Cricket

[jim mk2]

Dave,I'll leave it with you to prove Lehmann is an honourable and motivational character.As it is you keep going back to previous series.

Happy New Year Dave..come on South Africa.

Interesting debate between one who knows where he comes from and is loyal and the other who has the no morals.

Keep it up chaps.

Agree about Lehmann, an odious man whose code of conduct on and off the cricket field is the antithesis of the way the game should be played. I'm very surprised the EWB did not call for him to be censured by the ICC over his Broad comments last summer.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Best all rounder ? Going off the ones I saw play it's got to be Gary Sobers.

[FGS5635]

Root dropped for final test WTF.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

If you put all the players in a sack and hit it with a big stick you wouldn't be hitting an innocent man.

[broadsword]

Drop Root and keep Carberry.

We're being run by tits.

[FGS5635]

Selectors have had a shocker and nobody has been mucked about more than root

[somersetrover]

Borthwick playing and batting at 8 he's a far better batsman than bowler, for Durham he bats at 3 above Stokes so England shove him at 8. His bowling is not up to much and I fear another Kerrigan scenario with him, hopeful Cook will handle him better.

Why are people surprised that Root's been dropped he's a top order batsman and since his 180 at Lords he averages just under 26 which is not good enough, Ballance deserves his chance after a very good first class season.

[broadsword]

How can anyone think Carberry is test quality is beyond me.

I'm not sure if Panesar is genuinely unfit, but he's been mucked about too.

We've really plumbed the depths with this tour. If Flower won't bin Cook as captain, the Flower has to go. Cook cannot carry on as captain, he doesn't know what he's doing.

[somersetrover]

We've really plumbed the depths with this tour. If Flower won't bin Cook as captain, the Flower has to go. Cook cannot carry on as captain, he doesn't know what he's doing.

The problem is that the team has showed this series that there are no other leaders in it to offer an alternative to Cook as captain. The only other option England have is go down the Mike Brearley route of selecting someone purely on the basis of being the captain, which with the way England are playing at the moment they cannot afford to do.

[broadsword]

Broad is the stand-out for me. Prior too if he can get back into the side.

Cook honestly doesn't know what he's doing. He genuinely has no clue.

[FGS5635]

Not only is he a poor captain, its affected his batting in a big way to, which has double hurt england.

I'd make Broad captain also

[somersetrover]

Broad is the stand-out for me. Prior too if he can get back into the side.

Cook honestly doesn't know what he's doing. He genuinely has no clue.

Broad for me does not have the right mentality or level of maturity to be a test match captain and I don't personally like having a bowler as captain. Prior has a lot of work to do to get back in the team.

Funnily enough the only player in the team that I would give the captaincy to is Pietersen but sadly for him there is far to much water under the bridge for the ECB to give him captaincy.

Edited January 2, 2014 by somersetrover

[Brad]

And again we rely on the lower order to make the runs as we have been over the last couple of years. Major overhaul required before 2015, Warner, Rodgers, Watson, Bailey.

Shame to see the big fella break down, amazed you didn't give him a run at the WACA.

[CapeTownRover]

select a captain in your local league, that is doing really well. surely there is a captain at Glamorgan, or Surrey, Lancashire etc that is on form. make him captain, as he is already captain of his team. not sure if Cook is captain of his county side, but if he is or was never a captain, then its not easy to lead

[SouthAussieRover]

Another nightmare day for England...well from 97 for 5 to be precise.

[jim mk2]

Well done to Stokes but let them off the hook again - nasty piece of work to the fore once more. Waugh and Lehman apart, was there ever a more unpleasant cricketer ?

[Gav]

I've got a lot of time for James Anderson, he's been a great servant to the England team, but I can't for the life of me understand what the hell he was doing for the first 10 overs this morning.

Short pitched balling on a morning that was overcast and humid with a ball that's swings for 15 overs??? And his field setting was poor.

I think his days are numbered, poor series Mr Anderson.

[broadsword]

There's life in him yet. Was he setting the field, or was Cook?

No-one was slating Jimmy this summer.

[FGS5635]

There's life in him yet. Was he setting the field, or was Cook?

No-one was slating Jimmy this summer.

1st test apart, he was pretty poor this summer also

[somersetrover]

No-one was slating Jimmy this summer.

In fairness he didn't bowl very well after The first test, it was Broad and in particularly Swann that did the damage after that. Graham Onions must have been watching the attack during this serious and wondering how he is not in the team after he bowled Durham to the county championship with 70 wickets at a 18 a piece.

[Gav]

There's life in him yet. Was he setting the field, or was Cook?

No-one was slating Jimmy this summer.

He was setting his own field for the 10 overs, Cook should have brought a man in catching but never did, maybe he didn't want to undermine a senior player....

He's had a terrible series Anderson, very poor by his standards, but today I had high hopes with the conditions and he blew his lines again, very poor.

Edited January 3, 2014 by GAV

[oldjamfan]

select a captain in your local league, that is doing really well. surely there is a captain at Glamorgan, or Surrey, Lancashire etc that is on form. make him captain, as he is already captain of his team. not sure if Cook is captain of his county side, but if he is or was never a captain, then its not easy to lead

This is very interesting, and I have a great deal of sympathy for such an approach. One of the best examples of this from yesteryear has to be Mike Brearley?

Nobody from the counties immediately springs to mind though.

[somersetrover]

And again we rely on the lower order to make the runs as we have been over the last couple of years. Major overhaul required before 2015, Warner, Rodgers, Watson, Bailey.

Shame to see the big fella break down, amazed you didn't give him a run at the WACA.

Why would you drop Warner he's the top runs scorer in the series, Rogers and Watson have both had good series. Bailey I agree needs dropping I'd bring Joe Burns from Queensland in to replace him at 6, either that or put Watson to 6 and play Hughes particularly for the SA series a country where Hughes has fond memories.

Steven Smith looks to me like a future Australian captain, two very mature centuries when under pressure from the 24 year old.

select a captain in your local league, that is doing really well. surely there is a captain at Glamorgan, or Surrey, Lancashire etc that is on form. make him captain, as he is already captain of his team. not sure if Cook is captain of his county side, but if he is or was never a captain, then its not easy to lead

Best two captains in county cricket are Jim Troughton and Paul Collingwood and neither of those are going to be selected.

Edited January 3, 2014 by somersetrover

[FGS5635]

Job of the captain is over played these days. So many coaches etc draw up plans etc for the batsmen prior to the game.

[oldjamfan]

Job of the captain is over played these days. So many coaches etc draw up plans etc for the batsmen prior to the game.

I would agree with this in most sports. But not cricket. The best captains anticipate and the rest simply react. Jimmy Anderson was setting his own field this morning, simply to make sure he didn't concede too many boundaries and that should never happen when you insert the opposition, Cook needed to be stronger. Coaches don't decide bowling changes as the game progresses or fielding changes on gut feelings. Only captains can do that.