The golf was fantastic. What a player Rory McIlroy is.

And then you think of the cricket.

Is cricket the only sport where someone keeps their place, and people still wax lyrical about players, because of what they did 18 months earlier?

Its the Ryder cup later this year. Will anyone get picked because they were good 3 years ago?

Tiger Woods?

Tiger woods won 5 times last year.

Maybe now you'll understand why no one is interested in Graeme Storm

Cricket..gripping, lead kept changing, swung backwards and forwards for four days.

Golf..Rory McIlroy lead from day one to day four.

Endof.

The Test match has been brilliant, played on a superb cricket wicket. Proper contest between bat and ball.

Really?

Whats exciting about runs being scored at less than 3 per over for 4 days?

And what exciting about England being shit?

Joe Root excluded.

The golf was being played by the games world best.

The cricket is england.

and the Ryder cup soon too.

I bet you faggots are all golf fans then.

and I am playing today. In work time. Legally.

Just a little?

Root excepted.

John wasnt that down to the conditions though if it had been chucking it down and windy I doubt anyone would have gotten to -10.

He needs dropping, decent potential but living off one good innings in Austin in a sea of shite

He's been fine bowling wise. However he's in as an all-rounder and his recent record for England is embarrassing. He's scored 18 runs in his last 9 or 10 innings.

Doesn't help when he's playing utterly stupid shots like that. Time to go for a bit I think.

Before the series started I said England wouldn't win it and that Stokes needed more time playing his cricket for Durham before an England call up.

Not a popular view at the time (all of a couple of weeks ago), but England are going nowhere with Cook as captain and the senior pros pretty much all out of form. as for Ben Stokes, he'd had only 6 innings in the County Championship (averaging 28) after coming back from his self-inflicted injury when he was recalled. He's bowled well, but can this England team afford a number 8 who doesn't trouble the scorers in 3 consecutive innings?

He needs to be back with his County - and so do Cook and Prior!

From what I've seen of Prior he needs a rest. Read a good article over the weekend by AlecvStewart who reckons Prior should take some time off for an op. Come back fit for the next series.

Cook looks a beaten man.

I don't a quick solution or easy remedy to this mess to be honest but some of the recent performances have reminded me of the mid to late nineties when we last had a poor Test team.

I think the thrashing in the winter has taken it's tole on the senior players, they just aren't performing. Prior looks like an old man, Alec Stewart said this morning he's playing with three injuries. We could have just seen his last test as he certainly isn't doing himself any favours. Anderson and Broad look well short of top form, Bells lack of runs has gone under the radar because Cook had scored less. All of the younger or less experienced players have performed to a point.

I thought Cook spoke well after the game. He's an admirable character given all the focus on him and is clearly a strong character. The crowd seem behind him and players seem to be all behind him. How long can a situation go on for though when he's not contributing with the bat and we haven't won in 9 Tests? Does he need the captaincy removing because for me his runs are more valuable than his captaincy. Too much is being made of his captaincy though, it's not easy to lead a team that has forgotten how to win. A few of his senior team mates need to stand up and perform for him. I feel for the bloke but if things continue in a similar vein next week (which I think they will we just aren't a good team right now) surely the time has come to take him out of the firing line for a couple of weeks and let him come back and just focus on his batting, which the team desperately needs back. Who takes over though? I don't see an obvious candidate.

Agreed. It feels like the coach and selectors have only one idea - that Cook scuffs his way to 50 in an innings then the runs start to flow and normal service is resumed. It doesn't look at all likely at the moment and all they're achieving is to expose Cook to ridicule.

Michael Vaughn is touting Morgan for captain - his record suggests he's more of a one day player but he's a tough character and might be able to lead by example. Worth a try I think.

Bairstowe?

Morgan is an interesting shout but it would be a bit call to make someone who has a question mark about his technique in red ball cricket captain of the Test team.

He'd certainly add some dynamism to England's batting which at the minute is hardly putting bums on seats.

I don't rate Sam Robson particularly from what I've seen. He looks a nervous cricketer. I don't think our top order put bowlers under pressure and allow bowlers to bowl maidens too often. Here's my team for Southampton, no chance of happening but it would be better to watch and have more chance of winning;

Cook
Moeen Ali
Ballance
Bell
Root
Morgan (c)
Buttler
Stokes/Plunkett/Jordan
Broad
Anderson
Panesar

On current form there Mr PJ you haven't got a ton on the board before the fourth wicket unless someone has a freak innings.

I haven't got the answers, Prior was only recently good for a half but now we're looking at miracles down the order.

Gary Ballance isn't in form?

Two tests ago Moeen Ali batted all of day 5.

They did. We lost. Cook and Bell won't stay in. One of Ali or Ballance will go and then we'll be looking at Morgan to pull it out of the fire.

Yes because Ian Bell's a terrible player, no chance of him scoring runs.

of course it hasnt.

its just cricket snobbery in this country that keeps that perception alive.

I have seen some words used in this thread like brilliant and excellent, but havent come across the words Shambolic, or pathetic much.

Even though we have just been hammered by a bang average indian side.

Yes, but he isn't.



Yes, but he didn't in the second innings. I'm not saying leave him out, I'm saying if he goes, there's little back up.

If you want to cling on to Cook and Bell fair enough, but this was India and they came up short. History is always a good refuge.

Its the same old argument trotted out by the cricketing fraternity all the time.

they use stats to keep players out, and use the same stats to keep people in.

Pietersons recent stats were used on here as a reason to keep him out.

But they used Cooks overall stats to keep him in.

Statistics and lies eh?

Cooks captaincy is shite, and he a dull and very boring man.

A great cricketer and a very nice fella.

Both those sentences are true.

And the argument that who is there to replace him s doing my napper in.

So we keep him cos no one else is good enough?

the reasoning of losers.

Was it? Really?

I was listening to test match special at lunch time.

Jonathan Agnew, John etheridge and Mike Selvey basically slaughtered this team. And their tactics, their bowling, and the captaincy. And this was before the pathetic batting.

And yet on here its claimed it was a superb match.

I suppose you can see good matches on the Rec, between evenly matched teams. There wont be any quality on show.

Is that a good analogy?

Prior, Stokes and Plunkett need dropping

Prior is past it, Stokes needs to go away and prove himself at county level, and Plunkett at the age he is will never improve to be good enough

We don't have a lot of other options I know but persisting with the above seems pointless though Stokes may come back

Stokes (ignoring Cooks one over!) is top of England's bowling averages for the series and has the best economy rate.

Yes he's had three ducks but that can happen, he's got nothing to prove at county level he's a talent I think dropping him after 3 failures with the bat might do him more harm than good.

Well Prior is gone, and thankfully no one is seriously suggesting Bairstow as his replacement !

No one likes a smart arse or an I told you so. So I won't.

He chased a ball yesterday trying to prevent a quick single and honestly if he was a race horse they'd have erected one of those white tents around him and shot him on the spot. He'd looked knackered.

I can see him playing England again, he's only 32 even if he has looked 52 in his mobility this game so he potentially has a few years left in him if he can get fit. I get the feeling he's played half fit because of the threat of Jos Buttler looming over his place in the team but it comes to a point were you've got to admit by trying to play half fit you are doing yourself and the team no favours.

We need Bairstow back in there.

Plunkett did well though and should keep his place.

Oh yeah, and Cook scored a lot of runs three years ago so he should always be first on the team sheet, written by, errr...the team Captain...

who is....

oh shit....

like I said, someone on here told us that Peiterson didnt warrant a return as his record over the last 12 months is poor.

Forgetting his overall record.

Whereas suggest cook should be dropped, and you get his overall record trotted out.

Great innit?

And I dont even want cook dropping.

I just the captiancy taking off the nice but dull man.

In cricket you're usually at your best when you've gone through a difficult phase. We will come back strongly, as all of those players slated in previous posts are talented individuals. We'll probably win the next World Cup as outsiders......suits me.