No. It’s not Batman. It’s everyone’s favourite technical director of elite coaching, Mr Andy Flower. Oh, hang on a sec, to ‘come back’ necessitates actually going away in the first place … which Flower didn’t. Yesterday’s breaking news that Flower will lead the England Lions in their upcoming triangular series against New Zealand A and Sri Lanka A is rather interesting to say the least. When Flower stepped down as England head coach after the Ashes disaster – when it was apparent to...
The Long Road Ahead
Usually I can’t wait to update this blog. But this time its different. I can barely summon the energy. The England cricket team has reached it’s nadir: being whitewashed in the Ashes, losing the early summer series to Sri Lanka, and now thrashed at home by an Indian team that hadn’t won away from home for three years. Imagine how ugly it would have been if we’d lost the toss. It’s time to face facts folks … We have a toothless bowling attack. We have a brittle batting line-up without a single...
It’s all Kevin Pietersen’s fault
According to Captain Blackadder, there was just one tiny flaw in the European system of ententes and alliances during the early twentieth century, which it was assumed would prevent war by means of mutual deterrent. “It was bollocks”. Rowan Atkinson’s most celebrated creation would likely have drawn a similar analysis of the ECB’s management of the England cricket team since January. Just as the relationship between the Entente and Central powers made war inevitable, not...
Where do England go from here? Your views
So defeat came as expected. It was a dismal, pathetic and even somewhat comical surrender in the end. Prior is stepping down (the right decision) but Cook wants to stay on as England captain (probably the wrong one). The ECB are unlikely to make many changes in my opinion, as their fates are intertwined with Cook’s. But something’s got to give, surely? We’re not going to nail our colours to any particular mast at this point. England’s problems are too complex to jump to...
The End is Nigh. Or is it? Day four at Lord’s
Lots of people are making all sorts of assumptions about this test. First of all, they’re certain England will lose – and if England lose, the story goes, Alastair Cook will lose his job. The pundits also seem sure that if he’s relieved of the captaincy, good old Alastair will suddenly recapture his best batting form – he is, after all, an ‘all time great’. The first of these assumptions is probably right. Although there’s still a glimmer of hope, as Root and Moeen have proved their...
Killing the golden goose: day three at Lord’s
Thanks for all your comments and thoughts over the last couple of days. We welcome all your views on day three. In terms of talking points, Sourav Ganguly, in the Sky Sports commentary box, made some interesting observations about England’s selection strategy. As we discussed here when Stokes was set to replace Jordan after Headingley, England have fielded only three outright bowlers in this series so far. Ganguly believes the team has too many batsmen, and too few bowlers. I suspect...
