Graham Gooch argues that England is rudderless and lacks leadership, direction and unity. May I add there is also a lack of class and an ongoing clash of huge egos - starting with the "Dumbslog Millionare" (thanks Nick) and his main rival Andrew Flintoff. Throw in our deposed captain, Michael Vaughan and the "deer in the headlights" Andrew Strauss and this is starting to get really ugly.
What a bloody mess. Utter chaos really. And this is the team that is going to try to win back the Ashes?
For once I agree with Gooch. The England side does appear to be morphing into a group of individuals, raging egos and narcissists and can no longer be called a "team" per se.
The Stanford debacle, the IPL, central contracts and even the individualistic "watch me" nature of the Twenty-20 slogs appear to be combining to reduce any sense of camaraderie and team play in top-level cricket.
Like so many football players, some elite level cricketers now appear to be playing only for themselves and the next big payday. And having larger-than-life ego-driven players on the England team like Flintoff and Pietersen only adds to this toxic and self-defeating brew.
Strauss has his work cut out for him. Alas, I'm not particularly hopeful.
What a great post, Alan. You've captured precisely what's wrong with professional cricket today. You should send your comments along to Gooch, and the ECB for that matter.
Totally agree Alan. It`s time KP, Flintoff and the like stopped promoting their own egos and self-esteem and started acting and behaving for Team England instead of themselves. I personally, am sick and tired of the pompous airings of KP, the stupid player auctions, the razamataz and hype of the Stanford twenty/20, the IPL and the ICL.
The way things are going KP and the like will be selling his grannie next to make a bob or two.
Are the players of today really all that different to their predecessors, or do they just have more opportunity to make money and exist in a media driven age increasingly obsessed by exposing their character flaws?
The current West Indian side being lauded for its team spirit, contains several players who became millionaires overnight whilst others have made a fraction of that amount during their entire careers.
The Yorkshire side of the 50s & 60s had more than their fair share of egos, whilst the inter-war team was described, by Trueman of all people, thus from what I can make out, they were bad devils, too, and they made a lot of enemies amongst the players who were to become coaches after the war.
The difference between those three sides and the current England team: they were winners.
Excellent points, Kenny. One does wonder if human nature being what it is, if things would have been different in the "good old days" with this sort of money on offer.
One thing is certain though, the game has changed forever - but necessarily for the better.
The dust has settled and with the benefit of a little time it's possible to be more objective. First things first, Jerome Taylor bowled out of his skin. He put in superb display of fast bowling which put our efforts to shame.
The pivotal moment came with the dismissal of Pietersen. I found it embarrassing the way in which the rest of the batting seemed to collapse without his talismanic presence. For far too long Bell and Collingwood have been assured of selection because of misplaced sentimental loyalty to the events of 2005. There must be better young batsmen out there, and it's time to give them a chance.
Similarly Monty has been too ineffective for too long, and Harmy doesn't look physically intimidating any more. Without his express pace and threat of menace he's toothless and useless.
It's been mentioned before, but far and away the most disapointing part of the whole debacle (because these things happen in sport after all) was the sight of the England team laughing and joking on the balcony. They should have been embarrassed - not least for the thousands of supporters who'd spent money flying out to watch them. Playing for you country should be a matter of pride - they looked as if they couldn't care less.
I'm afraid Strauss was greatly diminished in my estimation. A recall for Vaughan is not now nearly as fanciful as it once was.
Do these guys ever shut up? Why call for "unity" through the press? Shouldn't that be going on in the dressing room? And this from the guy who was fired as England Captain and is part of the battle of the egos. Stunningly disingenuous.
I'm afraid our Michael, who apparently never met a microphone he didn't feel the need to speak into, has set a standard by which others have followed. Pietersen and now Flintoff....shut up!
The title of this thread is 'the post mortem begins'. Having re-read some of the posts I wondered if it should now be changed to 'a pre-mortem'?
Not heard the term pre-mortem used before and presume it translates as before the death (as opposed to after) - however we do seem to be moving away from the debacle of the first test and onto the thoughts of the second test so are we all expecting another defeat already?