4th Test build up, KP being magnanimous

[Lady Whistledown]

Australia win by wickets & take a 4-0 lead in the five match series*


*But Joe Hart was voted Man of the Match

 

[Bold Seagull]

I'd give serious consideration to making Broad test captain after this series, let Cook concentrate on his batting and slip fielding. I said it all year, his tactics and imagination on the field are all wanting, and the pressure has destroyed his batting.

England need to rethink their selection policy as well. In the '90's we chopped & changed too much, now it's too little. Too many players in a comfort zone, management too scared to drop certain players. Has to be a balance, but we dropped Prior far too late, plus Trott & Swann should have been rested before they had to walk themselves.

Positives are that Broad continues to improve as a test bowler, Stokes looks a great player in the making.

Negatives are almost too long to list...

 

[vegster]

Ah well, not entirely unexpected result. Would have been nice to make them work for it. I'm not sure what Sydney will bring but I'm expecting the worst .

 

[um bongo molongo]

Scariest thing is how little we look to have in the locker in terms of players coming through. Middle order wise James Taylor is apparently playing well in Aussie grade cricket this winter and probably deserves a proper run of games if he does well in the lions tour, and moeen Ali looks a good prospect but needs to score runs for the lions as well given most of his have been in div 2. Sam robson could be the answer opening but is basically an Aussie we've nicked. Bowling is even more concerning - Anderson looks a bit of a spent force when the balls not swinging, he's most likely got one English summer left. Looks like they've managed to completely mess up Finn, and people like Mills and Overton are at least 2-3 years away. And spinners even worse - borthwick is raw, and might be a better bat than bowler, panesar looks a shadow of the bowler he was a few years ago and Kerrigan fell apart on test debut!

 

[KZNSeagull]

Vaughan sums it up for me:

But former captain Michael Vaughan does not believe Cook is solely responsible for a series of dismal displays.
"Cook is under huge pressure because his team are 4-0 down, but I hope he sticks with it," Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I would like to know what the senior players are doing. You've got guys out there like Kevin Pietersen who have played 100 Tests matches You've got Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson has played many, many matches.
"What are they doing in the tactics? Why aren't they helping him out? Why aren't the coaches doing more?"

I do feel very sorry for Cook - the youngest player to reach 8000 test runs EVER and yet no-one is talking about that.

 

[um bongo molongo]

I'd give serious consideration to making Broad test captain after this series, let Cook concentrate on his batting and slip fielding. I said it all year, his tactics and imagination on the field are all wanting, and the pressure has destroyed his batting.

England need to rethink their selection policy as well. In the '90's we chopped & changed too much, now it's too little. Too many players in a comfort zone, management too scared to drop certain players. Has to be a balance, but we dropped Prior far too late, plus Trott & Swann should have been rested before they had to walk themselves.

Positives are that Broad continues to improve as a test bowler, Stokes looks a great player in the making.

Negatives are almost too long to list...

I'd agree on cook's captaincy but the worry is who else. Broad might not have the maturity, plus there arent many successful bowling test captains I can think of. Or indeed any come to think of it...?

 

[um bongo molongo]

Vaughan sums it up for me:

But former captain Michael Vaughan does not believe Cook is solely responsible for a series of dismal displays.
"Cook is under huge pressure because his team are 4-0 down, but I hope he sticks with it," Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I would like to know what the senior players are doing. You've got guys out there like Kevin Pietersen who have played 100 Tests matches You've got Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson has played many, many matches.
"What are they doing in the tactics? Why aren't they helping him out? Why aren't the coaches doing more?"


I do feel very sorry for Cook - the youngest player to reach 8000 test runs EVER and yet no-one is talking about that.

Agree with that but the worry is the impact on his batting. He's our best bat along with KP and Bell and it looks like he's feeling the responsibility to set the tone rather than just bat.

 

[carlzeiss]

I'd agree on cook's captaincy but the worry is who else. Broad might not have the maturity, plus there arent many successful bowling test captains I can think of. Or indeed any come to think of it...?

This chap was pretty good :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Illingworth

 

[um bongo molongo]

This chap was pretty good :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Illingworth

Good call. But what if I added the caveat "since the 70s"?

 

[knocky1]

The toss is imperative at Sydney. We win that and we can get something from the Series.

Instead of Matches Played 5 / We can have Matches Played 5
Matches Lost 5 / Matches Lost 5
Matches Won 0 / Matches Won 0
Tosses Lost 5 / Tosses Lost 4
Tosses Won 0 / Tosses Won 1

Then we can show Australia that we aren't a complete bunch of tossers.

 

[KZNSeagull]

I'd agree on cook's captaincy but the worry is who else. Broad might not have the maturity, plus there arent many successful bowling test captains I can think of. Or indeed any come to think of it...?

There is no-one else really, that's the problem. Cannot see Bell geeing anyone up, although the Captain's role nowadays seems to be just to carry out the pre-agreed plan and take the flack when it goes wrong.

 

[KZNSeagull]

The toss is imperative at Sydney. We win that and we can get something from the Series.

Instead of Matches Played 5 / We can have Matches Played 5
Matches Lost 5 / Matches Lost 5
Matches Won 0 / Matches Won 0
Tosses Lost 5 / Tosses Lost 4
Tosses Won 0 / Tosses Won 1

Then we can show Australia that we aren't a complete bunch of tossers.

Only if you are playing well enough. Clarke tried to let us win this test by bowling first, but we still cocked it up!

 

[carlzeiss]

Good call. But what if I added the caveat "since the 70s"?

I am struggling with that one and as Raymond is now 81 , unlikely to be recalled .

 

[Mr Icicle Boots]

I'd give serious consideration to making Broad test captain after this series, let Cook concentrate on his batting and slip fielding. I said it all year, his tactics and imagination on the field are all wanting, and the pressure has destroyed his batting.
This. Absolutely. I think Broad has shown both fight and maturity this tour considering the amount of stick he's been getting off the Aussie press etc. I think let him have the one dayers and start afresh with him in charge come the summer. I think he would be a more 'imaginative' captain than Cook and would allow the latter to concentrate on his form at the top of the order. Don't get me wrong England need a strong Cook in the team just not as captain.
One other thought; is anybody questioning Gooch's position in all of this batting chaos?

 

[knocky1]

Only if you are playing well enough. Clarke tried to let us win this test by bowling first, but we still cocked it up!

It's a joke. Not the just the cricket but my post. Onanists and coin flipping. Winning one toss out of 5 and losing 5 games is better than losing 5 tosses and 5 games.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I made the point after Perth that Swann's decision to retire will impact on Cook's captaincy because of the advice he gives whilst fielding next to Cook in the slip cordon. His natural positivity could also have helped Bairstow in his first match keeping.

Is it any coincidence Cook looked even more at sea and Bairstow progressively got worse without that 'cheerleader' figure standing shoulder to shoulder with them? Losing Prior too has left Cook totally isolated as a captain.

The prospect of Ashley Giles as coach and Broad as captain scares me.

 

[topbanana36]

Sam robson could be the answer opening but is basically an Aussie we've nicked. Does it matter? They nicked Andrew Symonds off us. Sam Robson has to be better than the Chris Tavaré clone we have opening the batting at present. Give Tymal Mills a go next test if rules permit be good to see raw speed from one of our bowlers.

 

[big nuts]

I made the point after Perth that Swann's decision to retire will impact on Cook's captaincy because of the advice he gives whilst fielding next to Cook in the slip cordon. His natural positivity could also have helped Bairstow in his first match keeping.

Is it any coincidence Cook looked even more at sea and Bairstow progressively got worse without that 'cheerleader' figure standing shoulder to shoulder with them? Losing Prior too has left Cook totally isolated as a captain.

The prospect of Ashley Giles as coach and Broad as captain scares me.

I was calling for Prior to be dropped, but in retrospect it was the wrong move. It has left Cook isolated of senior figures in the slip area and Bairstow has technical flaws in both his keeping and batting. Hate to chop and change but I would bring Prior straight back in.

Would be tempted to have a look at Ballance by moving Root up to open and Bell to number three.

The bowling attack depends on conditions but Sydney generally turns so Borthwick could replace Bresnan and add a second spinning option to accompany Monty. Broad and Stokes definitely start so either Finn, Boyd-Rankin, Bresnan or Anderson depending on conditions to make up the 5th and final bowler.

 

[joeinbrighton]

It's a joke. Not the just the cricket but my post. Onanists and coin flipping. Winning one toss out of 5 and losing 5 games is better than losing 5 tosses and 5 games.

Seems to be an Essex thing. Nasser Hussain was never much good at winning the toss either.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I was calling for Prior to be dropped, but in retrospect it was the wrong move. It has left Cook isolated of senior figures in the slip area and Bairstow has technical flaws in both his keeping and batting. Hate to chop and change but I would bring Prior straight back in.

The selectors liked Bairstow because in theory he could bat and keep, freeing up another spot in the squad for Rankin. Now they have a problem because if they drop Bairstow after one match he'll be scarred. It also goes against the selector's policy of giving players a decent opportunity.

I think you spare Finn, Borthwick, Rankin and Ballance of being part of this 5-0 whitewash. Leave them untainted by the experience because they'll be needed in the rebuilding process. Don't give Australia the experience of playing against them in a dead rubber as this will help for the next Ashes series.