Ashes 2013/14

[aj2k77]

There are 70 test centuries in this England side and we can't bloody make 200?

There is never a showing so poor as this without something going on behind the scenes, it's not like there is a gulf in class between the two sides, there is something else.

[tomd2103]

Terrible rate of scoring to add to it all, the way we bat we are going to have to bat 150 overs just to avoid the follow on, the defensiveness of this side is pathetic.

Is it time to question Cook's captaincy as well.  Seems to run out of ideas very quickly when things start going against us and has been shown up by McCullum and Clarke over the past year.

Complete lack of fight and application again from England.  Too many have become too comfortable.

[eastie]

Absolute rubbish of the lowest order from the ''batsmen''. Root proved he shouldn't have been a 3. He is too easy to get on top of and he gets the team into a mire, he needs to be down at 6 where the match pressure may not be so tough and the ball is older and bowlers more tired. Bell once again THE batsmen for England now. He puts the glory boys of Cook and Pietersen to shame.

KP, what can I say? He's averaging around 30 this year, which is shit, he needs a spell out of the side, he's not the KP of old. The lower order we're pathetic, completely bullied by pace, none showed any heart for the fight.

Prior, pack your gloves kid.

The only batter to show any aggression got his rewards, it's not rocket science. Carberry's dismissal was of his own making. 5 overs of maidens and he panicked when are we going to learn to keep the board ticking over.

Overall an appalling display, we will lose this test by a record margin and the ashes 4 or 5 -0. The writing was on the wall The New Zealand away series where a defeat would have been well deserved. The ashes in the summer could have been 2-2 and we didn't really perform after the second test. We haven't been proactive enough with the selection policy, the 5th test being a perfect example with Woakes and that Pie chucker of a spinner brought in for 1 game when they had no chance of making the ashes squad over here, what was the point in that?

Gooch and Flower your time is up and can someone get stuck into that selfish prick Pietersen please, I can't be bothered. Really pissed off.

I wouldn't be surprised to see kp pack in test cricket after this series - I know he said he will play on but he looks to have lost the desire to me , cook is woefully off form and root also looks off form .

Only bell can be proud of his batting and prior is approaching the end as is swann.

The ashes for me are lost and I expect us to get blown away in Perth -we will need to rebuild next summer and look to the future - we have had a great team and great times but those days are gone - too many players living on reputation alone now.

[PaulWinch again]

Right well I'll leave Carberry who did well and Bell who was excellent out of this. However if this ends up being 5-0 and that looks very likely at the moment, it will be the worse series result in English history given the position that we were supposed to be in coming into this series. This is like the 90s at it's worst, but this is worse because we've got talented players now. Obviously it's difficult to make wholesale changes in the middle of the tour, but the coaching set up has to go at the end of the series. It's a shame for Flower, but Gooch has been fucking useless. I'd call up Buttler or Kieswetter immediately as Prior has to be dropped, he's been terrible since May. Panesar needs to come in for Swann, because Swann has been fucking useless and for all his failings at least Monty showed some guts when he came out to bat unlike Swann. I like Stokes, but it's unfair to expect him to come in at number 6 with the way the batsmen are playing at the moment. I'd consider putting Ballance in for KP given the nature of KP's dismissals. I'd consider dropping Anderson as he's been useless as the leader of the attack since Trent Bridge.

England have prided themselves on creating a close-knit set ups but it's proving counter productive now. We need a complete change in every aspect of our game. The Ashes are pretty much gone and this needs to be a fresh start.

[aj2k77]

Please can Bell come in at 3 now, he's our best batsman by a huge margin at the moment and there's no point in him being stranded with an increasingly long tail (From 5-11 we average 8 during this series....)

[aj2k77]

Also Stokes at 6 in a test match  . He will develop well as a bowler I think and contribute decent runs from time to time but he should no way be in a side as a 6.

I know this will sound like hindsight and excuse making now that we are/will be 2-0 down but who agreed to playing back to back ashes? We've been playing since maybe December last year almost non stop test matches and maybe some players are suffering from burn out on the treadmill? Or am I clutching at straws.

[john e]

two quick wins and were right back in it

[eastie]

Panesar showed more balls batting than most of the top order and he is bowling better than swann.
Prior has failed enough times - time for a change.
Pieterson is a loose cannon - good on his day but his day is all too rare
Root is not good enough on present form to bat 3.
Bell needs to bat 3 as he's stranded by the rest getting out when he bats 5.
Anderson is living on reputation - drop him .
Swann - see Anderson .
Cook needs to find some uns quickly - he is not doing enough.

Bell, carberry, panesar, broad , stokes can be absolved from blame - the other 6 need to take a bloody good look at themselves as does gooch .

I like Andy flower but I think he's already decided to go after this series and has lost that motivation.

[Monty]

The most worrying thing to me is the form of Cook. This has been going on for a while now, and I'd hate it to be the captain's curse affecting him because he might not actually be our best captain, but he's our best batsman when on form I think.

[Proposition Joe]

We needed men to stand up and be counted and sadly we got a load of rubbish from most .

We need Boycott.

[aj2k77]

The most worrying thing to me is the form of Cook. This has been going on for a while now, and I'd hate it to be the captain's curse affecting him because he might not actually be our best captain, but he's our best batsman when on form I think.

Who could take over as captain though from Cook? Bell doesn't seem captain material. KP/Swann/Anderson/Prior are all lucky to be in the side.

[aj2k77]

We needed men to stand up and be counted and sadly we got a load of rubbish from most .

We need Boycott.

He'd bat the remaining overs out on his own.

[tomd2103]

Also Stokes at 6 in a test match  . He will develop well as a bowler I think and contribute decent runs from time to time but he should no way be in a side as a 6.

I know this will sound like hindsight and excuse making now that we are/will be 2-0 down but who agreed to playing back to back ashes? We've been playing since maybe December last year almost non stop test matches and maybe some players are suffering from burn out on the treadmill? Or am I clutching at straws.

I personally think there is something in that train of thought.  The only games most of them play are in the glare of the international spotlight and I think it's taking it's toll on some of them.

[tomd2103]

two quick wins and were right back in it

Very optimistic John!!  Think Bangladesh would have more chance of getting a win than we do at the moment!

[Proposition Joe]

I'm really pleased for Bell, Carberry looks to be made of the right stuff, Broad and Cook I think still are able to do a job.  But the rest of the team just seems so rotten.

I was saying to an Aussie mate, that whenever an England team achieves something a terminal complacency sets in and they pretty much fall to a level below they were before their success.  Look what happened to the team of 2005.  Look at how we played after winning in India - NZ should have beaten us, and in the summer Ashes we were creaking at the seams.

If anything, this current lot is playing worse than Flintoff's rabble in 06/07 - and look at the fallout after that series.  Back then we even managed to get past 200.