Ashes Series 2021-22

I’m beginning to wonder if you have any appreciation for Test cricket at all, given this and previous suggestions to baseball-ise it.

Also, you may be under-estimating the Australian public’s appetite for the current spectacle.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/anatomy-england-ashes-debacle-36-092733650.html

facts, soundbites ...

Root may survive, but surely Silverwood, Giles,Harrison et al need to go

lardbucket wrote:I’m beginning to wonder if you have any appreciation for Test cricket at all, given this and previous suggestions to baseball-ise it.

I’m beginning to wonder if you have any intelligence at all, or just a knee-jerk response for rubbishing anything I ever say.

I’ve got every appreciation for Test cricket when we take it seriously and do well at it. If we play like we are doing at the moment then it might as well be baseball. And it does need to evolve because players’ skill sets no longer match up with how it used to be played.

lardbucket wrote:Also, you may be under-estimating the Australian public’s appetite for the current spectacle.

It would get a bit boring after 20 years of this. Though I suppose the Romans liked watching defenceless people get fed to the lions and Aussies are only slightly more civilised

beamer wrote:

Nath wrote:

beamer wrote:Could it be that we now need multi-format to save the Ashes?

you do, we don't

Well, you won’t sell out the grounds for much longer if it’s a walkover every time.

we don't sell out the grounds now anyway

beamer wrote:

lardbucket wrote:I’m beginning to wonder if you have any appreciation for Test cricket at all, given this and previous suggestions to baseball-ise it.

I’m beginning to wonder if you have any intelligence at all, or just a knee-jerk response for rubbishing anything I ever say.

I only ever ‘rubbish’ your rubbish.

Link for Joe Root

A few articles around pointing out that Test cricket can no longer survive an uncompetitive England. There’s only two countries that attract big crowds to it these days, and England have papered over the cracks in recent years by winning home series against undercooked opponents who can’t play swing bowling, but the team doesn’t look capable of scoring enough runs to do even that against top five or six ranked opposition now. If we start losing at home consistently, the crowds will disappear, probably never to return, and marginalise it even more.

We need to end the Stevens-isation of the County Championship and play it on good pitches, with a Kookaburra ball and at the height of what passes for summer over here. Only then might we develop batsmen with the patience to play long innings rather than a survival/score while you can technique against 70mph bowling that swings round corners. Oh, and rejoin the EU so we can get tough Yarpie Kolpakkers on Dutch passports again

In breaking news, the Border-Gavaskar and Chappell-Hadlee trophies remain in Div 1, but the Wisden trophy has been shuffled down to Div 2.

They’ve retired the Wisden Trophy anyway…

Crazy that we’re squeezing in a series in the Caribbean as well before the domestic season starts.

Vaughan is saying if the Aussies don't reappoint Langer as coach then England should get him. LOL

Giles gone

Former spinner Ashley Giles has given up his role as managing director of England men's cricket with the fate of head coach Chris Silverwood yet to be decided

cricket.com.au with PA

3 February 2022, 08:45 AM AEST

Ashley Giles has stepped down from his role as managing director of England men's cricket but England head coach Chris Silverwood and batting coach Graham Thorpe have yet to learn their fates.

The former Test spinner who was part of the 2005 Ashes winning side, Gailes has paid the price for a disastrous 2021-22 Ashes series which ended in a 4-0 defeat.

That followed a poor 2021 where England lost nine of their 15 Tests and suffered a semi-final defeat in the T20 World Cup in November.


Giles began in the role in January 2019, replacing Andrew Strauss who had set up the white-ball system for England to claim their first 50-over World Cup win that year.

Strauss has agreed to step in on an interim basis and put arrangements in place for next month's three-Test series in the West Indies, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Wednesday.

Giles had last year instituted a major shake-up of England's selection process, ditching more than 120 years of tradition to dismantle the men's selection panel and hand head coach Silverwood "ultimate responsibility" for picking squads.

The selection and rotation of key personnel throughout the Ashes was a major criticism of England's campaign.


An ECB statement read: "Ashley is leaving after three years in the role during which England Men became 50-over world champions and are currently ranked the world's best T20I side, 2nd in ODIs and 4th for Tests.

"Sir Andrew Strauss has agreed to step into the role on an interim basis and will put in place arrangements for the forthcoming West Indies Tour, while the search begins for a full-time replacement."

Giles and head coach Chris Silverwood submitted their report on England's Ashes failures to chair of the ECB cricket committee and former captain Strauss last week.

Strauss, chair of the ECB's cricket committee, had made his recommendations to the ECB board at a meeting on Wednesday and the governing body moved quickly on Giles.

Silverwood's future, as well as batting coach Thorpe – who courted controversy with a video of Hobart police calling time on the end of series celebrations that became public – has yet to be decided.

Giles said: "The past couple of years have been incredibly challenging and I'm proud of what we've been able to deliver in the toughest of circumstances. This has undoubtedly protected the future of the game in England and Wales.

"Despite these challenges, over the past three years, we have become 50-over world champions, the top ranked T20I side in the world, we remain (the) fourth ranked Test team and our under-19s have just reached the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years."

ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison added: "I'm extremely grateful to Ashley for his commitment and contribution to England men's cricket over the last three years.

"He's highly respected throughout the game and has made a huge contribution to the ECB and England men's cricket."

One down, still Harrison and Silverwood to go… and perhaps Root though lack of alternatives is a big issue there.

A week or so until the WI Test squad is announced, so presumably some decision on coach will be made shortly.

surely Thorpe too

Silverwood gone. England 0-2 as per usual

beamer wrote:Silverwood gone. England 0-2 as per usual

Thorpe probably next. Harrison survives in the absence of a Chair according to the Guardian. Strauss to come up with an interim Coach for the WI Tour.

One thing for sure is Robin Smith will have no role. The Yorkshire stuff goes from bad to worse. Looks like Smith is chasing anti woke support. Really nasty words between he and Patel.

horace wrote:

beamer wrote:Silverwood gone. England 0-2 as per usual

Thorpe probably next. Harrison survives in the absence of a Chair according to the Guardian. Strauss to come up with an interim Coach for the WI Tour.

One thing for sure is Robin Smith will have no role. The Yorkshire stuff goes from bad to worse. Looks like Smith is chasing anti woke support. Really nasty words between he and Patel.

For clarification, in case anybody is wondering it seems that this is NOT the same Robin S who was damn near England's best batsman in the late 80-early 90s, and has mostly lived in Australia since his retirement.

Yeah, hadn’t heard much of the Yarpom version in recent years, didn’t know he was now in Australia. If only he could play spin, he’d have been one of our all-time greats - think the coming of Warne, Chuck, Apple, the Mushtaqs et al. finished his international career prematurely. Didn’t get the nine lives of a Hick, Ramprakash or Crawley (sr) despite a vastly better record though. And held our record JAMODI score for many years I seem to remember.

Yorkshire ex-chairman namesake sounds like a nasty piece of work, though may have a case on the legalities by the sound of things. All promises to get a bit Lionel once again…

Thorpe, b Strauss 0. England 0-3, Root fast running out of partners

Anyway, on the coaching structure… I have to say I kind of liked the idea of having an overall “manager” rather than a coach, captain and selectors who may be at odds in terms of the players they want. My main concern was that person’s ability to watch enough county cricket, but they still have “scouts” as per Tyrion Taylor (he’d fit in with the more widely recognised scouts, height-wise) to recommend players, it’s just that the head coach has final say.

That said, and aside from the fact that Silverwood wasn’t up to the task, it’s a lot of responsibility for one man (especially in all three formats which was a bit crazy) and it’s a fair point that you’ll get no stability as that person will carry the can whenever you fail, leaving little (did I mention Frodo Taylor again? ) in terms of permanent structure.

So what next, think we will have to go back to having a chief selector and head coaches for Test and one-day formats. Shame Strauss isn’t going to stay on permanently as director, for family reasons… a lot of gaps to fill. We only seem to succeed in Test cricket with Zimbabwean coaches, and given Fletcher’s a bit too old now we could do worse than give Flower another call…

Langer’s available ...

friendly with Strauss from Middlesex days, too, if memory serves.

Fred Nerk wrote:

horace wrote:

beamer wrote:Silverwood gone. England 0-2 as per usual

Thorpe probably next. Harrison survives in the absence of a Chair according to the Guardian. Strauss to come up with an interim Coach for the WI Tour.

One thing for sure is Robin Smith will have no role. The Yorkshire stuff goes from bad to worse. Looks like Smith is chasing anti woke support. Really nasty words between he and Patel.

For clarification, in case anybody is wondering it seems that this is NOT the same Robin S who was damn near England's best batsman in the late 80-early 90s, and has mostly lived in Australia since his retirement.

Thanks Fred. Leapt to quick.

beamer wrote:Yeah, hadn’t heard much of the Yarpom version in recent years, didn’t know he was now in Australia. If only he could play spin, he’d have been one of our all-time greats - think the coming of Warne, Chuck, Apple, the Mushtaqs et al. finished his international career prematurely. Didn’t get the nine lives of a Hick, Ramprakash or Crawley (sr) despite a vastly better record though. And held our record JAMODI score for many years I seem to remember.

Yorkshire ex-chairman namesake sounds like a nasty piece of work, though may have a case on the legalities by the sound of things. All promises to get a bit Lionel once again…

I thought it was more that he was alcoholic. His autobiography is pretty open about it all.

Sounds like Robin Smith-tyke is a bit of a thunderqunt.