England vs India
- Thread starter Brizzle
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Plain to see that Cook has a lot more support amongst the public than in the media, gutted for him yesterday. The clamour for his head was ridiculous last week, not the best captain we will ever have but nobody was complaining ( apart from Warne ) when we were winning. We had a world class spinner then. By the way KP'S twitter comments show him up for what he is.
Well, this will see how good a captain he is. England have a good lead and he needs to be positive now. Personally I don't feel he's much of a thinker, he reacts rather than anticipates and he's not great with his bowlers. But if he picks it up, then good for him. But I don't think the criticism is limited to a few culprits.
I was listening to Rob Key last week who is a really insightful pundit when he is not playing. His forthright opinion was that Cook is not a crap captain at all, the opprobrium is very unfair and that there has been a fair amount of bandwagon jumping in the media. He was of the opinion that the main problem has been he was undermining his own authority by not scoring runs which as a captain makes it difficult to assert your authority. He thought things would fall into place once he had some runs, so I guess we will see if he is right. I don't envy him in this febrile atmosphere that has been whipped up.
Cast your mind back to August 2013 and the only person criticising Cook was Warne who was pursuing his own agenda.
Cast your mind back to August 2013 and the only person criticising Cook was Warne who was pursuing his own agenda.
He's an awful captain, scoring a few runs doesn't change that, all these runs do is give a rare something for his apologists to cling onto.
The fucked up worrying thing is he looks like he's completely unsackable, even if we lose this series and get beaten by Oz next year im honestly starting to believe he won't be sacked, even if the Aussies tear us a new one again.
The fucked up worrying thing is he looks like he's completely unsackable, even if we lose this series and get beaten by Oz next year im honestly starting to believe he won't be sacked, even if the Aussies tear us a new one again.
So what? He wasn't actually the only one, but there wasn't much point in strong criticism when the team was winning, even though he was doing nothing to win any praise. Plenty of people have criticised him now and quite justifiably. Do you GENUINELY think he's a bright, tactically astute and positive captain? We'll just have to disagree, then, it's no good claiming it's all Warne's fault.
Good on Buttler though, breath of fresh air and another small step to liking this team again.
Good on Bell as well, he needed that.
A draw or not? today should tell us, i think it will be, Pujara is due, he's too good to keep missing out, same with Kohli really.
Good on Bell as well, he needed that.
A draw or not? today should tell us, i think it will be, Pujara is due, he's too good to keep missing out, same with Kohli really.
Who else was then? Of course I don't see him as a master tactician but he is not as hopeless as the media have portrayed ( recently ). If you can't see the connection between the Warne /KP/ Morgan media campaign and the crescendoing clamour for his head I'm surprised. " The worst captaincy I have ever seen " says Warne from a yacht in the Aegean on holiday with no tv coverage !
Personally whilst all these new players bed in I think we need some stability with the captaincy for the time being
I don't think you can lay into Cook's captaincy unless you can point to bad decisions he has made. I don't think he makes bad decisions. He doesn't tend to make inspired decisions either, which is why he will probably never go down as one of the great captains.He's just OK in my book.
I had the misfortune to catch Piers Morgan on Talksport the other day - Trust me it wasn't on purpose but while he was on I thought I'd give it a listen. He really does have an anti Cook agenda while coupling that with his pro KP stance. I know I'm stating the obvious but he really is an odious twat.
For the record I think Cook should stay. There were a few fielding mistakes and communication issues but I'm sure he'll learn. I'd stick with him.
For the record I think Cook should stay. There were a few fielding mistakes and communication issues but I'm sure he'll learn. I'd stick with him.
His communication at Lords to his bowlers was rubbish. He really does need to sort that out. I agree though he's only 'OK' but still young enough to improve.
Nail on head - Warne in the last match laying in to Cook why has he brought Ali last over before lunch - looked a right pillock when a wicket fell 5 balls later!
Happily I listen to TMS but I get your point. Apart from Hussain they all seem quite smug and Strauss sounds way too reedy to be on TV. Give me Blowers, Aggers and Boycott any day.
I agree that Nasser Hussain is the best of the massed ranks of England captains in the Sky Sports box. He is that bit more perceptive than the others. Shane Warne's anti-Cook agenda is so blatant that I am not sure that he should be there at all, whatever you think of Cook!
That's what sticks in my craw - it has been so blatant the producers should have a word. Even yesterday Warne said in the morning get 550 runs and have 15 overs at the end at the Indians. Lo and behold we do almost exactly that and at the end of the day he banging on and on that Cook should have declared earlier. If this is not agenda driven bollocks what is. I blame KP!
Unquestionably. He's also after Moores, whom his mouthpiece (ringpiece?) Morgan has included in his bletherings.
On a more positive note, Jos Buttler has been keeping very well in the course of India's first innings, contrary to expert predictions!
Early doors but he did do well. Another plus point was Anderson back to his absolute best today - watched a lot today and he deserved more than his three wickets on a pretty flat pitch.
Yes, the ball that got Jadeja plumb LBW was a particular beast! Poetic justice whatever nonsense comes out of the ICC disciplinary hearing. The other pace bowlers had unlucky breaks too, even Jordan who was struggling could have had a wicket or two.
Andrew Strauss & Co. were trying to tell us that England's 569 was a pure fluke resulting from dropped catches, umpiring mistakes etc.
Andrew Strauss & Co. were trying to tell us that England's 569 was a pure fluke resulting from dropped catches, umpiring mistakes etc.
He doesn't tend to actually do anything, that's the point, he doesn't have the ability to read the game in play and spot the most basic of things, he lets things go whether its his bowlers bowling wrong lines and lengths, defensive field placings when he should be looking at taking wickets, why do we so often spread the field to tailenders? at Lords on that green top the first ball that was actually hitting the stumps was bowled in the 11th over, that's mad, a competent captain would be on it with things like this and having a word with his bowlers after a few overs telling them to get it straighter/pitch it up and make the batsman play more, Cook just stands there oblivious way way more often than not.
The bowling short plan to Haddin in Oz was one of the most retarded things ever, they were still doing it come the 5th test! when it was blatantly clear very early on in the series that Haddin was more than happy and comfortable with the short stuff, it really was mind blowing how they just carried on doing it, why did Cook just continue to stand there letting it happen? any captain with anything about them would have put a stop to that.
The thing with England is they arn't encouraged or seemingly allowed to think for themselves, it isn't all Cooks fault that he isn't any good, a fair bit of it is management and all these pre-conceived plans for everything, everything has been micro analysed, mapped out and planned before hand, its almost designed so that no-one has to think, this is what is so fucked up with England, when these plans end up not working they look lost as to what to do next, free thinking and imagination has been bled out of them so the likes of Cook struggle when he has to think on his feet and do what seems like the obvious thing in game, other players are not encouraged to speak up and think either, its not the England way, it the 1 dimensional, robotic, yes man England way or the highway.
It is a worry for the new young players that they will get their heads and techniques ruined by this robot mentality enviroment in our cricket nowadays, look how it has ground down our senior players in the last couple of years, Stokes looks like hes the first newbie to crack already and its nothing to with him not being good enough, its more a question of can he beat the system? it really can't be best enviroment to get the best out of any player young and old, just look how young players fared under Flower and look at the state of our older players now after a few years under that regime.
This is why it needs a completely fresh approach, a clean slate for everyone.
Speaking of Flower, him in charge of the Lions is a twisted joke, his track record with young players is dreadful, he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near them, i really wish he would fuck off out of the whole set up.
If England don't win this test now they never will, its about time some of them know what its like to win a test match.
That's a bit harsh - it's a good batting wicket and the Indians are well capable of frustrating partnerships.
Tbh you're right, expecting England to win a game of cricket nowadays even from a position of strength isn't very wise.
Interesting post and if there is a criticism of Cook he does perservere with the plans for a little too long sometimes. However this is the way test cricket is played now by ALL the teams. Look how Australia analysed our batting shortcomings and executed their plans to perfection, you surely aren't suggesting Clarke just came up with them on the day! That is the way of the modern game - all test teams analyse the opposition to pinpoint weaknesses to get an advantage, the days of the captain doing this on the pitch have passed with the advent of slow motion replays on laptops I'm afraid. Clarke was forever looking up to his dressing room balcony for advice during both Ashes. Your comments on Stokes are pretty ludicrous, it wasn't the management who told him to punch a wall and break his hand was it. I thought he bowled pretty well in the last game.
Oh man I wish I was at this test. Beautiful day and a great wicket. There looks to be a tiny bit left in it. You have to give a bit of credit to Cook for batting first on what both captains said was a 50/50 toss.
Robson gone! - I'd bring Buttler out to smash a few!
Robson gone! - I'd bring Buttler out to smash a few!
I would have liked us to follow on - but decision bat maybe correct if we get this 400 lead quickly. Worried about our ability to get 20 wickets and want as much time as possible.
Bell and Cook both capable of scoring quickly but would expect Buttler/Jordan etc to be bumped up if wickets fall.
Woakes bowled great lines yesterday, if he keeps that up next innings I think he'll get a couple.
Bell and Cook both capable of scoring quickly but would expect Buttler/Jordan etc to be bumped up if wickets fall.
Woakes bowled great lines yesterday, if he keeps that up next innings I think he'll get a couple.
Could add plenty more about Cook as his inabilities as England cricket captain along with that nonsense you put in my mouth about Clarke but i have been up for 20 hours and have lost the will to post more than a sentence.
