We speak from the heart here at TFT. We try not to pull too many punches. As a result we can occasionally sound like a broken record. If something’s annoying us, we’ll tell you. And if it’s constantly annoying us, we’ll tell you some more.
Please forgive me, therefore, while I chastise Ashley Giles, again, for making the same basic, elementary, simplistic, kindergarten mistakes.
Ash, old friend, this is 2014. It’s not 1985. You don’t instruct your batsmen to start every innings slowly, lay a stodgy foundation and then hope late order hitting will enable you to post an adequate total.
You especially don’t do this if you’ve criminally stacked the side with batting and left your bowling woefully weak. Oh, and just for the record, 280 is not an adequate total anymore. Especially at a big ground like the MCG, where’s it’s extremely hard to defend.
After ten overs yesterday England found themselves at twenty odd for two; all against the might of Clint McKay, who has recently been dropped by his Big Bash side. Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle weren’t even playing.
Yesterday was a chance for England to take the initiative and play some aggressive cricket against Australia’s second-string bowlers. Unfortunately however, Giles blew it with his stone age tactics and intransigent team selection: if you remember, Australia beat us comfortably in the ODIs last summer when we employed exactly the same strategy. If it didn’t work then, why would it work now?
The other problem last summer was the composition of England’s attack. Packing the side with batsmen – we had Stokes at eight in September, and Buttler eight yesterday – leaves the captain short of options in the field.
In September, Bopara had to bowl his full quota as the fifth bowler. Yesterday was the same, although Ravi operated as a fifth seamer (rather than a fourth) because England didn’t pick a spinner.
That’s right. At the MCG, the home of Shane Warne, England couldn’t find room for a spinner in the side. I suppose it’s more important to pack the side with batsmen who refuse to play a shot in anger.
What’s even more frustrating is that Alex Hales, who is the world’s number one ranked T20 batsman, can’t get a game (or even get in the squad). Here’s something for Gilo to ponder: both Australia’s opening batsmen yesterday are former T20 specialists. They both scored big runs and made sure Australia won the game. Both have spectacular ODI career records.
As you’re probably aware, I’ve been calling for Andy Flower to step down as England test coach. It’s not because Flower is a bad coach – he’s a very good one who will do a great job elsewhere – it’s because the team environment is stale and England’s players need a fresh approach to breathe new life into the squad.
However, if the ECB in their wisdom have lined up Ashley Giles to be his replacement, I’ll personally fly to Australia (or wherever he is now) and beg Paul Downton to keep Flower on.
Thus far I have seen nothing to suggest that Gilo is the right man to manage our test team. His tactics have been conservative, he becomes even more intransigent in the face of criticism – he always took criticism badly as a player so it’s no surprise he’s the same as a coach – and by all accounts the team environment still feels too comfy and familiar. What’s more, I still haven’t heard him speak insightfully or passionately about the game in interviews.
To appoint a guy who has been an ECB employee from the day he stopped playing, would be thoroughly wrong in the current circumstances. It wouldn’t actually constitute much of a change at all.
This isn’t personal. I like Ashley Giles as a person and admired his attitude as a player – and of course, being a fan looking in from the outside, it’s always hard to tell exactly what’s going on in the dressing room – however, at the moment I remain a Giles sceptic.
I hope I’m wrong, I really do, as we all want England to win. But the bottom line is that we’ve lost more games than we’ve won under Giles. What’s more, the majority of these games have been played at home – where England should have the edge.
People say that Giles is a good coach because he won the county championship. Well so did Peter Moores.
James Morgan
The “hitters” will perform much better when under no pressure. Nothing better than Buttler walking to the middle with 10 overs left and 250 already on the board…
The re-introduction of 50 over cricket to the domestic game can only be a good thing. It seemed crazy that counties didn’t play 50 over cricket, and England were then expected to win ODIs.
If Giles goes, who do you see as a replacement??
Collingwood.