Ashes 2013/14

[PaulWinch again]

Carberry has earned the chance to stay there, Root has already shown he struggles a bit opening at this stage of his career. If Carberry and Cook can form a solid partnership over the next couple of years it'll give Root the perfect platform.

[PaulWinch again]

Stokes actually probably has more potential than Flintoff did, he's a better and more technical batsmen he just needs to work on his accuracy as a bowler.

[paul_e]

Carberry has earned the chance to stay there, Root has already shown he struggles a bit opening at this stage of his career. If Carberry and Cook can form a solid partnership over the next couple of years it'll give Root the perfect platform.

Root is still very young and he's having issues pacing his innings, a few times he's been bogged down and seen his rate down around 20%.  The pressure on him from that is huge.  With Carberry looking to go at 70-80% or better as an opener it's less of an issue if Root comes in and start a bit slowly as whoever he's with from the rest of the top 4 can score at a decent rate at the other end (although Cook has been a bit worrying recently and really needs to get his mind on his batting and get a big score in Sydney or Melbourne), this was the big issue with him being up there with Trott who also has a tendency to get bogged down at times (but at his best has the quality to make up for it later).

[PaulWinch again]

Cook's form this year is a worry, but I'm confident that he can recover. What I'm not sure on is whether he can captain and open at the same time, it may be that Root may switch roles with Cook. Carberry though plays at a good rate and is good to have at the top of the order, he could do with converting his good starts into a century or two though.

[Chris Jameson]

I wish we had a couple of batsmen who could bat for 1 or 2 days rather than worry about how quickly they can score.

*edit Forgot the all important word 'days'.

[OCD]

There's been a pattern of Cook getting out early whenever we've been in the field a long time and there's been no recovery time. I'm not a fan of having an opener captain the side.

[bilsim]

I like the idea of Carberry and Root opening with Cook at 3. It's plain to see that the amount of time Cook has spent in the field in this series has had an impact on him as an opening batsman. Root has proven himself as an opener for Yorkshire and I'm sure that an extended run at the top of the order for England will see him flourish into a very fine batsman.

[eastie]

I do see bob willis point though that we need to be rebuilding for the future and carberry approaching his mid 30s will not be around long - we may suffer a few beatings as the Aussies did as we blood a few young players but it is time now to look ahead - we have enjoyed a golden era and flower and the players will long be remembered for it - but that time is gone now and to coin a praise ' we need hungry vibrant players and then we can go again '.

[PaulWinch again]

I think we need to be careful not to have a knee jerk reaction. The Aussies have done very well this series, but they've hardly rushed in a load of 20 year olds. I think it's important to balance planning for the future with results in the now. Carberry is looking fairly solid at the moment, so I see no need to make a change for the sake of it. He's just 33, he'll only be 34 come the next Ashes. I agree on bringing players in if they're ready, like Stokes, but only if they're ready.

[Villan For Life]

The turn around in the Aussies fortunes have coincided with the appointment of a new coach and bowlers executing their bowling plan to perfection.

This suggests that we need to look at our coaching set up which seems to have become complacent and the complacency has spread to the players.

[PaulWinch again]

I suspect Flower might be going given that he's refusing to commit beyond the last 2 Tests.

[Villan For Life]

I suspect Flower might be going given that he's refusing to commit beyond the last 2 Tests.

If he does go, which I think he will, we need to look outside the current set up for a replacement. I'd give Tom Moody a go.

[eastie]

I suspect Flower might be going given that he's refusing to commit beyond the last 2 Tests.

If he does go, which I think he will, we need to look outside the current set up for a replacement. I'd give Tom Moody a go.

Good call- I would hope its not ashley Giles and I have a lot of time for ash but this is not the time for him.

[Villan For Life]

I suspect Flower might be going given that he's refusing to commit beyond the last 2 Tests.

If he does go, which I think he will, we need to look outside the current set up for a replacement. I'd give Tom Moody a go.

Good call- I would hope its not ashley Giles and I have a lot of time for ash but this is not the time for him.

I agree. We need fresh ideas and if we can tempt Moody away from the IPL then he'd be ideal.

[paul_e]

I'm certain that Flower is going, I just hope he takes Gooch with him, our struggles with the bat have coincided far too neatly with his appointment for my liking.