The winter of cricket thread

[FatSmurf]

Reminds me of when Steve Irwin died, leaves you feeling completely cold as it's such a freak incidence 

[JoeMezz]

Awfully sad. Condolences to Phil, his family and of course Sean Abbott.

[Reg Smeeton]

 Well...apart from a couple of bright spots, overall a terrible series for England.  I don't particularly blame Cook, but the fellas in the background.... Downton...Moores...Whitaker....Gus Fraser. Jobs for the old boys....get rid.

[Nomoreheroes]

Well...apart from a couple of bright spots, overall a terrible series for England.  I don't particularly blame Cook, but the fellas in the background.... Downton...Moores...Whitaker....Gus Fraser. Jobs for the old boys....get rid.

Who would you suggest that another set of selectors pick? I don't think there are a great deal of quality replacements to come in.

[Nemo]

Did you hear Downton on the radio? Unbelievably evasive, smug and deeper in denial than an Egyptian fish - he said he wasn't aware of any dissatisfaction with the ECB whatsoever.

Think Newell and Fraser should be let off as they're the County coaches and the players that have been pulled from County cricket- Taylor, Ali, Ballance have done very well this year, the rot is with the senior pros.

Moores was a failed coach who we've brought back and seems to have learnt nothing, his post match pronouncements are management speak bollocks, but largely he seems like a yes man to the Clarke/Downton axis who are just determined to keep Cook to the detriment of his own Test career and the England side. It's utterly baffling and contemptible.

NMH- virtually all the new guys have done well, so why not give some more county players a go- they can hardly do worse than Cook and Morgan - average 19 and 12 respectively in this series. If you want some names, Vince at Hampshire is a proper player who can build an innings and thrash it too when necessary, Roy from surrey is a dasher but one with an unbelievable eye and Billings from Kent had an unbelievable average in the county one day game last year.

[dphunt88]

NMH- virtually all the new guys have done well, so why not give some more county players a go- they can hardly do worse than Cook and Morgan - average 19 and 12 respectively in this series. If you want some names, Vince at Hampshire is a proper player who can build an innings and thrash it too when necessary, Roy from surrey is a dasher but one with an unbelievable eye and Billings from Kent had an unbelievable average in the county one day game last year.

You're absolutely spot on and this is my frustration with England's policy towards ODI and T20 cricket! They could pick a really dynamic, exciting and powerful side if they wanted to... Vince, Roy and Billings all fit that bill... a side that could go to Australia and give it (the world cup) a good crack! We're not going to win the world cup at the current rate, so why not be ballsy and pick a young side!

Cook's a fantastic Test cricketer - one of the best there'll ever be by numbers alone - but the England management are jeopardising Cook's test cricket in blind denial that he's the most suitable leader of the England ODI side. He's a wooden captain and a wooden batsmen. Real shame that 99% of cricket folk in England can see it but the ECB can't!

[Reg Smeeton]

You're absolutely spot on and this is my frustration with England's policy towards ODI and T20 cricket! They could pick a really dynamic, exciting and powerful side if they wanted to... Vince, Roy and Billings all fit that bill... a side that could go to Australia and give it (the world cup) a good crack! We're not going to win the world cup at the current rate, so why not be ballsy and pick a young side!

Cook's a fantastic Test cricketer - one of the best there'll ever be by numbers alone - but the England management are jeopardising Cook's test cricket in blind denial that he's the most suitable leader of the England ODI side. He's a wooden captain and a wooden batsmen. Real shame that 99% of cricket folk in England can see it but the ECB can't!

Very good summary, along with Nemo.

The minimum requirement should be to have an at least competitive side, in ODI's, we haven't.

[Nomoreheroes]

You're absolutely spot on and this is my frustration with England's policy towards ODI and T20 cricket! They could pick a really dynamic, exciting and powerful side if they wanted to... Vince, Roy and Billings all fit that bill... a side that could go to Australia and give it (the world cup) a good crack! We're not going to win the world cup at the current rate, so why not be ballsy and pick a young side!

Cook's a fantastic Test cricketer - one of the best there'll ever be by numbers alone - but the England management are jeopardising Cook's test cricket in blind denial that he's the most suitable leader of the England ODI side. He's a wooden captain and a wooden batsmen. Real shame that 99% of cricket folk in England can see it but the ECB can't!

Vince, Roy & Billings are all in the provisional squad.

It seems to me as if the Sri Lanka series has told us the following:

Played themselves into WC squad:
-Ali
-Root
-Taylor
- Bopara (but use his bowling more)

Bring in:
- Anderson
- Broad

Stick with:
- Buttler
- Hales (Not had much of a chance but shines in Aus domestic)

Played themselves out of the squad:
- Cook
- Morgan
- Gurney
- Stokes

Alrounder spot:
- Woakes (I would like his bowling to improve but I'd put him in the squad primarily for batting)

Not fussed about:
- Jordan (Too inconsistent)
- Tredwell (Limited)
- Finn (expensive)

[RedRag]

Well...apart from a couple of bright spots, overall a terrible series for England.  I don't particularly blame Cook, but the fellas in the background.... Downton...Moores...Whitaker....Gus Fraser. Jobs for the old boys....get rid.

This.  Old Boys and Politics.  Yawn. 

Needed a new broom.  IMHO it is now too late to build a squad for the WC as up and comers should have been given decent experience much earlier.

Sri Lanka is great experience but it is true that the conditions are in general very different from Australia and New Zealand, so some failures or players to come back may actually help.  Not Cook, who we can expect to be sacked as a sacrificial lamb after the WC while Downton et al live to fight another day.

[Frigby Daser]

I'm disappointed that Finn didn't have a better series. With Anderson and Broad in the twilight of their careers, I wanted him to put his hand up as the next leader of the attack. It is good to see him on the pitch given that he had the yips this time last year, but our bowling looks incredibly thin, after years of applauding its depth.

Compare that to the Aussies. Johnson, Siddle, Harris, Starc, Pattinson, Hazlewood, Cummins, Hastings - any of whom would play in our side.

Hopefully the likes of Matt Dunn, Mark Footit, Tymal Mills et al can begin to step up. Our successes in recent years have been built around first innings totals of 400+ and a bowling attack you'd be confident to get you 20 wickets.

[DMR]

Did you hear Downton on the radio? Unbelievably evasive, smug and deeper in denial than an Egyptian fish - he said he wasn't aware of any dissatisfaction with the ECB whatsoever.

Think Newell and Fraser should be let off as they're the County coaches and the players that have been pulled from County cricket- Taylor, Ali, Ballance have done very well this year, the rot is with the senior pros.

Moores was a failed coach who we've brought back and seems to have learnt nothing, his post match pronouncements are management speak bollocks, but largely he seems like a yes man to the Clarke/Downton axis who are just determined to keep Cook to the detriment of his own Test career and the England side. It's utterly baffling and contemptible.

NMH- virtually all the new guys have done well, so why not give some more county players a go- they can hardly do worse than Cook and Morgan - average 19 and 12 respectively in this series. If you want some names, Vince at Hampshire is a proper player who can build an innings and thrash it too when necessary, Roy from surrey is a dasher but one with an unbelievable eye and Billings from Kent had an unbelievable average in the county one day game last year.

Absolutely spot on.

[TheMajorSTFC]

Cook is one of the worst ODI players I've seen over recent years and getting worse all the time. It's affected his test form and why we brought him back in 2011/have persisted with him now beggars belief.

I don't know if he himself is in complete denial about how bad a one day player he has become, and personally sticking with him for the world cup would be a massive mistake!

[Frigby Daser]

The list of batsman who are better equipped to open up in an ODI is startling - and it's not just your t20 smashers. If you say that Ali and Hales is our preferred opening pair, before you get to Cook, I'd still rather open with Ballance, Trott, Vince, Lumb or Lees. The only reason he is there is due to a complete absence of a authoritative decision maker at the ECB and the wish not to have more upheaval this year. It's a case of stick or twist, and it's difficult to put any case together for sticking.

[Nemo]

Cook being removed as captain- sounds like the home based selectors may have outvoted Moores and Downton...

[kerry red]

Morgan's no better, though, at the moment.

We're in for a torrid time in the WC