First of all well done to Pakistan, you deserved to win this game and I have no complaints about the result.
Anyway on to my question, do people think we had too long of a break between games? The players have been calling for this break for years and when they get it they come back with an poor performance.
Now I agree that sometimes they play too much cricket but they have had nearly a four month break which is just too long and the players were unable to get into any form before this game in the two warm up games when we made plenty of changes for both games.
England's batters need to have a long hard look at themselves as the second innings batting performance was woeful, none of the batsmen got out to brilliant ball they all threw their bats at the ball and got themselves out rather than being done by spin which most thought would be our problem.
Too long a rest
posted on 19/1/12
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posted on 19/1/12
No problem with the rest, but 2 warm-up matches were far to few after such a long break and different conditions too.
We're now in the situation that all our top 6 are out of form, any potential replacements would go into the 2nd test even more rusty than the current occupants, and we need to win the next two test if we are to take the series.
I doubt we can do it. The Pakistan team will fight to the end to protect their series lead againt England.
To stand a chance of winning the next test the 1st requirement is to take 20 wickets, so surely Monty must be added to make it a five man attack..
Not bothered which batsman is dropped tbh - you'd think after the 1st innings they would have made extra sure to play carefully - but no.
posted on 19/1/12
...bcfc....my god you passed over your praises of Pakistan pretty quickly didn't you....
(First of all well done to Pakistan, you deserved to win this game and I have no complaints about the result.)
BUT
....and then quickly got onto how England lost this match and not how well Pakistan played in order to win with-in 8 sessions....please.
.....and as for your comment of having no complaints about the loss....what a load of cods-wallop that is, it's killing you, or you wouldn't be coming up with all the excuses of why ya got ya back-side smashed.. a funny breed some of you pommies I tell ya!!!!.
Take a loss on the chin and move on without.... all the time, you look so foolish..
posted on 20/1/12
Rabbits
I think when each member of the top-6 fail collectively and individually in each innings of a test (maybe Trott's 49 exempts him from the full force of the criticism), and the analysis of the fall of the wickets is biassed towards poor shot selection or loose shot execution rather than 12 'jaffas' then yes, I think its fair to devote a good deal of space to England's shortcomings.
I think it's instructive to compare the runs scored by England's bottom-5 versus their top-6. If the definitive feature of the test was a plethora of unplayable balls from the Pakistan attack, then surely the bottom-5 should fare even worse than the top-6?
IMHO the performance of England's bottom-5 with the bat correctly highlights the key issue as the failure of England's top-6.
Pakistan bowled with purpose and discipline, and in itself this is much harder to do than write, so it's wrong to see this as selling Pakistan short, but in the main what their bowlers did was put it where England's batsmen could make a mistake.
This England's batsmen did with gusto
posted on 20/1/12
That's rich rabbit coming from the Aussies, all the press when we beat you down under were saying that test cricket is a dying sport and you should concentrate on the one day game. Now you are beating India and all of a sudden you all care about test cricket again.
I have said all along that Pakistan deserved the win and I have no complaints with that BUT my point was that there must be a reason that the best test playing side of the last three years have all of a sudden fallen apart!
Yes TMFE we do have 6/7 top quality batsmen that need to perform in the subcontinent or all their hard work over the last three years will be a waste.
I am still confident we can turn this around but we need a massive improvement next week!
posted on 20/1/12
bcfc.......Be it the London Times or the Sydney Telegraph I don't take one ounce of notice what the scribes say or suggest....I buy a paper or read the net to read scores, results and catch up on injuries etc. I don't take one bit of notice what inuendos are made.
I personally like the opinion of the man at roots level who says it as it is and not how some editor wants it said...
I do agree with your thoughts on the coming weeks though, I believe England can turn this horror start into a positive and walk away with a series victory, but it will take a whole team effort and not just 3-4 players, they all need to stand up to the plate...
posted on 20/1/12
Every player will need to stand up and be counted if we are going to win. This is a big test now for the captain, if we lose this series questions will be asked about his form. It is ok to not be playing your best of the team are winning, once it starts losing, big questions will be asked of yourself and at the moment he is not scoring enough runs!
posted on 20/1/12
A captain has always had the luxury of seeing out a batting slump along with the keeper to a certain degree.
As long as the captain is still making the correct decisions which often means a victory his position in the team is solid...as it should be.
When Ponting relinguished his captaincy (or tapped on the shoulder) he straight away left the decision of him being selected on what he does with the willow.
I think Strauss is getting close to having to make the similar decision as Ponting if he doesn't get his team some much needed runs when they are under the pump.....touring the sub-continent can make or break a lot of players regardless of his position in the team.
I think Strauss will come out the other side smelling of roses and still be there when the ashes come around, it is here where he might get the tap if England can't retain the ashes because the ashes mean a lot more to the suits in charge then any tour of the sub-continent where excuses are always made for the travelling teams.
posted on 20/1/12
After the next ashes he will be too old to carry on anyway, he is getting on a bit now.
I like Strauss, I think he is a great player and has been good for England over the years but he should know himself when he is no longer good enough.
It is nice to see pointing still in the Oz set up, I know he gets a lot of stick when he is over here but he is great player and will be missed when he retires!
posted on 20/1/12
The problem with making the tough decision on retiring is a lot harder today then it has ever been before.....
Take Ponting for instance.....imagine him 12months ago or even today pondering retirement...he is the 3rd highest in-come earner in OZ cricket today....$500,000 per year from the cricket board and twice that in endorsements and promotions...
Strauss would have the same factor to consider when he sits and ponders retirement.
1.5 million a year can soon make the tough decision on retiring that much more difficult I would imagine....