Jamo Martinez
Player Valuation: £70m
James Rew at Somerset sounds like another with a big future.
The Ashes 2025
- Thread starter summerisle
- Start date
Hinchcliffe's Corner
Player Valuation: £50m
These results simply highlight what ive previously said, these cricketers aren't very good, or as good as people think they are certainly. Archer is fantastic to watch but will never reach what could have been, Wood again lovely to watch but doesn't do enough, no spinner, a terrible top order bar Root (Brooks in an ideal world bats 6/7 and continues to do what he does well). Their block bash approach gives them the best chance of success, because they simply don't have the technique to bat period of time on anything but a road.
Tommy Chong
Player Valuation: £70m
The English media have to take some blame for this. They love hyping the team up before hand, and then crucifying them when they don’t preform.
Hinchcliffe's Corner
Player Valuation: £50m
Possibly, the coaching set up does too, McCullum is in some ways admirable for trying to be at the coalface and taking as much media attention as he can by sticking up for them instead of it shining on the players, but also he really does enjoy the attention.
It also gives Lampard at Everton vibes, he's trying to get them to play like him but they're not good enough.
McCullums last Test for NZ is something to be studied. He came in at something like 10 for 3 vs Australia, and hit 100 off 50 balls or something crazy, one hell of a counter attack, what a way to finish your career. But when he was out a couple of hours later, normal service resumed and NZ were soundly beaten.
Hinchcliffe's Corner
Player Valuation: £50m
For what its worth I admire what McCullum and co are trying to do with what they have, it just won't come off all the time and now the wheels are falling off the bus. Bit like Blackpool when they came up to the Premier League.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
It's always handy to remember how absolutely terrible England were before McCullum and Stokes. It's just that they are stubborn, never learn from past mistakes, and they are too one dimensional in their approach, no matter the conditions or the state of the match.
These stats are particularly damning.
www.bbc.co.uk
'In the cold light of day, it can be argued England beat the teams they should have beaten anyway.
The Gabba is an eighth defeat in England's past 15 Tests. Away from home they have lost 10 in 14. There has been no win in a five-Test series against Australia or India. If it feels harsh to use a 4-1 defeat in India at the beginning of last year as part of the judgement, India have recently lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand and 2-0 to South Africa.'
These stats are particularly damning.
The Ashes 2025: 'England in battle to avoid worst Australia tour in modern times'
England are 2-0 down after just six days of the Ashes in Australia - careers and reputations are on the line for the remainder of the series, says Stephan Shemilt.
www.bbc.co.uk
'In the cold light of day, it can be argued England beat the teams they should have beaten anyway.
The Gabba is an eighth defeat in England's past 15 Tests. Away from home they have lost 10 in 14. There has been no win in a five-Test series against Australia or India. If it feels harsh to use a 4-1 defeat in India at the beginning of last year as part of the judgement, India have recently lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand and 2-0 to South Africa.'
Stokes and baz interviews were vastly different.
I wonder if they’re both seeing things differently.
I wonder if they’re both seeing things differently.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
I don't think it's that we're expecting miracles or that the team doesn't have talent, it's that they repeatedly get into decent positions and then throw it away. There have been so many batsmen getting 20/30+ here and then playing a ridiculous shot and getting out. We need those players to be getting big hundreds.
Hinchcliffe's Corner
Player Valuation: £50m
There's only one player in the team good enough to do it in the "traditional" way.
Exactly, this lot just don't play enough red ball cricket .
Sadly I think this is probably the best we could select but they are terribly led by McCullom and have now reached the stage where they believe their own hype.
They need to go back to basics and relearn cricketing nous.
There is nothing wrong with attacking cricket but FFS play the situation.
Some may say that you earn the right to play in a certain way. Patient play is 100% needed to get the bowlers to think about where they need to bowl. It is so damn obvious, I am in no way a cricket expert but it really is so damn obvious.
The opposition know exactly how they will play, so know that there is no need for any deep tactical discussion. It is simply bowl 5th/6th stump and let the batters get themselves out.....apart from Root, who has the ability to play in any way he likes.
Yes, there may be the odd batter that will get a few runs but the law of averages will say that not every batter will have a day connecting with everything wide and full, and therefore you are limiting the score, 8/9 times out of 10.
The strange this is, if you look at how Stokes typically plays, he takes time to get himself in before he starts throwing the bat. It makes me wonder if it's McCullum who wants them to thrash from the off.
