It’s been interesting to watch Broad’s personal development, in his early career (a good few years) he came over to me as having a lot of anger and attitude on the field, as a commentator he’s charming, amusing and insightful,
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Same with Jimmy(?), in that he was a true fast(er) bowler when young, evolving over the years to rely on his skill and control, rather than simply pace, albeit his lower back issues were a factor. I remember a younger Broad trying to bounce people out when he wasn’t truly a fast bowler (in the wider pantheon).
I also wonder whether there’s now far more peer pressure in the modern game, what with also the level of conditioning & coaching, that the players have to be far more mature(?)…and both JA and SB have had a long enough run-up to their respective retirements.
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To me, England were very fortunate to win at Lord’s against NZ and the team simply wasn’t the same in the ODI WC. I’m also not convinced by Buttler’s captaincy - it’s another case of a very good player being left to get on with their game, and nothing else (being a WK is bad enough).
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After days of denial that Mott was to go.
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I’ve lost count of the number of times Buttler has elected to chase. Against the bigger teams we seem to have lost a lot of them. Scoreboard pressure is a “thing” imho.
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Interesting article imho.
Broad is actually turning out to be a very good commentator. Some really good analysis of play as well as insight into the England team.`
Some commentators believe Buttler needs a firmer hand at coach level in order to find his leadership style.
I believe cricketers that have potential to become good captains don’t have the opportunity to learn the necessary skills, and they might not have the correct personality skills. Somethings can’t be taught.
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I think Buttler is quite stubborn.
The best player isn’t always the best captain; either because they lack those skills, or it hobbles their own contribution. Think Joe Root as well as Buttler.
Bruce
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I think the challenge is ‘who else?’ as, ideally, you don’t want someone from the (ever rotating) bowling group, which kinda leaves an established batsman in the 1-5 slots – and this is where England have interchanged so much, and the likes of Bairstow don’t want the job.
To my mind, the captain needs to be someone with plenty of brain-space to process what’s going on around them, being devoid of other responsibilities. Morgan was very much a fading light with the bat, but commanded the team. The Aussies get away with it with Cummins because the rest of the side is high quality. With England’s latest campaigns, the team was set to struggle and JB couldn’t lift them, with a few questionable coin toss decisions mixed in.
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I would be happier with JB if there was another wicker keeper, he is trying to do too much
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Time for Jamie Smith?
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Brooks is captaining a side in the 100. Could be good experience.
Yes, Moeen was probably able to carry a lot of the work ( rather like he did for Dhoni) but he’s gone.
Time for new thinking
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His batting the other night in the 100 looked seriously good.
And to be fair, last night’s game was almost exciting.
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Sad news: RIP Graham Thorpe
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Gee that’s sad news.
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Very sad. He was the mainstay of our batting for several years.
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