tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30531601.post8413764781474836995..comments2024-03-16T08:40:32.311+00:00Comments on Different Shades of Green: Out of ControlBrian Carpenterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10336241250446877498noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30531601.post-84122474513115093502013-12-19T21:54:29.438+00:002013-12-19T21:54:29.438+00:00Thanks, Graeme.
I think we agree on a lot. You...Thanks, Graeme.<br /><br />I think we agree on a lot. You'll note I refer at one point to 'good old fashioned poor selection'. I was mainly thinking of:<br /><br />1. The blithe, complacent assumption that Prior would start scoring runs and continue to keep well, and so a proper reserve wasn't needed. They would never have thought that Bairstow might have to take the gloves in a Test (and they don't even like his batting much these days), but that will probably happen next week.<br /><br />2. The fact that a 'like-for-like' replacement for Trott wasn't taken, when they apparently knew (or so they told us) that Trott had been struggling with his mental health for a while, and they must have known that a collapse could have happened at any time (as it did). Compton would have been the obvious one but it was never going to happen. <br /><br />3. The non-selection of Onions. As George Dobell has said, some basic enquiries with those in the know about county cricket would have told them that Chris Tremlett was no longer anything like the bowler he was in 2010, and he never will be again.<br /><br />However you'll have to do a bit better than calling Ian Bell an 'idiot'. he hasn't been great but it isn't true to say that he never makes runs when they count - he did so last summer and at times in 2010-11. He doesn't do so enough - or achieve enough generally - for a player of his ability, but that's a wider discussion. <br /><br />You certainly weren't alone in seeing the signs of decline during the UK series - it was obvious to most that England were going to have to improve a lot to retain the Ashes and they've actually got a lot worse while Australia have improved massively. I suspect that there was complacency and hubris in the camp.<br /><br />I'm not sure Monty has gone too far backwards since 2006 (stayed the same, perhaps, which is a weakness in itself), but it must be remembered that he's played very little Test cricket in the intervening years (certainly since Swann made his debut in late 2008). That could be about to change, as Swann may not have very long left.<br /><br />Finn? A major stain on the record of Saker and others. He has the potential to be a world-beater but he's currently going nowhere. The next two years will be decisive for him.Brian Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10336241250446877498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30531601.post-55467037333398525232013-12-19T01:27:34.948+00:002013-12-19T01:27:34.948+00:00I agree to a point....but there have been selectio...I agree to a point....but there have been selection errors...who is the reserve wicket-keeper? let alone the 3 big lads. <br /><br />Surely they should have known that Swann would be targeted by Warner and Watson et al....so where was the strategy, why can they not set a field? Clarke sets traps: Cook sets sweepers.<br /><br />The reliance on an injured seamer getting through rehab - it reminds me horribly of 2002-3 and some earlier series.<br /><br />Most of all, you can excuse England being taken by surprise by the Aussie commitment at the first test. By the time the third test has come around, you would think they might know that the Australians would come at them hard.<br /><br />Jaded...naive...stupid...I am not sure which is the most appropriate epithet.<br /><br />And to rub salt in the wound, Cook is reverting to his mean averge against Australia - if you exclude the 10-11 series, and Bell makes runs and looks good when they don't count. 9 runs off 60 balls in the first innings at Perth suggests that he is an idiot.<br /><br />Stokes mlooked good but I am hesitant about Frank hayes syndrome.<br /><br />Something has gone dreadfully wrong. Nay-sayers such as me pointed at signs in the UK Ashes series but were brushed aside. Now the house is falling down. Two points...Panesar bowled at Perth in 2006 and has gone backwards. Finn was on the 2010 tour and has gone backwards. Neither of them is in the first eleven...why not?Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11007306140530173428noreply@blogger.com