Ashes 2013/14

[OzVilla]

I agree that there'd be a natural time to make a few changes following what will be a chastening experience for his team - they're going to be hammered again and again on this tour and they'll gring us into the dirt doing it.

The bottom line is, for all the criticism of our bowlers on this thread, we've batted poorly against what is a very good bowling attack (we have to give the Aussies credit for that). Johnson, Harris and Siddle work really well as a unit and for all the headlines about Johnson's wickets their stand out bowler is Ryan Harris (I think he'd get into most Aussie teams over the last 20 years as the first change, bowls 143-146 consistantly, averages 21 in Test cricket for wickets taken - great bowler IMO)

I actually feel sorry for our bowlers who must feel as though they've fielded forever on this tour.
 

[eastie]

It might smack of over reaction but I'd like to see Prior, Swann and Pietersen moved on now and possibly Anderson. I wouldn't want a situation in a couple of years where a lot of players are past it and we haven't bedded in enough young blood gently.

I wouldn't be surprised to see flower walk away and pieterson too - I'm not sure they have the desire anymore - swann is past his best and Anderson will do a job on english test pitches which suit him - prior has reached the end of the road too.

I'm not sure how cook would react to a 5-0 beating - would he fight on and rebuild or prefer to just concentrate on his batting and relinquish the captaincy.

If not Cook then who? I'm not a fan of Cook as captain, I think he's too reactive and when the team are struggling it sure has affected his batting but who else is there? Non of the elder statesmen are performing well enough to even be sure of a place in the side nevermind captaincy.

Broad or Bell ?

I'm not calling for cook to be sacked but wondering if he may decide to relinquish the captaincy .

[Meanwood Villa]

Fucking terrible again England. I don't envy you Oz being surrounded by gloating Aussies!

[OzVilla]

Fucking terrible again England. I don't envy you Oz being surrounded by gloating Aussies!

It's horrible it really is but to be fair I've been giving them a fair bit of stick over the last few years so I can't really complain to much.

[olaftab]

Well it looks as though England are not quite up to matching an average teat team that is Current Australia. This is worrying. Maybe players had started believing in all the hype that surrounded them and forgot about hard work required to win test matches. A rethink is required now.

[aj2k77]

We were outplayed in New Zealand last winter so it's no huge surprise that we are getting a beating off a better team than the Kiwi's.

[Villafirst]

Onions should've been picked for this tour. If England can somehow grind out a draw they should go for an all pace attack next. Rankin, Tremlett, Anderson and hopefully Broad if fit. Can't believe how badly England have performed against a very average team, particularly when you rewind 12 months when we beat India in their own backyard which is as tough as it gets.

[PaulWinch again]

Absolutely pathetic and this has 5-0 written all over it. Our batsmen have failed completely. This series is the end of the line for this team and management, some of these players have lost the ability to play with sufficient ability or hunger.

[Dave Cooper please]

I've mainly kept off this thread as I knew it would just be a thesaurus of words for inept!

On any tour you can cope with two or three players being off-form as long as a couple of the senior players are on form and guiding the younger lads through, the problem here is that none of them are in any sort of nick. They haven't become bad players all of a sudden, some of these (Pietersen, Cook, Bell, Swann, Broad, Anderson) will go down as some of the best players we've ever had, for them all to be off-form at the same time is inexplicable and probably just pure bad luck.

The next couple of series, and definitely the one-dayers on this tour, should all be about bringing the next generation through. Cook can have one more series as captain, but we also need to be looking hard at who his successor will be. If he regains his form and England start to look like a team again then problem solved, he keeps it.

 Anyway, seen it all before, I've seen comments on here that this is worse than the 90's, well in a way it is, this time we have talented players, back then we didn't have many, but we didn't just lose to a brilliant Australia back then, we lost to everyone...badly! This lot will bounce back and there is a nice conveyor belt of talent waiting to come in if they don't.
 The selectors and coaches need to make some bold decisions, and I think they will. Sri Lanka and India over here in the summer will be a great opportunity to rebuild and bring the next generation through while we still have the likes of Cook, Bell, Broad and Swann as mentors.

[eastie]

The last two defeats are the first time in consecutive tests in 107 years that we have lost by over 200 runs - anyone thinking it could be 3 in a row?

[PaulWinch again]

I think there are senior players that still have lots to offer. Cook, Bell, Broad and Anderson still have plenty to offer. However the team needs a refresh, we're a bit like India were with too many players going over the hill at the same time. It's been coming a while though, the tour in NZ was a clue.

[Proposition Joe]

 Anyway, seen it all before, I've seen comments on here that this is worse than the 90's, well in a way it is, this time we have talented players, back then we didn't have many, but we didn't just lose to a brilliant Australia back then, we lost to everyone...badly! This lot will bounce back and there is a nice conveyor belt of talent waiting to come in if they don't.

On this tour, however, it seems that the team were just going through the motions from the off.  There doesn't seem to be any heart at all.  And most people are saying this tour is worse than anything from the 90s, not the team itself.  And I agree.  In all the previous maulings, there were usually one or two bright spots, or at least even if the talent wasn't there that they were trying their best.

But the way the wheels have fallen off on this tour is something else.  Tours can go like this, because you are isolated in a strange country and problems have a habit of snowballing, but not to have a single glimmer of a bright spot?  Only 2 batsmen have scored more than Mitchell Johnson.  The bowling looks popgun.  The keeper is mentally in a really bad place.  Off the field you have a selection muddle.

[PaulWinch again]

This is worse than the 90s, because the players have played so far below their capabilities. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that Prior and Pietersen have their careers on the line in the second innings in particular. I think Swann's gone already and Jimmy needs to start turning up. Broad's already out for the rest of the game anyway. This tour has to be rock bottom, and we must rebuild now because it has been an utter disgrace.

[PaulWinch again]

I said even when we were winning that our run rates were too low and we didn't impose ourselves enough, and now sadly it's becoming apparent that we don't have the ability to put pressure on the opposition.

[PaulWinch again]

If I were Cook I'd want several players out of that team now. He's clearly not in form but at least he has a couple of scores.