West Indies v. England A Post Mortem

First thoughts about the West Indies v. England result is a blizzard of memories about confusion over bowlers, moaning about pitch conditions, agonising about batting order and wondering if the IPL distractions would scupper the England ship. Cricket betting fans must be fed-up to the back teeth with this shambles. Immediately prior to a visit from the Australians for the Ashes tour this summer, we are treating a less than strong and confident Australian side to the delights of self-inflicted weaknesses born out of an abject failure to get to grips with the issues that matter and get on with winning for once.

Firstly, it can’t have escaped the attention of the various England coaches, captains, players and cricketing authorities that winning sides such as the fifteen year run the Aussies had are the consequence of excellent players and consistent captaincy enabled to groove themselves as a team without the constant distractions caused by squabbling over which bowlers are on form and why our batsmen get a pair of golden ducks one day and 200 runs the next. Let’s please set a side that requires only fine tuning when needs be and then stick with it

Secondly, Strauss seems to be a level headed captain with the ability to inspire his team with consistent batting, especially when needed. The trouble is, England players only seem to be REACTIVE in the good play department. They can rally after a trashing such as occurred in the second Test with the West Indies, but they can’t get out there and PROACTIVELY win the first Test of a competition. The last time they did this was at Lords in May 2005 and it’s high time the ‘all hands on deck in a crisis’ attitude was shelved in favour of harnessing that energy and delivering it on day one of the series. And then on day two, day three and forever more.