SHA Small Heath Alliance

Surely Laurel and Hardy have to fall on their swords.
The disastrous Ashes series, India and New Zealand all managed in a gung-ho fashion.
I admit I thought at one time that our positive , front-foot , fresh methods was the way to go but, sadly it's just not working.
Rob Key and McCullum have led us to far too many defeats using a " let's knock it out the ground " approach. It's not a sophisticated game-plan and ultimately it's failing. Even to the point where we now hear on stump-cams audio the opposition ripping the piss out of English batsmen's naivety.
Whoever's running the ECB needs to swallow their pride, and replace Key and McCullum with a more conservative manager/tactician. As exciting as it was for a short period surely we now need to see the back of wondering if it's a sensible idea to buy 3rd day test match tickets.
Fekk knows who we bring in though ?

Mostly guff in my view

Change the management and the approach by all means but until we start producing better players - especially bowlers - we'll never dominate the sport in the way we aspire to.

IMO the issue is lack of participation at junior levels where cricket is increasingly niche and loses out because football is now effectively an all year round sport. And don't get me started on lack of provision in state schools...

Absolutely this, most of these Players are NOT Test Match quality, including Harry Brook.

38 tests

3,365 runs

53.04 Average

10 Tons, 18 50's.



Are you sure he's not test quality?

Harry Brook with a test match average of 53 😂

Overhit corner

Change the management and the approach by all means but until we start producing better players - especially bowlers - we'll never dominate the sport in the way we aspire to.

IMO the issue is lack of participation at junior levels where cricket is increasingly niche and loses out because football is now effectively an all year round sport. And don't get me started on lack of provision in state schools...

I agree with your second paragraph entirely. it's multi-faceted, but there are so many challenges and barriers to cricket - not least of which that the best format hasn't been available for most households to watch for about two decades.

Barely played in schools, expensive to play, niche, squeezed out by football and other activities. Where I live there are dozens and dozens of teams, but there's no hiding from the fact that nearly all of the under 30's who play cricket do so because of a family link. A dad, an Uncle etc. It's not sustainable, especially when the changing demographic of players means that the old model of clubs surviving based on their bar income just won't be viable for many clubs going forward.

I don't agree with your assertion about bowlers mind. Considering we've lost Broad, Anderson, Woakes recently, I do think our bowling options (when fit...) are pretty good.

Never like rob key he’s comes across as a right stubborn git and I an imagine he’s not liked behind the dressing room doors he should have been sacked straight after the ashes shambles ,I’d get Vaughan or some like that in as coach or selector with jimmy Anderson working with the test squad

If only Thatcher hadn’t closed all the mines, you could just whistle down a mine and fearsome quickie would just pop up in the old days.

One thing might save us. Australia are about to cannibalise their sport too. Sure they have far more widespread participation at youth and both recreational and ultra competitive adult levels than we do. But they're chasing dollars to keep their big players in the big bash. Not sure they'll square that circle any better than the ECB have mismanaged to.

The game just needs to be allowed to be played played played and also watched by as many kids as possible so free to air coverage after tea (channel 9 in Australia used to do this) when they get in from extra curricular which is why they should have the blooming county championship running right through the summer and 16 matches again and just play T20 slogball on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon in-between rounds of CC matches and a 32 county 50 over knockout cup live on the BBC with each round spaced 3 weeks apart

Regionalised everything for most the season so there's less travelling for the poor overworked players bless em

Things will come full circle again we'll have a winning side withing 3/4 years of my recreate the mid 1990s master plan

newblue

Mostly guff in my view

Bovvered ......
Nah

b34blues

Never like rob key he’s comes across as a right stubborn git and I an imagine he’s not liked behind the dressing room doors he should have been sacked straight after the ashes shambles ,I’d get Vaughan or some like that in as coach or selector with jimmy Anderson working with the test squad

Anderson should surely be utilised better.

Vaughan, I wouldnt have near anything. Relentlessly negative and a very questionable character.

I can't imagine him being popular with players given that he never stops saying how shite they all are.

Yeah Vaughan would be awful.

I do think that it's very hard to see how McCullum will survive now though, And Key seems so out o his depth.

generalBlue

newblue

Mostly guff in my view

Bovvered ......
Nah

Am I ‘bovvered’ you’re not ‘bovvered’ though?

Like loads of cricket fans it’s the way to go when we’re winning but when it goes wrong it’s been disastrous, ‘laurel and hardy’, etc.

The McCullum/Stokes partnership pulled us out of a dire run. Gone wrong this last year (the planning for Australia was very wrong) but to junk it all in favour of an approach which was frankly not just timid and boring but unsuccessful would seem a backward step. Typical England though. Sound the retreat when it gets a bit tough.

Oldham

38 tests

3,365 runs

53.04 Average

10 Tons, 18 50's.



Are you sure he's not test quality?

It was a strange claim to say the least.