Cricket Comment: Kirsten is pick of candidates for Flower job February 3, 2014 COACH Andy Flower’s decision to step down from the England job following a disastrous winter caused mild surprise but it was no shock. As I’ve detailed in this column more than once, I think it is the right move – the question now is who succeeds him. In an ideal world it would be Gary [...]
England set for more power but global cricket overhaul diluted January 28, 2014 ENGLISH cricket remains on course for a larger slice of cash and greater influence at international level – but more extreme changes to the game’s future were watered down after a day of intensive bargaining yesterday. The International Cricket Council claimed “unanimous support” for plans to form a new executive committee, create a fund to [...]
Cricket Comment: Time for England to switch captain Cook for Morgan January 21, 2014 EIGHT consecutive defeats against Australia in all formats means a major debrief is essential when the players return home, but even now it is clear that certain changes will be needed. Replacing Alastair Cook as captain of the one-day side is chief among those. Friday’s second match was the final straw; there is no way [...]
Cricket Comment: Selectors cannot disregard Cook woe indefinitely January 14, 2014 ENGLAND’S problem, in Test matches and now one-day cricket too, is that they have forgotten how to get runs on the board and build a strong start. And that is why the current malaise afflicting their captain in both forms, Alastair Cook, is a concern that is increasingly difficult to ignore. Cook managed just four [...]
Cricket Comment: Ashes misery demands shake-up January 6, 2014 Flower and Cook deserve to stay, but their unconditional support is strange ENGLAND’S current coach and captain have just overseen the most disastrous tour for many a year, so I find it very strange that David Collier has thrown his resounding support behind Andy Flower and Alastair Cook. Following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash, everyone is [...]
Cricket Comment: Ashes catastrophe means this England team is finished December 17, 2013 THEY say Christmas is a time for reflection and I’ve a feeling England team director Andy Flower will be doing more soul-searching than most over the next couple of weeks. The late Bob Woolmer once told me he believed coaches had a maximum of five years with a team – by then you’ve imparted all [...]
Cricket Comment: Coaches to blame if England are unprepared December 10, 2013 MAYBE there’s an element of complacency to England’s woeful Ashes – clearly Australia are more hungry; to a man, desperate to win – but the biggest factor looks to be that they have been badly prepared. As unsettling and consistent as Mitchell Johnson has been, it was no secret he was bowling straight and fast. [...]
Cricket Comment: Time for Cook to end dismal run December 3, 2013 IF EVER there was a time for England to end their run of failing to score 400 in 18 consecutive Test innings then the second Ashes Test, which starts tonight, is certainly it. You dominate matches by getting big scores on the board and hitting 400 would send out a strong message. Now is the [...]
Cricket Comment: Clarke’s Ashes sledging row highlights silence surrounding the Spirit of Cricket December 2, 2013 Former batsman and son of England great Colin Cowdrey calls for change BACK in 1998 I attended the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League in Bangalore. My brother Jeremy had put together a plan to get Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the IPL, to embrace the Spirit of Cricket. I had dinner with cricketer [...]
Cricket Comment: Bring in Bairstow and bump Root up the order November 25, 2013 I WAS not as surprised as some when I heard that Jonathan Trott was leaving the England Ashes squad because of a stress-related illness. He is a complex character and has always been his own man. His performance in the first Test was not one of a man in the right mindset. In the second [...]