O/T:- Unofficial NCM Ashes thread

[forwardmagpie]

Root and up-to a point Malian have batted okay.
Anderson and Robinson have bowled okay.

The rest have been a total waste of time.

[forwardmagpie]

I was being kind

Ironing passes you by FL

[Old_pie]

Australia have won the ashes in only 12 days of cricket. Spineless bunch of no hopers.

Thankfully I'm not a cricket lover so when I was over in AussieLand any jibes were like water off a duck's back and I'd just mention the soccer (football to us lot). Queenie, FL and others have my sympathies.

But of course before getting too upset English cricket fans should remember what the Urn was about in the first place:

"In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket which died ... "

If as expected it turns into a 5-0 rout perhaps they should keep it, not that it sounds as if we'll ever get it back any time soon anyway.

[Elite_Pie]

I can take defeat because they have better players than us. What's hard to stomach is the manner of the defeats, because we are such a frightened team that we are beaten before the first ball is bowled. Root is the one batsmen to emerge with credit, but his leadership is non-existent. His whole demeanour is that of a beaten man, and it passes on to the rest. There is no obvious replacement, but he must be on borrowed time after this series because there is no fight, pride or passion in the team.

Bangladesh or Zimbabwe would have provided sterner opposition.

[legs77]

Tom Harrison has to take the blame mainly he allowed this farce putting money first.

Silverwood/Root have got zero man management skills they havent had a plan for 2 years.

Hopefully there is no rain and it is a 5-0 job.

What does Foakes have to do to get a game, obviously his face dont fit does it much like Moheen, Bess, Curran and Leach all treated like sh*t.

What is likely to happen is Burns to come in for Hameed and maybe Broad for Robinson/Leach.

I predicted a 5-0 and I badly want it to happen as well

[drillerpie]

Agree with all the reasons cited over the course of this thread, especially the one Jackal mentioned, which is this modern mentality of trying to score like in a one-day game in test cricket - which players and captains like to sell as 'being positive', but is really just playing frivolous shots and refusing to take responsibility for your innings.

Of course there is also the underlying problem that having sold the rights to satellite TV, basically nobody under 30 who didn't attend a fee-paying school cares a jot about cricket, so the pool of players to select from is getting smaller and more restricted to the mentally fragile group we are used to seeing collapse time after time.

[BigFatPie]

Agree with all the reasons cited over the course of this thread, especially the one Jackal mentioned, which is this modern mentality of trying to score like in a one-day game in test cricket - which players and captains like to sell as 'being positive', but is really just playing frivolous shots and refusing to take responsibility for your innings.

Of course there is also the underlying problem that having sold the rights to satellite TV, basically nobody under 30 who didn't attend a fee-paying school cares a jot about cricket, so the pool of players to select from is getting smaller and more restricted to the mentally fragile group we are used to seeing collapse time after time.

Hmmm (nicked from Twitter don’t know if it’s true)

Of all the male Batters to have made their debut for England since 2011...

~95% have been white
~77% were privately educated
~64% were born in the first half of the school year
Only 36% averaged 30+ (1 player 40+)

I think we have an issue with talent ID & development.

[jackal2]

Of all the male Batters to have made their debut for England since 2011...

~95% have been white
~77% were privately educated
~64% were born in the first half of the school year
Only 36% averaged 30+ (1 player 40+)

... and 98% were crap!

I think we have an issue with talent ID & development.

Definitely, coupled with the complete disregard shown for the longer format of the game during our domestic cricket season.

[Elite_Pie]

Hmmm (nicked from Twitter don’t know if it’s true)

Of all the male Batters to have made their debut for England since 2011...

~95% have been white
~77% were privately educated
~64% were born in the first half of the school year
Only 36% averaged 30+ (1 player 40+)

I think we have an issue with talent ID & development.

In this series the overall average score for an England batsman is a pitiful 17! A score of 17 is acceptable for a number 9, but repeat it across the whole team and you will score 187 per innings. That's how bad we are.

[ForeignLegion]

Not many Olivers get picked for the Aussies.