It's all a load of Cannonballs in here! This is the virtual Arsenal pub where you can chat about anything except football. Be warned though, like any pub, the content may not always be suitable for everyone.
northbank123 wrote: It's absolutely no excuse for England's performance but what on earth were they thinking playing two series 3 months apart? If they wanted to get out of the World Cup year cycle surely the last series in ENgland should have been moved forward a year too? Series would then have been Dec 2010, June 2012, Dec 2013. Surely better than Dec 2010, June 2013, Dec 2013?
I agree, seems absolute madness to play 10 tests more or less back to back. No wonder there was some niggle, the players must be sick of the sight of each other on the opposite team.
For me, I think KP has to go. He's an amazing player when he wants to be, but also a divisive crunt who's only out for himself. I would stick with Cook as captain though, but he needs to grow a set of nads and tell Anderson, Broad and Prior to fuck off when he's trying to set a field and do his job.
Not sure who I would pick as a spinner though, as I'm not sure who is coming through for you lot. Monty is a bit shit. Root is kind of handy but needs to focus on his batting. The Borthwick lad was well out of his depth despite picking up a few wickets, but I have a soft spot for leggies so hopefully he gets more of a chance.
It's a bit strange because for all this talk of a clearout at England their senior players aren't finished yet. As I said I don't see Anderson particularly keen on touring Sri Lanka next winter as the pressure England's bowling tactics have put on his body in the last few years has been immense and away Test conditions often nullify his threat.
But Cook, Bell and Prior are 29, 31 and 31 respectively and still have years left at the top level if they can rediscover their form. Pietersen is clearly divisive but I personally feel he still has a lot to offer. Whilst the "it's the way he plays" line isn't a complete excuse for every idiotic shot (certainly not his dismissal in the 3rd Test) the way he has been slammed for his dismissals in the 4th Test in the context of those two innings and how the tail-enders had been blown aside in every innings until that point was completely over the top.
Ultimately whatever happens England are not going to be a truly top Test team again with their current spinning options. Swann was the fulcrum of that England attack and was able to bowl attackingly and defensively to superb effect. I'm all for giving young players a chance but the media have a tendency to exaggerate our young talent. Root will be a good Test player but not to the extent that he should be guaranteed a place now on the back of that. Bairstow is nowhere near good enough at this moment in time. England are thin on the ground for spinners but can't help to feel Borthwick may not have been selected if he couldn't bat, and it's that kind of negative cover-all mentality that England need to avoid.
northbank123 wrote: It's absolutely no excuse for England's performance but what on earth were they thinking playing two series 3 months apart? If they wanted to get out of the World Cup year cycle surely the last series in ENgland should have been moved forward a year too? Series would then have been Dec 2010, June 2012, Dec 2013. Surely better than Dec 2010, June 2013, Dec 2013?
I agree, seems absolute madness to play 10 tests more or less back to back. No wonder there was some niggle, the players must be sick of the sight of each other on the opposite team.
For me, I think KP has to go. He's an amazing player when he wants to be, but also a divisive crunt who's only out for himself. I would stick with Cook as captain though, but he needs to grow a set of nads and tell Anderson, Broad and Prior to fuck off when he's trying to set a field and do his job.
Not sure who I would pick as a spinner though, as I'm not sure who is coming through for you lot. Monty is a bit shit. Root is kind of handy but needs to focus on his batting. The Borthwick lad was well out of his depth despite picking up a few wickets, but I have a soft spot for leggies so hopefully he gets more of a chance.
It's a bit strange because for all this talk of a clearout at England their senior players aren't finished yet. As I said I don't see Anderson particularly keen on touring Sri Lanka next winter as the pressure England's bowling tactics have put on his body in the last few years has been immense and away Test conditions often nullify his threat.
But Cook, Bell and Prior are 29, 31 and 31 respectively and still have years left at the top level if they can rediscover their form. Pietersen is clearly divisive but I personally feel he still has a lot to offer. Whilst the "it's the way he plays" line isn't a complete excuse for every idiotic shot (certainly not his dismissal in the 3rd Test) the way he has been slammed for his dismissals in the 4th Test in the context of those two innings and how the tail-enders had been blown aside in every innings until that point was completely over the top.
Ultimately whatever happens England are not going to be a truly top Test team again with their current spinning options. Swann was the fulcrum of that England attack and was able to bowl attackingly and defensively to superb effect. I'm all for giving young players a chance but the media have a tendency to exaggerate our young talent. Root will be a good Test player but not to the extent that he should be guaranteed a place now on the back of that. Bairstow is nowhere near good enough at this moment in time. England are thin on the ground for spinners but can't help to feel Borthwick may not have been selected if he couldn't bat, and it's that kind of negative cover-all mentality that England need to avoid.
What did you make of Gary Ballance? I'll confess to not having heard of him really, and despite looking like he was bricking it early on (understandable) he also looked reasonably solid for a debut under those circumstances. Might be a good one for the future for England?
Boyd Rankin on the other hand... jeez I felt bad for him. Poor bugger looked like he was going to throw up from nerves. Can't help but feel there was a selection error there, that may have damaged him mentally for a while..
As far as I can tell, it looks as though England doesn't play another test until the Northern Hemisphere summer - not sure if that's a good thing or not for them as it's a long time to dwell. I genuinely hope England do bounce back, closely fought Ashes series are much more entertaining.
TurnipMasher wrote:What did you make of Gary Ballance? I'll confess to not having heard of him really, and despite looking like he was bricking it early on (understandable) he also looked reasonably solid for a debut under those circumstances. Might be a good one for the future for England?
Boyd Rankin on the other hand... jeez I felt bad for him. Poor bugger looked like he was going to throw up from nerves. Can't help but feel there was a selection error there, that may have damaged him mentally for a while..
As far as I can tell, it looks as though England doesn't play another test until the Northern Hemisphere summer - not sure if that's a good thing or not for them as it's a long time to dwell. I genuinely hope England do bounce back, closely fought Ashes series are much more entertaining.
I've only watched the morning sessions from the Tests and then very brief highlights so can't form a complete view based on that. Ballance impressed me when he came in at 19-4 or whatever - him and Stokes left the ball very well (until Stokes left one onto off stick!) until Johnson and Harris bowled themselves out. He also wore that one bravely from Johnson after getting squared right up, didn't try to fend it off with his glove or make a big scene after. Amongst their many failings on this tour only the youngsters (including Root) have left the ball well this series, far too many dismissals not only to poor shots but also to good balls that didn't need to be prodded at. They then started scoring in the few overs before lunch, which I think was a bit of an unwelcome disruption!
What I saw of Rankin he was dreadful. Not only was he just taking the cowardly option of bowling far too short, he was spraying balls two yards down leg side like a village cricketer.
Have to hope that this complete demolition will serve to provide England with the same wake-up call it did in 2006/07 and also rekindle interest in Australia in the same way that 2005 did in England. England have two Tests against Sri Lanka and 5 against India in our summer, punctuated by a ridiculous number of one-day games. The selectors really have to step up and decide who they are going to put their weight behind as there is no point bringing in players for one game at Test level then bombing them out and pulling someone else off the conveyor belt if they have a poor game. Have to give someone 3-5 games even at this level to prove themselves imo.
