Never mind Lucy bloody Beale, I want to know who killed English cricket. Although the obvious reply would be ‘New Zealand stupid’, I think we all know the real answer is more complex. English cricket was murdered at home too, most likely by those who run the game and their various accomplices.
I can’t pretend I stayed up to watch the game. Instead I woke up early to catch the end. It had already finished by the time I tuned in. Sigh.
It’s hard to give a measured reaction at the moment as I’ve only seen the hightlights. What seems pretty clear is that Tim Southee bowled like a man possessed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone swing the ball so much in the middle-overs when there’s a lush outfield. It was extraordinary.
We can’t make excuses for all the batsmen, but some of them got absolute beauties. James Taylor, for example, got a peach that Bradman would’ve missed by a foot. Sometimes you’ve just got to applaud the opposition.
Brendon McCullum also played a blinder with the bat, although I’m not going to praise him too much. You often see innings like that when teams are chasing small totals against demoralised opponents. McCullum is very good at kicking teams when they’re down.
Having said that, however, these dismal defeats are becoming a bit of habit. We lost a lot of games under Ashley Giles, who was rightly sacked as ODI coach, but now we’re even worse.
By my reckoning Peter Moores has now won just seven of his sixteen ODIs since returning as England coach. His record in his first stint was poor too. He has never won a single limited overs trophy in his long career. Best coach of his generation? Pull the other one Downton.
It’s hard to see where England go from here to be honest. Confidence must be shattered. I expected us to lose our first two games, but not this badly.
I just can’t help feeling that Moores and the coaches have shot the team in the foot. Before the World Cup started in anger, England seemed to be making a modicum of progress. Then came those bizarre selections for the Australia game.
Re-jigging the batting order for such an important match, when the team was already unstable, was unnecessary tinkering at its worst. I suspect it came from over-analysis, which can often obscure the bleedin’ obvious.
The bowling plans have also been head-scratching for a while now. Tim Southee showed us all today why pitching the bloody ball up is a good idea. I don’t care what the computer says.
James Morgan
I said after the Australia game that Moores in his first stint in charge went through 3 captains, also Strauss filled in as a captain in Moores first test in charge, yet 6 months later was dropped from the test side.
Now in Moores second stint Cook’s form has never improved, and his captaincy is still poor and Morgan now struggling.
The point is is that Moores is a captain killer, Best coach of his generation? – What drugs is Downton on?
Spot on. The cretins in the media tried to blame Moores initial sacking on Pietersen when the truth was that he was the third captain that couldn’t work with Moores. Collingwood didn’t have too much good to say on him either and Vaughan’s views were well known.
Good Morning James! I was going to suggest that maybe you should have sent your womens team, but they aint been doing too well either down under.
Joking aside, may as well ignore your bowling performance and Baz’s innings as the writing was on the wall by then, although I don’t think Finn will survive to the next match.
Batting-wise I suspect your “batsmen” spent so much of the pre-game time focusing on Boult after having faced Johnson and Starc that they forgot we have right armers too.
James here. I wondered when Kiwi Paul would drop by :-)
Yes you can laugh it up now, but we’ll surely have our revenge in the rugby world cup later this year. No wait …
Do you guys play football?
I couldn’t resist saying hi. Worried about the test series in May now?
I’m worried full stop mate!
I’m worried about the next match against Scotland.
Kevin Pietersen done it!
In all seriousness where do want to start seriously. The absolute balls up made by the ECB management at the start of last year and I’m not talking about he whom I’ve mentioned above. In reality I doubt I’m saying anything new with the ridiculous decision to ensure Cook continued as captain post the Ashes tour from hell and the notion that we were trying to build a team around him when the indications were strongly that he was not up to the task as a tactician or leader.
Then there was the appointment of the coaches, or deckchair shuffling with Moores coming back in and Flower moving upstairs. In essence there was no real new start, despite what the ECB tried to claim, just that senior players were eased out with some younger players, coming in and struggling to fill the void either due to the fact that they are not up to the task or a strong possibility that we have a coaching structure that doesn’t have the ability to manage talent.
Bring back Cook?
Bring back Trott, I think. Averages over 50 in ODIs…
Overnight was the inevitable result of all the things that you guys on this blog have been saying. A complete let down after last winter and failure to admit and review what went wrong has led to this.
When England were crap in the 90s it was annoying but kind of funny but now with all the money in the English game it isn’t funny anymore.
England just need to focus on the positives and keep talking the right language.
I’ve heard that New Zealand chose to take lunch with only a few runs left to score to seal victory – brilliant tactic – talk about putting England through the mangle! England being one of the ‘Self Chosen Three’ deserve all they get because of their arrogance. Hope they all feel like shit, including Moores and Downton, now.
Ok here is what I think***************** add words as appropriate
@#@#@#@#&%$$££****@ – I could say more but this is a family website and I don’t think Maxie or James would encourage profane and abusive language!
PS – It’s all KP’s fault! @Paul Downton, Alistair Cook & Giles Clarke LOL!
I believe Eoin Morgan is loading on Bushmills before he does his post-match interviews these days. His comments certainly indicate someone who has taken to drink.
And Stuart Brioad? Hardest man in the world, isn’t he? Typical of the failure to develop of those the ECB have invested time and ££££££s. Senior player???? You’ve got to be kidding. Still, he was a millionaire before he was 23, which is nice.
Substitute the short individual comings of all the senior players for Broad’s and you have half the team. And the other half aren’t any use, either
What other Test playing nation has a coach who never played international cricket at any level?
Can Moores create an inspirational approach to games?
Why have our players lost the plot and moreover their confidence?
Why does the coach trot out silly statements and summaries after the games?
When do we get better towards the latter stages?
Could you see Darren Lehman say, adopting the same approach to his side and making such cringebearing statements?
The answer lies in the poor way we approach our games and the poor mindsets…..now where does that begin?
Wouldn’t want to remotely been to be supporting Moores – who I think is useless – but to my knowledge New Zealand’s coach Mike Hesson never played international cricket and he’s done ok…
Fact is, Moores is just incompetent, regardless
That sort of performance by one of the associates would be used by the ICC as a reason for kicking them out of future WCs.
WC’s – Seems appropriate here as Team England are rapidly going down the toilet!
It’s past the angry time now. It’s just become comical. English cricket is the best comedy in town. David Brent as coach, Father Ted as captain, replacing the previous captain seargent Wilson from Dads army (went to the right school) Then you have the management at the ECB. Giles Clark like CJ out of Reggie Perrin. ( I didn’t get where I am today by not thinking about wonga. ) Downton like Captain Mainwearing. (Pompous and incompetent. )
And covering these bafoons is an equally laughable press pack of idiots, hangers on and scroungers. (Remember these morons really thought beating a pathetic, uninterested India last summer was a great achievement. It’s a cast of thousands. In the 70s they would have made a film about it “Carry on cricket. ”
English cricket now joins banking and football. The more money you give them, the more they screw up. It’s like a reverse motivation system.
New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and the associates should break away from the Death star that is the ICC. Leave them to play each other every year in a meaningless circle jerk of one sided series. Sure it will be tough. No big TV money. But at least you will have your prde, and much more interesting and varied cricket to watch.
James, like you, I too got up early to get the match end to be disappointed by the early finish but more so by the scoreline. Well, England now have easier opponents and according to the pundits can even afford to lose another game and yet qualify. I hope like Pakistan’s cornered tigers in 1992 England could make a dash in the last three crucial games. Miracles are known to happen and I will not rule out England though KP’s presence would have made my ebbing belief stronger.
like Pakistan’s cornered tigers in 1992…
Looking at (for example) Broad’s body language as he batted, England didn’t look much like cornered tigers to me. More like rabbits in the headlights.
Broad looks mentally shot; Finn’s humiliation has me seriously worried for his international future; the batsmen (with the possible exception of Root) were abject.
There are some very talented players in the team, but under the present coach, I don’t think they have any chance of a miracle.
Moores is the best coach of his generation if we limit the field of candidates to those born on December 18, 1962 in Macclesfield. Time to bring back mood-hoover Flower and Cookie?
I’d take Flower over Moores like a shot!
With all due respect that’s a bit like choosing life over death. It’s a no brainier.
You have already said we haven’t got the players,so the coach is somewhat irrelevent.
I think that’s rather harsh on Wes Barlow, who coached All Hallows Catholic School to the last sixteen of the U-12 East Cheshire Cup back in 1997.
And that’s the shot of the day right there.
My humble apologies, I completely forgot about him. Wes for England coach?
If one had a conspiracy-spotting kind of outlook, one might think that the function of Moores is to screw up until Flower can be brought back. Kind of like that guy who pretended to be President of Russia for a bit while Putin pretended to be PM.
I’ve long believed Moores to be the Medvedev to Flower’s Putin.
Although I’d be inclined to called the ECB “the Death Star” and the ICC “the Empire”, your post was just about award-winning, sir.
I knew we’d lose. Didn’t think we’d end up performing like Canada, or somesuch. Hey, I’ll take that back. Canada might’ve taken the game into a few more overs.
Not gonna swear but I will say this: weak millionaire pussies. And if the ECB will put their money where my mouth is, they can buy me a plane ticket to NZ and I’ll say that to their faces and to David ‘Moorsey’ Brent AND to the laptop.
Grrr!
Vaughan this morning:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11424534/England-have-run-out-of-excuses-Peter-Moores-is-now-under-serious-pressure.html
They have made a string of poor decisions. Eoin Morgan should have been given a year in the job, not thrust into a World Cup and handed only three weeks to prepare.
Power players like Alex Hales and Ben Stokes should have been given 20 games in the right position to prove their worth in one-day cricket. They are the kind of players you need in this era.
The ECB hate anyone talking about the Pietersen factor and have successfully managed to ensure the mainstream media do not bring him up but there is no doubt he should be batting in this team…
Other good points by Vaughan:
“Don’t give me guff about introducing new young players. Every coach does that”.
“They continue to fall back on Test players when the pressure is on such as picking Gary Ballance at three instead of Hales”.
“They are bogged down by stats and not thinking for themselves”.
On the other hand, why has Vaughan like too many England ex-players taken the easy option of a media career and why isn’t he coaching?
It’s all very well for Vaughan to come out and say that after the fact.
And let me say that generally I find Vaughan to be one of the more astute commentators.
But he also bought into the bullshit leading up to this tournament, peddling the relentlessly upbeat spin that seems impervious to facts. This little fan dance about how ‘England are going to surprise a few teams’. Based on what?
Maybe they should have asked some harder questions a month ago – or even before that – when the writing was already on the wall. When Broad said it was ‘the most powerful batting line-up he’d ever played in’ they didn’t laugh him out of town, did they? How absurd does that line look now? They could have called him on his obvious bullshit. Instead, they all sucked their thumbs and thought: ‘How exciting!’
And, then, lo and behold, some awful results follow and they all act horrified and surprised, as though they’d been deceived all along and the truth only now revealed to them.
English commentators seem content to just dawdle along telling everyone how much England are improving and then swing their pendulum wildly when the shit hits the fan. That’s exactly what Vaughan has done.
Right before the World Cup, Vaughan was blethering about the importance of ‘talking the right language’ and ‘still strutting around the right way’ even when they lose. BREAKING NEWS: none of that counts for shit.
And then the penny drops – oh, actually, it’s results that matter. Who could have guessed it? And now, after being twice blown off the park, it’s time to panic.
It’s such deluded, self-defeating bullshit. It’s one thing for the ECB and its employees to spin and obfuscate and endlessly gild the lily. But it’s another for English commentators to swallow it whole and then regurgitate it so uncritically to their audience.
Peter Moores and his psycho babble didn’t work first time and is even worse now. Get rid of him before we become an even bigger laughing stock!
One thing I do find interesting about last years Ashes humiliation and now England’s first 2 World Cup matches is the role of genuine good fast bowling.
Over the last few years it has been claimed that fast bowling was no longer very effective. A combination of protective clothing. Restrictions on short pitch deliveries, lack of pace in wickets etc etc. Yet we see quite clearly that this is hogwash. The modern players just don’t see much of it anymore. And when they do they have no idea what to do. Some look genuinely frightened. You can’t blame them, but it does give you pause for thought about the players of yesterday who faced great fast bowling with little protection.
A lot of England’s great fast bowlers have tended to come out of working class, state educated systems. Old fashioned mining communities, for example. They don’t play cricket in these schools anymore. The ECB would rather spend the tv money on enriching themselves,and puffing up middle class average batsman.
Bob Willis hitting the barn door on ‘The Verdict’:
“batted like Derek and the Dominos….. bowled like the Grateful Dead…. stopped going for a hundred in the last ten overs and started going for a hundred in the first ten overs”.
We’re just getting warmed up, we’ll come to the boil in the knock out… haha
If (and jokes aside, it is still an if) we fail to qualify for the quarters Moores should go, I’d bring in Vaughan (and Giles etc.) as a caretaker and get the boys motivated for the Ashes… ability-wise the team 1-11 are good enough to compete with anyone, it’s a confused almost fearful mindset they seem to be stuck in
Gower for coach
George Dobbell is in great form…
“But it is England, for all their wealth and hubris, who are in danger of undermining the credibility of this competition.
It is England, who have been at the forefront of the attempt to carve up cricket for the benefit of the “Big Three”, who have played like part-timers.
It is England, who have argued for the cut in teams at future World Cups, who are devaluing the value of TV rights and short-changing ticket-holders with their failure to compete with the best teams.
It is England, with an annual revenue around £120m a year more than Ireland and Scotland, who have been brushed aside with almost embarrassing ease.”
So, do the journos baying for Pietersen’s blood still think it was all KP’s fault and that England are better off without him? How’s the Team Spirit, lads?? Rather have KP bashing the bowling to all parts of the park (whilst whistling if it pleases him) and
England winning, than this ritual lambs-to-the slaughter performance!
I *hope* this World Cup ends a few careers – Paul Downton, Andy Flower, Peter Moores, Giles Clarke et al. And resurrects Pietersen to the English cricket team
– in ALL formats of the game.
#BringBackKP
Message to Vaughan : YOU are part of the mainstream media who should be bringing up KP at every given opportunity until we get a proper explanation!
It was amusing that none of the Sky TV pundits today even allowed Pietersen’s name to be uttered in error – He Who Should Never Be Spoken Of!
Fascinating insight offered by Carberry (simply because it comes from someone NOT named KP) about the sameness of England’s batsmen in facing swinging deliveries. Nobody was prepared to step out of the crease or go wide and take the bowling on. Bar Moeen Ali initially and then Eoin Morgan, who unfortunately got out to a good catch – and his narrative will read ‘out of form/low score’ again. No batsman tried to upset the bowlers’ rhythm. As Carberry said, it was because players are worried about looking silly if they get out playing an unconventional stroke, and losing their places in the playing 11, given the amount of chopping and changing that takes place in the England set-up. Unlike McCullum, who did enormous damage with his aggressive batting and yet got out to a silly stroke – that might yet have paid big dividends if he had connected and it had come off!!
But none of Sky’s established panel of ex-ECB Captains was prepared to go so far in their analysis. Vaughan does so in his tweets and radio appearances (as Collingwood used to) – but it is enough to rule him out of the ECB’s favours for coaching or ambassadorial roles! KP is poison, per Clarke and Downton, and should not be touched. Look what happened to Ashley Giles after his ‘KP worth a Million dollars’ comment!!
Can someone remind me what Ramps’ coaching credentials are?
Er, he won Strictly Come Dancing? No, that can’t it otherwise Darren Gough would have already been hired…
He went to Harrow.
Happy to help.
“He went to Harrow.”
On the bus, perhaps.
He went to Gayton High School, in Harrow.
Happy to help.
Level 4 ECB Coach.
We have a plan going forwards in this world cup to compete. It’s all about the execution of the plan by the players. They all known in the changing room that the plan was not executed perfectly in this match so they are on the right track with that.
Being bowled out for 123 was a good example of underskilling. Since the summer we have been talking about the importance that we should not be underskilling for at least 23% of matches. In the last 3 test matches against India, we had blend of 9% underskilling and 91% overskilling and that is why we won those 3 matches on the go. Unfortunately so far in this world cup, we have not got the ratio right. We know that. We’ve got to go away now and work out, with Eoin, how to improve that ratio. If we can do that, then we can make a plan about that ratio, and then in the match against Scotland, try to execute that plan (which is about ratios). If that plan can be executed then we know that we can compete.
I hope that has cleared things up for you.
Brilliant! I fully understand why you are England’s coach now…positively going forward! ;-)
…and with aplomb!
Ha hah ha!
Take a bow, that was genuinely laugh out load stuff.
Thanks for that.
I would suggest that the facts of the situation are at this stage absolutely inescapable : only terrible coaching and terrible man management can inspire talented, experienced players to generate performances of such consistently terrible quality.
Even the best coaching can’t create world class players, but bad coaching can certainly thwart them.
This isn’t U.16s cricket. The nation’s brightest and best players should not require, unless something is very wrong at the lower levels of the game, some authoritarian masterplanner or passive aggressive micro manager constantly imposing limitations and pushing them to conform to the tenets of some overarching brand of cricket theory.
To be fair to the ECB, last January they were quite correct to suggest that it was the atmosphere and ethos behind the scenes that had facilitated such an incredible Ashes slump, and that remedial action was urgently required.
Unfortunately, like some sort of terrifying cricket management autoimmune virus, they systematically killed off symptomatic limbs while leaving the disease in place.
I’m sorry to see Morgan taking so much flak, to be honest. At this stage, the England captaincy is possibly the worst job in cricket, even including some subcontinental jobs where the risks include being kidnapped or blown up.
Thanks for that ‘Moorsey’. Have a five year contract extension.
England…the new West Indies?
Someone should call for the body bags.
Hells bells, not sure what to say except hells bells. What an absolute disaster. Not even Aggers had a decent word to say about England. Then on comes the irrepressible Derek Pringle jumped on the bandwagon and thumped the team. Of course Boycott and Vaughan talking sense.
Agnew says England’s eight-wicket defeat in Wellington was “almost too bad to put in to words”. “Eoin Morgan said that the ball swung more than he thought it would but, though Tim Southee was excellent for his 7-33, the movement was nothing excessive or different from what England should be used to,” he said.
Boycott
“This was not an uncovered or grassy pitch seaming all over the place – this was a flat 270-pitch minimum and they made a right mess of it. “How do I say something praiseworthy about that? I can’t lie about it. What I want is for players and coaches to stop telling us that everything’s alright, because it isn’t. There was an opportunity on a good pitch and we folded.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan called the team “a shambles”, and questioned the role of head coach Peter Moores.
“A year ago Paul Downton described Peter Moores as the ‘coach of his generation’,” he wrote on Twitter.
“That’s one way to make sure you don’t have to bowl at death of the innings… lose in 13 overs!”
Here’s a stinger:
Moores’ predecessor as England limited-overs coach Ashley Giles contrasts England’s preparation with that of New Zealand, who he says have been planning for the tournament for four years.
Nowhere am I going to tarnish this site with a piece from DP. Suffice to say that he thinks this might alienate England supporters. You have to admit he’s quick aye?
ECB have to go. Every last one of these miscreants. Ruined England Cricket. Just wonder if our team can actually recover from this.
Oh and I backed NZ to win this tournament. I should have put money where mouth is.
It could be worse. Wait until Monday and you’ll see ;-)
It’ll certainly provide an interesting backdrop after last September’s Referendum, James LOL
At this point, losing to Scotland would probably be a good thing for English cricket. It would force the serious review of the state of the ECB that should have happened after the Ashes series.
Culex mate, don’t you know that the Powers That Be have already had the serious review that you mention and that the conclusion was that it was all fault of our near best player there – he’s been dumped, everything’s moving on swimmingly, nothing to see here and move along otherwise you are “Outside cricket!”
No, that was the “serious review” you have when you don’t have a “serious review.” Sir Humphrey could not have conducted it better.
sweet talk from an Irishman in Reuters – if you are of a sensitive disposition, look away now, cos this is surreally funny
Morgan said things were not as bad as they seemed and he urged England’s growing band of critics to keep faith with the players.
“Certainly you don’t want to get into a state of panic where we make three or four changes in one day,” he told reporters after Friday’s thrashing.
“That’s certainly not what I’m about. I’ve always believed in making good decisions and backing the right players at the right time.
“I believe at the moment that any of our players can play. The players that played today I believe were the best to win today, and given conditions, we’ll change plans accordingly.”
“These first two games were going to be difficult games playing in these conditions. But we shouldn’t be beaten by this much,” Morgan said.
“Today we were out skilled but the first game against Australia we were well below par.
“(We’re) not doing the basics. Not producing when we practice. We envisioned the future of having lost your first two games, but not by this much.”
Morgan, who is also under fire for his own batting performances, said there was no getting around the fact England had started badly but he said all was not lost.
“We can still make the quarter-finals, as soon as we start winning and getting into the next game,” Morgan said.
“I think when we’re not doing our basics well, we’re being exposed by good teams, and we’ve seen that today.
“I certainly agree that we have to turn things around quickly. We need to start winning, and we’ll work to get momentum to get to the quarters, to the semis and so on.”
You’ve got to admit 90 for 0 of 5.5 overs is quite funny. 15 an over. I wonder what plan that came under? England have more plans than an architects office.
How about some actual cricket skills? Basic batting. Try and bat the 50 overs. And basic bowling techniques. If they can’t do this they don’t deserve ECB contracts.
It was 96 off 6 as well! On target for a score of 800.
800.
“McCullum is very good at kicking teams when they’re down”.
I’m sure that wasn’t meant churlishly but just to be clear that McCullum isn’t just about bullying teams that are down. His 302 was made when NZ were 94-5 facing a first innings’ deficit of 246. His 202 in Sharjah was made with NZ 1-0 down in the series and having conceded 351 on first innings.
It’s also worth pointing out he can play as he does because he is confident his team’s middle order will step up if his high-risk approach doesn’t come off. The scary thing about this performance was that players the calibre of Williamson and Anderson didn’t even have contribute.
Dizzy for England coach. Right now. I mean, like yesterday.
Dizzy and Colly are the dream ticket
Thirded.
Even if it does mean Yorkshire losing their lynchpin this season.
This is what happens if you make players submit themselves lamely before the coaches and administrators — they wind up submitting themselves lamely before the opposition.
What we definitely DON’T need is something like this:
42.1 McGrath to Pietersen, FOUR, Cracking shot! McGrath is full and Pietersen bludgeons that back past the bowler for four. That is some hand-eye co-ordination!
42.2 McGrath to Pietersen, SIX, Maximum! Glenn McGrath being treated by a club bolwer on this occasion! Pietersen gets to th epitch of the ball and creams it into the stands over long-off. That is an incredible shot!
42.3 McGrath to Pietersen, FOUR, And now a spanking cover drive to bring up his half-century! Pietersen really turning it on with power and panache. Great knock from him in his first Test innings
The England team has moved on from that that now, and have developed a unified team culture and play a unique brand of cricket.
Well it’s certainly unique…
I’m glad this is happening, like many of you I knew it would too, we still haven’t reached rock bottom yet either.
Reap what you sow ECB, reap what you sow you ******* ********.
MOORES
England’s ODI record under Moores (2nd time around)
Sl (h) Lost 3-2
India(h) Lost 3-1
Sl (a) Lost 5-2
Tri Series india 2-0 Aus 0-3
Played 21 Won 7 Lost 14
Add in WC defeats and its P23 w 7 L 16
Off top of my head under Moores in 07-08 we did ok Beat WI (h) India (h) 4-3 won in Sl (3-2?)
Lost to NZ at home 1-2 ( remember Collingwood run out) and beat SA 4-0. Got battered 5 or 6-0 in India.
Secondly – Since 2001 – England have lost 4 test series at home. 3 under Moores.
Thirdly what do Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen and Alistair Cook have in common? Answer at bottom
All lost the England captaincy under Moores. Will Morgan be the 5th?
Morgan:
“we are not reproducing what we practise”
–That’s because at training there is no opposition. Practising putting the ball in supposedly the right places is completely different to bowling to an oppostion who wants to destroy your nicely thought out plans, regardless of how well you might “reproduce” them.
“we were outskilled”
–Nope, you were pulverized and smeared from here to kingdom come.
““My gut instinct is I don’t want to go into a state of panic”
–That’s correct. The time for panic was about 12 months ago.
“Instead of producing individual performances we need to produce team performances.”
–Straight from the Peter Moores Hymnbook. Completely and utterly meaningless drivel. Brendon McCullum produced an individual performance. No England player did. You have all been neutered by your coach and the ECB.
“I have always believed in making good decisions and backing the right players at the right time.”
Again, this is not Eoin Morgan talking, is it. Utter rubbish. It’s sad to see someone reduced to this kind of anti-communication.
“The boys are quiet at the moment as they naturally will be. Guys are very disappointed”
–Please stick to the traditional format. The correct phrasing is “The lads are hurting, but there’s a lot of pride in that change room.”
“I have always believed in making good decisions and backing the right players at the right time.”
Blimey, that really is senseless drivel, he really is going along with it isn’t he?
How can Morgan bring himself to peddle this sort of meaningless shit? Where is his integrity? I would hate myself for following and speaking from the utterly retarded, patronising and downright bizarre ECB script.
This saddens me, because Morgan doesn’t speak like that, or he never has until recently. He usually expresses himself plainly and well, maybe a bit repetitive but no management-speak.
Why is he doing it now? You have to conclude that he’s being rehearsed in what to say and being firmly told that certain things must be said.
I’m sure he does hate himself. He’s probably counting the days till the IPL.
He’s going along with it because he has no choice. As Dave says below…..
“Moore’s departing speech at Heathrow…that any England player that didnt want to play for England….in other words mine and the ECB’s way…woud be “moved on”…
England are run like a totalitarian regime. Obey or leave.
Consider the principled option:
“Eoin. We’ve sacked Cookie and we’d like you to be captain in the World Cup.”
“I can’t accept. There are some players like KP and a couple of others I’d need to pick and you won’t let me. So I’ll have to pass on the kind offer.”
“Fine. Get Joe Root on the phone, Peter”.
With the likely truth:
“Eoin. We’ve sacked Cookie and we’d like you to be captain in the World Cup.”
“I’d be honoured to accept.”
Morgan is a as culpable as anyone for the WC failures so far.
Thats utter bollox and you know it!!
It’s Moores, with an Irish accent….he had an Essex accent not too long ago!
You have nailed it for me, Mr dvyk sir.
We need to flush this set of ECB turds pronto. But I’m worried a brand new – and decent – coach (previous employees need not apply) will get brainwashed into producing yet more anti-cricket by this bizarre management cult.
Things will get worse, we are all aware. It is just so dissapointing. Just. Preparing myself to read all the same old same old crappy remarks from Moore’s n Co.
Sigh!!…It’s a dark time for all of us! I guess that everything we have all been banging on about in the last year or so has manifested itself in the results against Aus and NZ, and yes, I, for one, feel we are all vindicated for the truths we have espoused!
I take no pleasure in this, in fact, I really can’t quantify my emotions, other than the poiltical weasels that manifest every facet of our lives it seems, have destoyed English Cricket. Sadness would be too light a word….
I repeat what I said on another thread about Moore’s departing speech at Heathrow…that any England player that didnt want to play for England….in other words mine and the ECB’s way…woud be “moved on”….Maybe I’m thick, I don’t know, but it certainly sounded like every player is under threat to conform…or else
The bottom line, for me, is this is a result of the ECB’s monumental ineptitude and skullduggery surrounding the KP affair, and to build English Cricket in their own image!!
Great point about Moores speech Dave. It was very odd and sinister at the same time.
The ECB have created this fear, because they have stolen the game from the people, and run it for their own private gains. But because they are incompetent morons they have build a house of cards. And it is now coming tumbling down.
I remember watching an England versus Australia football/soccer match years ago – early 2000s maybe. A couple of Aussie guys in the crowd had a sign which read:
“If you lose this, you suck at everything”
Might be time to dust that one off for the Scotland game…
It is sad that we are so desperate to think about turning to one of our main rivals for help but surely Jason Gillespie replacing Moores ASAP would be a good move. We should say good riddance to Giles Clarke and Paul Downton at the same time.
The person to say good riddance to is Andy Flower, and properly this time. If Gillespie’s got any sense, he wouldn’t take the job as long as Flower’s still around telling the bosses what to think.
Here’s a positive for you guys to take from that game. At least this time only ten of your batsmen got out and not all eleven of them like in the last game.
I’m feeling that there is no point in Dizzy G selling his soul to the ECB. How could a decent bloke (like he seems to be) accept the crap that the ECB will expect him to accept.
For me, there needs to be a bit of a revelation/revolution/mutiny within the England camp itself. Surely the players must realise this is all wrong. Surely they wouldn’t go hungry if taking a stance meant them being dumped back to their counties until the whole rotten mess clears.
I agree with you. It’s time for the players to stand up for Cricket and for the public. I fear they won’t because they are money grabbing buggers but it will need a mass mutiny to bring the ECB to task. What the public think is irrelevant and please everyone realise that. We are meerley a cow to be milked for as much money as they can get.
The players don’t care about the game or about ‘England’. I fear they only care about their stats, their bank balance and about their ‘name’ so they can get a career post cricket in teh media or as a coach and then rip kids off.
Reminded of Garcia Marquez’ Chronicle of a Death Foretold…
I had to go back and look at those comments from Moorse at Heathrow.
Certainly threatening.
Also these words are comming back to haunt him now:
“We will attack the tri-series and the World Cup with a view to making the public excited about watching England play. This trip will be about England winning and not us making excuses.’
George Dobell and Peter Miller discuss England:
https://soundcloud.com/geek-friends/geek-friend-79-england-sackcloth-ashes
Simon is under-selling this. Everyone who cares must listen to this podcast. Simple as that.
Wow indeed. It certainly puts to bed the whole leaking thing.
Paging John Etheridge, Paging John Etheridge.,will you please pick up the White courtesy phone please. “The ECB don’t leak”
Basically Dobell had a story last year about leaking of damaging issues and the player asked him not to go with it. I suspect I know who that players is. I won’t say for legal reasons.
The vast majority of the English cricket media should be put up against a wall and shot. They are a fucking disgrace.
Leaking of untrue damaging issues. Making things up to discredit a player. Lovely behaviour, eh?
The story about Boyd Rankin was also quite a nasty little tale.
Even though Dobell bends over backwards to say that Moores, Downton, Hugh Morris and anyone else are nice chaps really, Flower comes out of that podcast very badly indeed.
Was quite amused by one particular bit at the end. Somewhere in a previous long-forgotten thread I made reference to Sreen Botham’s rather boorish way of settling arguments: “Well how many Test wicket’s have you got?” So pricked up my ears when I heard:
“People always say how crap county cricket is, and you say, ‘oh yeah, when was the last time you actually watched any?’, and they reply ‘Well that’s not the point. I know it’s crap. I’ve got 383 Test wickets, so what do you know?'”
Can’t imagine who he’s talking about…
If England had to qualify for the WC, we wouldn’t be in it.
We’re genuinely worse than as Ire/Scot/Zim/Bang now.