A Victory to Settle All Arguments? Lord’s From Afar

Hello all. As some of you may know, I’ve just returned from a break in France and Belgium. I left on Thursday and returned yesterday evening. I take it I didn’t miss anything interesting (wink, wink).

Fortunately I managed to keep an eye on the score as I was wandering around Ypres and Dunkirk. The former is an incredibly beautiful town steeped in heartbreaking history. If you haven’t already been there, then I strongly recommend a visit.

As I haven’t seen any of the action, and wasn’t emotionally invested as the test unfolded, I’m able to reflect on things in a detached manner. Here are my thoughts (for what they’re worth) …

For starters it was very heartening to see England win from such a difficult position. When we were twenty odd for two, and still over a hundred behind, I feared the worst. Whatever Paul Farbrace is putting in the players tea is definitely the right stuff. One wonders what poor old Peter Moores was using?

An awful lot of credit must go to Alastair Cook. Obviously I didn’t actually see his innings, but it seems like a typically unyielding and bloody-minded effort by the skipper. The Kiwis were closing in on victory, but Cook put on his splendid white Gandalf robes and shouted ‘thou shalt not pass’ in a deep, booming voice.

The big story of the match for me was Ben Stokes. How heartening to see an England all-rounder turn it on big time. It’s hard to ignore pugnacious batsmen capable of bowling at 90mph. Cricketers like Stokes are invaluable. They bring balance to the force and enable teams to play five bowlers without fear.

Personally – and this is only an inkling – I think Stokes has more natural talent than Flintoff. His batting is more cultured and his bowling action is whippier; therefore he should (in theory anyway) pick up fewer injuries. Freddy was a big unit whose body couldn’t quite cope with the workload. I suppose time will tell.

I was also heartened to read that Mark Wood performed relatively well. As I’m not really a Chris Jordan fan, I’m glad someone different has stepped up to the plate. Our attack looked a bit samey in the Caribbean, so adding someone with a shorter run up, a quirkier method and a bit of pace seems sensible. Wood and Stokes are more than useful change bowlers.

Overall then, this encouraging victory sets up the summer really nicely. I’m not sure I buy into the hype entirely – I’ve read several articles claiming that this victory will heal the divisions in English cricket – but things are definitely looking up. Defeat would have been a hammer blow.

Having said that, the victory does come with caveats. For starters, we shouldn’t forget that New Zealand were below us in the world rankings before Barbados and many of their best players – including the captain and their two best bowlers – arrived at Lord’s without any first class cricket for several weeks. Let’s not go over the top.

Although the Kiwis are an improving side, and certainly no pushovers, I did expect England to win this first test match. Indeed, England should have won. The manner of the victory was very exciting, but I suspect England shouldn’t have got themselves into a hole in the first place.

The performances of our individual batters and bowlers also come with caveats. Although our attack is shaping up reasonably well, I’ve read that we looked a bit toothless in the first innings – not surprising when you concede a total in excess of 500 I suppose.

Moeen Ali had a good test match overall – scoring runs in both innings and taking wickets in the first dig – but did he disappoint with the ball on the fifth day? You tell me.

The feeling also persists that England struggle to take wickets when there’s nothing in the pitch. Making inroads on a wearing surface is always easier. Maybe we were the beneficiaries of batting first and bowling last?

I’ve also read that Cook is back to his dominating best. I sincerely hope so but only time will tell.

Cook’s career has been characterised by big innings against mid-ranking opposition, but compared to his peers he has struggled against the very best attacks; therefore I’m not necessarily convinced that his brilliant effort means everything in England’s garden is rosy.

When Cook is up against the best he often goes missing – just look at the Ashes in 2006/7, 2009, 2013, 2013/14, South Africa in 2012 and Pakistan in 2010. He’s a superb street fighter, with incredible powers of concentration, but I still doubt his technique against elite opposition.

Few of Cook’s 27 test tons have come against top class opposition. Let’s not forget that New Zealand only have one bowler who averages less than 30 in test cricket. When he scored a century against New Zealand in 2013, he went on to have miserable back-to-back Ashes series; therefore I’m only cautiously optimistic about his form at this point.

On the other hand, we shouldn’t ignore that Cook’s career has also been characterised by pronounced peaks and troughs. When he’s bad, he’s very bad. But when he’s good, he’s very good indeed.

Cook’s quirky technique has often been his undoing. But when everything suddenly clicks, and he looks comfortable with his game, he’s almost impossible to dismiss.

England must hope that the skipper has one of his great purple patches now. Cook currently has the second worst record of any England opener in home Ashes series (minimum of five games) in history. 2015 would be a great year to put this disappointing statistic to bed. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

The rest of the batting order also has a lot to prove against Australia. Joe Root looks our best player in my book, but he’s still untested against top quality bowling. The same goes for Jos Buttler and Gary Ballance – and I do agree with Scyld Berry that it might be better for him to swap places with Bell in the long run.

We also need another opener. Let’s hope Lyth finds his feet at Headingley and is given time to establish himself. I’ve always quite liked the look of Lyth, but the suspicion lingers that he could be another Nick Compton – a solid county player who earned his test place on the back of one glorious summer in county cricket. Lyth’s Yorkshire career has been decent but unspectacular. Will the selectors give him the time that all new players need?

Basically, therefore, I’m still a little sceptical about our Ashes chances. Although I’ve long insisted that England have a sporting chance – the home team usually does well in recent test history – I’m not sure we can read too much into yesterday’s result. It’s a small step towards a brighter future. That is all.

I think the celebratory mood has more to do with certain journalists feeling exonerated after supporting Cook through thick and thin. Yesterday Simon Hughes – whose cricket books I enjoyed enormously – tweeted the following

I was a little surprised at this tweet. Did Hughes consider that the crowd were simply applauding a very good innings? I’m sure if he asked them individually what they thought of recent events, and whether the ECB was doing a good job, the findings would be in line with online polls in The Telegraph, The Mail and Cricinfo (each of which showed that 85-90% of people were disillusioned with the board’s behaviour). A century by the establishment’s champion does not heal all – no matter how welcome these runs are for the team.

Personally I’m sick of all the fighting and the divisions now. I don’t understand why the analyst has to throw petrol on the furnace with incendiary comments that will rub a lot of people up the wrong way. My hope is that journalists begin to smooth things over rather than gloating about Strauss dumping Pietersen again.

What’s more I really don’t understand why Cook has to represent the ultimate good and Pietersen the ultimate evil? It’s perfectly possible to fear for the future of English cricket, and be totally disillusioned with the board, yet be ambivalent about both these individuals. I think I’m living proof of this.

Consequently, I’d like to sign off by asking people to put their differences aside. I was really saddened to read the comments thread on Maxie’s post yesterday. I was so disappointed that I actually deleted the whole thread at one point before Maxie insisted I restore it (he has thick skin and doesn’t mind the abuse).

I for one, however, don’t want to see anything similar underneath my articles. People are more than entitled to say I’m wrong, and that they disagree with the points I try to make, but I won’t have people insulting me or other readers. Play the ball not the man.

I’m also weary of people jumping to conclusions. I’m sure someone will read (for example) what I said about Cook above, ignore the positive, exaggerate the negative, and claim I’m some kind of Piers Morgan mouthpiece or have some kind of agenda. If having an opinion is classified as ‘an agenda’ then yes, I’m guilty, but then so is everyone else. We all have contrasting opinions on the game we all love.

I suppose all this is symptomatic of the times we’re living in. There seems little room for nuanced argument anymore. Things are black and white. You’re either on one side or the other – an apologist or acolyte. It’s all rather unedifying and simplistic.

At the end of the day this is a cricket forum, and all views expressed are genuine and heartfelt. We all want England to win. If you don’t like what you read then go away – snooping, insulting people, and taking a subjective moral high ground seems pointless. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make him or her a moron.

Maxie and I have always done our best to encourage different views – and we in no way consider ourselves to be the sole arbiters of objective truth. Contrary to what ignorant people might think, we do not have an editorial position at TFT. It’s just coincidence (and a maybe a little unfortunate) that Maxie and I just happen to share similar views about the recent events.

If you disagree with us, then why not write an article about it? We publish good writing whatever its perspective. That is, after all, what forums are for.

James Morgan

@DoctorCopy

63 comments

  • Excellent article, and thank you again for all the effort and time you and Maxie put into providing this blog.

  • This test team could be the one we see through the summer, particularly as we only have only one more test against NZ. That could be good in terms of stability but will raise questions about who should step up, should the Australians dominate an individual and they will go at Cook & Root hard me thinks. The same in the bowling department control will be as important as wickets and NZ showed briefly that they could dominate our current line-up.

    But at least we have a group of players who look up for the challenge.

  • NZ aren’t below us in the Test rankings, they are 3rd and England are 5th, or at least they certainly were going into the series

    • Yes. I’ve just realised this. It’s caught me unawares, as i checked the rankings before writing an article previewing the tour a couple of weeks ago. NZ were in 5th and England 4th.

      I think the rankings might have updated recently. Maybe England fell a couple of points after losing in Barbados? Thanks for the heads up.

      • they have recalculated ICC rankings as 2011-2012 no longer count that plus defeat to WI caused eng to slip, also NZ to gain .

  • Fair article, James.

    Couple of comments:

    You mention the rankings – but New Zealand are above us in the Test Rankings!? http://www.espncricinfo.com/rankings/content/page/211271.html

    Re the article on Cook’s tons against ‘top class’ opposition – I’ve read this before and I’ve said that whilst it has it’s merits, it doesn’t take into consideration form, conditions – basically context. Is it fair to say that Boult and Southee on top form (despite averages) are easier to play than someone with a lower average bowling horribly out of form on a flat track, for example?

    Cheers, Geoff

    • Yes Cook has real mental strength and is excellent when the chips are down. He stays very calm. It’s a fair point.

      We’ll just have to wait and see re: Cook. I think Boult and Southee were probably a bit rusty having not played 1st class cricket for a long time, but it was still a very good innings.

      • I agree, although I’m not sure I made that point :)

        It’s more that the strength of the ‘centuries vs certain opposition’ argument for me doesn’t work. No-one ever questions Bradman’s average (and I’m not either) against the quality of the bowling that he faced. That’s a far out example, of course, but I’m sure you see my point.

        • “No-one ever questions Bradman’s average”. It may be pedantic but Bradman played one 5 match series against each of India, South Africa, and West Indies, compared with 37 matches against England. His average against England (the strongest attack he faced in that era) was 89.78 which is obviously lower than 99.94! He also “struggled” against West Indies, who had some fine, if erratic, fast bowlers, averaging 74.5 in his 5 tests! From this, it becomes clear that he cashed in heavily against South Africa and India, both of whom had fairly weak attacks at the time – 4 centuries in 5 tests against both teams. However he did make his biggest scores against England, including 2 triple centuries. So maybe 90 is a better reflection of his average.

          On a crude analysis, if you take the ratio of Bradman’s career average – 99.94 to his average against West Indies, and pro rate Cook’s average likewise, then Cook’s worst average should be about 34.8. Curiously, his average against Pakistan is 36.45.

          So perhaps we can conclude that Bradman’s average is biased low because he did not face the range of attacks that Cook has faced. Like Bradman, his average is poorer against the stronger teams – South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Australia (even taking 2010-11 into account). He has simply spent a higher proprtion of his matches playing against weaker attacks – 17 against West Indies, 13 against Sri lanka, 20 against India and 4 against Bangladesh – ie 54 of his 113 matches.

          If Bradman had played comparable numbers of tests against the weaker bowling sides, his average would probably be around 130.

          • Like I said, I wasn’t questioning DB’s average – and there’s still no context to those numbers :)

          • Cheers MinAB. I hadn’t actually calculated that Cook had played half his tests against the weaker sides. Makes sense.

            I still think this will be a vital year in his career. It could go either way. If he performs well against Australia, South Africa and Pakistan then we can really start talking about him as a great player, However, if history repeats itself and he struggles against these teams, then even his staunchest supporters will have to face up to the pattern.

            This year really could decide Cook’s entire legacy. It will be interesting to see how he does. It certainly bodes well that he’s finally been able to locate his technique. Had he faced Aust, SA and Pak (and NZ for that matter) last year then his career might have been up. He was in no shape to play the big boys last year. At least he should be full of confidence now.

            • I hope so too, James. Certainly, Cook is overdue some runs against those teams. And if he fails, it throws the spotlight back on the major problem area (if we accept that the batting order is solved, the spinner is solved, and that Stokes and Wood form a well-rounded bowling attack, which are all far from clear to me), which is the other opener.

  • I only saw part of the match as I was camping at the weekend (no 3G, no wifi = bliss although my teenage daughters disagree)

    Cook was great in that second innings. Its not only the quality of the opposition bowlers that needs to be taken into account but also the match situation. It is how you deal with the pressure. If he had failed we could well have lost.

    The only real disappointments were Bell, Ballance and Lyth. I wasn’t that convinced at all from what I saw of Lyth but hopefully we will give him a run in the absence of other contenders. Moeen, Root, Buttler and of course Stokes are a formidable middle order and hopefully will be the backbone of the team for quite a while.

    Wood is an excellent addition to the bowling line-up. Together with Stokes he really complements the new ball magic of Jimmy. Broad looked good too. Of course spin is still a problem. The massive hole that was left by Swann’s retirement hasn’t been filled and probably won’t be for sometime. He was world-class.

    As for captain Cook, getting bowled out helped him to avoid having to make a decision re declaring. he did annoy me at the toss when he wouldn’t say what he would have done. He should be in the team for his batting but he really isn’t a leader. He got the job when Strauss went as there was no real alternative at the time. And apart from Joe Root there are no still no real alternatives at the moment.

    A bloody great advert for Test Cricket though, especially after the bore of the Caribbean tour

    Touching on your other comments James, I was really surprised and annoyed by the Cook analogy in the previous post. Not surprising at all that it got people’s backs up.

    • Thanks Paul. Match situation does indeed come into it, but it’s not really relevant to my fears about Cook. I’ve never doubted his mental strength, just his technique against guys like Harris, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Steyn etc. I don’t think the situation would influence his technique.

      Re: the other thread, there was a lot of general abuse before anyone highlighted the analogy (and much of it was unrelated to it). I personally didn’t have a problem with it as I know Maxie well and can vouch for his character. He actually ran the London marathon for charity a couple of weeks ago, and has raised a hell of a lot of money for charity over the last couple of years.

  • On Cook’s technique – I posted some thoughts on his technique the other day saying his hips were out of alignment. This seems to have been changed – he shape was noticeably better in the first innings and it was no surprise that he scored runs in the second. Prior to the game I was worried he wouldn’t score any at all in the series.

    The influence of Paul Farbrace – especially on the batting order and giving responsibility to Stokes in the batting order. Indecently Stokes’ technique has improved too – his back foot is moving back as a trigger, rather than back and towards square leg – which would have caused all sorts of issues.

    Fingers crossed the Samuels salute marks the arrival of a genuine talent.

    The impact of Root, being allowed to express himself should also not be underestimated – crucial runs in both innings and a bit of a golden arm is also good news.

    Cook’s captaincy was also much better in the match too – although his influence on the lengths the bowlers are bowling is still an issue – the bowlers seems to love over doing the short stuff.

    Still this wonderful result doesn’t make anything rosy in the ecb garden. It will make Trevor Bayliss’ job a lot easier, however.

    Ian Bell needs some runs at Headlingly. Alex Hales needs to play some more red ball cricket too. I genuinely think that Lyth should be given a good run of games, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the selectors may have picked the wrong Yorkshire opening batsman…

    • I am a huge Alex Lees fan. Best young opener I’ve seen for a long, long time. Maybe the best raw prospect since Atherton. Let’s hope he progresses.

  • Lovely article again, thanks to both of you for the site. Not of any relevance for anyone else, but just for myself, I took no pleasure at all in England’s win, and that would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago (or for the twenty years before that).

    A win, at Lords, first test of the summer, Stokes’ performance, and if anything I was rather disappointed. Definitely an ex-England supporter, at least for now.

  • The same people who stood up and clapped Cook’s excellent batting were complaining angrily and vocally about his woeful captaincy about three hours later when he was making (letting?) Broad bowl 6 pointless bouncers an over for hours on end.

    I know, I was there. The “silent majority” my arse. Its the same people; we England fans are capable of nuanced and considered views about our team, unlike Simon Hughes, apparently.

    Who knows how Moeen would have bowled – he only got about 6 overs, and only as a last, last resort. Cook would clearly rather not bowl him at all.

  • great article…and your words on the social media culture rings so true sadly. Still if anybody would have told cook a couple weeks ago that their summer would start like this im sure he would have grabbed it with both hands.

    If hales can get a look in the side can get real momentum in their innings.

  • “There seems little room for nuanced argument anymore.” I’m with you here, let’s just talk cricket, it’s whats we love and the one common ground we all share. Typing articles and comments set in deep rooted grudges will only serve to kill off reasoned discussion.

    I will say though, New Zealand are more than an ‘average side’, more suited to ODI perhaps but certainly a level up from WI and more akin to English conditions than India. Real shame it’s a two test series…

    • Yes I agree it’s awful that NZ only get two tests. I expect them to perform better at Headlingley. They are certainly a big step up from the Windies. I didn’t mean to suggest they are an average side; just not an elite one.

  • Simon Hughes nailed his colours to the mast with that Times article. He’s an ECB, Strauss and Cook man (if you didn’t know such a thing existed, you should do after reading that article and following his other comments). In the article he uses phrases like “real fans … “. Quite frankly there are many cricket supporters who feel cast out into the wilderness by the ECB. The fan base is shrinking, rather than a huge tent for everybody being set up. I say “Hughes OUT!”.

  • Sadly, I’m supporting NZ and Australia this summer and not supporting the ECB and their exclusive and conservative ways. I fear that success this summer will be taken as a mandate for business as usual for the next 4-5 years. I won’t be buying an England ticket until we get some change. That said, I go regularly to watch my county and the town first XI.

    • Dear James, an excellent article as always. You did miss an excellent program on ITV Sunday evening; Perspectives – Eddie Redmayne on War Art. He went to Sanctuary Wood and Hill 62. My grandfather is buried at Hooge Crater next to the museum and trenches. Catch it on Iplayer; it was brilliant.

      • Many thanks May. I’ll try to watch it later. Tyne Cot cemetery was very moving.

        • My parents took us when I was about 14 – possibly the most moving places I’ve ever visited. Do they still do the daily ceremony at the Menin Gate?

          • Yes they do Hamish. They play the last post at 8pm every night. Unfortunately I missed this though because we have a 4 year old son, and it’s past his bedtime.

  • I enjoyed this test match a lot as an England fan and as a cricket fan in general. I am delighted we won and it was a much needed victory in a great fashion.

    I am quite concerned about a few things though. I am worried now about the pressure on Ben Stokes and the expectation on him to perform like he did every time he pulls on the England shirt.

    We seem to still be getting into trouble at the start of an innings 30-4 and at 25-2 following on from many similar starts in the West Indies. I suspect we will not always be able to pull these around.

    Good progress from before but I still think there is going to be plenty of ups and downs this summer as this “young” team will not always get everything their own way. This is why I look forward more to the summer now with cautious optimism rather than as some are doing with that I told you so attitude.

    As for this blog. I like it a lot and understand that it is written as a hobby by James and Maxie. Sometimes I agree with the posts written other times I think they are a bit ott but it is always interesting to read the articles. It is a shame that running down this blog has become an obsession for some as this is an enjoyable site for myself and I am sure many others.

  • Excellent article James. Perceptive as always. It was a superb test match and for me, I’ll take a battle over a crushing win every time. It is indeed a smallish step forward – one swallow and all that. Lots to be encouraged by – Root looking wonderful, Stokes doing everything we could ask and more, Cook playing an excellent innings as we’ve been begging him to do for a long time.

    As Paul said, we really need whittaker to go and find us a class spinner.

    I do hope England don’t now believe it’s job done, we’ve got our 11 for the foreseeable as they’ve done in the past. I expect a new coach may well wish to to tune a couple of things, when he settles in.

    Finally, I reckon I’m celebrating a year on this excellent blog. You’re correct James – if I disapproved of the content, I wouldn’t read it. I have mostly contempt for the press, so I don’t read them. It works very well.

  • If only we could get by without administrators and blokes in blazers, we’d be laughing! The team have given us joyous entertainment, the ECB, on the other hand are the same lying, conniving, duplicitous weasels as ever was. This blog goes a long way to help genuine fans vent their collective spleen at their disgraceful antics, and hopefully help to keep the buggers honest? That’ll be the day methinks!

  • I would say battle is won but the war goes on, between ECB and disenfranchised public….

    Had England lost here it would have been a disaster, a draw something to keep the people at bay, but a win has given people hope not just a win but the manner in which it arrived. It has given hope that a fighting england unit is there to be made if cultivated properly in the form young guns root stokes wood ali butler, with anderson broad and cook to complement that frame work with experience.

    Cook has played the kind of knock for which he is in the team for, its well played knock worth the plaudits. He needs to keep this going for both himself and England, if he can t repeat the same kind of success in the coming matches. He will certainly be able to give the platform for root, ballance and stokes to thrive.

    There were two divides before the match began one between ECB and the people due to their handling of issues and not catering to the paying public, the other between the team and people mainly due to the brand of cricket they played.

    With this match there is a lot of hope that the second divide can be closed if this spirit and talent can be maintained and managed.

    The former not so easy to close as ECB has to own up to some of its shambles like boycott says and clear the air with the public especially on KP regard the fact that they believe that the present talent cant keep KP out of the team based on meritocracy is the biggest failing and short shortsightedness of their decision and shows the total lack of faith in the team they are putting out.The whole cant be available for selection nonsense needs to be ended.

    Next make proper management of players both on field and off field so that the young talents that have put their hands up dont go down the drain as has been the recent past.

    I would like to note here that Ben stokes decline and return to form has strangely coincided with peter moored arrival and departure. The team does seem to be more free recently under Farbrace who is now having a free reign, he did do well for SL when he was at the helm.

    Bell still needs to find his groove, Lyth should be given atleast 3 more matches to be fully tested out, if not Hales would be an exciting option to try out.

    So yes there is a reason to be cautiously happy for a great test match and possibly the hope for revival of exciting ENG cricket team. But its just the first battle of the summer won, the war is looming.

    • It’s an interesting point about Moores. The players all said they loved him, but the results were mixed. I was initially going to focus on a Moores-boost (or rather a post-moores boost) in this article, but decided it would be a tad unfair.

      • ya ECB sort humiliated the guy too much with his sacking, that it feels a tad unfair to go after the guy. Still the tema does seem to get the boost you say.

  • A thoroughly enjoyable match to watch. I was quite surprised at the quoted statistic that it was the most total runs EVER scored in a Lord’s Test Match.

    Let’s hope that, when Stokes doesn’t repeat that performance, it isn’t regarded as “failure”. I don’t think that he will ever be a consistent batsman, so we should just enjoy the performance on his good days.

  • Why you don’t just say you hate Cook and be done with it is beyond me. Your evident dislike of a man you do not know is palpable and highly irrational. England supporters, such as myself, are totally fed up and very angry at the constant belittling of the man’s achievements – it says more about the authors than Cook himself. Also, Simon Hughes is a fantastic expert on cricket who could wipe the floor with any contributor to this blog. He is also a great writer on cricket, who is both entertaining and informative, without be cheap. Something sadly neither, Maxie or James will ever manage.

    • “Why you don’t just say you hate Cook and be done with it is beyond me”.

      Because I don’t. I have consistently praised him and criticised him in equal measure. There are plenty of compliments in both my article and the comments section. Why is it irrational hatred to say that someone is something other than 100% perfect? I’m not the extremist here.

      Why not agree with the compliments I’ve paid him, and then address the measured criticism in a reasonable, mature way like the other posters? It’s what sporting discourse is all about. You might even get a polite response and make new online friends.

    • Hi Foghorn – I understand your beef with my post yesterday morning, but James is offering a very different perspective here. By any measure he’s served up an utterly dispassionate and thoughtful analysis, whether or not you agree with it.

      With Simon Hughes. it’s worth pointing out that he – very regularly – makes very personal and unpleasant remarks about Kevin Pietersen. He’s entitled to do that, of course, but it would not be fair to say he rises above the fray and and has an open mind.

      James did not say Hughes wasn’t a good writer (in fact, he praised him), or that he doesn’t know a great deal about cricket, which of course he does. But I think the point James is making – and certainly the one I would make – is that Hughes probably doesn’t know much about everyday cricket supporters. Many are happy with the status quo and adore Cook; many are neutral; many feel uncomfortable with and sceptical about Cook. Opinion is very fragmented and divided.

    • I intensely dislike Cook for running to Flower and telling him what KP said in a ‘players only no holds barred’ meeting. I was a passionate England supporter for over 40 years, starting with Randall, Hendrick, Knott, Brearley. I do not support England anymore and neither to I respect Simon Hughes. I thank heaven for this blog and coĺlythorpe too.

      • Thank you for that one Man in a barrel. Made me laugh out loud. Today & yesterday been very bad days. I needed a good guffaw. Not wanting to be political I used to say Margaret T was no woman but a man in drag!!! Cheers.

    • “Also, Simon Hughes is a fantastic expert on cricket who could wipe the floor with any contributor to this blog.”

      I bet he could get a job wiping floors anywhere in the world.

    • I don’t mean this in a persnickety way, but the fact is that no-one is forcing you to read this blog. I think many of us use our limited reading time going mostly to news sources and blogs that we respect. If you do not find what Maxie and James write to be of value, I personally wonder why you spend time here, but also consider it none of my business. So hope you get something positive out of being here.

  • Boycott :- “What Hughes knows about batting you could put on the back of a postage stamp”…He’s not wrong!

  • I turn to this blog every day when cricket is being played for incisive articles untainted by the bias shown by most of the journalists in the papers. The amount of timeand effort that goes i to producing TFT must be enormous and. As a blogger myself, I very much appre iate this. Thanks to all of you

  • Slightly late to the party on this thread, but thought I’d share my thoughts now I have a moment.
    This was a genuinely wonderful test match, and it’s great to see England playing some positive cricket again. It wasn’t a flawless performance – the bowling seemed a bit toothless in NZ’s first innings, and they got themselves behind in the match on a couple of occasions. But even that was encouraging in a way – it gave them a chance to fight back against solid opposition – something they haven’t done for a long time.
    As you say, it’s worth exercising caution – NZ are a good side, but they are not Australia or South Africa, and it’s only been one test since that collapse in Barbados. On top of that, while it’s nice to have five bowlers, the bowling attack doesn’t seem the most threatening (though they did take twenty wickets without a significant contribution from Anderson, so credit where it’s due), and that peskyy opening slot still isn’t settled – I hope Lyth comes good.
    But overall, this was a great test, and genuinely heartwarming to see – Stokes was the standout of course, but I’m realy excited for a middle order of him, Root, Moeen and Buttler – I hope the management look after them. And while I’m not a fan of Cook the person or the captain, I’m glad to see him playing like that – the team will need his runs this summer. And while it was a good batting pitch, there was enough in it for NZ’s bowlers – Boult and Southee are both in the top 15 of the ICC rankings, so that’s a strong attack in my book, and the if Cook had gone, England would probably have lost. Credit where it’s due. More performances like this, and I’ll be happy to get behind England again, which would be nice after a year and a half of becoming increasingly disenfranchised.

  • Well said James and most of the points I wanted to make are in your article or subsequent comments. On individual players, I’d only add that the match showed yet again what a difference Broad makes to England when he is operating in the 86-89 mph bracket (as he did here from late on Day 2) as opposed to 80-84 mph. Hopefully Broad has now recovered fully from his operation and can perform like this for a while – rather than one very good performance being followed by several on ‘cruise control’ as has happened with him in the past.

    One issue I want to raise is the standard of umpiring (which is going to sound churlish but here goes anyway). I feared the worst when I saw Erasmus and Ravi were the umpires. They were glaringly inconsistent in the application of the LBW laws. Five NZ batsmen were given out LBW, four of which were ‘umpire’s call’ (Taylor’s was hitting the middle of middle) whereas only two England players were LBW (Buttler’s was again hitting middle halfway up and I haven’t seen Ali’s). On the first day NZ were denied three LBWS that reviews subsequently showed to be ‘umpire’s call’ (against Cook, Root – which was the real shocker by Erasmus when he was in the 30s – and Ali). The only LBW given on Day 1 was the one against Buttler. If you establish a standard that the ball has to be hitting the middle of middle to be given then you have to stick with it throughout the match.

    • It struck me too that Ravi seemed to give not out when England were batting, thereby making it harder to overturn. Is there a neutral analysis of all lbw appeals? My impression is that NZ were hard done by.

  • “As I haven’t seen any of the action, and wasn’t emotionally invested as the test unfolded, I’m able to reflect on things in a detached manner.”

    And for those of us without Sky, this has been the case since all Test Cricket was taken off terrestrial TV. I understand that maybe there isn’t the demand from terrestrial stations to show all test cricket, but could’t we at least have the Ashes? The World cup for the short game. At least every 2 to 4 years there would be a chance for those without the means to watch on Sky to experience cricket. A 45 minutes highlights reel is a poor substitute.

    • There is a huge demand to show cricket. Many stations have literally no other programmes to show. Imagine what cricket would do for their ratings and advertising revenues!

  • Sorry to be a bit late to this. Not sure what all the trouble was about James. I wanted to thank you and Maxie for the brilliant blog which has given me a place to come for refuge from all the crap from the usual suspects. I am glad that you are both very different and come with different perspectives on England Cricket. I hope you will both continue to be honest, no matter if people like it or not. Integrity is a bye word on this site and you must continue to be yourselves no matter what. If people do not like that honesty then they can choose to disagree or go somewhere else. This is your blog and I for one am grateful for it, so much so, that I think I might have lost my marbles with all this stuff from the past 18 months – it feels like years! So please don’t stop being yourselves and writing how you feel. At least you say it from the heart and with passion. Rather that, any day, than the sycophantic stuff we get from the usual suspects! Half the time they are just jingling the establishment’s bell. They just pass on unsubstantiated half-truths or no truths at all. I think they believe if they say it long enough they will believe it themselves and get everyone else to believe it.

    Keep going boys. Keep telling it like is. Remember you are more important than all these very silly, immature people that constantly litter the dailies. Lots of love from one grateful, old, ranting gasbag.

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