I don’t like being this cynical and exasperated. I really don’t. But over the last few weeks Paul Downton and the ECB have got every major decision utterly, utterly, hopelessly wrong. First they alienated the vast majority of fans by sacking Kevin Pietersen (yes, he’s a big head, but it’s clear from the testimony of Tremlett, Carberry, Swann and others that KP was not the reason why England lost the Ashes). Then they astounded the world with the ridiculous appointment of Peter Moores on the...
Is Moores less?
So the applications are in. The runners and riders have been announced. The race to be England’s new head coach in all formats of the game is on. As the ECB are incredibly wealthy – with the power to attract almost any coach in the world – you’d expect a start-studded shortlist full of big names with CV’s longer than Ryan Sidebottom’s hair. It makes sense too, right. Because the ECB are about as popular with the English cricketing public as dysentery at Glastonbury, surely they’ll appease us...
Why Gilo is a no-no
So Andy Flower is off after all. I can’t say I’m surprised. You can’t oversee the most inept tour in England’s recent history without paying a price. Flower was a first class England coach, but when you’re lecturing people about the need for change, and advocating a new era, it’s kind of hard for the old headmaster to stay in situ. Perhaps Andy, analytical as he is, realised that staying on contradicted his own message. Having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Flower was privately pushed...
