Tenbury wrote: ↑Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:01 am
Frankly no. I'd sooner listen to the ex wife than Boycott. (Anyway, that boring bigot Vaughan 's taken over). TBH, I find the latest TMS line up pretty fresh, and I was brought up on Compton, Trueman and Arlott.
Anyhow, it's time, IMO, to take a long hard look at the current England set up. It's all well and good Root being a captain who leads by example, but I really feel this side needs some structure and discipline. Just because Broad chucks his toys out the pram when he's dropped is not a reason to make him vice captain (quite the reverse). The occasional 5 fors he turns in, usually in favourable conditions, dont (IMO) justify even a place in the squad, more often than not he's, at best, just pie chucking. Everyone seems scared of just dropping him!... if they'd have played Leach (which, BTW, I think they should have) it's odds on Robinson would have been the one to miss out. There's no way whatsoever that Broad should be involvedin the upcoming Ashes series, so having his shadow hanging over thecurrent side is ridiculous. A strong, cohesive and successful side is selected on form and merit, not mere reputation.
Whilst they have made some absolutely ridiculous decisions over the last couple of years I do feel sorry for our selectors sometimes. For them Broad makes himself undroppable with one or two world class spells over every summer, I agree with you though I don't think he should have a place in this test side.
We still also have the problem at the top of the order. All three of Crawley, Burns and Sibley have shown they have quality but it's too sporadic and it's almost inevitable that we lose two quick wickets and until that is fixed we will struggle to beat any of the top sides.
Your right. I guess it's the one downside of the L. O game. An opener that, if not technically excellent, has at least some sort of stickability if only to take the shine off, is a rare animal here in the UK, though for some reason other countries seem to find them.
Whatever itis, the current crop just aren't good enough.
How far back is enough? Should they ask school friends to see if they said anything 'nasty' on the playground or in the sand pit as a toddler?
Slippery slope all this as far as I am concerned.
Will it get to a point where someone is not picked because it is found they said something in the past as teenager? Who will decided, may they could ask sponsors what they think?
"England may review the social media history of future players after the emergence of historical racist and sexist tweets by Ollie Robinson, says batting coach Graham Thorpe.
Posts from 2012 and 2013 emerged on Wednesday as seamer Robinson, 27, was making his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord's."
Have to say I like the Sky commentary team at the moment. Not a huge fan of Ward anchoring but I think Nasser, Rob Key, Bumble and Athers are a brilliant listen. Atherton in particular I could listen to speak about cricket all day. Bumble still cracks me up, highlight of yesterday when the umpire took out the ball-measuring hoop when the Kiwis were moaning about the shape of the ball..."the umpire's got his ringpiece out"!
Well I'll rise to the bait!
The way Mark Noble has conducted himself as his exceptional playing career comes to an end, contrasts markedly with Broad's petulance. No one, anywhere, could ever suggest other than that Noble puts the team first and last. Seasoned pros, in any team sport, can have a great deal to contribute, not least in encouraging and supporting the younger talent, but they should be picked on performance, not reputation.
Last edited by Tenbury on Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tenbury wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:15 am
Well I'll rise to the bait!
The way Mark Noble has conducted himself as his exceptional playing career comes to an end, contrasts markedly with Broad's petulance. No one, anywhere, could ever suggest that Noble puts the team first and last. Seasoned pros, in any team sport, can have a great deal to contribute, not least in encouraging and supporting the younger talent, but they should be picked on performance, not reputation.
(facebook type) like.
Broad and Anderson are greats and I it has been wonderful to watch them but we need to bring their replacements through. It would be pointless taking them to Auz in my opinion. Take some youngsters even if they get slaughtered (I don't think we can win anyway, our batting is far too lacking)
smuts wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 11:10 am
Think I read the other day that De Grandmullet has the 8th highest batting average in this NZ side, in ours he would be 2nd...
Averages are meh though, scores in England are generally lower than other places, opening in England is statically the hardest in the world. We also don't play Bangladesh and Zimbabwe very much and play in Auz more than other teams (other than the Aussies obviously)
