So all in all, a pretty successful winter for England?

We would certainly have taken a drawn series with South Africa at the start, and we also won the ODI series there against the odds. Bangladesh went according to script.

8/10?

Thought it was was pretty dispiriting, myself. A side going nowhere.

No sign of an attack that can take 20 wickets against anyone good with any regularity.

Batting was piss-weak in SA and mostly bailed out by the bowlers.

Oh, but we mediocred (not a word) our way to a victory over Bangladesh. So, yay us.

Yay the f*ck us.

I dunno, but if they don't draw *some* strength from the consistency of purpose in the Bangla tests, and also have some shrewder ideas who could and could not fill in as reasonable second-strings if the returners get crocked, they were a waste of time.

A retrograde step to ditch Rashid, I would agree with others.

I'm the opposite of Dello really and taking into account that we're only an average side to begin with...

Not bad at all really, considering where we were in Jamaica to come out and draw a series away from home in SA after winning the Ashes is a good effort. It doesn't make us that good a side but I'll take it.

Still question marks over quite a few players but some talent there. And we look to have improved a bit in the shorter format.

lucky in saffieville and unconvincing against the bangles

Thanks for that, Horrie.

you're welcome Pete

Meh, South Africa are a good side. I predicted 2-1 to them before the series started. 1-1 was a bit of a result, imo.

We haven't really discovered anyone new though. Except I guess for Steven Finn, but we could hardly tell much because he was bowling on such dead pitches and Cook hardly bowled him. Carberry hardly got a chance but looked decent in his only test, Tredwell looked standard fare, Bresnan is useful but not a world beater, Sidebottom is probably finished, KP is maybe starting to recover from his slump, Collingwood is as gritty as ever, Anderson is as inconsistent as ever, Swanny is a champ and a genuine world class bowler.....

Cook and Bell have probably been the big progressors. You would hope.....

I'll take an unconvincing 5-0 Ashes win H

JKLever wrote:I'll take an unconvincing 5-0 Ashes win H

hahahaha....I am certain you would....even conceding that Oz has an ordinairy team I would like to have a little wager with you that the Pomgolians will not sweep the Ashes over here

Cor, you risktaker you.

Large bets are frowned upon in the nursing home.

Pluses:

The batting of Cook and Bell
Swann's bowling
Finn's promise

Minuses:

Cook's captaincy in Bangladesh
Tredwell ( we are farked if he is the second best spinner in the country)

Non-plussed:

Bresnan - scored some relatively easy runs, hardly swung a ball, would bowl all day up the cellar steps into the teeth of a hurricane if asked

Trott: his pre-delivery ritual is beginning to make my teeth itch

Carberry - only one test but didn't look top drawer.

Carberry has talent, and once again England deserted him for a player who did fark all in T1. Luckily, Trott made quick amends for his troubles in Chittagong.

JKLever wrote:Cor, you risktaker you.

hahaha...the way of my people jkl..

...and phurt at petie - in the nursing home we take the odds on all sorts of things, eg
who will pop off next from this mortal coil
when we will get the next dose of salmonella poisoning
which month any of us will get a visit
whose dentures we will be assigned next
how many cubic metres of the planet are taken up by Swannie's chin

All in all a pretty successful winter

No wonder you poms are shouse, at everything.

Great oaks from little ache horns grow ...

PeterCS wrote:Great oaks from little ache horns grow ...

Sure, but by what standard does mediocrity equal success?

I tried to point that out near the top of this thread.

Sifting the second string at the top level is an important exercise. As is experimenting with the new, if only to leave what doesn't work. It's not just about the play on the day.

As you may have noticed, I wouldn't agree with 8/10. Or any simple score.

Incidentally, it would seem Pietersen is not only refinding his form (at last), but finding reintegration after a period of disenchantment. (Sooking, if you prefer.) And that is potentially valuable for the near future, too.

In my view and FWIW, the biggest worry remains the lack of a genuinely fast bowler for genuinely fast/hard wickets.

PeterCS wrote:Incidentally, it would seem Pietersen is not only refinding his form (at last), but finding reintegration after a period of disenchantment. (Sooking, if you prefer.) And that is potentially valuable for the near future, too.

Based on the banger tour?

PeterCS wrote:In my view and FWIW, the biggest worry remains the lack of a genuinely fast bowler for genuinely fast/hard wickets.

You really want a Brett Lee/Shoiab Akhtar type?

Mick Sawyer wrote:

PeterCS wrote:In my view and FWIW, the biggest worry remains the lack of a genuinely fast bowler for genuinely fast/hard wickets.

You really want a Brett Lee/Shoiab Akhtar type?

Shaun Tait has Pommy grandparents ....

Mick Sawyer wrote:

PeterCS wrote:In my view and FWIW, the biggest worry remains the lack of a genuinely fast bowler for genuinely fast/hard wickets.

You really want a Brett Lee/Shoiab Akhtar type?

No, but a Bob Willis type would be good.

Gawd, our last convinving fast bowler retired in 1984.....