And so to Headingley, for the final ODI of the series, and Alastair Cook’s last international appearance of the season.
Will England adapt their tactics and approach? Can they find solace in a consolation victory? Or will India complete the whitewash?
We welcome all your comments as the match progresses. However, James and I (separately) are both away from internet access for most of the day, so apologies in advance for not be able to respond in much depth. And of course, other websites are available.
In other news, Matt Prior is seemingly still regarded as an England player. This is from today’s ECB press release:
“England and Sussex wicketkeeper Matt Prior has undergone surgery on his left achilles and will begin a rehabilitation and recovery programme with England and Sussex over the winter period”.
In fairness, Prior is still under central contract, but it’s a striking way to refer to a cricketer who was dropped during the Ashes tour, would have been dropped after the Lord’s India test had injury not beaten the selectors to it, and has played in only four of the last nine tests. Are they trying to make a point?
So has it really come to this? How many others will be hoping for another Indian thrashing to ram the reality of England’s inadequacies home rather than a meaningless scraping over the line by England which will doubtless and ridiculously be seen as an encouraging platform on which to build for the winter where we’ll almost certainly be laughed out of the World Cup as an archaic embarrassment to modern cricket.
I’m reduced to merely hoping that the individuals I want to see survive the hopefully pending English ODI apocalypse not disgracing themselves while the rest commit seppuku.
Just for the sake of debate and nailing my colours to the mast, I’d put Buttler, Morgan, Ali, Tredwell & Hales in the first catagory and Cook, Ballance, Jimmy & Jordan in the latter.
Sad isn’t it? Wanting England to lose? Not just lose, but get six of the best, trousers down. Am I a true fan? Yes, because I believe now the only way changes can happen is if they continuously show that all is not right. I’m even annoyed Bell is out, not because I miss his non-event style of beautiful, yet ineffective brand of ODI cricket, but because he will escape any possible cull due to non-involvement. They already dropped Ballance after one game, I guess they didn’t want a possible Bell replacement to become un-droppable.
I don’t even think dropping Cook, will make any difference whatsoever until the coaching staff and Moores and his stat laptop are gotten rid of. Modern ODI requires balls and talent, rather than analysis and hard work.
To be fair to the ECB, it’s a highly impressive feat to find a coach even worse than Ashley Giles.
It’s a horrible situation to be but I quite agree.
You just know if we get a consolation win and a decent innings from Cook it will be used as vindication for carrying on as before. Sigh.
I honestly don’t think there was anything wrong in wanting England to lose this match.
There was nothing to gain from a victory in what had become such a meaningless fixture. But it’s perfectly consistent with passionate support for English cricket to want a discredited regime to reach a tipping point which will lead to their downfall and the start of something better.
Have you seen this? Tweets by the PCA calling for the backing of Cook. Since when has the players body turned into a propaganda outlet for the England captain? This is a disgrace. If I was a player I would resign my membership at once. They obviously can not be trusted to represent any player if he is in dispute with Cook or the ECB. It also calls into question the way they were involved with the KP/Cook dispute.
The PCA ✔ @PCA
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Don’t sack him-BACK him! Alastair Cook is the highest ranked batsman across all formats for England @FTI_MVP_Cricket http://www.thepca.co.uk/newtotalmvp5yearengland.html?type=avg …
8:01 PM – 3 Sep 2014
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The PCA ✔ @PCA
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Don’t sack him-BACK him! Alastair Cook ranks 6th in ODI @FTI_MVP_Cricket in 81 matches http://www.thepca.co.uk/player-rankings-england.html?nid=3451 … #dontsackhimbackhim
8:02 PM – 3 Sep 2014
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Don’t sack him-BACK him! Over a 50% win ratio for England in 81 matches when Alastair Cook plays @ECB_cricket #dontsackhimbackhim
8:03 PM – 3 Sep 2014
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What on earth possessed them to do that? Really poor from an ethical point of view.
I heard Steve Harmison criticising them for doing that on TMS.
That surprises me. Harmison seems to have become a Speak your wait ECB/Cook mouthpiece.
He didn’t used to be like that. He was very critical of the KP sacking. But I guess if you want to stay in the Tufty club …………..
Maybe he’s critical of certain things and not so critical of others – I thought that was called having a balanced view……problem on here is that if these guys are not shouting down the administration and England management at every opportunity, their views are dismissed as being somehow influenced by the ECB.
Harmison is no ECB lackey. He spoke publicly about how miffed he was that when he applied to become a selector (the vacancy for which Angus Fraser was the successful candidate) he didn’t even get a reply.
You can’t blame him for being upset. Harmy was a fine servant of English cricket; it would hardly have put the ECB out to give him a call to explain why they didn’t want him.
Great spot, Mark – you were on to this very early.
It doesn’t seem very appropriate, does it? The PCA are meant to represent *all* professional cricketers, aren’t they? Not just the captain. You could just as easily argue that Cook is keeping someone else out of a job.
As mentioned below, it casts an unpleasant light on the PCA’s role in the Pietersen negotiations, And the press release they issued jointly with the ECB.
They were actually replacement tweets. The PCA account originally posted those three tweets mis-spelling his name as ‘Alistair Cook.’
One might have thought the players’ union would know how to spell the England captain’s name.
Well John, you might also have thought the ECB would know how to spell England’s top run scorer in all formats.
Mark…I believe the silver cap was engraved in Brisbane, so perhaps it was an Aussie plot!
There was also a gift from the England players – a picture of Kevin Pietersen made up from 100s of small pictures of Kevin Pietersen. This was damaged in transit and had to be reframed – that’s why he wasn’t presented with the picture along with the cap before his 100th Test.
Someone junior/not very thorough on Twitter duty?
46 from 64 out.
No hundred in 18months…I’m sure there’s a hashtag there. Let’s ask the PCA
Therein lies arguably the fundemental flaw in England’s one-day approach. You just cant let an honest but ordinary spinner like Raina away with 5 runs from 2 overs, but an inability to take the singles means you have no choice but to attempt to manufacture a boundary shot which, as Cook just showed, carries a telling risk.
And Morgan suffering the same way right now. Either stuck in crease blocking or an extravagant panic reverse sweep. Ugly…
Agree but not many too keen to examine Moggie’s falabilities. I wonder why.
What’s with the new kaleidoscopic avatars?
I like them. Might try and use mine as a banner next time I’m playing Mount & Blade :p
I spotted the option of having them when I was fixing a problem with the comments this morning. Thought they’d bring a touch of colour! And more interesting than the blank silhouettes. You can also create a WordPress login to have a personalised avatar.
Fair enough:) We need a bit of psychedelia to take the edge off our cricketing woes. Looks like Butler’s acid just kicked in after he wandered off dazed & confused.
Personally, I like the personalised avatar route . . . :)
Looks like Root, Butler, and Stokes have saved Cooks bacon. Of course if England win it will be how great dear leader is. On the other hand, if England can’t defend nearly 300 Cooks captaincy will be glossed over.
That’s the very strange world we live in.
Root played the commanding role today. Dented the TINA argument?
Either the bloke operating the PCA twitter feed is an Essex supporter who knows very little about cricket, or someone has had a word in the PCA’s ear. I really hope it’s the former.
Raises some questions though James? Wasn’t some one from the PCA at the KP sacking meeting? John Etheridge was quick to point out that the PCA represented both KP and Cook.
If you are a player and you are in dispute with either Cook or the ECB can you trust the PCA?
Big error of judgement I think on their behalf.
Pietersen is also a member of the PCA, Not that you have guessed that from the “outside cricket” press release, which was jointly issued by the PCA and ECB. It attacked Pietersen and defended Prior and Cook.
I would place a bet on him being an Essex supporter if not one if the Essex mafia! Love em dearly. North London neighbours. #Born in the shadow of Lords.
look what I found:
http://www.thepca.co.uk/alastair-cook-announces-pca-as-charity-for-benefit-year
all in it together???
and some more:
Eyebrows were raised around the cricket circuit after the Professional Cricketers Association, who look after all members of the players union, gave strong public support to England’s beleaguered one-day captain Alastair Cook. The PCA posted a number of tweets with the hashtag ‘Don’t sack him — BACK him’ detailing why Cook should remain at the helm of the 50-over side despite their dismal run of results.
The campaign had the endorsement of PCA chief executive Angus Porter, who said: ‘We historically back the incumbent captain and we wanted to demonstrate that with Alastair having had such a difficult summer. We don’t feel it is inappropriate.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2744206/Roy-Hodgson-England-cause-Virgin-delays-transfer-deadline-day-ccausesfighting-Sky-Sports.html#ixzz3CS7XFfwJ
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Great spot. What an extraordinary coincidence, eh?
Two interesting pieces on the Telegraph today.
Alan Tyers looks at supporter disaffection, and why Cook is the focus, He makes some points which are refreshing to hear in a paper like the Telegraph, But I don’t think he’s *quite* grasped it. Supporters who are down in the dumps feel that way because of the ECB, I reckon. They are still supportive of the players as individuals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11078032/Alastair-Cook-is-the-fans-scapegoat-for-unlovable-England.html
Elsewhere, Scyld Berry bigs up Paul Collingwood as the new Darren Lehmann, without quite suggesting he should replace Moores.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11074506/Paul-Collingwood-can-be-Englands-Darren-Lehmann-a-popular-coach-who-brings-the-best-out-of-his-players.html
Very refreshing article I thought Maxie by Alan Tyers. These bits grabbed me………….
“Certainly his captaincy feels untenable: the mood of fans at the grounds and online and in the pub – and the many emails we get from readers on the Telegraph’s live cricket blog coverage – is overwhelmingly negative towards him.”
Interesting that. Perhaps some one could point this out to Selvey, Newman Agnew, Etheridge, Brenkley, Pringle. Because they still claim we are a tiny minority.
“Something in the fans’ relationship with the England cricket team has changed over the last decade. Generosity and patience are in short supply………….”
“There is less of a connection, and the fact that the England players are surrounded by a huge number of support staff, and that they are trained to speak in that weirdo “obviously there’s a lot of talent in that dressing room and we are taking the positives” fashion makes them feel more alien yet……….Add in high ticket prices, satellite television excluding many potential fans ”
“Cook, backed to the hilt over L’Affair Pietersen and identified by Giles Clarke as “very much the sort of person we want as captain”, is the poster boy and scapegoat of this robotic, distant, unlovable England.”
This covers many of the issues we have discussed on here. it is now getting an airing in the. MS media. On Sky tonight only Strauss (surprise surprise) had Cook as captain for the World Cup. Nasser, Bumble, Botham, Knight , Holding, all excluded him.
“
Highly recommend downloading the TMS podcast for the views of the three ECB stooges, Stephen “Downton with aplomb” Brenkley, John “Returned Gifts” Etheridge and paul newman (doesn’t deserve capital letters). Instructive, predictable and failing to understand why some of the great unwashed won’t take their word for it.
The last 12 minutes or so, when they discuss KP, is comedy gold.
Thanks for this – have not heard it yet but still had the audacity to offer a few comments over at your place.
Here’s the link…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/tms
On the subject of podcasts, I’m pleased to say that we’ll be doing a TFT one with John in a few weeks’ time.
Thanks for the link, John, I’ve not heard it yet, and was away from radio access yesterday. But I understand the Pietersen conversation has ruffled a few feathers.
Good to hear.
To be honest, I thought John came across pretty well in the podcast, although that may have been simply because he was with a couple of others who certainly didn’t, and never do. Newman in particular is ridiculous, and I noticed his little dig about KP’s ghost-writer not being a “cricket man” – he just can’t help himself.
By contributing here, my respect for John is ever-so-slowly returning after the KP gifts gaffe.
Think you misinterpreted Paul’s comments about David Walsh. I know for a fact that Paul is a big admirer of David Walsh – and has tweeted his admiration in the past for his award-winning work on Lance Armstrong.
KP’s original choice as ghost was Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph (who did Alex Ferguson’s book) but he declined because he felt he was too busy with the World Cup.
No cricket reporters are remotely bothered that Kevin has chosen a ghost who does not cover cricket. Most of us, in fact, think it makes sense.
“No cricket reporters are remotely bothered that Kevin has chosen a ghost who does not cover cricket.”
Then why did he even mention it? It could only have been intended as a dig at KP, particularly in light of Newman’s earlier role as KP’s ghost writer, something that he kindly pointed out to all the listeners,
In other words, KP drops a “cricket man” for a “non-cricket man” for his new book, the inference being that it loses credibility as a result. It was intended as a slight, just like the endless other cheap shots that can easily be found in all of Newman’s articles.
As I say, Dave, I think you’ve got that wrong.
It would have been amazing if Kevin had chosen a cricket writer. None of us would have expected it and he has made a good decision.
He always wanted a ghost who was above ‘mere cricket.’ Hence his first choice was Paul Hayward (an award-winning chief sports writer who ghosted Ferguson’s autobiography) and then asked David Walsh (another award winner who brought down one of world sport’s most famous figures and has even appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show).
I described Walsh’s likely approach to KP’s book as ‘forensic.’
Well we can agree to disagree.
And I am not doubting the journalists’ respect for David Walsh or Paul Hayward, both of whom are, as you point out, award-winning.
I am simply questioning Newman’s quizzical “he’s not a cricket man though” remark and the underlying intention of bringing it up at all.
KP tweeted this morning: “why would I use a cricket journo when all they’ve done is assassinated my character for years? and…when I used one for my 1st book & paid him handsomely, he’s turned out to be the biggest back stabber?”
Has it ruffled feathers? I thought the Pietersen discussion was all rather bland and the feedback I’ve received (such as it is) was positive.
You really think that Paul Newman saying that Pietersen will be “remembered for this year rather than his 25 [sic] centuries for England” is “bland”? Not content with ruining the present, you journalists want to rewrite the past. No, Pietersen will be remembered for winning the Ashes at the Oval 2005, for carrying the batting for three years after that while the team was in the doldrums, for switch-hitting Murali for six, for playing three of the greatest innings of this century in 2012, for hitting the world’s best bowler Dale Steyn back over his head for six, and many other things, not for the campaign of sustained innuendo of his former paymasters aided by a slavish press. Cook will be just numbers in the book, the worse batsman to make 8,000+ runs. No one will remember a single shot he played, though he will long be remembered for petulantly clinging on to the captaincy like a spoiled little dauphin and selfishly lingering on as a one-day batsman when it’s obvious he can’t play the format.
It is an opinion Paul would have expressed in his paper and he also said on TMS that KP touched greatness as a batsman, mentioning his innings at Headingley and in Mumbai
Paul worked closely with Kevin on his first book and has formed an opinion of Kevin as a person. It is the same opinion formed by most people in cricket who have got know Kevin.
Well, it’s obvious that Newman is sulking because he didn’t get the gig this time around and it went instead to someone who is not a “cricket man.” He wouldn’t be the first journalist to put a hurt ego above professional objectivity. Personally, I think Pietersen is fairly brave allowing someone of Walsh’s integrity to ghost his autobiography. I’m sure we aren’t going to see hagiography of the kind we’ve had from the high priests of the Alistair Cook Cult of Personality for month after month this year.
Well said Clive.
I have followed cricket since the late 80s when i was just a young kid when cricket was free for us all to enjoy, this last year i have never felt so frustrated, disillusioned and downright fed up with it.
I will always remember KP the player, the best and most entertaining batsman i have ever seen play for England, Cook on the other hand i can’t help but feel ill will towards, i’m not sure if it will ever go away – even if he scores a load of runs and wins the Ashes next year.
I used to love Cook the player and have big respect for him, now i have zero respect for the man and want the Aussies to beat us next year just to see the back of him, i can’t believe he and his puppet masters have made me feel this way but they have, well done to them, great job!
“I will always remember KP the player, the best and most entertaining batsman i have ever seen play for England, Cook on the other hand i can’t help but feel ill will towards, i’m not sure if it will ever go away – even if he scores a load of runs and wins the Ashes next year.
I used to love Cook the player and have big respect for him, now i have zero respect for the man and want the Aussies to beat us next year just to see the back of him, i can’t believe he and his puppet masters have made me feel this way but they have, well done to them, great job!”
So there you are, John Etheridge and colleagues – that’s, I would say, a typical response from a sizeable number of cricket fans, not just a few tinfoil hatted nutters or an illiterate ‘mob’.
Why aren’t the journalists writing about this phenomenon? Why aren’t they interviewing supporters to get a range of views? Why aren’t they talking to people in county administrations about their view of the England setup? Why aren’t they analysing the situation?
In fairness to John, he’s stuck his neck out quite a bit by coming on here to comment. No other mainstream journalist has done that on a regular basis, so we should give him credit for walking unarmed, and outnumbered, into hostile fire.
He’s only responsible for what he writes himself, and we can’t make him accountable for the cricket press as a whole.
But obviously I agree that the perception that we discontents are just an eccentric fringe is erroneous. Clearly, people who take the time to visit sites like this are more interested in the detailed nitty gritty than most, but the majority of what I hear in the pub or at village cricket matches tallies with the basic sentiments.
I’m sorry, Zephrine, but to say you want Australia to beat England next year just to ‘see the back of Cook’ is an astonishing comment for an England fan.
Well, clearly, you are not an England fan.
That’s where this whole Tea-Party-esque raging at absolutely everything loses me. I get some of the angst directed at the ECB, particularly Giles Clarke over the shameful ICC stitch up. I agree that the handling of KP’s sacking could have been handled better. But I cannot comprehend any England fan wanting us to lose any games – let alone an Ashes series – or to have individual players fail.
That’s personal animus and agendas taken way too far.
That’s right. Whatever you might think of Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, the ECB or cricket journalists, surely all England supporters want the Ashes regained next summer.
It is almost as though some people on here are working each other into a frenzy of fury – and there is some sort of unspoken competition as to who can the most offensive or outrageous things.
And I work for the Sun……!!
The sacking of Pietersen still feels like a knife through the heart. Not because we were in love with him as an individual, but because he was a unique asset. No one has played like him for England – with that audacity and imagination – for generations. He gave us something we couldn’t remember having. And then he was taken away.
Critics would say – but he was troublesome. But his troublesomeness did not affect fans – only his managers, who were paid to manage him and should have had the skills to do so.
That’s why Pietersen’s axing hurts – because it seemed to define the disconnection between management and supporters. The language the ECB used during the fallout only made it worse.
In my eyes the Pietersen affair has diminished Cook in multiple ways. He was party to the decision. When the embargo is lifted, he needs to tell his side of the story.
Looking forward to that upcoming podcast – and thanks to John (who provided the most balanced overview in the TMS discussion) for indulging us over here.
Best to get it done soon Maxie before he gets hounded off this forum!:)
Newman is unbelievable.
“I wasn’t against Prior coming back into the side” – erm, despite the fact that he was carrying multiple injuries!
“It’s been a really encouraging summer” – erm, we lost three series out of four.
“We play so much cricket so it’s hard to be good at both (ODIs and Tests)” – brilliant!
“It’s been a really encouraging summer”.
In what way? Ballance and Moeen have emerged as assets for the future, and Root rediscovered prime form. Beyond that?
Whatever your position on the politics, there’s no denying that Cook’s captaincy remains on life support, the match-winning bowling is entirely reliant on an ageing Anderson, and that amid a climate of turbulence and dissent the grounds were only half full.
I haven’t had this miserable a summer as a cricket fan since 1999, and as that year ended with the appointment of Duncan Fletcher as coach (he had in fact been appointed before the summer of that year, but Glamorgan wouldn’t release him from his contract), it can in retrospect be seen as a turning point. Only the announcement of the names of the Gatting rebels treacherously stabbing David Gower in the back and taking money from a bloody and divisive South African regime, which came while the last rites were still being administered to a miserable summer on the field, matches it for wretchedness.
The few encouraging signs on the field this year, mostly from the younger players, have been more than overshadowed by the Cult of Alastair Cook and the wilful negligence, to put it at its mildest, of the cricket press. At least in ’89 the latter did their job. I bet Ted Dexter wishes he had the current deferential, supine media bunch.
Oh yes, I did enjoy one thing — Sri Lanka’s victory at Headingley.
I was around in 1989.
Loved Ted Dexter – he was a dazzling cricketer, scratch golfer, very handsome, ran for Parliament, married a model, drove motorbikes and flew himself to an England tour. What a star he would be in this day and age.
He was an original but sometimes eccentric thinker and prone to the occasional gaffe.
Two of my favourite quotes…
“And then, of course, who can forget Malcolm Devon?”
And, after England were criticised for being scruffy in India in 1992-93…”We’re looking into the whole question of facial hair.”
When he left Edgbaston at noon once with some crisis or other rumbling, the Sun’s back page headline was: “Dexy’s Midday Runner.”
I always got the impression that “Lord Ted” played the buffoon in order to deflect criticism from Gooch. Certainly, Dexter wasn’t responsible for most of the big decisions at test level but simply gave the captain what he wanted. He also did a lot to improve cricket at the lower levels.
Even Dexter’s Wikipedia page is quite a read. Apparently he once declared a Sussex innings from Brighton racecourse….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Dexter
Controversial, though – he put people’s backs up. Would he be allowed such freedom in the modern English game?
My father was a net bowler for the English team at the WACA in the late 50s. Thought Ted Dexter was great for a Pom and treated all the locals very well.
Legend also has it that while captaining Sussex, Dexter would have a radio brought out on the drinks trolley so he could hear commentary of the race in which he’d backed a horse.
From memory, as chair of selectors he blamed England defeats, variously, on a misalignment of constellations and a fetid pool near the team hotel.
He obviously had his tongue in cheek some of the time, or too little patience for what he felt were predictable media questions for which he had no argument-ending answer.
In those days, it seemed, the chair of selectors was the official face and voice of management, and would do much of the fronting-up at press conferences. These days it’s the coach, and the selectors are more in the background.
Ridiculous as Dexter may have sometimes seemed, looking back we now miss his brand of eccentricity and individuality, instead of management speak and bland platitudes, eg “there’s a lot of talent in that dressing room…we’ll take the positives”.
As chair of selectors he presided over both triumphs and disasters. We put it two very strong performances against West Indies in 1989/90 and 1991, and got to the World Cup final. But in both the 1989 and 1993 Ashes the selection policy appeared sclerotic and chaotic. Remember Martin McCague?
Cook’s ego has taken over with his decision to stay on as skipper, plus the selectors have a job to do and they have no intention of doing it. That’s pretty usual with cricket, I don’t understand why certain senior players get such a free rein.
I’m sure that the less experienced players will learn fast and work around him. There are power batsmen in the team now.
“That’s pretty usual with cricket, I don’t understand why certain senior players get such a free rein. ”
Yes, exactly.
Cricket seems to me to be as full of prima donnas as any opera house, and if anything the divas are indulged more than singers would be*.
That’s why I find it amusing that we’re constantly peddled the line that only Pietersen is difficult to deal with.
* Men’s cricket, that is, the women seem a lot less spoiled.
Bizarre, isn’t it? He all but said he didn’t think England could win the World Cup after one of the matches so why the **** does he want to stay as skipper and why is he encouraged to do so?
You’ve often got the feeling in recent years that, irrespective of performance, some players are regarded as ‘favourites’ and afforded huge latitude, patience and forbearance. But other players, if they step an inch out of line, the management come down on them like a ton of bricks.
fantastic put up, very informative. I wonder why the opposite specialists of this sector don’t notice this.
You must continue your writing. I am sure, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!
What’s up Dear, are you in fact visiting this website regularly, if so aferward
you will absolutely take good knowledge.
Awesome post.