Collapses in West Indies brought back bad memories of 2019. Little seems to have changed with pressure to succeed at Test level still leading to bad decision-makingAnother series defeat and England have now won one of their past 17 Tests. Whatever decisions are made over the next few weeks I expect this run to continue for a good while yet because, put simply, where you need a nucleus of quality, experienced players at the heart of a Test team they have a vacuum.Particularly in this form of the game, the lack of experience countering different conditions is unquestionably a disadvantage. Continue reading...
As the finger of blame jabs in all directions, England are hampered above all by a misguided sense of exceptionalismNobody ever beats England. England only ever lose of their own accord, by their own hand, from their own failings. This is doubly true if England are playing a team they generally expect to beat and, from the outbreak of ritual bloodletting that has followed the narrow 1-0 defeat in the recent Test series, West Indies certainly seem to have fallen into that category.Why this might be the case is less easily explained. England have not won a Test series in the Caribbean since 2004. Four members of that touring party were commentating on this series. Three are current members of...
England’s skipper may be a fine batsman and a nice guy but his poor leadership has been exposed once again in the CaribbeanAfter the year England’s Test team have had, nine out of 10 captains would have resigned or been sacked. Joe Root survived, somehow, while several other heads rolled. After impressing Andrew Strauss with his appetite, he was given the chance to rebuild his own broken team. He banished Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, the only top-class bowlers at his disposal. And in the first two Tests in West Indies, it looked as if it might just be working.Even a Root-o-sceptic had to admit that there were signs of progress. The fielding was sharper, the team spirit stronger, the...
The island can stake a claim to be per capita one of the most productive cricketing, and sporting, nations in the worldWest Indies v England at Kensington Oval is a special occasion that takes place on sacred ground; a country so lush by way of cricketing talent per head over the years, Barbados stands out as one of world sport’s most remarkable hotspots.Before the roll call of great Barbadian cricketers spools down the page, first consider the numbers: with a population of 287,000, the new republic would sit fourth bottom were it ranked alongside England’s 48 counties, tucked between Herefordshire and Northumberland (with more palm trees than either). And yet this 21-miles-by-14-miles island, the most easterly in the Lesser Antilles,...
New silverware is up for grabs in a series that will bring some much-needed cash into Caribbean cricketEngland may be trying to turn a corner West Indies know only too well, and thoughts of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad kicking their heels at home will take some shifting by their replacements, but the three-Test series that begins at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday has a greater significance.On Sunday evening, the newly minted Richards-Botham Trophy was unveiled by the two cricketing titans who made their first class Somerset debuts together in 1974, shared an apparently riotous flat in Taunton and have been like brothers ever since. Richards, 70 on Monday, remains in incredible physical nick, as if he could...