Root resigns

Gillespie - in or out?

Well, Stokes is in…

No VC announced, so likely to be on a game by game basis once the coach and selectors are in place and we know who’s in favour.

Hopefully for you blokes the VC position isn't as much of a curse as it was for Australia in the 1970's ... at one stage our VC seemed to be changing every few games, as they were successively dropped.

lardbucket wrote:Hopefully for you blokes the VC position isn't as much of a curse as it was for Australia in the 1970's ... at one stage our VC seemed to be changing every few games, as they were successively dropped.

We had similar with the likes of Buttler and Moeen recently…

Only two players are guaranteed their place at the moment, the captain and ex-captain, so every chance of a revolving door.

England now with their lowest Test rating since 1995, in points terms. Still ranked sixth though, above WI, SL and Bangladesh, whereas in 1999 we hit last place of the then nine.

Vaughn, Strauss, Cook et al will be turning in their graves.

skully wrote:Vaughn, Strauss, Cook et al will be turning in their graves.

When did they die?

Cook wasn’t exactly a spectacular captain anyway, but he had better tools at his disposal than Captain COARIAB did. For the past decade our ranking has been sustained by consistent home series wins, with the occasional surprise success away amidst all the predictable failings in unsuited conditions given the lack of spin and out-and-out pace, and batting technique against them. Once we started losing home series our ranking was certain to plummet. As will ECB ticket revenues, if it continues, which is why a quick turnaround is needed.

Stokes apparently wants Root at 4 and himself at 6. So presumably Jonny B at 5, with number 3 up for grabs (or Crawley there with another opener brought in).

Malan still in contention at #3.

lardbucket wrote:Malan still in contention at #3.

I’d be surprised, for all the positive impressions he’s made on occasions, he’s a 34-year-old who averages 27 after 22 Tests. Even most of the much-derided openers we’ve picked in recent years stack up better than that statistically!

Seems like Malan is in the discussions from some of the articles around. I mean, he’s obviously in form and sometimes looked the part in his past Test appearances but the stats really don’t back that up.

I can see the attraction of an experienced head at the problem position of number 3, as opposed to potentially a sacrificial lamb youngster, but it wouldn’t exactly be a forward looking selection. We’d have 30-somethings at numbers 3-6 in the batting order, along with potentially Anderson and Broad coming back. While I get the idea of “pick the best team to win the next Test”, this is a bad team that won’t become good overnight, so we need players capable of being part of that journey for a few years.

Looks like McCullum for the Test coach role, then. A big gamble, with no red-ball coaching experience. Expect he will be innovative and adventurous, but is it really a bit of “back to basics” that we need instead?

And Australia’s current women’s coach Matthew Mott being lined up for the England men’s white ball role. Key certainly not playing it safe with any of his appointments!

Very sensible move - Mott won’t have to change his approach.

lardbucket wrote:Very sensible move - Mott won’t have to change his approach.

What, just say “You’re better than them, go out and win”?