Champions Trophy 2025

[scotch]

Already worried about Baz in charge of the short form teams...
Buttler has to go as captain and should probably open or bat 3.
Salt needs binning.
Smith shouldn't be in this team
Thank you Joe, now go be brilliant in tests for the rest of your career.
Brook needs to adapt.
Wood should be done barring tests.
Thank You Rashid but we need to blood a new spinner in ODI.
Livingstone to be binned.
Overton to be binned.

 

[Nasser Butt-Head]

Buttler should have went after the last T20 WC. Wouldn't be too sad to see him dropped altogether, he's been shite for a while.

Yep. as sad as that sounds. He looks the shell of the batter who took cricket forward with his stroke play.

I guess you could make the argument that without the weight of captaincy, he might get his mojo back. I'd love to see a fully firing Butler back if it's possible.

 

[hudson88]

Buttler obviously deserves criticism but who picks this team ffs.

Salt - big dirty slogger
Smith - what has he done to deserve batting at 3?
Brook - been shite for too long in white ball cricket
Livingstone - dogshit
Overton - not an international cricketer
Wood - crock and has never been a great ODI bowler anyway

Salt and Overton should be nowhere near for me - although Overton did well batting today. Livingstone should be T20 only. Spot on regarding Smith as well.

Wonder what bollocks Duckett comes out with, following his “not bothered about losing 3-0 in India as long as we beat them in the Champions Trophy final” comments

 

[Inside Forward]

No application, no hard work, no accountability. A stupid “brand of cricket” that’s failed. McCullum is a fraud. Buttler has the leadership skills of a fish. Might sound harsh, but the book should be thrown at them. Pro sport is work. I dont go to work to be relaxed and have fun, why do these fuckers think they can.

From the outside looking in the entire culture under McCullum feels like a holiday camp and a giant f***ing lads holiday.

All this take the pressure off the players bollocks. The England players are under nowhere near as much pressure or scrutiny as the Indian players for example, yet our team folds like a cheap lawn chair.

f***ing sick of it.

 

[Durham-Mackem41]

From the outside looking in the entire culture under McCullum feels like a holiday camp and a giant f***ing lads holiday.

All this take the pressure off the players bollocks. The England players are under nowhere near as much pressure or scrutiny as the Indian players for example, yet our team folds like a cheap lawn chair.

f***ing sick of it.

Yeah no fear of failure cost little club no fight when a pressure applied. Coach sat there grinning like an idiot no pride at all!

 

[Nasser Butt-Head]

Salt and Overton should be nowhere near for me - although Overton did well batting today. Livingstone should be T20 only. Spot on regarding Smith as well.

Wonder what bollocks Duckett comes out with, following his “not bothered about losing 3-0 in India as long as we beat them in the Champions Trophy final” comments

He gives me James McClean vibes when he gives interviews. Not sure he's best in front of the mic.

We scaled Mt. Everest when we won the T20 & ODI world cups. Shame we couldn't stay there for very long. I think a top to tail revamp of this team is way over due.

 

[Safc98]

From the outside looking in the entire culture under McCullum feels like a holiday camp and a giant f***ing lads holiday.

All this take the pressure off the players bollocks. The England players are under nowhere near as much pressure or scrutiny as the Indian players for example, yet our team folds like a cheap lawn chair.

f***ing sick of it.

Take pressure off by all means. Don’t run them into the ground. But fuck me, they do nothing. The whole thing is “vibes innit” Have a slog, just bowl fast and it’ll all come off on the night.

He gives me James McClean vibes when he gives interviews. Not sure he's best in front of the mic.

We scaled Mt. Everest when we won the T20 & ODI world cups. Shame we couldn't stay there for very long. I think a top to tail revamp of this team is way over due.

He’s a f***ing idiot. Bayliss hated him.

Salt and Overton should be nowhere near for me - although Overton did well batting today. Livingstone should be T20 only. Spot on regarding Smith as well.

Wonder what bollocks Duckett comes out with, following his “not bothered about losing 3-0 in India as long as we beat them in the Champions Trophy final” comments

Salt is f***ing horrendous.

 

[Paddy O'Dors]

Middle order again. The theory of Root being the anchor only applies when players bat with him. 2 great knocks from Duckett and Root aside this has been the disaster that we all saw coming

You have batsmen playing alongside run-a-ball Root who should be able to go through the gears. I think only Brook had a better S/R today.

 

[SAFC11]

Butler is like Morgan towards the end of his tenure. These lads only know how to play 20/20

 

[Fleagle]

White ball cricket in this country is at it's lowest point since the 90s. Can't see it getting better anytime soon either as there isn't many young cricketers banging at the door for an international call up.

Ironic given the push it's had over the red ball stuff over the last few years.

The ECB hasn’t been pushing either of the white ball formats that anyone else plays though. And hasn’t really been pushing England white ball that much at all. So long as the corporates are paying a fortune for the test matches and they can drag the Indians into a bidding war for the hundred franchises I don’t think the rest of it bothers them much.

 

[Durham-Mackem41]

18 wins in 45 Odis as a captain for Bulter simply a a terrible captain and it’s destroyed his batting.

 

[rentaghost]

I think the selection of Smith at 3 was the biggest disaster. No refection on Smith himself, good cricketer and all that. It just sent out a message from the outset that we were ill prepared. Just hoying him in at 3 without any planning and a position he has never batted even in domestic 50 over cricket. Shambolic decision and it exacerbated the problem of having one opener Salt being out of form / not good enough. Bowled piss poorly at times with out any thought or plans. Just not good enough.

 

[Iamme]

Beaten by a team coached by Jonathan Trott. Ohhhh but yer he doesnt play golf and was a boring bats person and doesn't drink ..So it's a no from Brendan and Ben.

 

[Classic94]

- Buttler out as captain
- Salt and Livingstone out full stop. Both dirty sloggers
- No more Wood in this format
- Pick some proper one-day bowlers, not just ‘quick’ ones - this attack is one-dimensional and toothless
- Phase out Rashid
- Jury massively out on McCullum

This team is an utter embarrassment and has been for some time. They all talk a big game, but the results speak for themselves. Stinks of arrogance. Big cultural shift needed.

 

[Fleagle]

Middle order again. The theory of Root being the anchor only applies when players bat with him. 2 great knocks from Duckett and Root aside this has been the disaster that we all saw coming

I’d attach far more blame to the first two wickets to fall. When you are facing a relatively big score in a 50 over game but on a belter of a track with small boundaries where it’s perfectly achievable the most important thing not to do is give your wicket away being a twat early on. Which is pretty much all the two of them seem to do (early days for Smith I accept).

I could find half an excuse for Brook and Buttler. The former was undone and made to look an idiot by a well disguised change of pace for which the bowler should have had more credit. The latter was undone by trying what was just starting to work once too often. Even with your most charitable head on there is absolutely no excuse for Salt and Smith. Brainless.

 

[Rufus T Firefly]

The ECB hasn’t been pushing either of the white ball formats that anyone else plays though. And hasn’t really been pushing England white ball that much at all. So long as the corporates are paying a fortune for the test matches and they can drag the Indians into a bidding war for the hundred franchises I don’t think the rest of it bothers them much.

FTECB probably thinks England can be 16.4 world champions.

 

[DieselBert]

I’d attach far more blame to the first two wickets to fall. When you are facing a relatively big score in a 50 over game but on a belter of a track with small boundaries where it’s perfectly achievable the most important thing not to do is give your wicket away being a twat early on. Which is pretty much all the two of them seem to do (early days for Smith I accept).

I could find half an excuse for Brook and Buttler. The former was undone and made to look an idiot by a well disguised change of pace for which the bowler should have had more credit. The latter was undone by trying what was just starting to work once too often. Even with your most charitable head on there is absolutely no excuse for Salt and Smith. BrBrainless

You're 100% spot on with that assessment. They were mitigating factors today however my issue with the middle order is that it's not just today. It's seems like ages since someone in the middle has made a telling contribution. Carey and Inglis weren't in great position on Saturday, Afghanistans 5-6 today all chipped in.
Ours never look like they have that in them. Comms today mentioned Brook always coming into spin, maybe shift him down and let Buttler come in at 5. It seems that our opening 6 batters seem fixed despite only 2 of them delivering

 

[Scotty 1978]

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[Parkside]

I’d attach far more blame to the first two wickets to fall. When you are facing a relatively big score in a 50 over game but on a belter of a track with small boundaries where it’s perfectly achievable the most important thing not to do is give your wicket away being a twat early on. Which is pretty much all the two of them seem to do (early days for Smith I accept).

I could find half an excuse for Brook and Buttler. The former was undone and made to look an idiot by a well disguised change of pace for which the bowler should have had more credit. The latter was undone by trying what was just starting to work once too often. Even with your most charitable head on there is absolutely no excuse for Salt and Smith. Brainless.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. There's a marked deficiency in variation in our bowling hence our batters can no gain experience of such nuances in their practise. There's little evidence that both batters and bowlers use nets to eradicate these shortcomings. England looked amateurs in all aspects compared to the professional Afghanistan.

 

[Lumley End]

- Buttler out as captain
- Salt and Livingstone out full stop. Both dirty sloggers
- No more Wood in this format
- Pick some proper one-day bowlers, not just ‘quick’ ones - this attack is one-dimensional and toothless
- Phase out Rashid
- Jury massively out on McCullum

This team is an utter embarrassment and has been for some time. They all talk a big game, but the results speak for themselves. Stinks of arrogance. Big cultural shift needed.

Agree with all of that. My only comment would be we are possibly too late to ‘phase out’ Rashid. This should’ve been started a year or two ago instead we stuck with Moeen for too long and replaced him with seam bowling all rounders. It’s going to end up being Rashid out and another (probably Rehan Ahmed) in without any real experience at all.