Originally Posted by
Doddie
Devil's Advocate time.
One thing that does concern me is the way everyone on the England bus seems determined to talk things up.
"Not a disaster."
"We played well, but lost it at crucial moments."
"We prepared as well as we possibly could have."
"We all worked really hard in the nets - don't see what we could have done differently."
"England's unity a huge positive."
And so on ....
4-0 (and a draw that was down to the pitch rather than any residual gutsiness on England's part) looks pretty much like a disaster to me.
I REALLY don't think Douglas Jardine, Brian Close, or Ray Illingworth would have been happy with that sort of return.
And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I'm not blaming Joe Root; he's an exemplary professional and a thoroughly decent man.
In my opinion he was badly let down by his vice-captain long before the tour began; too many senior players have come nowhere near the form that should have been expected of them; and the 'Avenue' night-club must be ever so grateful for the free publicity Bairstow (old enough to know better) and Duckett (supposedly there or thereabouts for selection to the senior team and also old enough to know better, especially after Bairstow's tour de force) gave them.
There must be questions about the coaching. Moeen was out the same way to the same bowler almost every time he went in. Vince gets in, and then out. Over and over again. Cook seemed to be in a daze for the first three matches. Isn't that the sort of thing coaches are supposed to deal with? Maybe I'm not seeing something others are seeing, but the team looked half-cooked at the Gabba - they competed for two innings then collapsed like an ill-done souffle. And then it got worse in Adelaide. And worse in Perth. And at the MCG. And then at the SCG. Apart from Melbourne, these matches weren't close-run affairs - they were tankings.
I think that anyone who missed this tour for whatever reason did themselves a favour. The senior players need to give themselves a good shake, waken up and give their captain proper support. The selectors and coaches need to waken up and pick and prepare a competitive side, with an eye on Australia coming to England in what - 18 months' time? because Smith gave them fair warning - he wants to keep the urn by winning in England, and my guess would be that everything between now and then will only really matter to the Aussies in terms of how it assists them in achieving that end. And believe it or not, I really would like to see England beating them next time around. But frankly, I don't see it happening.