Peter Moores’ second stint in charge of the England team begins in earnest on Tuesday night with a T20 match at The Oval. The Full Toss will be in attendance, of course, to sample the atmosphere and gauge enthusiasm for the new regime. Although we won’t be able to read too much into the crowd’s response to Moores’ England, as T20’s at The Oval tend to attract a lot of casual fans who are more familiar with Paul Dowton’s career in The City than his past life as a wicket-keeper, it will be...
A hard slog ahead
Another day, another T20 defeat for Ashley Giles’ beleaguered squad. The days when Britannia ruled the T20 waves seem a long, long, bloody long, time ago. When I look at England’s side on paper, we have a few useful cricketers, but we just can’t seem to get our strategy right. We’re also clearly lacking confidence, and it’s hard to know how a bland character like Giles can turn things around. Having said that, the best team doesn’t always win T20 contests. There’s little ebb and flow during...
The New Generation – Part One
As we wait with bated breath for the T20 World Cup to begin – I’ve just been on SportsBettingDime.com checking out how Kieron Pollard’s injury has affected the latest odds – we’ve got time to assess how England might regenerate the test team. In particular, we’d like to identify which players are past their sell by dates and which ones are ripe for international picking. As I’ve never been one to mince my words, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the follow players should never play for...
After the fall
You can sympathize with England’s coaches, especially Andy Flower. He was the greatest batsman his country’s ever produced, ranked number one in the world and one of the finest batsmen of his generation. Dedicated, hard-working, diligent, the product of the graft he put in to the game. Sounds very much like his deputy Graham Gooch, although Flower is also renowned for his impeccable character: principles as rigid as his backbone, standing up to the dictator who destroyed his country and...
Bressie back in the swing
After a week of tedious debate about sledging (and the potential merits of punching George Bailey in the face) we can finally concentrate on the actual cricket again. Phew! Thanks heavens we can all move on. Anyone would’ve though that sledging is a new phenomenon. Let’s just say that Warner crossed a line when he called Trott ‘weak’ during his press conference, and Mitchell Johnson made us laugh when he claimed his sledging rattled England. Mitch, we don’t want to be too harsh, but if...
TFT Ashes player ratings
Now the dust has settled, and Darren Lehmann has gone home crying, it’s time to reflect on our players’ performance during the Ashes. Who triumphed in the crucial moments, and which players were largely passengers on the good ship HMS 3-0. We’ll try to be as fair as possible here – utilising statistics when necessary, but also looking behind the statistics too. Let us know if you agree or disagree. All Ashes player ratings are scores out of 10. Alastair Cook 4 – It’s almost blasphemous to...
