The Cricket Thread 2014

[paul_e]

Our top county one day sides would comfortably beat the current England squad. These teams have evolved their tactics and have produced a generation of young, fearless one day/T20 Cricketers. What the hell happens when they get a one day/T20 international call up is a mystery.

They get shackled, that's my point, we need to address the whole approach to the short forms of the sport and learn to counter-attack and build pressure as the batting side but also learn how to restrict other teams from scoring at will.  If we were getting 1 or the other right I'd be less upset but we're rubbish with bat and ball right now, despite having players who are capable of better.

Look at Ian Bell for example, he has a T20 strike rate, for club and country, of 115% at an average of around 25, at test level he averages nearly 50, he has the tools to adapt to ODI cricket and be a lynchpin of the side but it just hasn't happened, that's not a talent issue, it's a tactical problem.  Cook has a similarly good record in the long form and in T20 (at county level, he's barely played that form for England).  There's calls for them to be dropped but that's not focusing on the real problem, which is that in terms on coaching, captaincy and general understanding we don't know how to bat in the 50over game any more (I think we're ok in the T20 with the bat but the bowling is naive).

With the ball the problem is the same as the test side had, we're far too passive, that's a Cook issue more than anything else, he needs to learn how to be aggressive when the pitch/ball isn't doing all the work for him. In the test side we got over it by getting some really aggressive spells from the bowlers and reacting by crowding the batbut you can't do that in ODIs.

[Villan For Life]

You make some valid points Paul. Cook and Bell should be the engine of the England ODI side and they're not which is frustrating.

We never, ever learn from past mistakes. We go to a world cup, perform badly and start a performance review. We tweak a couple of things and four years later we perform badly yet again at a major tournament and the cycle starts all over again with another performance review.

Maybe our players are suffering because of a lack of exposure to the IPL. Sides regularly score 300+ in the 50 over format and in part this is down to the T20 effect. Central contracts do prevent our top players from appearing in the IPL - it was certainly always a gripe for KP - and to loosen the grip would require a rejigging of the home International calendar. Having said that the early season opponents are usually an appetizer for the summer's main attraction and are generally poorly supported anyway. The ECB will not give up the revenue that is generated from these poorly attended games.

[Villan For Life]

Just found this that Pietersen posted on social media yesterday:

Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan (c), Rikkie Clarke, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Finn. Name me a better ODI team for ENG pls?

Not a bad side that!

[peter w]

What I find most annoying about England in ODIs is that not only do we not play the game how every other side does but we don't even play to our strengths, if we were struggling in the field with a slip or 2 and trying to get edges I'd see the logic in it even if it was wrong, but we field at the edge of the circle and gift singles so the score keeps ticking and we offer very little threat, so when they decide to go after us they have wickets in hand and a decent total to start from.  I'd rather get a few close fielders in catching positions and try to get them playing over the top earlier, we need to stop letting teams get to 160-180 for 1-2 after 30 overs, you just don't win games from that position (or at least not without something spectacular happening).

To follow on fromn this England are very reactionary. After Sri Lanka and Jayasuriya showed the way to go with pinch hitting at the top of the innings in the 90s it took us a further 10 years to give it a go. We then flogged it and decided to go to bits and pieces cricketers although other teams had gone from pinch hitting to one-day specialists who were picked to do certain jobs. One-day captains were also able to respond to not only how the game was going but to also set the tone for a 50 overs in the field. We never do the same. Now, with sides showing more powerful and improvisation  batting throughout their teams we are only slowly coming to terms with it. We need to see more of the likes of Roy, Vince, Taylor, Ali, Ballance and the less of Cook and Bell et al.

When we did look different and proactive was when we won the 20/20 a few years back. We were innovative. But it was almost as if we were embarrassed by it because we've gone back into our set ways. I don't really care about 20/20 but the powers that be should realise that there are 3 formats and not just test cricket and should cut their cloth accordingly. Starting by the choice of captain.

[PGW]

Just found this that Pietersen posted on social media yesterday:

Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan (c), Rikkie Clarke, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Finn. Name me a better ODI team for ENG pls?

Not a bad side that!

With that side you will either be 50  odd in no time or 0-2 though.

[PaulWinch again]

I wouldn't mind if England were reactionary but we're not even that. It's been clear for years that the way we approach one day cricket is far too conservative. Currently we bat the first 10 overs of powerplay and once those powerplay overs are finished we just knock it around. We don't attack and put pressure on the opposition. Two examples in county cricket when Alex Hales gets going he just keeps going and doesn't worry about wickets falling at the other end. In one serried with England you can see wickets fall and he goes into his shell. That directive clearly comes from the dressing room, it's go into a bunker rather than counter attack. The other example is Morgan, he came in and was for a while a devestating and unconventional batsmen. However over time he's got more conservative and his form has dipped. It is clearly a culture of conservativism and fear of failure.

[ACVilla]

Can we have a new vote? Should Cook still be captain?

Options:

Yes, test only.
Yes, test and one days.
No, time for someone new in both formats.

[PaulWinch again]

Test only.

[hipkiss92]

Just found this that Pietersen posted on social media yesterday:

Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan (c), Rikkie Clarke, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Finn. Name me a better ODI team for ENG pls?

Not a bad side that!

With that side you will either be 50  odd in no time or 0-2 though.

Take Rashid out for Ballance, and you'd probably be good to go for the World Cup.

[hipkiss92]

England's main problem though is they see 50-over cricket as a step down from Test matches, rather than a step up from T20, as every other country does.

[ACVilla]

Can we have a new vote? Should Cook still be captain?

Options:

Yes, test only.
Yes, test and one days.
No, time for someone new in both formats.

Not sure how to get it on a poll? Can we get a new poll rather than the one that is currently running?

[tomd2103]

England's main problem though is they see 50-over cricket as a step down from Test matches, rather than a step up from T20, as every other country does.

That's a very good point.  To be honest, I don't think we've ever replaced Marcus Trescothick at the top of the order in ODI cricket.  He could open in every format of the game and was the real cornerstone who was able to adapt accordingly.  Having Cook in the ODI side and as captain just sends out the wrong message from the start and when it was announced, it was clear it was just going to be more of the same.  I worry about Anderson and Woakes in ODI cricket because if the ball is not swinging, they are both likely to be targeted.  When fit, I wonder whether we would be better going with the pacier options of Broad, Finn and Jordan. 

Yet again we are just a few months away from a World Cup and seem to have no obvious ideas regarding team selection or game plan.  It's the same with football.       

[PaulWinch again]

Going nowhere again.

[Villan For Life]

Going nowhere again.

At last we're showing some fight. Root and Buttler have taken 80 off 10 overs. Still nowhere near enough runs though.

[PGW]

A fine knock by young Joe. Bring 100 up with a fine 6 ...can't be bad.