I think their was an element of trying to protect him a little his bowling is very raw and he bowls a lot of bad bowls (as most young leggies do) and going badly around the park in that situation could have had a long term effect on his confidence. Getting a few cheap wickets against the tail won't do him any harm but his bowling as it stands is nowhere near that of a front line Test spinner.

Haddin and Rogers

What I meant is he was bowling at the end of innings when they were basically slogging which gave him the opportunity to pick up a few cheap wickets.

I also didn't say I thought it was the right thing to do but I think Cook was trying to protect him a little, he did go for 80 in 13 overs in the match and bowls a lot of full tosses.

Oh and they did lose three wickets for one run

The thought process and thinking has been muddled and wrong since the day they picked the squad.

'Oh and they did lose three wickets for one run '

Shouldn't this be in the Qwerty's Sums Forum??

Very harsh on Broad and Anderson. We've bowled on everyday at of this tour bar one, they've constantly been let down by the batsmen and their top order has often been able to play aggressively in the second innings because of the healthy lead they had. Anderson hasn't bowled like someone averaging 43, George Bailey won't get too many opportunities to hit a bowler for 28 again in a Test match again.

The problem is solely in the top 5 and lack of spinner. Cook and Bell normally struggle in Australia so I'm not concerned about them, KP will also continue to hurt teams. I really hope it's a case of all these batsmen having an awful series at the same time as I can't see us having too many better options. Would be nice to see Trott come back and give us another option.

Get Onions back for the home series and we have a decent 4 man attack, we desperately need to find a spinner though.

It's strange that twelve months ago the only spot up for grabs was the number six, now it's currently the most secure

Actually mate, I feel for you. Maybe it was a once in a lifetime chance to go and see a few tests in Aus in the sunshine in the winter and .... well, they didn't perform for you.

I hope there was some consolation to be found outside the cricket.

Is this the Cook who scored 766 on the 2010/11 Ashes tour

Yes, the very same. Look at everyone's record outside of that series and it makes for poor reading.

It wasn't really a once in a lifetime trip cos I was there the last time we lost 5-0 so I was fully prepped for it! Didn't detract from the holiday but would have been amazing to have seen a win.

Wouldn't stop me going again even if I should probably stay away for the sale of the team!

sake not sale

Do you really think that beating sri lanka next summer can possibly make up for this debacle?

It SHOULD take years for english cricket to get over the humiliation, but it wont. The cricketing fraternity have already forgotten it, and are thinking about the next series, and how on english wickets, Anderson will take wickets and Pieterson, Bell Trott, cook etc will make runs.

Only in cricket, a shocking performance that has embarrassed the nation, can be forgotten so quickly, depending on who we play next.

Very few of the current team deserve another chance to improve their own personal stats just cos we are playing an inferior team.

If the players arent accountable then whats the point?

I wouldn't say Sri Lanka are inferior to Australia.

well obviously the authorities disagree with you, as Sri lanka are only worthy of two matches.

In which case your're just a sick masochist and I withdraw my sympathy!!

I'd love to know how your mind works at times.

Its quite simple. So should be quite easy for you.

Sri Lanka have some very good players but dont have a fear factor. They are also not a lucrative opponent. They are not a blue Ribbon event. Its not the ashes.

So, Now you understand that very complicated set of statements, why would the general public care that much if the same players beat THEM?

Within cricketing circles it would be considered a good/great performance, becuase the establishment will stick together and pretend the ashes never happened.

The General Public will say......so fucking what? They couldnt perform when they really needed to.

By the way, listening to Flowers today was as depressing as fook.

I cant think of anyone in any top job that could have performed that badly yet kept their job.

Its soul destroying.

The BBC Sport website has been pretty good on the causes of the debacle over the past couple of days, with Michael Vaughan and Aggers getting properly stuck in rather than doing the polite 'all good chaps' bit.

Flowers looks determined to soldier on; fair enough, he's earned it, but the least he should do is bring in some new coaches and get rid of the bubble mentality that goes with 82 page menus and all the rest of the 5 star treatment surrounding a 2 star team.