posted Jan 9, 2009

Moores is very much a 'hands-on' man Bensafrim, never one to sit on his backside. his way is to show you what you're doing on video then coach/encourage you in the areas that need strengthening. Progress doesn't come overnight and Test cricket is not the arena to address problems, so I'm not surprised that players like Bell might be seen to take a step backwards before showing progress again(pearlsaswinger - agree with your sensible comments on the whole). 18 months is not enough to be judged as a coach at cricket, it took much longer to turn around the fortunes at Sussex which was based not solely on handing the ball to Mushtaq as more ungracious detractors have said but in getting the batsman to score 400 in the first innings as often as possible, putting as much pressure as possible on the other team's batsmen and giving your team at worst the best chance of a draw (the same as keeping a clean sheet at soccer)

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posted Jan 9, 2009

Many people have mentioned Snape as someone who has the skills to work with players attitude.

I also agree that given England current situation as major re-think is needed about what makes a Test side an effective and winning unit.

My greatest concern is that this elitist attitude towards Test players is further widening the gap between County players and Test players.

How many County games did the current squad play the season just gone????

Harmison proved the point in the widening gap.Sen as a burned out, hopeless Test bolwer goes back into the circuit and blew teams away.

The ECB needs to re-work the fixtures and perhaps drop one of our domestic One day tournaments so as to free up valuable time in the schedule.

Its the same arguement in football.Is the Carling Cup really necessary?????

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posted Jan 9, 2009

Pearls ' blew teams away'. Agreed but you didn't finish the story,....'and then returned to England's squad and bowled like a drain'
And why is that? Simply because the format we had didn't yield any motivational factors, there's no chapter in the text book about it.
As someone says earlier in this article, it needs the friendly arm on his shoulders, and we can all see that Harmison is a slouching shoulders, sulky kind of guy.
The whole squad looked short of spirit and humour, obviously as we now know, also devisive, but lacking the 'big' man to pull them together.

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posted Jan 9, 2009

Couldn't agree more. Test cricketers, especially those who are out of sorts or who have a certain weakness need to drop down a level to sort themselves out, test cricket is not the place to do it.

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posted Jan 9, 2009

sorry Pearls, I also meant to say that the central contract system doesn't allow for domestic matches, and we saw last season that the ECB would not release players who were regarded as'core' even to play for their teams in semi-finals etc. I think Bell managed to get release at the back end to play.
I still favour a return to picking players on merit rather than obligatory because they are paid a lot of money.
If we returned to that system it would certainly add value to the selectors jobs and make their jobs worthwhile.

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posted Jan 9, 2009

"Harmison proved the point in the widening gap.Sen as a burned out, hopeless Test bolwer goes back into the circuit and blew teams away."

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I'd view it a different way.

The Harmison experience of last summer proved that the County game is not fit for purpose and does not prepare players for the international game.

He didn't "blow teams away", because he was a better player than them, he did it because he could perform out of the spotlight.

Once he got recalled and the pressure was on - he folded.

County cricket has to be a pressure game - it isn't.

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posted Jan 9, 2009

Rev..cant disagree with that take on the matter.He does have a strange make up.On his day (which are too few and far between) he is simply awesome and intimidates batsman, when off colour he threatens the slips and the crowd as the ball gets slapped.

The decision to break County cricket into two leagues did produce competition ,but that just created a culture where Counties went off and signed up players on Kolpak or "short term contracts" to keep them in Div 1.

When a side like Surrey cant cut the mustard then its an early warning signal all is not well with our domestic game...

Also remember this name..Mervyn Westfield...He is still a babe in arms by cricket standards, but mark my words, provided his back fracture is fully healed, and he comes back from down under fully fit and the slight technical defect ironed out, he will soon be knocking on the national side. Even though he is just 22, he is already bowling at an average of 85/6 mph and his quick ball 91.75mph....

I am told(but have not spoken to him personally) a certain DK Lilleee has his eye on him and has "alledgedly" (I know) offered to tutor the lad...a great opportunity...He is swift and knows which end of a bat to hold...

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posted Jan 9, 2009

laval, I agree with you and it should have been the case with Bell, Collingwood and harmison, maybe Anderson too. But when I suggested this remedy for Bell who, in my opinion looks so uncertain at the wicket, I was bombarded with so many stats and innuendo that I gave up the battle.
I simply cannot understand why people can't see that some remedial work is needed at times. I refer to it as orgasmic infatuation.

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posted Jan 9, 2009

Ben...you have just identified the big issue.

I agree about Bell. He isnt an opener, he is a finisher. His Test average says he is an effective number 6, but thats Freddy's slot...

Flintoff is the lynch pin.Bowling.Awesome.Best in the world probably, but his batting ahs just deteriorated..that could be lack of practice owing to sore bones..as a bolwer you can get away with the odd bad delivery or poor ball..but as a batsman you dont get a second hit if you muck up.

With Prior at 7 it further bungs up the batting order.

Lets hope the new guys can sort out this unholy mess as its clear its a mess.

I saw that even old Monty wasnt happy with the goings on, and when he arrived in India he noted the atmosphere was much worse...

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posted Jan 9, 2009

I felt desperately sorry for Monty out there, he looked so timid perhaps KP's dominant attitude was at it's peak but poor Monty looked bemused by it all.
Having spent the Winter on his own, probably bowling at one stump on his own, he is suddenly injected into the middle and expected to bowl A1.
I agree he needs to do some remodelling as he has become robotic but to expect miracles from the guy?

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