Peter Moores said he was brought in to make a difference; seems to be a poor choice. When Gatting was skip, he had to manage characters like Botham etc and did it very successfully. Well thought of by his teammates. Perhaps he should have been considered.
Trouble is that Gatting is nowadays a 20 stone (about that) tubby chappie and doesn't fit the profile of a modern, model English cricket person, i.e.: A Lean, mean, socially aware, diet conscious, computer stats literate AND .. fecking useless athlete
Peter Moores said he was brought in to make a difference; seems to be a poor choice. When Gatting was skip, he had to manage characters like Botham etc and did it very successfully. Well thought of by his teammates. Perhaps he should have been considered.
Trouble is that Gatting is nowadays a 20 stone (about that) tubby chappie and doesn't fit the profile of a modern, model English cricket person, i.e.: A Lean, mean, socially aware, diet conscious, computer stats literate AND .. fecking useless athlete
Oh dear. Was thinking of sending my CV to the ECB 'cos I didn't think it mattered being a 20 stone (about that) tubby chappie and doesn't fit the profile of a modern, model English cricket person AND..fecking useless athlete.
We invented T20 but stick our noses up at it. The old school may not like it, but T20 is the future of cricket in the 21st century and beyond. You can now watch a cricket game after work. Our system would have to be built around the counties, but they need to play much more of it rather than one/three day matches when a couple of old blokes and a dog are in the crowd. We are now at a point where any limited overs game should start from a T20 point – we still start from the test team point. Getting rid of Cook was the right call, but it was done too late and demonstrated just how wrong our approach is.
I think everyone is ignoring the REAL problem we have - in that cricket is no longer played on a big scale at schools.
My 10 year old son goes to a state school in South Africa where there are approx. 50 boys in his age grade. They have 3 cricket teams. Every school has a cricket team.
The same doesn't happen here - cricket isn't important to schools in the same way.
Also, another major issue is that schools start their holidays mid-July - just when the cricket season in getting in full swing, and comes back mid sept - just as cricket season is finished.
I think everyone is ignoring the REAL problem we have - in that cricket is no longer played on a big scale at schools.
My 10 year old son goes to a state school in South Africa where there are approx. 50 boys in his age grade. They have 3 cricket teams. Every school has a cricket team.
The same doesn't happen here - cricket isn't important to schools in the same way.
Also, another major issue is that schools start their holidays mid-July - just when the cricket season in getting in full swing, and comes back mid sept - just as cricket season is finished.
Unless the kids are old enough to play adult cricket, the club season also finishes mid July.
That means a child who doesn't get cricket at school might only play seven or eight games a season and bat three or four times all year. And they might train with the clubs in the winter as well as the summer for that return.
All of which is why football is the preferable sport to most kids as it runs from August to May with festivals in addition during the months of June and July.
And of course it is also the reason why so many of our cricketers come from the big private schools. That and the fact that playing cricket at the top level isn't cheap for parents. I would estimate that equipment, coaching, playing clothes, subs, county festivals, travel etc etc probably cost between £3k and £5K per annum, whereas if you are any good at football, the club funds virtually everything.
I think everyone is ignoring the REAL problem we have - in that cricket is no longer played on a big scale at schools.
My 10 year old son goes to a state school in South Africa where there are approx. 50 boys in his age grade. They have 3 cricket teams. Every school has a cricket team.
The same doesn't happen here - cricket isn't important to schools in the same way.
Also, another major issue is that schools start their holidays mid-July - just when the cricket season in getting in full swing, and comes back mid sept - just as cricket season is finished.
Unless the kids are old enough to play adult cricket, the club season also finishes mid July.
That means a child who doesn't get cricket at school might only play seven or eight games a season and bat three or four times all year. And they might train with the clubs in the winter as well as the summer for that return.
All of which is why football is the preferable sport to most kids as it runs from August to May with festivals in addition during the months of June and July.
And of course it is also the reason why so many of our cricketers come from the big private schools. That and the fact that playing cricket at the top level isn't cheap for parents. I would estimate that equipment, coaching, playing clothes, subs, county festivals, travel etc etc probably cost between £3k and £5K per annum, whereas if you are any good at football, the club funds virtually everything.
.... And that is why we keep winning the football World Cup! Oh, no, hang on. ;-)
I think everyone is ignoring the REAL problem we have - in that cricket is no longer played on a big scale at schools.
My 10 year old son goes to a state school in South Africa where there are approx. 50 boys in his age grade. They have 3 cricket teams. Every school has a cricket team.
The same doesn't happen here - cricket isn't important to schools in the same way.
Also, another major issue is that schools start their holidays mid-July - just when the cricket season in getting in full swing, and comes back mid sept - just as cricket season is finished.
Unless the kids are old enough to play adult cricket, the club season also finishes mid July.
That means a child who doesn't get cricket at school might only play seven or eight games a season and bat three or four times all year. And they might train with the clubs in the winter as well as the summer for that return.
All of which is why football is the preferable sport to most kids as it runs from August to May with festivals in addition during the months of June and July.
And of course it is also the reason why so many of our cricketers come from the big private schools. That and the fact that playing cricket at the top level isn't cheap for parents. I would estimate that equipment, coaching, playing clothes, subs, county festivals, travel etc etc probably cost between £3k and £5K per annum, whereas if you are any good at football, the club funds virtually everything.
.... And that is why we keep winning the football World Cup! Oh, no, hang on. ;-)
It explains why Bangladesh don't beat us at football.
The other thing, of course, is the attraction of financial reward. An 18 year old will earn approx 18K a season playing cricket for a county. The equivalent of what he would earn in one week at a PL Club.
Matthews has just hit a 20 ball 50. He went from 27 to 51 in four balls and then was caught on the boundary going for a fifth six in consecutive balls.
Matthews has just hit a 20 ball 50. He went from 27 to 51 in four balls and then was caught on the boundary going for a fifth six in consecutive balls.
Comments
My 10 year old son goes to a state school in South Africa where there are approx. 50 boys in his age grade.
They have 3 cricket teams.
Every school has a cricket team.
The same doesn't happen here - cricket isn't important to schools in the same way.
Also, another major issue is that schools start their holidays mid-July - just when the cricket season in getting in full swing, and comes back mid sept - just as cricket season is finished.
That means a child who doesn't get cricket at school might only play seven or eight games a season and bat three or four times all year. And they might train with the clubs in the winter as well as the summer for that return.
All of which is why football is the preferable sport to most kids as it runs from August to May with festivals in addition during the months of June and July.
And of course it is also the reason why so many of our cricketers come from the big private schools. That and the fact that playing cricket at the top level isn't cheap for parents. I would estimate that equipment, coaching, playing clothes, subs, county festivals, travel etc etc probably cost between £3k and £5K per annum, whereas if you are any good at football, the club funds virtually everything.
Surrey are one lucky team.
6 4 4 4 (wide) 4 1
242-2 off 36
Thiramanne 4 (21)
Dilshan 104 (99)
Sangakkara 124* (92)
Jayawardene 2* (4)
Oh, no, hang on.
;-)
Jayawardene 2 (6)
Sanga 124 (95)
The other thing, of course, is the attraction of financial reward. An 18 year old will earn approx 18K a season playing cricket for a county. The equivalent of what he would earn in one week at a PL Club.
326-4 off 44
Sangakkara, Thirimanne and Dilshan have now amassed 1152 runs in this WC.
Coleman 70 (71)
Berrington 20 (10)
Earlier, Mommsen got 60 from 75 balls.
ENG vs AFG in Sydney. England win the toss and will bowl first.
Team: Bell, Hales, Taylor, Root, Morgan(c), Buttler, Bopara, Jordan, Broad, Tredwell, Anderson
They're off the pitch for rain in Sydney. Afghanistan 24-2 after 8.5 overs.
Anyone wearing the shirt and catching a six one-handed during tournament matches played in New Zealand, wins a share of NZ$1,000,000
Afghanistan 111-7 off 36.2
England 101-1 off 18.1 of their permitted 25 overs
Bell 52*
Hales 37