Would Jonny like some cheese and crackers with that Whine?

[wpdavid]

I'm afraid Zinzan's spot on with this one. Whining about people 'wanting you to fail' is ludicrous. Actually they'd rather like to see England winning, hence the criticism of England's performances. And the pitches tend to be the same for both teams in any given match, so just cope with it Johnny. Maybe take a look at how the Indian openers have approached games and learn from them. I rarely agree with Vaughan, but his retort was dead right. If Bairstow's weak-willed whinging is representative of the wider mentality in the squad then we're dead in the water. This is really poor stuff from Bairstow, and regrettably supports the view that he's just mentally weak.

 

[Daemon]

It's pure arrogance & a big reason many of us identified as to why they'd unlikely lift the trophy.

Only difference being, I'd thought they'd waltz though pool play and possibly fall over under pressure in a knock-out game. I did not think they could struggle to actually make the semis.

all this after they parachuted a world class bowler over to cover their only weakness. should be fun when they get knocked out

 

[OverratedSanity]

I don't know, you could make the argument he's showing mental strength by saying they'll stick to their approach even though it hasn't worked so far. All that talk is just dumb anyway. KP saying Morgan backing away from Starc showed he was afraid is about as bollocks a statement as you can make.

I had more of a problem with what he said about the pitches than anything about former players. I think it shows they were clearly too used to the batting paradises they'd played on for the last two years. Certainly a big admission of a total lack of adaptability there.

 

[harsh.ag]

I don't know, you could make the argument he's showing mental strength by saying they'll stick to their approach even though it hasn't worked so far. All that talk is just dumb anyway. KP saying Morgan backing away from Starc showed he was afraid is about as bollocks a statement as you can make.

I had more of a problem with what he said about the pitches than anything about former players. I think it shows they were clearly too used to the batting paradises they'd played on for the last two years. Certainly a big admission of a total lack of adaptability there.

Your second point contradicts your first one.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Vaughan is such a ****.

Suggesting that this might be one of the most disastrous WCs for England of all time is bloody rich coming from him, given he was at the helm during the whole Fredalo incident WC, which was far worse than this will end up being.

This would be more disappointing if England don't make the semis though. England have never really had this level of expectation before a wc.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Your second point contradicts your first one.

Does it? I'm saying it's dumb to say lack of adaptability = lack of mental strength.

They're probably flat track bullies. Doesn't mean they're mentally weak or chokers or any of that stuff.

 

[harsh.ag]

Does it? I'm saying it's dumb to say lack of adaptability = lack of mental strength.

Ah. Okay. But I guess failing to plan to be adaptable = lack of something mental.

 

[trundler]

Ah. Okay. But I guess failing to plan to be adaptable = lack of something mental.

Lack of brains is fairly mental.

 

[weldone]

Adil Rashid was right about Vaughan.

 

[sledger]

Vaughan is, and always has been, a turd.

Good player on his day. Very good at his best in fact. But as a bloke, has always come across as a right dickhead. And pretty dense as well. .

 

[trundler]

Piers Morgan of cricket

 

[sledger]

Ha, not a bad analogy tbh. Though Piers Morgan is probably the Piers Morgan of cricket tbf.

 

[hazsa19]

What a tool. Typical attitude other men’s teams have retorted to in this country. I refuse to believe that any English person, let alone journo or ex player, actually wants our team to lose so that they can have a pop. If you’re the best ranked team in the world and lose 3 of 7 games you’re gonna get criticised and rightly so.

I do however completely agree with him ref the pitches, but it does no one any good to be saying that in public days before a must win.

 

[PikeyB]

Folk talk about English 'arrogance' like it's real . You can't be arrogant about a sport you're **** at . We've spent years trying to convince ourselves we're actually good at it . We prepared the pitches , not for runs , but to what we considered would be average ICC tournament conditions , we used the crap ball and the crap roads on purpose. We spent many years before 2015 picking the bestest bowlers and we were lucky if we got a bit of reverse and a bit of spin ...otherwise sweet **** all on offer for us with the ball .

So I can understand Bairstow's frustration with the pitches offering enough to shift the balance . There seems more life in these ones than all the recent ICC curated tournaments put together .

However claiming 'victim' status when they are subsiding so dramatically in a major tournament is just bullcrap . They deserve it . I'm a lifelong England fan and I would honestly prefer if Bangladesh took the fourth spot ...because nothing about England is convincing me they've got the stones to win . I am so over points and permutations to scrape through .

I no longer give a toss about England doing well , I just want to see some great cricket . I am bit miffed that I've gone on lean rations of Test cricket for years to prepare for this , when we could have just turned up with most the Test team and a few T20 specialists and done just as well . The time we have wasted playing International ODI series has cost us dear in the Test format ,both quantity and quality . What are ODIs for if they don't prepare you for the big Tourneys ?

I don't mind Vaughn , I wish he'd give up social media though , it makes him more of a **** . I used to think Vaughn was a tactical genius when he was captain , however listening to him at length afterwards revealed he was just humble and a very lucky bastard . He needs to reconnect with that spawny git humility that has made his career .

 

[Daemon]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/b...hli-india-england-cricket-world-cup-moeen-ali

Some thoughts from Mo

 

[Teja.]

Jesus, the op article is basically textbook ‘how not to respond to a troll stuff’.

Obviously, it’s in a pretty inconsequential circumstance compared to the leadership group debacle but I mean where’s the ****ing edge in speaking like that right now when you have two KO games coming up? What are you gaining?

 

[Spark]

Jesus, the op article is basically textbook ‘how not to respond to a troll stuff’.

Obviously, it’s in a pretty inconsequential circumstance compared to the leadership group debacle but I mean where’s the ****ing edge in speaking like that right now when you have two KO games coming up? What are you gaining?

Morgan and Stokes were very prickly after the last game too IMO.

 

[shifty_eyes]

It hit him hard. Just a game, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

“The pitches that we’ve been playing on the last two years are surely the pitches we [should] be playing on in a World Cup,” he said, “so I don’t know why they’ve changed.

So we getting flat track on Sunday?

 

[Red]

Classic England, all talk until it's starts going badly, then watch them eat each other.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I know the French like to pride themselves on their bluff northern hardness, but they're a precious little bunch of flowers really, aren't they?

There's essentially two ways teams respond to pressure. Some (the All Blacks are perhaps the most obvious example) use it as a fuel, the expectation of a nation manifests as a steely determination not to be part of the team that didn't; others, like us, crumble like stale digestives and have, as Heath Franklin's Chopper might have it, a sook and a ****ing cry.