard earned cash to go watch you and those who stayed up for countless late nights hurl rotten eggs at you all.
Complain about this postabout time they bought in performance related pay not just for the team but for the management as well, guess they would all be in debt now.
Bob Dylan said it all:
There must be some way out of here
Said the Joker to the Thief
Theres too Much confusion
I can't get no relief
Sack fletcher; make Panesar captain - he seems to be the only player putting in 100% effort in bowling and fielding. ps whatever happened to those pundits telling us we shouldnt pick Panesar because his fielding isnt good enough.
Complain about this postWhy are we even bothered about ODI's?
It's only Pretend Cricket wearing pyjamas. Stuff the "World Cup". Don't even bother turning up to this pointless ICC moneygrabbing exercise. Let's concentrate on getting the proper 5 day game right before we start to worry about 50-over Crikket-Lite.
Complain about this postJust sack the lot of em. They are not worthy of their wages or the privilege of playing for their country. We would be better off fielding one of our county sides (plus Monty) than this pathetic shower.
Complain about this postIsn't it hgh time for Fletcher to leave? I think it is. In fact he should have parted company with the ECB after the Ashes win in England. New ideas and new commitments were needed to beat OZ down under.Now, we are reaping the harvest of a missed decision. Even now, its been left to Fletcher to leave instead of the ECB saying enough is enough - many thanks -and goodbye. My sympathies are very much with our players who quite frankly haven't the heart to put up any decent fight, even against New Zealand.The sooner they are home the better.
Complain about this post22 wides ? 22 wides ? 22 wides ? 22 wides ? 22 wides ? 22 wides ? 22 wides ? 22 wides ?
That would be a dam good score for some of our batsmen .
Monty should go and play for someone else, he could say he was playing for a village team pretending to be the national team. Maybe he can find a relative that was born in Australia.
Dam we are usleless.
Complain about this postDam we are useless.
Dam we are useless.
It must be time for a bad joke.......
The English Cricket team was today given custody of a child in a New Zealand court.
After looking at the child's parents and other relatives the Family Court judge decided that it needed to be cared for by someone who doesn't beat anything.
WTF has happened to English cricket?? Was it really less than 2 years ago that they beat he Aussies for the Ashes?
coem to think of it there seems to be a similarity between the cricket team and the rugby team - both have disintigrated post being on top of the world.
Bit of a shame really.
Complain about this postIt must be time for a bad joke.......
The English Cricket team was today given custody of a child in a New Zealand court.
After looking at the child's parents and other relatives the Family Court judge decided that it needed to be cared for by someone who doesn't beat anything.
WTF has happened to English cricket?? Was it really less than 2 years ago that they beat he Aussies for the Ashes?
coem to think of it there seems to be a similarity between the cricket team and the rugby team - both have disintigrated post being on top of the world.
Bit of a shame really.
Complain about this postSimon,
Complain about this postI appreciate how difficult it must be to commentate on games where your country's team is doing so badly. You do very well, as Aggers did before you - more power to you, mate.
They're playing very badly but they're not bad players, well most of them aren't. It's probably 80% spirit or mental approach and for several reasons they have lost their way. Give Flintoff a rest, use a new captain for the other two games and work on the spirit. It's there, just well hidden at the moment.
Having been at yesterday's game, I have to say that the comments on this blog are far too easy on this England side.
The only guy who performed was Monty, hat off to him.
Various other players looked unable to play cricket at this level (just look at the huge number of wides, including one first ball by Plunkett which set the tone) but more worryingly, looked as though they could not be bothered with the game.
I'm referring to messrs Strauss, Collingwood, Flintoff, Dalrymple and Tremlett. I cannot believe that they are getting paid for their "efforts" - in an ideal world they should be told they will never play for England again after refusing to try to win this game.
Most 10 year olds could have fielded better than Tremlett did - surely he must never pull on an England shirt again. His fielding would be considered a joke by my local 4th grade team here in Perth.
As for the other 4, not one of them batted as though they wanted to try and win. In all honesty it looked as though they were playing to protect their (ever diminishing) averages. As an England supporter, I feel cheated by them.
There is only one word to describe it - unprofessional.
Complain about this postNo comments on Nixon not walking when he was clearly out ? I thought it a very interesting side issue to a one-sided game, or maybe I just imagined all those messages calling Hussey a cheat.
Complain about this postHAHAHAHHAAAHH HAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA..Hurray... Two more loses, that's what I want. England with their condesceding least self-effacing arrogance should loose. They have talent far less than they think. Monty, KP and Freddie that's it, rest can play tri-series with Kenya and Bangladesh and try to qualify for the final. 5-0 Ashes was memorable even for a non-Aussie like me- over hyped players and useless cricket nation I heard "experts" putting NZ and Eng in one zone as one day nations when NZ lost- NZ is the most underated team, they have commitment. Collingwood says "we know we can do better than this.." Even bunch of high schools kids can do better than this- good lord
Complain about this postThere is no excuse for England being not out at the end - if you are falling behind in a one day game you have to go faster - and if you lose your wicket then at least you have tried. It is silly to play at being Trevor Bailey (remember him?) when you are bound to lose.
Complain about this postthese players are a disgrace to there country and to themeslves.
Complain about this postthey get paid great deal of money to play for england but do they care not on your life there only here for the beer as they say.
these players are a disgrace to there country and to themeslves.
Complain about this postthey get paid great deal of money to play for england but do they care not on your life there only here for the beer as they say.
Complain about this postWhat rubbish people talk and what short memories they have. You cant always win , you cant always field a fully fit team , you cant always be motivated for a tour and in this case i also believe many potential participants had other committments over the tour dates so even the unfit ones couldnt really be replaced. As a sporting nation the UK frequently wins , Ashes 2005, Rugby World Cup 2004 or maybe 5 , most successful soccer premier league in the world, most teams in the Champions League Final over past 10 years, most players in the last 4 winning European Ryder Cup Golf teams, one of only 7 countries to EVER win a World Cup, frequent medals in Olympics, most golds ever won by olympic rower....i wish people wouldnt critisise their own. The Australians dont seem to and they have less mens tennis players in the Top 100 than the UK. Be proud...everything is not cricket and even there what comes around , goes around so they will come back and win at somepoint...chill out guys.... !!!!!!!!!!
This is happening far too often for my liking. I come home from work in Sydney and each evening I seem to end up watching a bunch of over-paid multi-coloured muppets attempt to put together a decent score.
Loye is a joke. I'm waiting for him to try this slog sweep off Brett Lee one day and get one straight in the grill.
Strauss should be rested now before any further damage is done to his confidence between now and the World Cup.
Joyce & Bell both have potential but find fielders all too often and don't work the ball enough for singles and twos.
It appears Freddy has given his all, come up short and his heart isn't in the competition any longer. He is a good tactician but he should be relieved of the captaincy immediately as we need a Mr Motivator.
Collingwood's position must be under threat in both forms of the game. You can't get picked purely on fielding. He has no game plan or any idea how to nudge the ball around.
Dalrymple fails to impress with both bat & ball....I think Vaughan can do a much better job as a second spinner than JD.
Nixon has passion and likes a spat with anyone which I like but that is all he has got. 36, bald, can't bat and by heck he can't keep.
Tremlett and Plunkett can't be the future of Englands' fast bowling ranks can they?! I will include Lewis in there also who will go for 6 an over more often than not unless bowling on a northern English green top.
Monty can hold his head up high and he seems to be the only player on the whole tour who has improved his game.
Give Bopara a go for the WC along with Broad. Turn Bell into the new Alec Stewart so he can keep. Why not Hoggy for the one dayers?
Let's kick Nixon, Tremlett, Loye, Dalrymple and Plunkett into touch.
So what would be my best squad for the WC?
Complain about this postAnswer: I've got as much idea as the selectors
Having sat through two dismal days of test matches in Melbourne, today I gave away my first final ODI tickets away, as England wont be in them.
It is truly c@#p that a side of pro sportman can play this bad - it also time for Fletcher to be put out to grass. ECB should consider ticket refunds.
Complain about this postI think they need to recruit Gough from Beach Cricket.
Complain about this postI notice that the umpiring decision which gave Nixon a 'not out' when he was caught behind was not mentioned in this article or in any of these posts....
There was a lot of people whining about the decision for Hussey (and his decision not to 'walk') a few weeks ago. In these blogs, Hussey was called unsportsmanlike and a cheat!!!
Now it is an England player who is on the favourable end of a similar decision, and it goes without a mention?!!!!
Complain about this postWell, England lost again, not surprisingly though. The Old Enemy has had a dreadful tour all in all and I would suppose that the tedious bore of the long haul flight soon awaiting the players must now appear like the one shining light at the end of this dark to near pitch-black tunnel they seem to be trapped in. Yes, I am an Aussie, but I'm not an Aussie delighting in England's misery, no, not at all.
As a person who enjoys and admires cricket for what it is: a great sport, in the true sense of sport, I think it has been a terrible shame for all involved, especially the spectators (and on both sides), that England have performed so poorly in the tests and now in the one-dayers. It is only my opinion, but I am inclined to conclude that England's problem for this tour was as follows: 1- poor attitude to start with: that they seemed to come here like they were going on holidays and that all they had to do was turn up to the ground and all would favourably fall into place for them; and 2- poor preparation: with that first game at the Gabba being more like a warm-up, or at least treated as a warm-up in hindsight, that is, accepting the loss but taking some positives out of it with some players starting to find form...well surely that's what the team should have been doing in having a number of serious tour matches against Aus domestic sides before that first test at the Gabba; and 3- poor approach to the game: namely in the second test at Adelaide, where England could and should have won, but instead settled for a draw, when on the flip side Aus were staring down the barrel of defeat but instead of accepting it or even hoping for a draw they still aimed for and believed they could win, and did, and in consequence England lost and there and then, in my opinion, lost the Ashes; and 4- poor selection choices: in picking some players too late, players who should have been given a go in the tests from the outset, and now in the one-dayers chopping and changing in a frenetic manner that snacks of desperation.
Yet, I don't think all is lost for England. I believe that England have to settle on certain players, a core group, have faith in them, give them a genuine go, and rebuild the team and the team spirit. What about putting Cook in the one-day side; he's in the 30 man squad for the World Cup, and he showed some promise in the tests. I'm a bit old fashioned maybe, but I believe a good cricket player is a good cricket player and I think too much is made of players being specialist test players or conversely specialist one-day players. And what about Hoggard, again he's in the 30 man squad for the WC, and without a doubt he is one of England's best bowlers, and so surely he should be entrusted to do the job in the one-dayers as he is in tests. Obviously Simon Jones is another name to throw in there, when he's fit of course. There's probably a few other talented players to put in the mix, like Owais Shah, and certainly Chris Read should be give the gloves, and in both forms of the game, as he should have been given them from the start of the tour if indeed he is England's best wicket-keeper, as he is touted to be.
Again, maybe I'm out-of-step here or perhaps it is too simplistic an attitude, but I believe that the selectors ought to pick the best batsman and have faith in them, pick the best wicket-keeper and let him do his job, and pick the best bowlers and expect them to bowl the right length and line game in game out, for in a sense it is true what is often said: that bowlers win matches, and England do have some fine bowlers: Flintoff, Hoggard, Jones, Panesar, and Anderson too, who just needs more opportunities to learn and mature as a fast-bowler; I would include Harmison but he is now retired from one-dayers. England have some good batsman too, like Pietersen obviously, Vaughan, and also Strauss, Collingwood, Bell, Cook, and not to forget Flintoff, who I think should bat down the order and there left to be an allrounder, a big hitter in other words.
So I don't think it is all doom and gloom for England. They just need to go home and start again. Yes, go home, make a new start, select a core group, namely the best players in the country and have faith in them and give them a chance to settle and regain their confidence, and perhaps this can also be achieved by getting back to basics in the game, that is, concentrating on doing the simple things and doing them right; and what's more, I would suggest playing the best players in both forms of the game, disregarding consideration for who is more of a test player and who is more suited to one-dayers...a good cricket player is a good cricket player and skill and talent and confidence are what's required in cricket and in both forms of the game, no difference.
Lastly, a fighting spirit is what seems to be sadly missing and therefore what's certainly needed, and although Flintoff continues to say that the English lads have plenty of spirit I would suggest that if that were so it would show in the results...and one only needs reflect on what happened in Adelaide, in the second test, and more recently in the one-dayers. I'm not particularly an advocate for sacking coaches when a team is performing poorly, at least not as a knee-jerk reaction, for I believe that the mirror has to be turned on the players first and foremost as much if not more so than the coach. Still, I think what a new coach can do is give the sense of a fresh start as well as bring in some fresh ideas and approaches to the game for the team, and this can go a long way too in instilling the required self-belief again. And so, although I don't believe that replacing Fletcher is the answer, at least not the be-all end-all answer, certainly not a quick-fix to the problems, I am nonetheless inclined to suggest that a new coach is desirable, in addition to other approaches the ECB needs to take to resurrecting England in world cricket.
One final consideration the ECB might need to someday make, though probably never will, is an overhaul of the English county cricket system. If I'm not mistaken there are something like 18 or so teams in county cricket, which perhaps is too many to enable a tight and consistently strong competition to flourish, such as we have here in Aus, with our domestic / state cricket that has only 6 teams. Some Australian cricketers whom have played in English country cricket have compared it to Aus club cricket, and if that is indeed the case it seems obvious then that England needs another tier of domestic cricket competition to breed players more readily able to step into international duties. And certainly common sense dictates that less teams in a comp tends to result in greater competition which in turn raises the bar for the players, in regards to skill levels and experience. Maybe what English cricket needs is some sort of system like what's in place for football (soccer) there, that is, with several leagues for the county teams; I don't know, it is just a thought.
Anyway, I do think England can climb out of this deep hole they have fallen down in / or dug for themselves (depending on perspective). Yes, they certainly came bounce back from this painful and at times embarrassing experience. Maybe too it is a blessing in disguise, for Aus came home from Ashes defeat and took a hard look at themselves: the players and the ACB and made necessary changes and have since gone from strength to strength. Also, at the very least the injuries to English players has allowed other players to be exposed to the big time, like Ed Joyce who might prove to be a future talent for England. Still, some simple common sense approaches to addressing and fixing the obvious problems is what's required and surely must await the ECB, that and some time, a bit of patience therefore. What would perhaps be the worst mistake of this tour is if the players and the ECB do nothing or very little when they get home. Everybody involved, and certainly the ECB, needs to learn from this and do something about it, something real, taking some tangible steps to making the necessary positive changes. And for the sake of English cricket and indeed world cricket let's hope they do.
Complain about this postRefering to comment by Lambesh.
I think Lambesh put's everything in perspective. Although he is trying to stand up for the team by saying everyone needs to support them, he also wants to aim for what Kenya have already done.
Will England even be at the next WC?
At least the Kiwi's have supplied some competition. Maybe the England team can challenge the Aussie primary school kids.
Complain about this postI absolutely agree with Gary # 59 I think, the fact that Adam Gilchrist is good enough to open in cricket, has masked the reason he is really there - to keep wickets. Other teams seem to feel they have to pick a keeper on his batting. Ian healy couldn't bat much when he became Australian keeper, but practise and determination made him a good solid lower middle order batsman.
Complain about this postPick the man for the job. Make your batsmen score the runs - it's their job!
What rubbish people talk and what short memories they have. You cant always win , you cant always field a fully fit team , you cant always be motivated for a tour and in this case i also believe many potential participants had other committments over the tour dates so even the unfit ones couldnt really be replaced. As a sporting nation the UK frequently wins , Ashes 2005, Rugby World Cup 2004 or maybe 5 , most successful soccer premier league in the world, most teams in the Champions League Final over past 10 years, most players in the last 4 winning European Ryder Cup Golf teams, one of only 7 countries to EVER win a World Cup in soccer, frequent medals in Olympics, most golds ever won by olympic rower....i wish people wouldnt critisise their own. The Australians dont seem to and they have less mens tennis players in the Top 100 than the UK. Be proud...everything is not cricket and even there what comes around , goes around so they will come back and win at somepoint...chill out guys.... !!!!!!!!!! Dont mention population size vs success either ....India has a billion , not 4 million, 20 million or 45 million!!!!
Complain about this postanother truly pathetic performance. is tremlett possibly the slowest player in the oufield in history!
bring back ramps-at least my missus won;t mind watching if he's strutting his stuff!
and time for a change in management. fletcher to stay as test coach but tom moody to liven things up in one-day arena.
and, why is it that when other lower order batsmen hit it, it goes for six. ours barely breach the inner ring!!!
Complain about this postThis is depressing.
And I'm Australian.
If the English players can't even muster the will to *try* to win - and most of the squad cannot, surely, expect to claim that they actually made an effort - when playing against New Zealand, they have no prospects of future success. None.
Complain about this postMessage to Duncan:
Complain about this postThe main thing missing from the England side isn't Tresco, Jones, Vaughnan, nope it's ATTITUDE. The Aussies have it in bucket loads, in 2005 England had it too, and remember what happened?
So get the players really angry, I mean REALLY angry & fired up, don't just mope around. There are really good players in the team, but they need to be pumped up, REALLY pumped up - on this tour they have not been, even from that first ball in the first test. Now, use that frustration and get the players angry and therefore determined to hit back HARD. Do that and you'll win, FACT!
Where has it gone so wrong? Freddie Flintoff despite an awesome cricketer has shown like Ian Botham before him, his own performance suffers - and cannot inspire those around him. The ECB need to be bold and hand the reigns to Andrew Strauss - then stick to one side both in the One-day arena and Test match. I feel Fletcher's time may be up also. He has taken this side to new heights and the fans will always apreciate that. The way this tour has been handled only serves as a point blank statement that it time for a fresh change in the team.
Complain about this postPrior to the 2007/2007 Ashes series a lot of media speculation warned Monty Panesar of the negativity (racial and otherwise) that he might expect from the Australian public. Guess who is now the most popular England player with the local people? Because of his guts, grit, enthusiasm and determination, his playing skills and his ability to flash that great smile in the face of adversity, Monty is at least one England winner in this otherwise lack-lustre series.
Complain about this postOops! One small error in my previous post ... of course I meant the 2006/2007 Ashes series :)
Complain about this postI think the ICC membership should be maintained just like Premiership league. If some team do not perform well, they should be DEMOTED to Associate Membership and best-performing nation with Associate membership should be Promoted to Full membership. Its too pity to see England performing this bad this season. SPONSORS and ORGANISERS of big event, Beware - Engalnd has become a Barking DOG- one who barks a lot but do not bite!!
Talk, Talk and Talk - thats what England does - Get them out of ICC membership. England can enjoy some victory only if they play with Fiji or Nepal :)
Complain about this postSeems Trescothick had the right idea and got back on the plane before the first game.
Peitersen took off as soon as he could. The door certainly did not him on the arse on the way out!
I wonder how many other players now wish they had done the same?
Complain about this postThe Quen, or rather that toady Blair, hands out Honours to the England Rugby World Cup & Ashes teams. What happens, the glory goes to their heads where there's plenty of room due to the abscence of brains (with one or two notable exceptions) and the art of winning is forever lost.
This cricket tour down under has been an absolute disgrace, particulary to us Australians of recent English habitat, and the sooner English cricketers realise that to 'finish first', 'first you have to finish' then Ashes series will be worth watching again.
Flintoff & Panesar would both get selected for any Australian team, as both have the skills & the desire to give more than the required 110% every time they pull on an England shirt. As for the rest, please don't sentence them to life in a convict colony as they don't deserve that privilege.
QED
Complain about this postTonyD:
I don't really agree that Flintoff or Panesar would be 'picked for any Australian team'. Yes - those guys are telented and are proud to play for their country (something that surely should be a prerequisite for playing professional sport?!!!) but you have to be consistently IN FORM to play for Australia, otherwise you get dropped from the team....
Ask Gillespie, Clarke, Symonds, Kasper etc...
Complain about this postTonyD:
I don't really agree that Flintoff or Panesar would be 'picked for any Australian team'. Yes - those guys are telented and are proud to play for their country (something that surely should be a prerequisite for playing professional sport?!!!) but you have to be consistently IN FORM to play for Australia, otherwise you get dropped from the team....
Ask Gillespie, Clarke, Symonds, Kasper etc...
Complain about this postJust out of curiousity, does anyone think that Paul Nixon should have been accused of bad sportsmanship like Mike Hussey was?
Nixon got a definite inside edge and was given not out. Didn't see him walking either...
Complain about this postthe difference is the attitudes. ricky ponting is angry at his bowlers after putting on 343 against new zealand, whereas flintoff is laughing in his interview after failing again. instead of ignoring the problem we're just hoping players who fail time and time again will come good, when in reality they have shown it's not likely that they will.
Complain about this postI have refrained from bagging the English over the summer, but really the one day side should pack up now and go home. You guys have got to realise the correlation of one day and tests, they go hand in hand with the one day game producing the type of fielding needed to be the best in test matches. I wish Freddie and the boys all the best for the future, I hope they can pick themselves up again for their next series.
Complain about this postI can't believe you English thought you could win the Ashes. In saying that I feel sorry for the England in that they are totally imcompetent when it comes to playing the game.
The World rankings are enough to make any englishman weep (they don't weep very often).
From an arrogant Aussie with a huge ego.
P,S. Kenya are winning a few at the moment. Would be great to see them surpass England!
Complain about this postHow un-Engish it was for the middle order to surrender in the way they did, they should be ashamed!!
Complain about this postPerfectic. An unmitigated disaster, hopeless optimisim coupled with a refusal to acknowledge that certain players are simply not good enough and should be excluded. Fletcher should carry the can and Flintoff should never be made captain again, as the only time we've one, and that was only just, vaughan was back and he played like he should. That not to say that hopeless Strauss should be captain. I'd give it to Monty.
Complain about this post'As a sporting nation the UK frequently wins , Ashes 2005, Rugby World Cup 2004 or maybe 5 , most successful soccer premier league in the world, most teams in the Champions League Final over past 10 years, most players in the last 4 winning European Ryder Cup Golf teams, one of only 7 countries to EVER win a World Cup in soccer, frequent medals in Olympics, most golds ever won by olympic rower....'
This is classified as frequently winning? Easily pleased
Are you sure about some of your stats? Most teams in the Champion's league Final over the past 10 years-I think you find spain, italy and germany have had more teams in the finals.
The Football WC was 40 years ago, and Europe wins the Ryder cup not the UK, and you have not won frequent medals over the last olympics-only some medals.
Apart from that, the UK do win a little bit.
Complain about this postRe Post#18 James W wrote:
""what about Stewart Law - that would really annoy the Aussies!"
No, that would immensly satisfying, knowing that the english are so desperate they have to resort to using Australia's old, second hand waste. "
Complain about this postIt was a bit of a waste that Stuart Law never got to play more for Australia. He was just playing in the wrong era competing with too many other great batsmen.
As an Aussie I would be kinda happy to see him given another shot at the big time and would wish him well, even against the Australian team.
Doubt it will happen though.
How does paul Collingwood get to write a column? Surely it should be by a respected player who has earned it. Who listens to an average player with limited ability and wouldn't get a game with Zimbabwe.
Complain about this postI'm sure England will come out of this slump, possibly even during the world cup (although judging by how low spirits are at the moment probably not). When they do I hope the success will be greeted with a little bit of humility (unlike the overreaction to the Ashes win) - maybe then we can stop being so pathalogically self loathing during the bad times.
Complain about this postWe miss-handle a ball that should have been fielded - we smile; we bowl a bad ball - we smile; we hit out at a ball we should leave - we smile! When is a member of the England cricket team going to show disappointment, anger, spirited-disapproval with himself? The posh cars are in their garages - when are they going to earn them? The Aussies did not make excuses when they lost the Ashes - they worked at it and took them back, in a style which humiliates the English spirit. We could forgive them if they tried - but they just went along for the ride. And the money.
Complain about this postRe: Post#69 Mike Little wrote:
" One interesting facet of the game was an incident with Nixon.
He recently gave Hussey a real mouthfull when he got the faintest of edges, was given the benefit of the doubt and did not walk. Hussey was even called a cheat in some of the later blogs.
Noted when Nixon got a big edge, was given the benefit of the doubt, did not walk himself and took advantage of the mistake to post his best score.
Seems a bit of double standards on his part and not mentioned in any of the later blogs.
Wonder why. "
Complain about this postAnd the New Zealand keeper accepted the decision with a bit of a smile at Nixon.
(instead of carrying on like a pork chop - as Nixon did in the Hussey incident)
No posts deriding Nixon's lack of sportsmanship?
Thought not.
For me an over haul of the ODI team needs to take place, including the manager. Fletcher has done a great job for England but all good things come to an end. Darren Lehmann is a very exciting, innovative and interstin choice in my opinion. I feel he would bring a new attitutde to the England team and of course him being Australian would help install self belief and confidence that we are obviously lacking at the moment.
In terms of the team I think Fletcher has made serious errors but also been unlucky. Tresco, Vaughn, Jones, Harmison and KP are big big players to lose and every one should remember that. Also, asking people such as Loye, Joyce, Dalrymple and nixon to come in and adapt immediatley to international cricket in the toughest place is a huge ask.
However, I feel that Fletcher should have gone for players such as Foster, in my view now the best keeper/batter in the country. Forget his previous experience as he was a kid and plucked ut of a university course to go to inida. He showed he had nerve and bottle then but kow has the talent and more importanlty experienece. Secondly, give stuart borad a chance in place of tremlett, anderson and mahmood who have proven on this tour that they are simply not yet ready. I would also like to see Robery Key, James Benning, Bopara an Onins given a chance. It is clear Bell, Collingwood and Strauss need resting and have mental and physical scars from thgis tour.
Finally, I would give ramps another go. With these new players coming in who are all young, it would be perfect to bblood ramps in the middle of the rder to hold the innings together and let everyone else bat round him, plus he is still the classiest player in the country.
Thanks
Complain about this postPost#92 Rhys Needham wrote:
"I think they need to recruit Gough from Beach Cricket"
Yep. Gough would show them what pride in your country is about.
Complain about this postOne of the few Poms I consider good enough to have been an Aussie. I'm not just talking about talent, I'm also talking about attitude.
This is getting beyond a joke. Something has to change.
Collingwood needs to get in the nets instead of writing columns for the BBC.
The fielding reminded me of the young kids you see come on in the lunch break at test matches.
They have 2 matches left to regain an ounce of pride - good luck!
Complain about this postTwo points -
a) England and New Zealand should, at least on paper, be of equal standard. look at the world cricket league yesterday and Scotland's demonstration of how to chase a big total against a team of equal ability.
b) The England selectors need their head examined. There is no attempt at logical thought on team selection. The current plans need to be re-thought and a fresh sheet of paper used. Of yesterday's team the only ones retained should be Loye, Flintoff, Monty and Collingwood, but in wholly different roles. Add KP to the mix and bring in the following team:-
1. Loye
2. Ramprakash
3. KP
4. Maddy
5. Solanki
6. Flintoff
7. Davies (WK)
8. Collingwood
9. Vaughan
10. Broad or Anderson
11. Monty
With this line we would enable our best captain (Vaughan) to plav without having to be a front-line batsman, and reduce the stress on his injured knee. Those of us old enough to remember will recall that Mike Brearly, an extremely able captain and specialist batsman, used to bat at 7 or 8, behind the all-round talents of Knott, Botham and Randall
Collingwood would be forced to use his able bowling more, and be a genuine three-part all-rounder(batsman, bowler and fielder) and it will be more effective on West Indian pitches than it is in Australia.
Flintoff could forget about being captain and concentrate on being an effective bowler and batsman.
The bowling may look light but watching the Stanford 20/20 last year made me realsie that a lot of the West indian teams used two, three or even four slow bowlers in that format. A team which has two quality fast bowlers, a good spinner and four back up bowlers of varying pace should be adequate. Does it really matter whwther we chase 280 or 320 - the batting needs to have depth, explosiveness and the ability of the captain to change the batting order to suit conditions/ match situation.
Complain about this postRe Post#94 by O. Thomas
Lordie Thomas, your post is 1500 words long!
Complain about this postIt's supposed to be a comment, not an English essay. ;-)
"...to drive your enemies before you and listen to the lamentation of their women"
HAHAHAHA! That's it mate, hit the nail on the head.
Complain about this postWhy did the English bother coming out if this was all they were going to offer.
Are you English fellows and felletes aware that tickets which were selling for A$50-100 are now selling on Ebay for as low as $5! Everyone is so over the abysmal display England have dished up.
What an anti-climax this whole summer's cricket has been.
Unfortunately, yesterday was not a one-off, or even just part of a poor recent slump.
England has been limping along in ODI's for over 10 years. Displays at the 96, 99 and 03 World Cups were dreadful, and 07 will be no better.
Occasionally there have been good performances but in general they are miles behind the rest of the world.
Since Fletcher took over he has done some good things. One of which was to take players out of a mediocre county system that still fails to produce a significant number of top quality cricketers.
We have no strength in depth whatsoever in either Tests or ODI. Our top players are totally unable to consistently adapt to two different forms of the game, and rarely do we have players in the top 10 rankings.
Fletcher seems to have got a good approach to tests, but how long will this last if we continue to fail at ODI's?
The whole structure of County Cricket has to change - traditionalists won't like it, but if we want to compete then it has to change. Less games, considerably less players and more intense, tougher competition is needed to produce the type of international cricketers required.
The Counties are so out of touch. I mean it was only last year that they introduced a 50 over cup competition. County Cricket should only exist to produce England players. Changing coaches and captains will not resolve England's main problems.
Complain about this postUnfortunately, yesterday was not a one-off, or even just part of a poor recent slump.
England has been limping along in ODI's for over 10 years. Displays at the 96, 99 and 03 World Cups were dreadful, and 07 will be no better.
Occasionally there have been good performances but in general they are miles behind the rest of the world.
Since Fletcher took over he has done some good things. One of which was to take players out of a mediocre county system that still fails to produce a significant number of top quality cricketers.
We have no strength in depth whatsoever in either Tests or ODI. Our top players are totally unable to consistently adapt to two different forms of the game, and rarely do we have players in the top 10 rankings.
Fletcher seems to have got a good approach to tests, but how long will this last if we continue to fail at ODI's?
The whole structure of County Cricket has to change - traditionalists won't like it, but if we want to compete then it has to change. Less games, considerably less players and more intense, tougher competition is needed to produce the type of international cricketers required.
The Counties are so out of touch. I mean it was only last year that they introduced a 50 over cup competition. County Cricket should only exist to produce England players. Changing coaches and captains will not resolve England's main problems.
Complain about this postUnfortunately, yesterday was not a one-off, or even just part of a poor recent slump.
England has been limping along in ODI's for over 10 years. Displays at the 96, 99 and 03 World Cups were dreadful, and 07 will be no better.
Occasionally there have been good performances but in general they are miles behind the rest of the world.
Since Fletcher took over he has done some good things. One of which was to take players out of a mediocre county system that still fails to produce a significant number of top quality cricketers.
We have no strength in depth whatsoever in either Tests or ODI. Our top players are totally unable to consistently adapt to two different forms of the game, and rarely do we have players in the top 10 rankings.
Fletcher seems to have got a good approach to tests, but how long will this last if we continue to fail at ODI's?
The whole structure of County Cricket has to change - traditionalists won't like it, but if we want to compete then it has to change. Less games, considerably less players and more intense, tougher competition is needed to produce the type of international cricketers required.
The Counties are so out of touch. I mean it was only last year that they introduced a 50 over cup competition. County Cricket should only exist to produce England players. Changing coaches and captains will not resolve England's main problems.
Complain about this postUnfortunately, yesterday was not a one-off, or even just part of a poor recent slump.
England has been limping along in ODI's for over 10 years. Displays at the 96, 99 and 03 World Cups were dreadful, and 07 will be no better.
Since Fletcher took over he has done some good things. One of which was to take players out of a mediocre county system that still fails to produce a significant number of top quality cricketers.
We have no strength in depth whatsoever in either Tests or ODI. Our top players are totally unable to consistently adapt to two different forms of the game, and rarely do we have players in the top 10 rankings.
The whole structure of County Cricket has to change - traditionalists won't like it, but if we want to compete then it has to. Less games, less players and more intense competition is needed to produce good international cricketers.
County Cricket should only exist to produce England players. Changing coaches and captains will not resolve England's main problems.
Complain about this postactually i want 2 ask u guys.. is ther any experienced players in current England team.. Other International Teams hav sum gud experienced players ( who r aged though)
Complain about this postI blame the English selectors for this. They sent a weak, half-fit team to play the best team in the world. Players like Plunkett and Giles won't figure in most teams' lineups. They win one series, and everyone gets OBEs. These clowns should watch American sports to see what professionalism truly means.
Complain about this postThe test side has lost the plot lets be honest, it's absolutely nothing without Trescothick, Simon Jones and Vaughan. Strauss should be dropped just in the way Jones was, because his average over the past few games hasnt been significantly better than Jones' was! A new look side would be beneficial, and there shouldnt be such a difference between the test and one day sides!
Cook
Trescothick (if fit?!)
Bell
Vaughan
Pietersen
Flintoff
Dalrymple
Nixon
Broad/Panesar
Anderson
Harmison
As for the one day side, on balance of recent performances from a weak England side i think the selectors have no option but to chance their arm and go for young guns instead of the current misfiring old heads! i mean, how much worse can it get lets be honest! Use these last two games (no chance of getting into the final) before the world cup as a challenge for some of the younger lads to prove what they can do. I would go with this team:
Loye
Cook
Joyce
Bell
Bopara
Flintoff
Nixon
Dalrymple
Plunkett
Broad
Panesar
This gives strong opening bowling from the like of Flintoff, Plunkett and Broad, with good back up from Panesar and possibly Dalrymple, Whilst giving an extremely strong batting line up with Stuart Broad, a more than capable batsman at 10!
Comment with what you think!
Complain about this postHas anyone noticed that almost half of the posts on this blog have been doubled up? I noticed a few that were posted three or four times and even one that went on five times! Seems even the moderator can't get his/her act together...
Complain about this postAnne (post 96) has it exactly, If the specialists did their job properly we would not need to fudge so called teams full of jacks of all trades.
England is the only country that fields completely different test/ODI teams. We are eighth ranked in the world on a good day. Is it not time we woke up reality?
Complain about this postOk. We're poor at one day cricket. We're not going to win so we might as well have fun at the World cup.
Bring back the old boys for a whiff of nostalgia - Stewart can still keep, Gough is better than the young lads, and Tufnell is good for a laugh on the boundary. It would be fun to see Botham again as well. And why not give Aggers another chance? He could commentate through a hands free mike whilst bowling (determined, well meant and well directed) moderately paced lollipops to all and sundry.
It's either that, or clone Pieterson (1-7) and Panesar (8-11). Hey ho.
Complain about this postThis article was well crafted unlike both of Mr Mann's ODI Team selections.
Complain about this postNice to see the media are as consistant as ever, kick you when you're down. We can all see we're in bad shape. I went to Oz to watch the Ashes so i've seen it first hand and i've watched all the one dayers on tv. I now live in NZ and have lived in Oz in the past.
Complain about this postAustralia take cricket very seriously, i'd go as far as to say its the number one sport even infront of aussie rules. They have academys for kids that are full and run right up to getting them into an adult town/county team. They coach the talent properly give out scholorships sponserships anything to keep the talent interested, all the time telling the kids when you grow up you'll be good enough to play for australia and beat England. They have cricket nets in local parks for heavens sake! We'd just build another house on the area. Thats the difference.
Respect to NZ tho the're in a simalar situation to us, just the other way round poor at tests pretty good at one dayers. The country is in love with rugby like we are with football, so the kids dont take as serious a look at cricket as the assuies.
I have no shame in losing to a team that plays better cricket tho and now im getting stick off the Kiwis too.
As much as it pains me to say this but enjoy this aussie side for what they are, just a brilliant team at the top of there game. The scary thing is the way things are set up they will only get better at every sport !!
STEWY Post 109:
I completely agree with you. After the Hussey umpiring decision/not walking incident against England, many people wrote in to these blogs and to 606 claiming that 'Mr Cricket' was a cheat and unsportsman like etc.
There was no mention of the favourable umpiring decision for Paul Nixon in this article- after which he went on to score 49 runs...
Nor was the fact that he 'did not walk' mentioned by any English supporters here on this blog.
Speaks volumes, doesn't it?
If he's an Australian - he's a cheat.
If he's English, it's ignored.
Complain about this posthello!!
Complain about this postEngland have always been crap at one-day cricket! Oh dear you are a deluded lot!
Its not enough to have a few players who can score around 70 s/r, every aspirant ODI team now needs a couple of beserkers who can hit the ball out of the park and score at 150 s/r for a few overs. Slow to catch on in dear old Blighty...
As a loyal Australian supporter, I can tell all you England fans that tickets for Friday's Australia vs England clash at the SCG are being sold for $5 on Ebay. Aussie fans are very disappointed in this summer of cricket and there is a suggestion that the triangular format won't stay.
As for the England side: as there is no chance they can make the finals of this one day series, why doesn't Dunclan Fletcher experiment with his side a little, bring in all those players who went with the original one day side to Australia and let them play...they might at least have more of a go then the current side England are putting out to get slaughtered by Australia and New Zealand. There's no way England can win the WC so they may as well plan for the future after the WC.
Complain about this postWhy keep playing the reverse sweep when there are two men placed for it and the bowler's putting it outside off stump?
Complain about this postHow can anyone excuse the public on-field displays of anger by Flintoff? That is EXACTLY when a team captain should be able to control his petulance. Such behaviour just demoralises the rest of the team and gives a boost to your opponents.
I watched the game on TV and I really think you are just looking for excuses when you say the pitch "offered considerable help to the spinners". It offered a bit of help to the spinners but (a) it was the same for both sides and (b) far more important than any spin was the skill (flight, pace, control) of the bowlers.
Strauss' dismissal will be included forever in "Great Embarassing Moments in Sport", ahead of Read being bowled by ducking into a non-bouncer, but - in history and in the context of the match - it will also be remembered as a moment of great skill by a great bowler.
Complain about this postWhy has Bopara not been given his chance as an allrounder. It is most bizarre as he can provide more competent batting and some steady bowling. It would make sense to play him.
Complain about this postRE: NZ V Aust Sunday night
Complain about this postLou Vincint showed the aussies what he thought of them with a good gesture on captured by channel 9, he now thinks they hunt like dogs, and off course the sledging does not happen...
cheer up England, it will be over soon.
Re Post#143 Michael wrote:
"How can anyone excuse the public on-field displays of anger by Flintoff? That is EXACTLY when a team captain should be able to control his petulance. Such behaviour just demoralises the rest of the team and gives a boost to your opponents."
Poor old Flintoff.
Complain about this postHalf the people in the forums are giving him stick for not being upset enough in press conferences. Now he actually shows his displeasure and you give it to him again ?!
What he really needs to do is crack a few heads together. That might get the lads focused.
Three things England can do to improve their game no matter who is selected.
1. Remove the burden of captaincy from Freddy.
2. Go and do fielding practice. LOTS OF IT !!!
3. Get a new coach. I would suggest that Woolmer is too much like Fletcher, so don't go there.
Complain about this post'What he really needs to do is crack a few heads together. That might get the lads focused'.
Yes he should. In private not in public.
If he can't keep his emotions in check out on the field, he should not have asked for the job. Its not going to do anyone anygood if he carries on like that.
Besides, some of his performance have been pretty average, particulary his batting where reckless shots have not helped the team.
However, his emotion is what makes him a great player so maybe he has lost something -playing wise- trying to keep it in check for so long on tour. He really is in a no-win sitution.
Complain about this postcouldnt agree more with the Panesar comment, What a legend. The next England Super star i should think.
Complain about this postHi Simon - England need to introduce new young blood in their squad; this strategy should pay off since new comers will try their best to impress every one to justify their selection not only against the Australians but also for the world cup to be played in the West Indies.
I always enjoy reading your commentary on cricket-related issues. In the U.S.A there are thousands of people following the England series in Australia. Let the players know that their progress is being tracked. I hope England does well next friday.
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