posted Apr 18, 2007

Despite the obvious barrage of criticism that will now be slung at England because of their abysmal display in the World Cup, it's not like these comments haven't been made before. The side we played in the World Cup was weak in key areas, lacked confidence in their ability and suffered as a result. However, I still believe that there is a strong core of players in the team that can help England rebuild. Collingwood, Pietersen, Bopara, Panesar, Bell and Nixon (despite his age) have all played well overall I feel, apart from a few blips here and there they've been the better performers in the team and this is the core that England must now build on.

The single overwhelming factor that has let us down is hype - or more specifically the belief in hype. The Ashes in 05 was won two years ago! So why has it still not sunk in to the ECB that just because we had a fine team then does not mean that we will have a fine team automatically. The starting XI must always be picked on merit, pure and simple. The inclusion of Vaughn, Flintoff, Strauss and other misfiring players was a serious error - they were simply either not fit physically or out of form, so how they could be expected to suddenly come up trumps against the likes of Australia and South Africa is beyond me. And it's not as if there hasn't been enough time to find and develop players to replace them and give us the best possible chance of success. Bopara was an exception to this.

As Botham hinted, the ECB have sat on their hands for too long and deluded themselves that everything was okay. Everything is far from okay and it hurts me as an England fan, as well as every other fan, to see what is happening.

But as an England fan, I will continue to put my belief in the team and pray that this World Cup debacle will finally get the message through that change is now essential. Any further delay will only exacerbate the rot that we have now witnessed for too long, and the boos ringing out yesterday will then continue for some time.

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posted Apr 18, 2007

I was a supporter of Vaughan as skipper for the World Cup, I still dont think we would have done any better without him in the side and with a different skipper from within the squad (Freddie, Strauss or Colly). Sadly the series win over Aus and NZ flattered us and Im not sure the players realy believed they were contenders.
Our problems are mainly batting, the loss of Tres is a huge blow and I hope he comes back probably to ODI's first, a gradual return to work is needed, please lets not throw him in to the test side just yet.
As we have all said our batting lacks ooomph in the top order, only KP seems to have sufficient talent and courage to throw off the shackles and score at a run a ball or better.
Freddie is suffering from a massive loss of form with the bat, he is a confidence player and the World cup is tough place to get it back. He did not help him self with his after hours antics and has surely done his long term captaincy aspirations no good at all.
The keeper is a lively guy, great for the team, no great problems behind the stumps, OK with the bat, but we could do with a bit more. Sadly we dont have a Gilly, or Dhoni, or Sangakarra or even a Boucher in the wings so no point getting rid.
Anderson and Monty have done fine, Freddie lost a bit of penetration and this may come from his lack of confidence spreading from the batting. The guy needs a holiday with his wife and kids, then back to some county cricket, slap them around a bit (County bowlers not his family!!) and hey presto Fred the destroyer is back!!
As for coaching like captaincy, its time to separate ODI from Test. First appoint the coach then let them pick a skipper, no panels! The big names like Moody, Whatmore, Chappel will be touted but most would want test and ODI, Id go for a recent player like Fairbrother, Allayne, Hollioake or Bevan if they have some coaching aptitude (there is no guarantee a good player will be a good coach!).
Some people have said we are behind the eight ball with tactics because we are not following the Aussie way of smashing the first 15 overs for 120 runs, but Id rather we lead the way with tactics, come up with a new approach and catch the rest off guard (that is not to say 120-0 after 15 is bad, its brilliant but we dont have Hayden and Gilly so how do we do that?)

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posted Apr 18, 2007

"if we do get a new manager i hope it's a manager that can give the side more passion for the game and more of a mentality of the great sides in cricket e.g SA + the aussies instead of living in denial that a wins a win, sometimes a performance is what's needed and looking at this world cup excluding the sri lanka game which was lost, i thought the side didn't really give their all in any of the games."

The only problem is it's not just the manager to blame. If you go to Australia, you don't see the whole country's press slating them if they lose at a sport. The press should leave them alone a little more instead of criticising them at every step. Heaven forbid they should actually do something right and win - I'm sure a reporter would still find fault...

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posted Apr 18, 2007

England have a lot of problems in one day cricket, but then so do those other powerhouses: India, Pakistan and the West Indies.

Hussain made an interesting suggestion which was to bring Trescothick back soley as one-day captain. This is a reasonable call as he would be no threat to Vaughan as test captain.

Centrally contracted players play next to no one-day cricket. While central contracts are a good system to stop burnout, they should also have a stipulation that players play a minimum number of games to be eligible for international selection.

One of the big shortcomings in the English game the lack of batsmen who can bowl and bowlers who can bat. This is different from "bits and pieces" players. Other teams have genuine batsmen picked to bat, who can also bowl. England don't have this and so have a very long tail. It is impossible to put up big scores by attacking early if there is no batting depth down the order.

Botham can blame Fletcher all he wants but England have been trying to compete against teams who bat down to 9/10 with a team that bats to 5 (and two or three of them were out of form).

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posted Apr 18, 2007

To those of you that think Lewis Hamilton is overhyped! Look up the word in the English dictionary,you'll find a picture of the England cricket team by the side of it.

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posted Apr 18, 2007

How about this for Englands ODI team:
M Trescothick
J Benning
K Pietersen
R Bopara
P Collingwood (c)
M Prior (wk)
A Rashid
A Flintoff
S Broad
S Mustaq (288 ODI wickets at 21.78 aint bad)
S Jones

Might not technically be the best team but a couple of hungry, young, agressive players have got to be worth a shot.
Also is there any chance that Ryan ten Doeschate can play for England because he's a pretty handy one day player.

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posted Apr 18, 2007

If the players showed the same commitment as the fans that would be something .Never have I seen such a gutless clueless performance in my life.It seems our players spent more time doing interviews than they did between the wickets . I suggest that they should in future pay thier own way and only get a refund if they perform,see who goes for a pedaloe ride then. They all talk the talk and unfortunately most took the early walk. this is the first time I have beeen ashamed to be Enlish when supporting my country . Well done Ireland!!!!!!

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posted Apr 18, 2007

How to lose a World Cup

1. Sajid Mahmoods selection stinks of political correctness because this is the only way i can believe he played...against Australia collingwood worked his backside of to limit Australias run rate....saj mahmood lost it all in his first over....as for last night his performance was pathetic....40 runs of 4 overs....never ever again

2. Flintoff- drunk and disorderly whilst in charge of a hefty salary from the ECB- should have been suspended and sent home, i know i would have been in my job

3. Harmison - if you dont want to play one day then you dont play for England FULL STOP

4. Straus - his treatment has been abysmal, the guy did nothing wrong and yet loses the captaincy and gets dropped....all because of little freddie who thanks everyone by getting drunk

5. Pieterson - opening batsman...yes yes yes

6. Panasar - the biggest hype of all....what is so good about him? same length same speed same ball....are'nt spinners meant to trick their oppenents out?

7.Fletcher - go should have gone after ashes

8. books - stop players writing them and profiting from winning...and then playing crap for the rest of their careers

9. No hoggard, no jones, no trescothick, no geraint jones, no stuart law, instead we got pants ar, soggy mahmood, oap nixon (what does he look like and why cant he shut up on the field?)

10. saj mahmood - sorry he really is the worst bowler i ever seen in an England shirt...ever

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posted Apr 18, 2007

Is it a surprise that the malaise that is English cricket management is finally being reflected in the performances on the pitch? We have been hammered by the aussies in test cricket (yet people crow that we have
improved in this area) and now humiliated in the one day game..again. Since the ashes win we have gone backwards. In fact our team has deteriorated over the last 18 months to an alarming degree. They might be different forms of the game but we are currently useless at both.

Vaughan, good leader that he might be, is out of sorts and form and a decent management should have spotted this. Flintoff seems to be completely de-motivated and is just not performing.The pedalo debacle being the nadir. Pietersen is being left with too much to shoulder, big as they are and the rest, in the shadow of these three "big" names and leaders are subdued to the point of being cowed.
The ECB should have sorted this but seem far too parochial for me.
Fletcher may be the best coach in the world (Matthew Hoggards words but seemingly reflected in the Engish set up) but is he a man manager?
It strikes me that the players have been allowed to get lazy and rest on their laurels after one fortuitous win of the ashes. One of the few players to show some spark and enthusiasm, Panesar, was treated shabbily in Australia. Was he outside the clique?
Let Fletcher coach all he likes but bring someone in to manage these under achievers. Is Sir Alex Ferguson likely to be available soon? It strikes me that a few blasts of the hair dryer are absolutely what's needed to gee these guys up.

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posted Dec 18, 2008

Sack :
giles clark
peter moores
ecb selectors

players should be selected on merit and be supported..

heads must roll.

too long we have put up with the status quo in the english cricket team...

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