Thetownend.com

 First one dayer lost v Lankies.  Same shit....different island.

 However, fair play to Moeen Ali for his ton.

 

I have a serious man crush on Moeen. Top bloke, excellent cricketer.

The less said about his opening partner the better.

Abysmal bowling.

Can't say I have a lot of time for Australian cricketers but this is sad.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/phillip-hughes-dead-australian-cricketer-dies-after-bouncer-at-scg-20141127-11vcpt.html

Very sad news to wake up to.  I saw him play a few times.  Feel for young Sean Abbott, too. A terrible thing to have to live with.

Indeed. This is horrible news. Really sickened that a young man has lost his life in this way.

Eventhough its a freakish accident, how must Sean Abbott be feeling?

Forever not out. Very fitting. RIP.

Dreadful stuff. Can only sympathise with everyone involved, obviously Hughes and family but Abbott will need a lot of support, can only imagine how he's feeling, it's a complete freak accident. 

It's desperately sad when a sportsman dies as a result of doing something they love.

You'd never expect it to happen in a relatively sedate sport like cricket, which makes this even more tragic.

 :(

Terribly sad news, RIP.

Have to feel for Sean Abbott, a complete freak accident.

Exactly how I feel Dave! RIP Phil, and a thought for Sean Abbot/Phil's family and friends as well.

A big loss to the cricketing world and one to be mourned.

Whichever long lens morons were waiting outside the hospital to get a good shot of Sean Abbott looking understandably distraught need to have a serious word with themselves.

Some things really shouldn't happen. He was too young to go. The burden now on Sean Abbott must be intolerable - whilst it almost seems trivial by comparison, I can't see how he could ever play again. Michael Clarke and others close to him may struggle too. A desperately sad accident.

Terribly sad.

RIP Phil, and thinking of Sean Abbott too at this time.

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

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

 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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

Absolutely spot on.

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!

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.

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

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

We're in for a torrid time in the WC

He's a better captain. He's also horribly out of form with the bat, but at least he HAS been good in the past. Cook has never been good in one dayers, and especially not since the rule changes, making the fact that he's played 92 of them baffling.

We've been hopeless for the last 3 or 4 WC's, before that, although never winners we were at least competitive.

Morgan just might find some inspiration in captaincy....nothing to lose really, as nobody expects anything.

I'm happy enough with the decision to remove Cook and replace with Morgan. Yes Morgan has also been out of form but he's done well with the bat when captained before and his game suits ODI cricket whereas Cook's simply didn't. He had to go and I'm pleased the selectors/ecb management have grown a pair for once!

Anyone watching SA destroying Windies in today's ODI? SA 360-1 after 45 overs. Amazing.

Yep, AB De Villiers is something else man.

World record about to go? 98 from 30 balls!

He's got another 6 balls to get 2 I believe!

The crazy thing is that Anderson's record was in a shortened game that was 21 overs- this is a proper match!

Wow, finishes it off with a 6, 104 from 31 balls. Simply amazing.

Wait he's got 110 from 32 now....

Can he mathematically reach the double ton?

Fuck! Shane Watson's fastest 150 record still stands, ADV out for 149, from 44 balls. Incredible.

Nice to see England pick up a 9 wicket win this morning, and Steve Finn picking up 5 wickets, against India. Aussies up next...