It’s a done deal now surely, either waiting for the century or maybe going to bat until half an hour before tea.
I’m not clear what possessed England to want to bowl first on Friday in this weather. Very odd imho.
McCullum sacked as Test coach. Teeny bit rudderless now, no coach or captain with a Test series due shortly! Still, better late than never.
He remains as white ball coach. Key escapes.
Bruce
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I don’t know what Key does. Brendon leaving Tests is common sense I think. I wonder if someone else is already lined up? Captain is a difficult one.
Now comes the big challenge. Despite the failures and performances that drive all England supporters to distraction his team was significantly less appalling than the team he took over. The new coach gets two world-class batters, two potentials in Bethell and Gay, and some Test-class rather than world class quicks who have injury problems. For decades now batters come up from County cricket and the majority fail to deliver against the best, look at the averages (and strike rates) of the best batters and bowlers for the last 30 years and very few England players are near the top.
So something definitely needed to change, the team was clearly going backwards, but believing a new coach is the panacea fails to take into account the reality of the player pool they have to play with.
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England test batters need to bat for long periods and value their wickets more. They are often all out in 50 to 80 overs. The bowlers don’t get a rest between innings.
I was talking, last year, to a school coach who feeds kids into our younger county age groups. He said they look for youngsters who can score quickly and can hit a quick 30 or 40, rather than bat for long periods. So I guess we reap what we sow. I also guess they are trying to get youngsters to enjoy the game.
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But before the focus on attacking we had the opposite problem, lots of batsmen who had one or two scoring shots, who played “nuggety” innings, defended a lot, but didn’t have the technique to consistently get big scores against the top teams. When it comes down to it being able to defend for a time, play a few cover drives and average in the 30s isn’t world class, but we had a conveyor belt of that.
Two thing that confuse me about this Test, 1 is as asked above why did Nat choose to bowl first, and 2 why isn’t Harmanpreet declaring? All she’s doing is giving England an outside chance to save it.
Re McCullum and Stokes. I still find myself trying to work out if the latter decided to chop the legs out from under the former with his resignation. Maybe I am too Machievellian!
I would like Jason Gillespie as coach. He was sooo sensible on Comms during the Ashes and has a coaching pedigree in England. Whoever it is needs to be given space to bring in some of this new younger squad, supported by his new selector (also an Aussie) and patience from English cricket supporters.
There’s talent out there but the gap twixt county and Test cricket is wide so they need exposure and, maybe, actually coaching too, not just a vibe. Radical I know.
Bruce
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I think the answers are:
1- this is a weak England Test side – the recent T20 team is better than this, especially in the bowling department.
2- I think your ESP worked again, as she just has. Do you think England can bat for 4 sessions - I don’t.
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The timing of the announcement of the coach’s sacking is, for me and some punters, poor. It distracts from the women’s first test at Lords.
At worst, it speaks to senior management not appreciating the significance of the women’s game and is patronising. At best it is just a lack of awareness of the bigger picture around the game with the relative perspectives of men and women’s teams and their development. Disappointing.
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Gould was very political when asked about the timing on TMS, as he was when asked about Stokes’ treatment. It was an interesting interview, it was good to learn that the administrators have done so well and made no dubious decisions.
Gaud is again showing there is enough movement, when the ball threatens the stumps. Harmanpreet Kaur is a class act, the guards of honour for first Healey and now Beaumont are excellent gestures.
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ECB or McCullum finally make the right decision
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Yesterday’s lowlights from the women’s Test, which played out more like a testimonial game. Bluntly, some truly dreadful cricket from England, especially the early batting, and Messrs. Butcher & Knight on Sky were struggling to be polite (IMHO).
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Yes, the announcement comes the day after England became the Number 1 T20 side in the world rankings.
I think the problem lies with those who selected him, not with him
The Test team has clearly gone backwards
Scapegoats can always be found
Sorry Ian I don’t believe he was a scapegoat I’d say he deserved to go. He promised a lot and delivered very little.
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Don’t agree.
He took an awful England Test team and liberated people to play some exciting and effective cricket with Bazball 1.0. It is easy to forget just how bad they were before, and how amazing it seemed initially. Where he failed was in being unable to develop from that start. He was too loyal for too long to ‘his’ players and his lack of coaching showed as they just continued with the one-dimensional style. It culminated in the Ashes were the lack of planning and preparation were also exposed. He then basically refused to accept much culpability or to change. The team discipline issues aren’t the main problem but thay also support a narrative of a laissez-faire culture when things needed tightening up.
In my view the management failure was in letting things drift so obviously from after the Ashes until now as though there was some belief he would change. Tweaking the edges but leaving him in post was weak and doomed in my view. We should have started the red ball season under a new leadership team, not ended up there half-way through.
Bruce
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This 
– He injected confidence in to a flagging side, which was reliant on Root’s batting and his often overly-conservative captaincy. But you have to have a phase 2 beyond this, and there hasn’t been one. One trick pony? And, as you say, you don’t pay big bucks to a coach to get things so spectacularly wrong.
I suppose we should acknowledge that McCullum appears to be getting a tune out of the T20 team. For now anyway.
Bruce
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My wife, who is not a massive cricket fan, commented that the England players did not look like they were talking it seriously. More involved in the occasion than the match. Plus pratting around in the pavilion.
The England batters showed poor technique overlaid with terrible decision making.
I was embarrassed watching Tammy B being bowled first ball and then going off waving to the crowd. Etc.
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I think you were wise to stay away - as did many others
It was a day where if we had a stadium with a roof the roof could be raised - because of the heat .
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