Yesterday was a good day for England and I'm liking the look of Ali. This new batting line up could work.
Roll on today.
Roll on today.
England Vs Sri Lanka
- Thread starter Red Astaire
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Nope - Get 'em cracked. 404-7 Very nice
Roots got 200, it is nice to see England be aggressive although England could not have picked an easier team/bowling attack to play against out of the top 8 nations at home.
Ian Botham really is trying to replace Fred 'I don't know what's going off out there' Truman. When he's not just moaning about everything, he's complaining about bowlers bowling too short, which considering the percentage of long hops he used to bowl (and flukily got wickets from) is pretty rich.
Yes I dimly remember Botham toiling for hours with his medium-pace on unresponsive wickets, and getting whacked all round the ground.
Ha so true!
Went on Saturday to headingley. Gorgeous day. Great partnership with Robson and Balance. Shame its all gone to shit today! Cook shocking again
Evidently, Portly, you belong to the school of thought which holds that the only good thing to come out of Yorkshire is the M62.
Can't say im disappointed, bit surprised though, this Sri Lanka really should be easy prey at home, there are no excuses for losing to them.
Said it about Cook before, if he doesn't give up the captaincy and concentrate solely on his batting then his career will end up being a lot shorter than it should be, he should be dropped after this tbh, no other batsman would be getting away with Cooks form and its not as if hes a Mike Brearley mk2 captain.
Wish Prior hadn't been so lucky with the bat this series, fed up of the bloke and want to see Buttler blooded before the Ashes, not that it will make much difference to the outcome of that series.
Anyway, as long as they all get along and the dressing room is a happy place then that's the main thing isn't it?
Said it about Cook before, if he doesn't give up the captaincy and concentrate solely on his batting then his career will end up being a lot shorter than it should be, he should be dropped after this tbh, no other batsman would be getting away with Cooks form and its not as if hes a Mike Brearley mk2 captain.
Wish Prior hadn't been so lucky with the bat this series, fed up of the bloke and want to see Buttler blooded before the Ashes, not that it will make much difference to the outcome of that series.
Anyway, as long as they all get along and the dressing room is a happy place then that's the main thing isn't it?
Evidently, Portly, you belong to the school of thought which holds that the only good thing to come out of Yorkshire is the M62.
Yes or the Tour de France!
Wonder what patronising bullshit those cretins in suits will come out with after this.
Actually think Cook would go up in most peoples estimations if he resigned, will it happen though? if there had been a proper review after the Ashes shambles to work out the real problems instead of the despicable scapegoating hatchet job of one player then the team could have started getting their shit together, but there wasn't and the England cricket team are still in a huge mess.
Anyone that buys this nonsense about a new positive England or whatever bullshit soundbite it is they are using at the moment is in cloud cuckoo land, just like the people who think Roy Hodgson is in anyway the right man for the England job, similar situations in a way, jobs for the boys, screw ability and whats best for the team.
India are going to come over and i can't see them passing up the opportunity of humping us silly, its mad to think it can actually get worse than the winter but it can and arguably is right now, it certainly will be if Cook is in charge and we carry on losing, its nothing less than the ECB deserve, they will be squirming right now, good!
Actually think Cook would go up in most peoples estimations if he resigned, will it happen though? if there had been a proper review after the Ashes shambles to work out the real problems instead of the despicable scapegoating hatchet job of one player then the team could have started getting their shit together, but there wasn't and the England cricket team are still in a huge mess.
Anyone that buys this nonsense about a new positive England or whatever bullshit soundbite it is they are using at the moment is in cloud cuckoo land, just like the people who think Roy Hodgson is in anyway the right man for the England job, similar situations in a way, jobs for the boys, screw ability and whats best for the team.
India are going to come over and i can't see them passing up the opportunity of humping us silly, its mad to think it can actually get worse than the winter but it can and arguably is right now, it certainly will be if Cook is in charge and we carry on losing, its nothing less than the ECB deserve, they will be squirming right now, good!
Cook is clearly the blue-eyed boy of the English cricket establishment and the players seem to like him, so he is going to be difficult to shift, even though he rarely contributes much to the score nowadays.
I think as a batsman he is a bit limited. He has two shots, the off cut and the leg pull off his hips which he was attempting to execute when he chopped the ball on to his stumps today. He never seems to attempt the drive. This means that bowlers can frustrate him just by bowling on the off stump all the time.
I think as a batsman he is a bit limited. He has two shots, the off cut and the leg pull off his hips which he was attempting to execute when he chopped the ball on to his stumps today. He never seems to attempt the drive. This means that bowlers can frustrate him just by bowling on the off stump all the time.
Couldn't agree more on that post, he always has been a limited batsman but its worked, he used to be mentally tough, patient and have high concentration levels and when going through a previous form dip he would grind and fight his way out of them, i don't think he has it in him to do that now with the captaincy and all the distractions that come with it weighing him down.
He must be in despair on the inside right now, for everyone's sake he should resign and get back to being that top wall of a batsmen again, if he doesn't then there should be no sympathy for him, its hard to have any right now tbh, he needs to stop digging this hole, we need an in form Cook if we are to have any chance of getting that urn back in 12 months, same goes for other series, they need to start winning again at some point.
Oh for a Nasser Hussian type captain to bring some order to things.
He must be in despair on the inside right now, for everyone's sake he should resign and get back to being that top wall of a batsmen again, if he doesn't then there should be no sympathy for him, its hard to have any right now tbh, he needs to stop digging this hole, we need an in form Cook if we are to have any chance of getting that urn back in 12 months, same goes for other series, they need to start winning again at some point.
Oh for a Nasser Hussian type captain to bring some order to things.
I always think that of all the ex-England captains in the Sky Sports commentary box, Nasser Hussain has the deepest insight into the game.
Agreed - I always think Botham (as much as I admire his achievements) always looks and sounds bored.
Yeah it was him that played a massive part in dragging England out of that long period of mediocrity, like Nasser a lot and would love to see him coaching the team.
Looks like England might get away with it here.
Looks like England might get away with it here.
I agree. Botham never thought much even when he was a player. He had good technique as a batsman but rarely used it, and I've never seen another bowler get so many wickets from terrible balls. I lost count of the number of times people would be in the middle of saying what a stupid ball he'd bowled when, sure enough, someone caught it or the batsman missed it. These days he only really seems to contribute by urging the kind of eclectic field changes that made his own captaincy such a bewildering experience.
As a batsman Botham often infuriated me because, being an England player, he often had to bat in the middle/lower order when England needed to save the game . . . . as is the case today against Sri Lanka. Botham would stride to the wicket with his big heavy bat and swipe at every ball until he got out.
I believe it's a welcome day off in Brazil, which gives those of us who love the sound of leather on willow to watch Yorkshire v Lancashire T20 Blast match this evening. Lancs lost the home fixture so I'm hoping they can get revenge at Headingley. It's on Sky Sports and play starts 5.30.
Kevin Pietersen: England must show faith in youngsters and stop kidding the public with negative tactics
England should have beaten Sri Lanka but they blew both Tests because of Alastair Cook and Peter Moores' fear of failure and a poor performance from unhappy senior players
Forward thinking: The time has come to give the exciting Jos Buttler his chance in the England team.
By Kevin Pietersen
10:30PM BST 27 Jun 2014
It looks as if a fear of failure is stalking this England team and they are setting themselves up for a big fall if their tactics do not improve quickly.
The summer has started with defeat in the Twenty20, one-day series and Tests. England have lost 18 out of 27 games since the end of The Ashes and until this season I do not remember us even coming close before to losing the early summer Test series.
You can only kid the public for so long. If you tell them this is a brave new dawn, that the team will play an aggressive brand of cricket and try to be positive, but then play the same old negative stuff, the supporters will soon turn away from the team in droves.
But the English cricketing public are fair. They will stand by this England team, and in particular the youngsters, who are carrying some of the senior players at the moment, if they play with the right attitude even if they lose. When the brand of cricket is refreshing and new, defeats can be tolerated.
Sadly, so far England have not had that excuse. They have been defensive in their attitude and actions. They should have comfortably won the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. The captain and the coach talked glowingly about how attacking they were, scoring runs at 3.4 per over. It was as if they were tying to prove a point by highlighting that positive, but in fact it looked as if Peter Moores and Alastair Cook were scared of losing their first Test in charge.
If not, then why did they bat so long in the second innings? England wanted the comfort of setting Sri Lanka 380 to win on the last day. Are you serious? It cost them the match.
England have James Anderson, a truly great swing bowler, in their attack, plus Stuart Broad, who we have seen blow teams away in one spell, and Liam Plunkett bowling at 90mph.
Are you telling me Sri Lanka would really score 380 in a day? I understand England lost wickets early on setting up the run chase, and that slowed them down, but setting out for a target of 320 would have been enough and given the bowlers at least 30 minutes at the end of the fourth day’s play to put the fear of life into the Sri Lankan batters. They could have taken two or three wickets, or at least got Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene to the crease that night. You just never know what might happen.
It was the perfect chance for Cook and Moores to say here is the positive brand of cricket we promised. Instead they were cautious. There were suggestions England were worried by the fact Middlesex chased 481 to beat Yorkshire at Lord’s in a championship match earlier this season but Sri Lanka would not have been facing county bowling. They would have faced a very strong England international bowling attack with a lot more pressure on their wickets.
For me that failure to take the initiative left a big question mark. It carried over into Headingley and the decision to bowl first. Ever since English cricket introduced new drainage systems a couple of years ago the pitches have lost pace and been horrendous. The only really good time to bat is when there is moisture in the pitch, so bat first.
Also, Headingley spins, so why bat last? I took four wickets against South Africa in 2012 at Headingley and Graeme Swann finished with 10 against New Zealand last year, so why on earth bat last on that pitch against Rangana Herath, who is the eighth best bowler in the world according to the rankings?
Cook was criticised for his tactics and field settings to Angelo Mathews as he built a match-winning score in the second innings. I can understand his reasons. But that tactic should be plan B or C, not plan A, which was the case for England. You attack and try to get the batsman out first. If you dismiss Mathews you win the game. If Mathews reaches 70 or 80 and is making it look easy then push the field back and give runs away to dismiss the weaker batsman.
England were in winning positions in both matches but blew it, and I believe that is a symptom of the senior players being very unsettled. They are not turning up for the captain or coach. Broad and Anderson looked jaded at Headingley. Why? Why was Jimmy so emotional? We have lost a lot of matches in the past but he has never shown such emotion. He has been through tougher times and suffered lower moments but never been in tears before.
It says to me there is an underlying current of unhappiness. The Australia tour was hard. We were beaten up due to a lot of reasons I cannot go into right now, and some of the senior player are still suffering, with the result that they are struggling to offer leadership in the dressing room.
Jimmy is not a natural leader anyway. Broad is the same. They are their own men. It is what has made them such successful bowlers for so long, but England need leadership now.
Matt Prior is under big pressure. He knows his job is not far from gone if he does not consistently produce results with bat and gloves. He had a good Test at Lord’s under heavy pressure, but then struggled at Headingley. He knows he needs to be consistent to keep his place ahead of Jos Buttler. All he will be worried about is himself, so Cook does not have many people to turn to.
Cook’s form will be affecting him. I have played with Cooky long enough to know that when that happens he becomes very quiet and introverted. He struggles to handle it. We have all been through it and it does play on your mind.
Captaining the side without any runs plays on your mind too. I saw in Cook at Headingley the same look Andrew Strauss had when he played his last Test at Lord’s. He was a rabbit in the headlights. It was a shame to see Cooky looking that way. The one thing he brings to the team is runs, mental strength and ability to churn out huge hundreds.
He has been a brilliant player for England, but he is the only person who knows deep down whether captaincy is affecting his batting. But you do not want to give away the captaincy because then you become droppable. If you have not scored any runs for 10 Test matches, and give the captaincy up to concentrate on batting but then do not score for the next two Tests, you might be out of a job. Then what do you do?
He is lucky that the younger players are providing an example for others to follow. It was absolutely fantastic to see Gary Ballance, Sam Robson, Joe Root and Moeen Ali scoring hundreds. Add Ben Stokes and Buttler to the mix and suddenly England will have a team mostly made up of young cricketers without any baggage, taking to Test cricket quickly and being successful.
They would galvanise public support very quickly, but it is up to the selectors to give Buttler and Stokes a chance. Stokes does not need overs in county cricket. He is one of those players who can turn up and turn it on in a Test match.
A winning dressing room is a happy dressing room. If they are given the opportunity the young players will learn to win and the corner will be turned.
England should have beaten Sri Lanka but they blew both Tests because of Alastair Cook and Peter Moores' fear of failure and a poor performance from unhappy senior players
Forward thinking: The time has come to give the exciting Jos Buttler his chance in the England team.
By Kevin Pietersen
10:30PM BST 27 Jun 2014
It looks as if a fear of failure is stalking this England team and they are setting themselves up for a big fall if their tactics do not improve quickly.
The summer has started with defeat in the Twenty20, one-day series and Tests. England have lost 18 out of 27 games since the end of The Ashes and until this season I do not remember us even coming close before to losing the early summer Test series.
You can only kid the public for so long. If you tell them this is a brave new dawn, that the team will play an aggressive brand of cricket and try to be positive, but then play the same old negative stuff, the supporters will soon turn away from the team in droves.
But the English cricketing public are fair. They will stand by this England team, and in particular the youngsters, who are carrying some of the senior players at the moment, if they play with the right attitude even if they lose. When the brand of cricket is refreshing and new, defeats can be tolerated.
Sadly, so far England have not had that excuse. They have been defensive in their attitude and actions. They should have comfortably won the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. The captain and the coach talked glowingly about how attacking they were, scoring runs at 3.4 per over. It was as if they were tying to prove a point by highlighting that positive, but in fact it looked as if Peter Moores and Alastair Cook were scared of losing their first Test in charge.
If not, then why did they bat so long in the second innings? England wanted the comfort of setting Sri Lanka 380 to win on the last day. Are you serious? It cost them the match.
England have James Anderson, a truly great swing bowler, in their attack, plus Stuart Broad, who we have seen blow teams away in one spell, and Liam Plunkett bowling at 90mph.
Are you telling me Sri Lanka would really score 380 in a day? I understand England lost wickets early on setting up the run chase, and that slowed them down, but setting out for a target of 320 would have been enough and given the bowlers at least 30 minutes at the end of the fourth day’s play to put the fear of life into the Sri Lankan batters. They could have taken two or three wickets, or at least got Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene to the crease that night. You just never know what might happen.
It was the perfect chance for Cook and Moores to say here is the positive brand of cricket we promised. Instead they were cautious. There were suggestions England were worried by the fact Middlesex chased 481 to beat Yorkshire at Lord’s in a championship match earlier this season but Sri Lanka would not have been facing county bowling. They would have faced a very strong England international bowling attack with a lot more pressure on their wickets.
For me that failure to take the initiative left a big question mark. It carried over into Headingley and the decision to bowl first. Ever since English cricket introduced new drainage systems a couple of years ago the pitches have lost pace and been horrendous. The only really good time to bat is when there is moisture in the pitch, so bat first.
Also, Headingley spins, so why bat last? I took four wickets against South Africa in 2012 at Headingley and Graeme Swann finished with 10 against New Zealand last year, so why on earth bat last on that pitch against Rangana Herath, who is the eighth best bowler in the world according to the rankings?
Cook was criticised for his tactics and field settings to Angelo Mathews as he built a match-winning score in the second innings. I can understand his reasons. But that tactic should be plan B or C, not plan A, which was the case for England. You attack and try to get the batsman out first. If you dismiss Mathews you win the game. If Mathews reaches 70 or 80 and is making it look easy then push the field back and give runs away to dismiss the weaker batsman.
England were in winning positions in both matches but blew it, and I believe that is a symptom of the senior players being very unsettled. They are not turning up for the captain or coach. Broad and Anderson looked jaded at Headingley. Why? Why was Jimmy so emotional? We have lost a lot of matches in the past but he has never shown such emotion. He has been through tougher times and suffered lower moments but never been in tears before.
It says to me there is an underlying current of unhappiness. The Australia tour was hard. We were beaten up due to a lot of reasons I cannot go into right now, and some of the senior player are still suffering, with the result that they are struggling to offer leadership in the dressing room.
Jimmy is not a natural leader anyway. Broad is the same. They are their own men. It is what has made them such successful bowlers for so long, but England need leadership now.
Matt Prior is under big pressure. He knows his job is not far from gone if he does not consistently produce results with bat and gloves. He had a good Test at Lord’s under heavy pressure, but then struggled at Headingley. He knows he needs to be consistent to keep his place ahead of Jos Buttler. All he will be worried about is himself, so Cook does not have many people to turn to.
Cook’s form will be affecting him. I have played with Cooky long enough to know that when that happens he becomes very quiet and introverted. He struggles to handle it. We have all been through it and it does play on your mind.
Captaining the side without any runs plays on your mind too. I saw in Cook at Headingley the same look Andrew Strauss had when he played his last Test at Lord’s. He was a rabbit in the headlights. It was a shame to see Cooky looking that way. The one thing he brings to the team is runs, mental strength and ability to churn out huge hundreds.
He has been a brilliant player for England, but he is the only person who knows deep down whether captaincy is affecting his batting. But you do not want to give away the captaincy because then you become droppable. If you have not scored any runs for 10 Test matches, and give the captaincy up to concentrate on batting but then do not score for the next two Tests, you might be out of a job. Then what do you do?
He is lucky that the younger players are providing an example for others to follow. It was absolutely fantastic to see Gary Ballance, Sam Robson, Joe Root and Moeen Ali scoring hundreds. Add Ben Stokes and Buttler to the mix and suddenly England will have a team mostly made up of young cricketers without any baggage, taking to Test cricket quickly and being successful.
They would galvanise public support very quickly, but it is up to the selectors to give Buttler and Stokes a chance. Stokes does not need overs in county cricket. He is one of those players who can turn up and turn it on in a Test match.
A winning dressing room is a happy dressing room. If they are given the opportunity the young players will learn to win and the corner will be turned.
Lol he doesn't like Prior does he?
Decent and fair take on things though.
Decent and fair take on things though.
Read that earlier, gotta laugh, the KP stuff will never go away, rarely buy books but when his one comes out its getting snapped up.
It's sad that English Test cricket can deteriorate like this into the absolute shower that they used to be. The line of least resistance is always to revert to the blazered, bumptious, intolerant and clubbable bunch of dullards that tend to dominate the game. It was like this at the end of the Hussain era - he was all right, but he presided over a squad full of whining little mediocre gits who sulked when they were deservedly criticised and played like boneheaded neanderthals. It's become like that all over again. Cosy, chummy, dressing room, shite out on the wicket.
