The batting did not show up on this tour. Simple. I have had my doubts about the England batting line up since the summer and to be fair Mitchell Johnson was a revelation but that is still no excuse. England never looked to dig in. With a few exceptions.
It would be too easy to brush away the management of this side and start with a clean sheet. But that would be a knee jerk response. And we might throw the baby out with the bath water.
So on the batting, the Skipper must look at his own form. Kevin Pieterson may be at a cross roads. At 34 how much longer will he carry on? He did show some spirit at times and stuck it out. I wonder if his knee is bothering him more than he would like to admit. He has certainly not played with anything like the pizazz he used in 2005. I am not convinced about Joe Root. He is in good company mind because I didn't rate Graham Thorpe or Ian Bell at the start of their careers and look what happened to them. But Selectors must ask why they are picking and opening bat and then batting him down the order
I hope that the England team did what the Aussies did after 2005. Ricky Ponting made his side sit out the celebrations of England so that they remembered it and made sure they didn't want to feel it again. England have got to lap it up and vow never to let it happen again. As Mohammed Ali's trainer once said "A fighter reveals nothing of his character in the way he falls down but everything in how he gets up again"
Once a precedent had been set England just carried on in the same vein. Leads me to suspect a lack of man management but that is easy to say at 12000 miles distance.
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| Winners |
Team England have to dust themselves off. This series is now history. Tomorrow is a new day. England has to make sure that players confidence can be restored -players must not be tainted by this but it may just show who does and who does not have the character to play test cricket.
On the converse side it could be argued that this was just an unfortunate series of events and carry on regardless.
On the bowling front. Will Jimmy Anderson carry on much longer? What ever happened to Finn? And can Monty do what Swann did. He doesn't spin the ball as much so it is unlikely. He suffers from Tufnell syndrome. Phil Tufnell was a great left arm spinner but a liability in every other aspect of the game.
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| a bunch of losers |
Finally Stress related illnesses. Jonathon Trott is now the second England bat to go down with this horrible ailment. Could there be some issue with training and preparation of England? I wish Trott a speedy recovery and happiness - no one can take away what he has done for England even if he decides to do no more. I would probably recommend he gives up Cricket. The triggers that set him down this path will still be waiting for him when he feels better.
And perhaps that is the story of the series. After the last whitewash the England management determined they would never again start a series without a fully fit squad. It would seem that is the trap they fell into again.
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