Some positive news
Some less positive news
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Well, what a surprise!!
“Wood set to miss Test summer after knee surgery”
BBC.
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No comment.
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Saw the end of the WPL , very good match , and the Indians have a helluva lot of really promising youngster .
Nat Sciver Brunt had a superb series and became the first player to reach a thousand runs in the WPL
See you can play in the IPL and for your country .
I’ll get my coat
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In a bit of defence of Brook, there quite a difference in the amount of cricket played.
Women’s IPL, 8 group matches and 1 or 2 matches for teams that get through.
Men’s IPL, 14 group matches, plus 1, 2 or 3 matches for teams that get through.
The England women and men are both schedules for 11 T20s this year (if I read cricinfo right).
The women have 9 ODIs and the men 15.
The women have one Test and the men 10.
So to play all the team’s WPL matches and all internationals a woman would play 33-35 days, and a man 90-93 (or 70-73 if the tests only run to 3 days).
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Thank you Eoin for your correction .
I think the IPL is a bloat of a tournament and much prefer the women’s IPL for it’s shortened form - and it doesn’t outstay it’s welcome
That is a crazy amount of cricket for the men , no wonder some key players have long term injuries
Best wishes
Ian
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I imagine he has been listening to the sound of blades being sharpened for a few weeks now.
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Yes, there has been something amiss , the women just didn’t look 
fit in comparison to their Aussie counterparts
This was really obvious in the WPL , the Aussie girls looked really fit and only NSB looked to their standard
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Although Sophie E didn’t look no in great shape, she did bowl really effectively and won them at least 2 games, it seemed to be a bit of the Warne effect to me.
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Once must look at all this through the lens of an Aussie nation of ~25M people, with a very high level of ‘sports culture’ embedded, whether it be cricket, hockey, rugby (both codes) et al. Their talent pool compared to England is enormous, even though the population stats suggest it should be completely otherwise. Why? Well, because of their culture, facilities, weather and commitment via coaching.
Watching some legacy Aussie Test cricket a few days ago, I was reminded that when the Aussies were clear world #1 team, their effective 2nd XI players would also have been highly competitive, of course some chose county cricket.
It’s clear that the Aussie team has been far better coached to play cricket across all facets of the game (and India are catching up fast). My technical evaluation of many of the England players would not be polite. In a way I feel sorry for Lewis, as some of the performances have been pretty poor and that’s down to the players. We all know in life that certain situations require differing management styles, and perhaps some very ‘tough love’ is required for some?
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When the WPL started there were quite a few English players, I saw Charlie Dean with the bib of shame a couple of times and SE + NSB but I can’t remember any others .
Dani Gibson played IIRC, but the others played rarely, if at all, which is hardly surprising given the limitations on overseas players and the concentration of talent from other nations, plus the WPL is turning in to a hitting competition, hardly surprising given the quality of the bowling at times. It’s a weird game when many bowlers pitch it half way down and ask for it to be hit, hoping they will get wickets this way!!
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Looked like a step up in professionalism across the entire women’s game in the UK was needed. The coach may well have been let down by players but it felt like time for a change, and a wake up.
The realistic goal may not be to supplant Australia as the No1 just yet, but to be competitive at least. They were poor in every facet this winter series; the fielding was embarrassing at times. That is coachable, as is fitness and preparation.
Bruce
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Sorry I forgot about Ms Gibson
Re the coaching, let’s be clear that an England coach(es) can’t iron-out fundamental issues which are embedded in a player’s game, which is what I’m seeing. I wonder whether the batting issues (too much bottom hand/poor shot selection/not rolling wrists et al) stem from not being coached to play with technique from early doors i.e. it’s akin to the reading & writing debates, about allowing kids to do ‘their style’ and trying to impose structure and conformity later on, after bad habits have become ingrained.
I sometimes wonder if some players get manufactured (to a level), rather than starting from a base of natural talent. I’ve found fielding to be a good indicator of this, as if you haven’t got the natural co-ordination to catch a ball, what hope for your batting?
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The worst of the IPL on display today - discuss! SRH 247-3 from 17.3 overs. Archer 3.4 for 71.
It’s simply a hitting fest.
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Much prefer the WPL .
I was about to post that Archer had gone for 76 in 4 overs, but you beat me to it.
It’s Cricket Jim, but not as we know it!
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But if you play a Test match in India you play on a ploughed cabbage patch that turns sideways. (I exaggerate a little).
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