England 2014

[Twisted]

Cook
Root
Bell
Pietersen
Ballance
Stokes
Prior/Buttler
Bresnan
Borthwick
Broad
Anderson[DOUBLEPOST=1387540819][/DOUBLEPOST]Major overhaul is not our style. Giles as coach by the way.

good lad. barely good enough to bowl for us last year and wouldn't have got in the side if not for his batting IMO
[much as i love the little fucker!]

alot will depend on trott. if hes back
cook, root, trott, bell, pietersen/ballance, stokes, prior/buttler, bresnan, broad, anderson, panesar/finn

fuck knows. the last two test matches could see the end of a few england careers depending on how they respond.

 

[Steak Pie]

Bit early for Jos Buttler IMO, seeing as he's never been a regular 'keeper in the Championship. Let's see how he gets on for Lancs this year and whether he can keep up his improvement with the bat as a specialist gloveman.

 

[smoker]

Your stock answer to everything - after a defeat rip everything apart. Easy game this.

This time last year Cook was scoring buckets of runs and leading the side to a series win in India, since then he's been named captain of the ICC World XI. What's Test average this year? I'll guess at somewhere around 35? While obviously not enough it's hardly the complete disaster that this forum would have you believe. I find it very easy to have faith in players like Cook who have been at the very top of the game for year after year.

The problem I had with Nick Compton was that he was bombed out of Middlesex because he wasn't good enough, and has had a bit of a renaissance on the batting paradise that is Taunton. No, I don't think he's good enough and the fact that he's already in his 30s means he's probably not worth persevering with. For Compton read Carberry IMO, strange selection.

The difference being we are in a mess and doing nowt when the alarm bells were ringing is the cause. You are in complete state of denial over the demise of the England cricket team. Just look at your posts from the first test thread!

Several said last summer Cook should drop down to three, seemed a big joke to you. Then Aussies did it with Watson and resurrected him as a player.

Do you think Cook should keep the captaincy if we are smashed 4 or 5 nowt, out of interest?

With regards Compton, interesting you refer to his county career and completely overlook a promising test career, ie partnership he had established with Cook, back to back test centuries. And he only bats well on flat tracks you say? Well that is more than can be said for the current side...[DOUBLEPOST=1387541734][/DOUBLEPOST]

Cook
Root
Bell
Pietersen
Ballance
Stokes
Prior/Buttler
Bresnan
Borthwick
Broad
Anderson[DOUBLEPOST=1387540819][/DOUBLEPOST]Major overhaul is not our style. Giles as coach by the way.

It isn't Flowers style more like, but there are times when it's needed. 93/94 tour to Windies springs to mind. I think KP has just about reached the end of the road for England, costing us too many games with his ego and recklessness

 

[Steak Pie]

The difference being we are in a mess and doing nowt when the alarm bells were ringing is the cause. You are in complete state of denial over the demise of the England cricket team. Just look at your posts from the first test thread!

Several said last summer Cook should drop down to three, seemed a big joke to you. Then Aussies did it with Watson and resurrected him as a player.

Do you think Cook should keep the captaincy if we are smashed 4 or 5 nowt, out of interest?

With regards Compton, interesting you refer to his county career and completely overlook a promising test career, ie partnership he had established with Cook, back to back test centuries. And he only bats well on flat tracks you say? Well that is more than can be said for the current side...

We've just lost a series, the third series we've lost in about 5/6 years. And for that I reckon there's three places in the side up for grabs, so what's in denial about that? What I haven't done is decide that the whole thing needs ripped apart, which is something I find a ridiculous over-reaction to a bad few weeks.

Hold on a minute, have you just compared Shane Watson and Alastair Cook? Watson the all-rounder who started at 6 and has batted everywhere (without much success)? Seriously? Yes, dropping the worlds best opening bat (or 2nd best according to some) down the order is borderline insanity and thankfully won't be happening.

Until an outstanding candidate appears then I'd keep Cook as captain, although if they replaced him I wouldn't be too fussed as I think he's a functional skipper but not much more. What about you, and who are you replacing him with?

I haven't overlooked anything with Compton, and his Test career was OK rather than promising IMO, my opinion of him is based on watching him bat and watching him struggle in County cricket for years. I'll say it again, because it doesn't seem to be sinking in, if he was younger I might have stuck with him. But he isn't. If you remember, it came down to the play-off in the New Zealand games to see who would play against Australia and Compton utterly utterly failed. So you honestly think that he would have done much more than Carberry then?

I think Compton is benefitting from a bit of Claudio Reyna syndrome on here.

 

[NOMOREFALSEDAWNS]

Lets be honest neither Compton nor Carberry are really good enough.

 

[Twisted]

Lets be honest neither Compton nor Carberry are really good enough.

i don't really think he is the long term answer, just think he was treated poorly and would have been a capable player to hold down the opening spot next to cook whilst root adapted to test cricket enough to move up from 6. especially after he performed well agasint the touring australia getting dropped was poor from england i thought. also didnt think cook looked all that comfortable playing with root, i wondered if opening, captaining and partnering a youngster was a bit too much for him

 

[smoker]

We've just lost a series, the third series we've lost in about 5/6 years. And for that I reckon there's three places in the side up for grabs, so what's in denial about that? What I haven't done is decide that the whole thing needs ripped apart, which is something I find a ridiculous over-reaction to a bad few weeks.

Hold on a minute, have you just compared Shane Watson and Alastair Cook? Watson the all-rounder who started at 6 and has batted everywhere (without much success)? Seriously? Yes, dropping the worlds best opening bat (or 2nd best according to some) down the order is borderline insanity and thankfully won't be happening.

Until an outstanding candidate appears then I'd keep Cook as captain, although if they replaced him I wouldn't be too fussed as I think he's a functional skipper but not much more. What about you, and who are you replacing him with?

I haven't overlooked anything with Compton, and his Test career was OK rather than problockingMO, my opinion of him is based on watching him bat and watching him struggle in County cricket for years. I'll say it again, because it doesn't seem to be sinking in, if he was younger I might have stuck with him. But he isn't. If you remember, it came down to the play-off in the New Zealand games to see who would play against Australia and Compton utterly utterly failed. So you honestly think that he would have done much more than Carberry then?

I think Compton is benefitting from a bit of Claudio Reyna syndrome on here.

Shane Watson 2 tons in 80 odd test innings, 2 in 8 since moving to number three. Cook may still be the best opening bat in your opinion but most would disagree. It certainly isn't working at the moment so I'd have been tempted to move him to three when Trott went home and bring in Compo to do some serious blocking. Fair play the bloke is no Boycott or Cook for that matter, but one thing he is very good at is occupying the crease and our problem seems to be allowing fresh bowlers to rip into our middle and lower order by throwing wickets away. The worst that could happen is it doesn't fuckin work, but what we are doing now certainly isn't. You seem terrified of trying anything new - you sure you aren't Alastair Cook or Andy Flower?

I totally agree about Cook's captaincy, functional and uninspiring. If there was an outstanding candidate I would say (assumin we don't pull things back in the dead rubbers) he needs to go if nothing more than to let him concentrate on his batting and send the message this level of failure isn't acceptable. The Aussies were brave to stick with Clarke but I'm convinced if they'd been drubbed 5 nowt in a series as one sided as this he'd have got the bullet.

This side has gone full circle since Flower took over from Moores. Doing nowt and hoping it comes good isn't an option.

 

[Andy Reids Love Chil]

good lad. barely good enough to bowl for us last year and wouldn't have got in the side if not for his batting IMO
[much as i love the little fucker!]

alot will depend on trott. if hes back
cook, root, trott, bell, pietersen/ballance, stokes, prior/buttler, bresnan, broad, anderson, panesar/finn

fuck knows. the last two test matches could see the end of a few england careers depending on how they respond.

Aye.

 

[smoker]

Here's a snippet from the Leg Theory page on Wikipedia, for Steak Bake's benefit.

"Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket.[1] The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket.

Simply put, leg theory involves concentrating the bowling attack at or near the line of leg stump. This may or may not be accompanied by a concentration of fielders on the leg side. The line of attack aims to cramp the batsman, making him play the ball with the bat close to the body. This makes it difficult to hit the ball freely and score runs, especially on the off side. Since a leg theory attack means the batsman is more likely to hit the ball on the leg side, additional fielders on that side of the field can be effective in preventing runs and taking catches.

Stifling the batsman in this manner can lead to impatience and frustration, resulting in rash play by the batsman which in turn can lead to a quick dismissal.

Leg theory can be a moderately successful tactic when used with both fast bowling and spin bowling, particularly leg spin to right-handed batsmen or off spin to left-handed batsmen. However, because it relies on lack of concentration or discipline by the batsman, it can be risky against patient and skilled players, especially batsmen who are strong on the leg side. The English opening bowlers Sydney Barnes and Frank Foster used leg theory with some success in Australia in 1911-12. In England, at around the same time Fred Root was one of the main proponents of the same tactic.

Concentrating attack on the leg stump is considered by many cricket fans and commentators to lead to boring play, as it stifles run scoring and encourages batsmen to play conservatively."

Given Aus employed leg theory with some success in the summer, and went for it again - big time - at the Gabba, why the fuck was Compo not called up to replace Trott?