Alastair Cook says we shouldnt make any changes as this is ONLY the 3rd time we've been skittled in the last 3 years
Is he for real?? 3 times is 3 times too many for my liking.

Since the Ashes win in 2005 we've been bowled out for under 200 on 14 different occasions and 5 of those are for under 150!! And yet we still shouldnt drop the batsmen...they're quality players etc, dont become bad players overnight...well it's not overnight if its a consistent thing is it???

Im sorry but this kind of talk annoys me...its the usual English trait of trying to defend mediocrity...if we want to be the best team in the world we shouldnt stand for it...and make changes when necessary...bell should have been dropped 2 years ago, collingwood should have gone last year, cook probably should go now, harmison should never have been brought back, monty probably should be dropped about now...we've got some excellent young players but they dont get a sniff of a chance - horton, denly, bopara, rashid, hildreth, bresnan etc etc.

rant over....and breathe...

Cook needs to worry about his own form, he has the worst average of the top 6 over the last 14 months.

Couldn't agree more.

I'm not sure what purpose the England 'A' serves right now. I know that these players get the chance to experience different conditions, but surely to god they should be the feeder to the Test & ODI sides. If you've players playing poorly, you look at who's doing well in the 'A' side and capable of filling that role and give them a chance. We don't do that, folk jump straight past them, Harmison leapfrogs the 'A' bolwers to the Test side, as did Pattinson, as would/will Vaughan.

The likes of Key, Denly, Shah, Moore, Bopara etc should be very close if not in that side right now, but they couldn't be further away in truth.

If we'd been winning the majority of series' and having the occasional bad innings (which all teams are entitled to suffer) then we could let the selectors off...however, this top 6 is the same top 6 that got completely and utterly gubbed in Australia and we havent won any of our series' against decent opposition since...the only series' we've won have been against NZ, WI and a Pakistan team in total disarray and, not meaning to sound disrespectful to those teams, we should be beating them with the players we have available.

If I had my way Id have this as my team for the first test against the WI next summer:

Moore
Strauss
Key
KP
Bopara
Flintoff
Prior
Broad
Rashid
A Fast Bowler Who's On Form (Onions, Sidebottom, Hoggard, Harmison, Mahmood, Tremlett, Plunkett, Kabir Ali, etc etc)
Anderson

no the bowlers have done a fairly consistent job over the last few years. pietersen is a class act but he is no brian lara who scored the really big runs 400, 375, 27odd etc and almost carried the windies batting single handedly although the others were that bad they didnt win many tests during his career

Very few batsmen measure up to Lara.
The bowlers have been consistent compared to the batsmen, but that isn't saying much. Overall they are still pretty ordinary.

saw some stats somewhere for KP and they are freakish

3rd highest 50->100 convertion ratio only Bradman and some other god like player above him


5th fastest 'english' batsmen to 4000 runs behind Sutcliffe Hobbs Hutton Barrington - Lara did it in the same number of tests as KP but fewer innings.

I remember watching an interview with Lara, and he said that once he felt like he was dominating the bowlers, he wouldn't give up, he would dominate them and put them under persistent pressure, and that's how he'd get all of his big scores.

For me, KP does this at times, but not enough, and sometimes takes his foot off the pedal when he should really turn the screw, I always get the feeling once he gets his hundred, he'll shortly be out, now I'm sure there are stats to prove this wrong, but it's just a feeling I get with him.

I think if he can just raise himself to one more level, where he becomes the out-and-out best batsmen in the world, and leads England like Lara lead the Windies.

For me, he's the most talented batsmen in the world, in terms of technique, confidence and ability, I just think at times, he lacks a bit of steel up top and gets caught out.

we are talking ashes test matchs

From memory, prior to getting his 226 at Headingley two years, I think his bigest 100 was a 156 twice, (once in the Ashes 5th Test). I can't recall him getting a double hundred since. I know what you mean I think, he don't ever fancy him to just stay there, the old "seeing it like a football", he'll get 120/130 then try a massively expansive shot and get out like, which is cool, helmet in his hand, bat in the air and your buzzing like, but the greats would get in that zone, and make 200+.

I'd like to see him have a bit more fun when he got past a 100 like, chances are he'll have fielders back, given his 100, just have some fun, run it down to third man, flick it fine off your pads for four, let them move a fielder, you find the gap where they've moved from etc. He's that good, he could just demoralise them like. He thinks that clearing the ropes is the big one at times, the 'head downer', 6 singles off decent deliveries is just as demoralising, especially from my dibbly dobblies on a Sunday.