I'm beginning to think this England team peaked in South Africa and then the arsehole fell out. Yes, India were probably always going to beat England but it is the sheer gulf in class that is surprising. England have won, four/five tosses, and the wickets are hardly rank turners!! Even the Indian seamers (Yadev etc) have been much better than the English seamers and that is supposed to be our forte!! Rashid and Moen Ali are shockingly bad, and even Root - well, it is now frankly comical placing him in the same class as Kohli and Smith (that is how we are having to reassess England, from this tour).
Both these seem OTT to me.There is something intrinsically rotten about the culture of the side. We see it in England when the poor dears have to play in London, and we've seen it whenever they play elsewhere in conditions that don't completely suit them. And we always see it in the last test of a series, wherever it's being played. Obviously it would help if the cba to hold into catches more often than we see at present, but it goes beyond that. You'd hope that having an Australian coach would help them to man up a bit, but there isn't much sign of that. I genuinely don't think it helps having a captain who gives the impression that he's rather be at home on the farm helps at all. I thought it rather nice of Kohli to provide a bit of instruction in addition to the master class that he'd provided in the last test - you know, the stuff about needing to be patient and score slowly at first to build an innings when playing in India. I wonder how many of them were listening.
Do you remember Cook being this inept before? It is true he's never been Mike Brearley, but I cannot recall him looking this clueless.Cook's problem wasn't so much conservatism so much as cluelessness before, he genuinely seemed at a loss as to what to do when put under pressure and was heavily reliant on the backroom staff for tactical advice, even when actually out on the field. I thought he'd improved in the last year, though.
I'm not a grean fan of some of Anderson's antics on the field but I certainly wouldn't question his commitment to the team. This is a guy who played 3 ashes tests with a broken rib where England were getting slaughtered and everyone else was going home. You don't get to 122 tests by being a bit soft.btw can we all take a minute to crown James Anderson as the new Philander
> has an 8 day breather before the series deciding game
> bowls 20 overs in 5 days
> 4 day break
> sees a couple of pictures floating around the internet of groundsmen bbqing the pitch
> "nah i'm a bit sore, i think i'll sit this one out" jk guys chill "It's not worth the risk," Cook said. "When he has been in this situation over the last six months and we have played him, he has picked up injuries.
Yes. Stages during both parts of the Ashes double header in 2013-4, some of his captaincy was absolutely dreadful. WI series where Moores got sacked had some pretty bad moments too.Do you remember Cook being this inept before? It is true he's never been Mike Brearley, but I cannot recall him looking this clueless.
The home summer of 2014 was pretty terrible in terms of captaincy....He let Mathews and Herath build a huge lead with some inexplicable fields and bowling changes and a few months later vs India had Plunkett bowl half trackers from around the wicket on the greenest pitch imaginable.Yes. Stages during both parts of the Ashes double header in 2013-4, some of his captaincy was absolutely dreadful. WI series where Moores got sacked had some pretty bad moments too.
lavender text strikes againI'm not a grean fan of some of Anderson's antics on the field but I certainly wouldn't question his commitment to the team. This is a guy who played 3 ashes tests with a broken rib where England were getting slaughtered and everyone else was going home. You don't get to 122 tests by being a bit soft.
This test was always likely to be tough. You're 3-0 down against a better side in the conditions and having been away from home for 3 months where you can't leave the hotel. If England manage to get a draw tomorrow I think that'll be impressive (as stupid as that sounds given the scores).
As a fan I don't really have many complaints about England's performances on this tour. As a fan though I hope the mangement aren't so accepting. They need to be thinking about how they do better next time. They can't just accept that India are very good in India, and we are not.
I saw it. I just wanted to defend Anderson.lavender text strikes again
I don't think what the media say has a huge bearing on things, or represents bigger problems in English cricket. There are so many disparate voices even within the media so there could be some confirmation bias on your part. When India get tonked abroad in Tests after their superstars make 1000s of runs in the IPL, it doesn't look good either. But then it would also be wrong to attribute those failures completely to T20 money and **** batting techniques developed on flat wickets.Pretty sure they have been free to roam around in India.
Not addressing theegyptian in particular from here:
To me some of this post typifies what might be wrong with English cricket. I caught the Verdict program on sky sports and Bob Willis and the host guy kept going on about how India were the better team "in these conditions". I sat through two of the most humiliating defeats India have had as a team and both happened in England. 2011 and 2014. And I saw a lot of shows in Indian media but none which kept telling England were the better team "in these conditions". There were questions on captaincy, tactics, selections, ability of players etc. But I actually saw Bob Willis, who seems to be a respected voice in English cricket for whatever reason, literally say "Cook and the team must be thinking they cant wait to get these guys on English tracks again".. I am sorry but that is just insipid. Indian media were all over most players, including Kohli, saying they cant just be batsmen who bat well in the flat tracks. England cant just be a team that bats and bowls well only on flat tracks. I just see way too many excuses being thrown up for being outplayed. It is one thing to accept the other team played better than you but the amount of provisos going on about this performance, by some of the CW posters and just about everyone in the wider English cricket media, suggests to me they are never really gonna improve and even the team, barring a couple of players, just seem to be grudgingly accepting of the fact that India were better.
FACT: 4 of the 10 test playing nations are in the Indian sub-continent. If you cant play in these conditions, you will never EVER be a good test team, forget being great.
I don't think what the media say has a huge bearing on things, or represents bigger problems in English cricket. There are so many disparate voices even within the media so there could be some confirmation bias on your part. When India get tonked abroad in Tests after their superstars make 1000s of runs in the IPL, it doesn't look good either. But then it would also be wrong to attribute those failures completely to T20 money and **** batting techniques developed on flat wickets.
In the very next paragraph I say that the management can't think like that. They've got to look to improve the players and tactics for next time.Pretty sure they have been free to roam around in India.
Not addressing theegyptian in particular from here:
To me some of this post typifies what might be wrong with English cricket. I caught the Verdict program on sky sports and Bob Willis and the host guy kept going on about how India were the better team "in these conditions". I sat through two of the most humiliating defeats India have had as a team and both happened in England. 2011 and 2014. And I saw a lot of shows in Indian media but none which kept telling England were the better team "in these conditions". There were questions on captaincy, tactics, selections, ability of players etc. But I actually saw Bob Willis, who seems to be a respected voice in English cricket for whatever reason, literally say "Cook and the team must be thinking they cant wait to get these guys on English tracks again".. I am sorry but that is just insipid. Indian media were all over most players, including Kohli, saying they cant just be batsmen who bat well in the flat tracks. England cant just be a team that bats and bowls well only on flat tracks. I just see way too many excuses being thrown up for being outplayed. It is one thing to accept the other team played better than you but the amount of provisos going on about this performance, by some of the CW posters and just about everyone in the wider English cricket media, suggests to me they are never really gonna improve and even the team, barring a couple of players, just seem to be grudgingly accepting of the fact that India were better.
FACT: 4 of the 10 test playing nations are in the Indian sub-continent. If you cant play in these conditions, you will never EVER be a good test team, forget being great.
Really !!!Both these seem OTT to me.
As a fan I don't really have many complaints about England's performances on this tour. As a fan though I hope the mangement aren't so accepting. They need to be thinking about how they do better next time. They can't just accept that India are very good in India, and we are not.
They made close to 500, what exactly is the problem with their batting?Really !!!
If i was an England supporter I would really be disappointed For a team that suppose to bat to 10 and have all these allrounders, they have been poor.