I have to question not conceding over 600 from 1955-2003 as I’m sure the Windies scored 600 + against us in the 90s. In fact, I think both sides scored the same in their first innings - 640ish ? Stand to be corrected though.
In the Lara 375 match in 1994, they declared on 593-5! So below 600, if a bit "luckily" for England
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
In 2010/11 we did have a lot of height and bounce with our bowlers, with the giant Finn and Tremlett, that made a difference, with both probably at their peak
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
In 2010/11 we did have a lot of height and bounce with our bowlers, with the giant Finn and Tremlett, that made a difference, with both probably at their peak
That's true - but we then brought both those two plus that tall Irish guy on the 2013/14 tour and they were all rather ineffective - partly at least because we kept on getting knocked over for 200!
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
In 2010/11 we did have a lot of height and bounce with our bowlers, with the giant Finn and Tremlett, that made a difference, with both probably at their peak
That's true - but we then brought both those two plus that tall Irish guy on the 2013/14 tour and they were all rather ineffective - partly at least because we kept on getting knocked over for 200!
I can't remember the timelines, but Tremlett was declining by 2013/14 while Finn has never been the same since the "hand hitting the stumps" problems
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
In 2010/11 we did have a lot of height and bounce with our bowlers, with the giant Finn and Tremlett, that made a difference, with both probably at their peak
That's true - but we then brought both those two plus that tall Irish guy on the 2013/14 tour and they were all rather ineffective - partly at least because we kept on getting knocked over for 200!
I can't remember the timelines, but Tremlett was declining by 2013/14 while Finn has never been the same since the "hand hitting the stumps" problems
That is certainly true, but the batting was the bigger problem in 13/14 - although to be fair Johnson and Harris were a real handful.
Root in hospital with dehydration and may not bat today - a suitably fitting finale to this debacle
It turns out that his problems (vomiting, diarrhoea etc) were caused by a viral gastroenteritis bug, rather than heat stroke. He's really struggling out there, a brave effort
Utter spineless garbage from selection of squad to application of our players, well & trully thrashed no matter how you try to look for positives, very disapointing, next ashes over here are in 2019 & the Aussies are a lot nearer to winning over here than we are of both winning here & over there. Time to rebuild an attack that can play to Aussie conditions, I know our county game is not suited to 5 day tests or our pitches do not mirror Aussie pitches but change is required.
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
Usual deluded nonsense from Anderson if he thinks we weren't 'blown away'. Never came close to taking 20 wickets, heavy defeats in four games and would probably have been another whitewash if not for Cook's superb innings on a batsman-friendly wicket at the MCG. Cut the crap and give us some honesty...
Very poor response from England and now the series is all but over there are only three players who can really hold their heads up, Root, Malan and Anderson.
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
Good post.
Agree with pretty much all of that other than the part about our bowling was different in 2010/11 was different. Althought the point about Tremlett/Finn has already been made.
Usual deluded nonsense from Anderson if he thinks we weren't 'blown away'. Never came close to taking 20 wickets, heavy defeats in four games and would probably have been another whitewash if not for Cook's superb innings on a batsman-friendly wicket at the MCG. Cut the crap and give us some honesty...
Don't be daft. As a senior player he needs to play his part in keeping team spirit up. He did state that the Aussies deserved to win
You want him to say the truth; 'I bowled well and pretty consistently but nobody else did and our batsman just weren't good enough as their technique is poor' That would really help!
Usual deluded nonsense from Anderson if he thinks we weren't 'blown away'. Never came close to taking 20 wickets, heavy defeats in four games and would probably have been another whitewash if not for Cook's superb innings on a batsman-friendly wicket at the MCG. Cut the crap and give us some honesty...
Don't be daft. As a senior player he needs to play his part in keeping team spirit up. He did state that the Aussies deserved to win
You want him to say the truth; 'I bowled well and pretty consistently but nobody else did and our batsman just weren't good enough as their technique is poor' That would really help!
I'd have more respect if he fronted up and simply said: "they were too good for us in these conditions on these wickets. Looking back at the last two series out here, we need to go away and see what we can do to prepare so that when we next come here we don't lose 4-0 or 5-0 again."
Watching them spout utter drivel to 'keep team spirit up' drives me mad and anyone with half a brain can see it's bullsh*t. Tell it how it is and you never know: it might spark a positive response from his team-mates.
England are really regressing in Test match cricket. Back at home our bowlers will be much more effective, but the problems with the batting are just as severe, it's not as if most of our batsmen can cope with the moving ball either. If we were playing Australia this summer, I'd make them favourites
Conversely, I look at our ODI squad and think it looks pretty good. Certain players now seem to be "white ball" only now, such as Rashid, Plunkett, Hales and Buttler, it'll be interesting how they perform
If we had pace bowlers who could bowlers at 90mph plus we would pick them. Also if we had spin bowlers who could turn the ball sideways we would pick them. The problem is that we don't have either at the moment. Until we start producing wickets that don't just help quick medium bowlers this will probably continue.
Do the Aussies go through the same grief process ever time we've beaten them at home over the last 12 years? Felt good to type that! Every team plays best to their home conditions, we aren't the only team to travel badly. Be nice to have some bowlers and batsmen who can deal with pace.
I'm more worried that by the next home ashes, Anderson and Broad will be gone or going.
Do the Aussies go through the same grief process ever time we've beaten them at home over the last 12 years? Felt good to type that! Every team plays best to their home conditions, we aren't the only team to travel badly. Be nice to have some bowlers and batsmen who can deal with pace.
I'm more worried that by the next home ashes, Anderson and Broad will be gone or going.
The home series have been much closer though
2005 2-1 2009 2-1 2013 3-0 2015 3-2
So no whitewashes and any only one comfortable win in 2013, and even that was a bit flattering as shown by us losing 5-0 in Australia 6 months later.
Comments
Stoneman - Started OK but just did not kick on and in the end failed to do what was needed.
Cook - One great innings out of ten is not good enough. Plan for his replacement.
Vince - Started well but faded badly and kept on getting out to diabolical shots. Replace.
Root - Failed to kick on from 50's to 100s but still batted OK overall.
Malan - Successful tour but should have turned at least one more 50 into 100.
Bairstow - Poor tour with the bat really, one good knock in Perth is not enough for a top six batsman
Ali - Disaster. Can't be viewed as #1 spinner any longer, needs to earn his spot as top six batsman
Woakes - Needs to get back to his 2016 form when bowling 145Kmh - offers little on flat wickets
Overton - Worth persevering with, battled hard with bat and ball but needs another 5-10Kmh.
Curran - Same as Overton, bowled tidily but needs extra pace given his lack of height.
Anderson - Excellent effort - very skillful bowler and could have done no more.
Broad - Tried his balls off but something is not quite right, has dropped pace and lost the ability to move the ball away.
Ball - Crap in Brisbane. Not good enough.
Crane - Looked promising and battled hard but doubtful Hampshire will even play him in their first XI.
The bottom line is that England were very unlucky to lose not only Stokes - the best all-rounder in the world - but also their next three fast bowlers in Finn, Roland-Jones and Wood all through injury.
They then exacerbated that by not selecting a proper replacement quick bowler in the form of Liam Plunkett and also not having a proper second spinner available like Jack Leach - Ali could not do the containing job and we had nobody else but Crane.
On these flat pitches runs are a crucial currency, you need BIG totals and we got those in 2010/11 with Cook, Strauss, Trott, KP, Bell and Prior all scoring 100s and England making 500+ in every Test apart from Perth. We had SIX batsmen averaging over 40 - five of them over 50.
Those runs allow you to build scoreboard pressure and without them you will be royally fucked and ground into the dust over the five days.
Our bowling in 2010/11 wasn't too dissimilar to this series - we had no express pace then either - but we DID have Swann to tie an end up and bowl 45 overs per Test at around 2.7 runs per over.
England have produced only a handful of top-class out and out quick bowlers, we are not going to produce three by 2019! We can succeed in Australia with our type of bowling but ONLY if the batsmen come to the party and put big runs on the board, that then allows us to build pressure on the Aussies, remembering that they are expected to attack and get on top in home conditions.
We do have some promising young cricketers but we have big holes in all facets of the side with only Root, Malan, Bairstow, Anderson and Broad really guaranteed their places going forward - there are huge opportunities for emerging players to come in - but will they be good enough to take them?
Totally out of form with bat and ball and needs to take some time away from the Test side whilst he gets himself sorted.
My team for NZ....
Hameed
Cook
Root
Bairstow
Malan
Stokes (if available)
Foakes (WK)
Woakes
Broad
Crane
Anderson
Roland out
At least they lived up to expectations.
Agree with pretty much all of that other than the part about our bowling was different in 2010/11 was different. Althought the point about Tremlett/Finn has already been made.
You want him to say the truth; 'I bowled well and pretty consistently but nobody else did and our batsman just weren't good enough as their technique is poor'
That would really help!
Watching them spout utter drivel to 'keep team spirit up' drives me mad and anyone with half a brain can see it's bullsh*t. Tell it how it is and you never know: it might spark a positive response from his team-mates.
Conversely, I look at our ODI squad and think it looks pretty good. Certain players now seem to be "white ball" only now, such as Rashid, Plunkett, Hales and Buttler, it'll be interesting how they perform
Also if we had spin bowlers who could turn the ball sideways we would pick them.
The problem is that we don't have either at the moment.
Until we start producing wickets that don't just help quick medium bowlers this will probably continue.
I'm more worried that by the next home ashes, Anderson and Broad will be gone or going.
2005 2-1
2009 2-1
2013 3-0
2015 3-2
So no whitewashes and any only one comfortable win in 2013, and even that was a bit flattering as shown by us losing 5-0 in Australia 6 months later.