Disappointing news with Giles leaving. He had just started to get the Bears looking really competitive again. Not sure about Andy Flower - I'd prefer Allan Donald back....
Bad news for the Bears!Still, at least they will have time to make a good decision on a replacement.
Giles had a fantastic year, took a county that had been comfortably relegated, added a bunch of young players and won the 2nd division playing an aggressive attack which was always chasing wickets and a batting line up that saw the openers steadily improve and form a very solid partnership.Given he's been around the setup before I'd say he was the obvious choice and i suspect we'll see England continue to evolve with younger players getting plenty of experience.
Quote from: paul_e on December 23, 2018, 11:39:57 AMGiles had a fantastic year, took a county that had been comfortably relegated, added a bunch of young players and won the 2nd division playing an aggressive attack which was always chasing wickets and a batting line up that saw the openers steadily improve and form a very solid partnership.Given he's been around the setup before I'd say he was the obvious choice and i suspect we'll see England continue to evolve with younger players getting plenty of experience. Paul, this is with a club who host test matches and therefore have good resources. Would Strauss have done any worse with the Bears this season?
Quote from: Newby on December 23, 2018, 05:06:05 PMQuote from: paul_e on December 23, 2018, 11:39:57 AMGiles had a fantastic year, took a county that had been comfortably relegated, added a bunch of young players and won the 2nd division playing an aggressive attack which was always chasing wickets and a batting line up that saw the openers steadily improve and form a very solid partnership.Given he's been around the setup before I'd say he was the obvious choice and i suspect we'll see England continue to evolve with younger players getting plenty of experience. Paul, this is with a club who host test matches and therefore have good resources. Would Strauss have done any worse with the Bears this season? That's an impossible question to answer in any meaningful way, I'd say maybe but he didn't whilst Giles did. Yes Warwickshire are a big county and should never really have been down there but Middlesex are down there with a bigger ground and more resources. Giles did everything he was tasked to do, which was, promotion, find a functional opening pairing and to start bringing through younger players and did it as consistently the best team in the division, leading to the title.I'm not saying it was an exceptional job but, for me, all sport comes down to targets and expectations. If you meet or exceed them then you're great, if you fall short then you're shit. Most bears fans expected us to be in the race for promotion and he delivered more than that so he's 'in credit'. Recruiting people who are in credit is normally a decent idea so long as they fit your culture and I think that latter part is where Giles was the clear choice, he's got a great reputation with the ECB.