Brilliant by Bethall
I’d add Joe Root as a positive, scored two hundreds and again probably our most consistent batsman. From what I read appears to have had long chats with Bethall,with Bethall joking he didn’t understand it. What a great mentor to have if it’s true.
I wonder if Smith cannot bat and keep on tour, clearly his cricket brain is frazzled atm. You wonder - or at least I do - with a fully fit Stokes Smith bats 6 Stokes 7 and Foulkes 8. Trouble is we are very reliant on part-time spin option if that is the case. Shades of Moeen.
Think archer was a positive too. I do wonder with some of them like smith, Duckett etc - players with a bit in the bank - are subject to the fact it has just turned into a shit storm and arent thinking straight.
At the moment there looks like a lack of leadership - and I think stokes is a very good leader so not sure what’s going wrong other than coaching and prep.
Agree on Archer. He's just such a weapon to have in the side, but like others his body just doesn't seem to be able to cope with playing the longer form of the game for extended periods. I suppose it's probably down to him at this point and what his appetite for playing test cricket is going to be like. The thought of following the T20 circuit with the financial reaards that brings must be tempting and it would be understandable if he decided to follow that.
Don't disagree on Archer. if you were the England camp you might have thought about not playing him in the second test, manage his time. Then again you might have thought that a practice match match on the WACA before the first test might have been a good investment of time and money.
As i think someone said on twitter, the English management are to be commended as I did not think they could organise a p*ss up in a brewery, I was wrong. What they could not manage was a successful Ashes tour against a second XI Aussie team
