England in New Zealand

[barmyarmy]

Duncan Fletcher where are you? I'm not convinced Moores being in charge is doing us any favours as he seems to rely too much on the Captain to make the big decisions, which would explain the way we play ODI cricket completely different to Test cricket. Barring Sidebottom, Moores has done very little really, at least with Fletcher we had the ability to beat these average teams. We've even lost that now.

Having read Fletcher's book I would wholly concur with that. Moores has never played international cricket, went straight from being an average wicketkeeper with Sussex to the coach and has shown none of the technical acumen needed these days from a top coach.
That said I think NZ will lose in England although we may now struggle to get a draw or better in this series.

 

[lancashire666]

firstly id like to say well done new zealand, they have totally outplayed england with the bat and the ball for 4 and a half days, the only time they wernt totally on top was for an hour or so on day 4 during a wondeful spell from sidebottom, but if england had batted out the 5th day for a draw then new zealnd would of been robbed as they totally deserved the win, mills bowled great and ive never been impressed by him till last night so well done to him.
but now the england, i still think that if you look at the indivual talent england are by far the better team, better bowlers and batsman, but david lloyd said it best on his blog

England have batted like plonkers and couldnt bowl a hoop down a hill.

new zealnd may have deserved this win but england were very very very very very poor, i think it goes without saying that england HAVE to drop harmison, how many more pathetic performances, how many more terrible tours and how many more times will england leave themselves down to 2 seamers because you cant bowl him, they bowled collingwood befour him in new zealnds 2nd innings for god sake!
also, the batsman are all to comfortable, someone has to be dropped and the rest have to have there positions in the line up swapped around, something has to be done, we cant gjust go into the next test with the same batting line up and say they get a sencond chance, they have a had their second, third, forth chance, get them out of there comfor zone!, id drop strauss, playe KP at 3, shah at 4 and bell at 6 where he has done well in the past, get broad in for harmy and tell hoggy he has to perform better or anderson gets his place for the last test, make people worrie obout there place and if they will get a new central contract this year, please god moore stamp some authority on the team, i hope tresco declares himself fit for this year as he would be strait back in the team, and the sooner flitoff gets back the better, even if he bats poorly he is in the team as are strike bowler.

roll on the 2nd test, i cant wait to see the team and if moores has the balls to sort this mess out

 

[Sureshot]

Duncan Fletcher where are you? I'm not convinced Moores being in charge is doing us any favours as he seems to rely too much on the Captain to make the big decisions, which would explain the way we play ODI cricket completely different to Test cricket. Barring Sidebottom, Moores has done very little really, at least with Fletcher we had the ability to beat these average teams. We've even lost that now.

The coach has an impact, but I still think the players hold the ultimate responsibility.

 

[Kev]

Indeed, we hardly set the world alight with Fletcher at the helm after the 2005 Ashes. But you know what everyone says about the past and rose-tinted specs Sureshot

 

[MUFC1987]

We lost in Pakistan and drew in India, which is hardly a huge disaster considering the fact that spinners play a huge role and we didn't have any. The only disaster being drawing at home to Sri Lanka really. Don't get me wrong, purely as a Coach, Moores is pretty good, but as the head Coach, for me it just doesn't stack up, which is why I was calling for someone like an Andy Flower to lead the One Day side with Fletcher still as head coach for Tests. You can say I'm looking back at the past, but I said the exact same thing when Fletcher leaving was being mooted.

 

[thesweepmaster]

Orginally psted by MUFC1987
Don't get me wrong, purely as a Coach, Moores is pretty good, but as the head Coach, for me it just doesn't stack up, which is why I was calling for someone like an Andy Flower to lead the One Day side with Fletcher still as head coach for Tests. You can say I'm looking back at the past, but I said the exact same thing when Fletcher leaving was being mooted.

I like your idea but I think you may have the wrong people. Personally, Peter Moores is a good coach for the ODI for England as we have had wins against India at home and Sri Lanka away with just this tour that has been bad. As for Flecther, test coach would be right for him, he just needs to stop picking his favourites all the time like Geraint Jones and Ashley Giles who both should have not played in the Ashes. But also there is a few problems with this idea as both coaches have to get on.

 

[barmyarmy]

Indeed, we hardly set the world alight with Fletcher at the helm after the 2005 Ashes. But you know what everyone says about the past and rose-tinted specs Sureshot

I felt there were other reasons for that and I still trusted his instincts as a coach.

 

[King Pietersen]

Wow, what a wreck that was. I had faith in England to get a result in that game, but that was pure awful for the final day. We made New Zealand look very good, the pitch was nowhere near as bad as we made it look, we made a medicore bowler in Kyle Mills look world class, and Hoggard and Harmison had stinkers. The fielding was magnificent though, especially the catching, Cook was awesome, Strauss makes our slip cordon look a hell of alot more solid and we generally fielded well.

The batting was the main problem again however. Vaughan and Cook did OK at the top of the order once more, but didn't exactly light the world up. I thought Strauss looked back to his best in the first innings, and was unlucky in the second, although his off-stump awareness leaves something to be desired at the start of an innings. Pietersen looked out of form and out of touch after a very solid ODi series. Dropping him would be ludicrous though, he's still our best batsman, and you don't drop your best batsman as soon as he hits a little form slump; it'd be like Australia dropping Ponting because he's had 1 bad winter/summer. Ian Bell looked in great form once more, and really showed his class in the 2nd innings, some great shots at the end. The less said about Collingwood the better, he got terribly wrapped up in blocking and defending and played no attacking shots at all in the 2nd innings, really poor from him. Ambrose was meh, nothing special but not dissapointing.

Bringing Broad in would be a good move i feel. He offers better bowling than Harmison, and would certainly boost what looks like a very flimsy lower order, although it should be the batsmen that make the runs.

NZ were good though, not amazing, but good enough to beat an out of sorts side. Vettori's captaining was decent, if a little negative at times, especially to his own bowling. Their batters looked poor in the 2nd innings aswell, and if it wasn't for a good 1st innings performance the match would have been closer. Winning the toss was the key though, the pitch certainly detiriorated as the game went on, not by a lot, but 2 2nd innings scores of just over 100 prove that the pitch wasn't that great. We deserved to get beaten though, and I for one hope to see a much improved performance in the 2nd game.

 

[Sureshot]

We lost in Pakistan and drew in India, which is hardly a huge disaster considering the fact that spinners play a huge role and we didn't have any. The only disaster being drawing at home to Sri Lanka really. Don't get me wrong, purely as a Coach, Moores is pretty good, but as the head Coach, for me it just doesn't stack up, which is why I was calling for someone like an Andy Flower to lead the One Day side with Fletcher still as head coach for Tests. You can say I'm looking back at the past, but I said the exact same thing when Fletcher leaving was being mooted.

We all know that success in Tests is equal to getting 20 wickets. We've struggled to do that under Moores. Is that his fault? Well maybe for some selections. I do think the bowlers under Fletcher performed better though. Is that coach or bowling coach or even bowlers fault?

 

[barmyarmy]

Since Troy Cooley left tbh.

 

[Animator!]

Our fault that Cooley left though. Wanted a 3 year deal we only offered two. He wanted a deal that would secure financial security for him and his family, at least in the short term and we refused to give it to him.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Well I don't think Kicking off Peterson or Big changes in the team gonna help England..
Broad deserve chance and Harmy should say good bye to test cricket,thats logical..But nobody can ask peterson to be drooped..Its only time not good for English team..They simply need to regroup..I think they need to play on their potential actually what they are trying to do on the ground is not at all acceptable..
Hope Vaughn put some positive instinct in the team..And I bet Peterson will top scorer of the series at the end..

 

[RoboRocks]

Since Troy Cooley left tbh.

Well, Allan Donald did a pretty good job but we should have signed him up quicker perhaps. I know he went to South Africa for commentry reasons but really we should have signed him as soon as we saw what a good job he was doing.

I suppose Fletcher's strive for bowlers with pace helped us but Moores doesn't have the same ideas.

 

[manee]

Don't follow English cricket too closely, so excuse me if some of the views aren't correct...

But the batsmen seem to lack spine under pressure. Only experience can solve this and so perhaps England could look to pick more proven county batsmen rather than younger talent. Although not politically correct, England could perhaps look to batsmen who have had form slumps and fought out of them and perhaps England need to continue with Moores' policy of letting English internationals play in county cricket. England seemed unable to negotiate 130kph swing bowling, something which county cricket is made of. This being said, New Zealand's bowling was superb. They did not offer poor deliveries and seemed to really 'know' the pitch. I was especially interested in Chris Martin who extracts steep bounce off a length.

England's bowling was substandard too. Sidebottom was sublime, but Hoggard lacked the consistency which has been his trademark and Stevey Harmison was just shocking. Steve Harmison is not in a suitable mental state to be playing Test cricket. I don't claim to be a psychologist, but you don't need one to realise that he is not all there. He is trying his guts out and only bowling 80mph; don't be fooled, Harmison never hit 90mph more than half a dozen times in an innings even in his prime, but he is certainly lacking 5mph. His arms are all haywire and this has been his problem since the 2005 Ashes and it has been getting worse ever since. He needs biomechanical help, but is Ottis the man for the job?

I'd have Broad in for him in the next match.

 

[Leicester Fox]

Broad won't get picked, Moores hates him. How is tremlett better than Broad!! Anyway I think we'll win the next game but it doesn't make up for that embarassment.