Whitewash on the cards...who will be blamed for Englands performance.?

Question

Before the Ashes, the usual mouth-pieces of the English press were playing mind games of their own, hailing the usual players who would shine, and treated the Australians like beginners. Felt bad for Geoffrey Boycott, who seemed close to tears himself after the second round!
It's a shame that the few of the English team who did switch on and almost twin the hype the press had given them, ended up not only having the Australians run rings around them, but even worse, folded up the classical England way.
We will in perpetuum remember 2005 (like we still do 1966, but concerning a different sport) - but like both sports, forget how we did it then.

Was thinking that way, awol...bowlers with a fair and tricky method - thinking about the Indians - or even the Pakistanis, rather than the Windies of the 70's. But like all the said countries of their time - it has to be consistent.

Nice one, Dennis - that says it all...shine in 2005 then rest on laurels. In the UK, we're so eager to over-reward winners, that they forget how they prepared to win in the first place. Could be they're rewarded so because perhaps the media and Joe Public may not see it too often (if at all) in the future.

Answer 1

The British tabloids will probably blame most of the players and the selectors, although I'm guessing Fletcher will get the worst of it. It's the usual lame media circus that also happens with the England team in other sports like football. First they build the team up as unbeatable demi-gods, then once they've inevitably been shown up as the average team that they are, the press turn on them and describe them as the worst, most inept bunch of losers to have ever played the game. This way they sell more papers both before and after the event, which at the end of the day is all they care about.

The simple fact of the matter, when you remove the media garbage, is that the current England cricket team are a decent enough side, but the current Aussie team are simply better than them in nearly all departments, from natural talent through to technique through to professionalism and determination. End of.

Answer 2

The poor performance of the England team must lie squarely on the shoulders of the players.

Fletcher will inevitably be targeted, but the truth is that English cricket has improved considerably under his guidance. We are still the second best side in the world...but the Australians are a long, long way out in front.

The selectors cannot really be blamed. The team for the first two tests should, on paper at least , have been very capable of a much better performance than they gave. Do people seriously think that if Monty and Read had been picked in those games instead of Giles and Jones that the result would have been any diiferent?

Its the players themselves to blame. Biggest dissapointment for me was Strauss, who consistently played stupid shots for an opener.

The most scary thing I've heard in the last few weeks was a radio interview with Steve Harmison, when he admitted that he had "absolutely no idea" why England where doing so badly..if the players dont know whats wrong, then we have some serious, serious problems

Answer 3

I think everybody knew it would be tough, but the way the team folded on the last morning at Adelaide completely knocked the stuffing out of them. In terms of the dreaded no.8 position - you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink, Fletcher can select Mahmood but what's the point if Flintoff then won't bowl him? After 2002/3 the cry was 'never again will we take unfit players', but we punted on Tres, Gilo, Anderson and Fred and for the most part the gambles failed miserably.
England are still a good team, but the worst thing isn't losing this series, it's the scars it'll leave come 2009. In 2005 a lot was made of the fact that 90's veterans like Thorpe, Hussain and Gough, who had all been repeatedly beaten by Australia, weren't there and the new guys had no baggage. They've just acquired a truckload of it with this imminent whitewash.

Answer 4

I think that injuries, team preparation, team selection and the players performances all contributed.

Injuries to -

Simon Jones. For me, he was a huge loss. Last ashes series, we had 4 world class fast bowlers. If one did not perform, then the captain could throw the ball to another. They exerted pressure on the Aussies each time they bowled. Anderson and Mahmood pose no threat at all and the batsmen can score runs at will. As for Harmison, he was a an embarrasement to the whole country.

Michael Vaughan - How can you lose your insperational captain and expect the same level of cricket, on and off the field.

Ashley Giles - You could argue that he lengthens the batting, or
that he's not good enough. However,the team missed his experience.

Jones can help extend the batting line up. Reid or Jones ?
I would say Jones.

Trescothic - Missed big time at the top of the order, as well as his experience. He takes the attack to the bowlers, something our openers could not do.

Our preparation was ridiculous. We only played 3 matches. All of them were not competitive. How can the players prepare if they don't play matches?

Should Duncan Fletcher have chosen different line ups? Will he still have a job after the world cup?

Flintoff was injured. He could not bowl many overs.

They are a brilliant team.

Answer 5

A terrible opening partnership, for starters, then failures all through the middle order. Flintoff has not been in great form, and is not a true captain. Strauss should take the helm, because Flintoff's bowling went downhill with his batting when he took the job. We also don't have a good enough keeper. I would personally pick Paul Nixon, Luke Sutton, or Tony Frost. All are better batsmen than Jones or Reid, and all good with the gloves. Another weakness is our long tail, which has hardly picked up a run this winter. We can pick Saj Mahmood or Ashley Giles to bolster the batting line-up, but what is the use if they keep failing? I say either put four bowlers in and try to take twenty wickets in the match, which we aren't doing at the moment, or play another batsman like Key or Joyce.

Answer 6

i blame the selectors and the captain.flintoff is a great player but hes not a captain. hes the guy a captain goes to when he needs a piece of inspirational bowling to get the team on track.flintoff went to others not the man you need which was himself.then to pick mahmood then not bowl him is criminal if they wernt going to bowl him why not pick the extra batsman instead. mahmood was just a passenger might as well played with 10 men.
then why select Giles had even been to a cricket ground in over a year let alone play the game.
there was some bad luck like Strauss being given out three times when he was not but all in all there are only a few players who can hold their heads up they are:-
pieterson
collingwood
bell
hoggard
monty
and maybe cook
even flintoff has been poor

Answer 7

Probably ever body associated with English will be blamed but in fact Australia is too strong for not only England but for all the other teams.

But this will not last for too long as the history of the game is that other teams soon develop methods to beat the best.

Perhaps England can learn from this and not go announcing themselves as world champions when they get a scrappy win over Australia as they did in the last ashes series.

English supporters should not slag off their players as this just builds pressure on them and they are more likely to lose.

Australians always support their team win ot lose.

Answer 8

I think they can only really blame the Australians!!!! In other words the Aussies were quite simply the better team. They bought on the right bowlers at the right times. Bowled us out for ridiculously low totals, the majority of the time fielded better than us and then went on to give us a batting masterclass. They are the better team AT THE MOMENT, but now they have lost four of their best players after this series who knows what could happen next time....

Answer 9

Blame culture!!! it is so prevelant in society today,

Hey its a game for goodness sake, the world will not stop turning because a cricket match didn't go the way the sports media said it would.

Wise up its a money making industry like everything else the more they hype a game the more people will pay to watch it, nothing more nor less.

Lets get real, playing international games is better than going to war and it is supposed to be fun and entertaining but the money men have ruined it for all, so if you HAVE to blame someone blame the paymasters.

;) H

Answer 10

Australia have already won the 5th test by 10 wickets and thus completed the white wash 5-0. This series have proved that England players are no match for the strong Australian Team and in all the 5 tests England wilted under pressure.