England Cricket - Where Next?

England have just lost in the UAE against a good Pakistan side, but the three match series has highlighted all England's weaknesses. The batting is light and the spin cupboard is bare. Why is this?

Alastair Cook is still an average, if improving, captain but his batting England cannot do without. He batted for an enormous amount of time and essentially made England competitive single-handedly.

The Moeen Ali experiment at the top of the order didn't work; there's no sugar-coating that. He is a good bat in the middle/lower middle order where he has batted for his entire career up until now. Moeen is also not great on the short ball, a ball an opener sees regularly. He bowls passable spin but will not fulfill the role required, that of a match-winner on a regular enough basis. Other opening bats would be Adam Lyth (best on the circuit but got dropped in the summer) and Michael Carberry (dropped last winter). The cupboard is not overflowing.

Ian Bell's international career should be over; he's not scored enough runs and he is at an age where improvement is unlikely. He is still in the side because there is no-one coming through, although I would move James Taylor up to three or bat James Vince there. Bell can't continue forever so change is required at some point, why not now? England may have to accept that we are in a period of transition.

Joe Root is a very good player and is nigh on untouchable at 4. His back problems are a worry though.

James Taylor has come in at 5 and done well - I personally think he should captain the side and hasn't been given a fair crack by the selectors thus far.

Jonny Bairstow is, statistics-wise, the best middle order batsman on the county circuit. He's a decent player but needs a better plan on spinning wickets. Another player whose stats are decent is Scott Borthwick, who bowls a bit of leg spin too. But there are others who could be worth looking at such as Sam Northeast and Sam Billings, but they play in Division 2; Darryl Mitchell is a consistent performer for Worcestershire but basically there is not the talent pool in county cricket.

Ben Stokes is a good all-rounder but lacks consistency and seems a bit injury prone. Who's challenging for his place? Chris Jordan is the only one who's even close.

Jos Buttler has had a twelve months to forget and has finally been replaced by Bairstow behind the stumps. There;s no doubt that he can keep wicket well and hit along ball, the issue has been that he keeps missing straight balls.

The seamers have been standout in the bowling department: Anderson, Broad, Wood and Stokes has been excellent; Finn is also bowling well/ Wood's fitness will be a concern but there's no doubting his heart.

The spinners have been poor in general; Rashid is a better bowler than Borthwick but the latter is the better batsman. Neither is really of international class. Samit Patel bowls ok occasionally but doesn't do enough with it. They are all selected as batsmen who bowl a bit of spin whereas England need a proper spinner and there are few on the circuit, but the name "Mason Crane" keeps being mentioned; he is a member of the club I play at and would wholeheartedly agree, but don't expect too much too soon.

The county game has been too busy chasing the limited overs cash in recent years (and missed the boat generally, but that's another story) and both batsmen and bowlers (and captains) now learn how not to play the long game; county cricket is fixtured around the more lucrative shorter forms of the game and captains feel nervous allowing spinners time to build a rhythm in a spell - spinners do get hit a long way occasionally.

The more I watch England the more I think that the professional game needs to be streamlined (in all forms). There are too many counties which leads to too many substandard players. If the national team is to improve and prospective players are going to be "Test ready" they need to play against good quality opposition all the time. I have said for years that English domestic cricket needs to go down an area route:
North East, North West, Midlands East, Midlands West, South East, South West.
Teams should be taken from the counties in the designated areas and games played at the grounds. The county championship can continue alongside. I actually think this would bring more money into the game. The ECB's insistence that club tracks are not allowed to seam or spin is also unhelpful - there is little incentive to be a spinner in England.

Ultimately something needs doing and the "old farts" who make up county cricket need to be persuaded that they are current turning the game into a marginalised entity.

England Cricket - Beyond Hope

England lost the 4th ODI in Sri Lanka today with England posting a meager 265 from their 50 overs and the hosts comfortably reaching their target, although gave the crowd value for money by leaving it until the final over.

With a World Cup on the horizon in Australia and New Zealand this series is supposed to gearing Peter Moores' side up for that tournament. The problem is that England have absolutely no chance of winning it. I like Moores as a coach and a he comes across well as a person through the media, but his insistence at keeping Alastair Cook as captain and therefore in the side is pigheaded at best. Cook is a poor captain in all forms of the game but is a great Test match batsman, so why not just concentrate on Test cricket? He can even captain the Test match side if he likes, I don't care, but limited overs cricket is not his thing.

England under Moores are turning back to the the doldrum years of Ian Austin, Adam Hollioake and Matthew Fleming where being reasonable at both batting and bowling in county cricket seemed to guarantee a player an England cap. And yet James Taylor, the one bright spot of today's game with an eye-catching 90 before his lack of match fitness got the better of him, has onlt just got into the side.

England's bowling is also pretty ordinary and lacks discipline; if you aren't express pace or turn it 90 degrees then you need to land the thing exactly where you want it to give your captain a chance when setting a field. Moeen Ali is a decent cricketer but kept dragging the ball halfway down and Ben Stokes ought to be on the next plane home in the woeful form that he finds himself in (worth his place when playing well).

Post-match interviews seem to run along the lines of:

• We've let ourselves down.
• We'll work hard in practise/nets.
• We have some great players in the squad.
• We can still win the World Cup.

To be fair as these performances seem to happen in most games all of the above are delusional.

England Test Cricket

The Ashes in Australia has been a disaster, yet Alastair Cook remains captain when the series quite clearly showed how little he knows about the game (and that's coming from one of the worst captains in the memory of man). Andy Flower remains Head Coach despite his "plans", that have been the same/similar since he took over, being found out and destroyed by the Aussies. England's fielding has been abysmal with dropped catches left, right and centre. Yet Richard Halsall still maintains his central role. Kevin Pietersen, in his mid-30s, still commands a place despite not having scored many runs of note in the series. Same with Cook in all honesty.

The positives from the series are:
Michael Carberry has shown that he has some fight, which is more than can be said for most. Not entirely convinced by him as an international cricketer, but he got stuck in.
Ben Stokes has shown some fire and talent - a rarity.
Stuart Broad has been the best bowler by a mile, but his arse fell out with bat in hand and Mitchell Johnson had the ball in his hand. Future number 11 despite the fact that the commentators remind us that "he can bat" every time, before he disappoints.

The negatives/those who should never grace the field again in an England shirt (unless it's from the club shop and lunchtime):
Pietersen needs to go - he's not the future and he's South African; England is not his country.
Anderson - totally ineffective outside the UK and over 30 as a quick bowler. Put him down.
Tremlett - I bowl quicker than him now. Utter rubbish, pick me.
Swann - good riddance; jumped before pushed.
Panesar - poo when he first got in the side, and worse now for numerous reasons - should never have been on the tour in the first place.
Bresnan - he is clearly not good enough with bat or ball, yet England persist with him; baffling.
Rankin - rubbish and Irish - should never have been on the tour in the first place.
Trott - hopefully won't pull on the Lions again because he's South African and not English.

The "not sure what to do" crew:
Prior - over 30 and in a really bad run of form. He can play though!
Bairstow - clearly talented but has technical flaws.
There's an opportunity for Buttler methinks!
Bell - ought to stay in because he's our best bat.
Root - appalling tour but has age on his side. That's about the only positive I can muster.
Ballance - Zimbabwean for crying out loud. Why do we keep doing this? Looks a decent player but he should be playing for Zimbabwe!
Finn - never had a chance, although bowled pies in nets; so would I if was carrying drinks for 3 months. Young, tall and quick, but more importantly, English!
Cook - I'd bin him as captain but still open with him.

I don't get why they don't pick James Taylor; maybe it's because he's English...

Anyway, rant over. If I've forgotten anyone on the tour then they clearly struggled!