Test team management: time to ring some changes?

[Oldhasbeen]

When you get stuffed 5-0,  as we are surely about to, surely some heads must roll, and not just on the playing field?

 Miller & Morris have already left, so what will Mssrs Whittaker & Downton's take on things be?

Andy Flower, rather to my surprise, has said he wants to carry on. Given his excellent record up until this series, he's got a good case;  but given the abysmal, brainless showing of the England batting line-up, is it time for the great GG to call it a day?

[Valentines Park]

is it time for the great GG to call it a day?

That would mean him rocking up here again to hold Grayson's hand.

I'd let him remain with the England set up as Starjumps Czar.

[nat]

GG is/was my Essex hero but he was a useless captain and his coaching record is decidedly iffy. I suspect he is one of the guys who cannot communicate why he was so successful...other than natural ability.

[Oldhasbeen]

The Times has run stories for 2 days running abou tGG becoming "the scapegoat" for our failures. What about "taking responsibility" or "giving fresh blood a chance". GG is now 60 and maybe his day is gone?

[IlfordEagle]

The mention of Miller going has prompted me to wonder what exactly he got his New Year Honour for? He was hardly the most dynamic of cricketers or Selectors & some of his explanations justifying selection/non selection of players were baffling to say the least!
He may well have done much unsung Charity work & if so fair enough but otherwise, why?...

[nat]

The mention of Miller going has prompted me to wonder what exactly he got his New Year Honour for? He was hardly the most dynamic of cricketers or Selectors & some of his explanations justifying selection/non selection of players were baffling to say the least!
He may well have done much unsung Charity work & if so fair enough but otherwise, why?...

Logic and the awarding of 'gongs' don't go together.

[Andy]

The mention of Miller going has prompted me to wonder what exactly he got his New Year Honour for?
He may well have done much unsung Charity work & if so fair enough but otherwise, why?...

For his excellent Timing. Not his after dinner joking, but jumping ship without bringing the house down on him a la Mr Swann.

Seriously, still haven't heard why Miller left prematurely...

[Oldhasbeen]

The mention of Miller going has prompted me to wonder what exactly he got his New Year Honour for? He was hardly the most dynamic of cricketers or Selectors & some of his explanations justifying selection/non selection of players were baffling to say the least!
He may well have done much unsung Charity work & if so fair enough but otherwise, why?...

Very old joke:

OBE = "Other B*ggers Efforts"

Does that explain it?

[Andy]

GG is/was my Essex hero but he was a useless captain and his coaching record is decidedly iffy. I suspect he is one of the guys who cannot communicate why he was so successful...other than natural ability.

Careful, we're not allowed to criticise coaches on here. GG was not completely useless as captain, he at least had a plan and worked hard. However, his inflexibility as skipper and coach has been reflected in the selection of his friends e.g. Larkins and the non-selection of those seen to have an 'attitude' I.e. don't conform to his fitness regime.

In many respects, this England debacle mirrors the ECCC experience. Dubious selections, a lack of innovation or logic in strategy and tactics. Cook should stand down. Nice but dim, more worried about his pregnant wife and buying his estate in Bedfordshire than whether to attack in the field?

[afinetickletoleg]

 Cook should stand down. Nice but dim, more worried about his pregnant wife and buying his estate in Bedfordshire than whether to attack in the field?

Laughable.

[pablo]

Sadly the four current 'supremos' of English cricket - Collier,Gooch, Flower and Cook- have one disturbing thing in common - they all have lengthy spells at Essex on their cv's !

[Andy]

 Cook should stand down. Nice but dim, more worried about his pregnant wife and buying his estate in Bedfordshire than whether to attack in the field?

Laughable.

Oh, and you think Cook's the next Mike Brearley or Nasser Hussain? Obviously he has strength of character to achieve as a player, but like Gooch or Boycott, what makes a good run scorer doesn't make a good captain.

Ironically, the above list seems to suggest an inverse relationship between runs and man management...

[Andy]

Sadly the four current 'supremos' of English cricket - Collier,Gooch, Flower and Cook- have one disturbing thing in common - they all have lengthy spells at Essex on their cv's !

Certainly, Collier's reflex insistence that Flower will stay reflects the cosy attitude of Chelmsford. Not that AF should go immediately but I think this shambles requires a genuine reappraisal of all those involved. As Dobells points out, this suggests a cosmetic exercise will ensue.

I guess that Collier thought anything less than wholehearted support would be misinterpreted, although we all know in Football what follows a board's vote of confidence in a coach.

[nat]

Sadly Flower has to go. I say sadly because I thought England were on to something. Responsibility for this shambles (Schedule, players going missing, performance) must lie with the leadership. Cook should remain as Captain...in the hope that he will use this experience to improve.

[Mog]

Sadly the four current 'supremos' of English cricket - Collier,Gooch, Flower and Cook- have one disturbing thing in common - they all have lengthy spells at Essex on their cv's !

Certainly, Collier's reflex insistence that Flower will stay reflects the cosy attitude of Chelmsford. Not that AF should go immediately but I think this shambles requires a genuine reappraisal of all those involved. As Dobells points out, this suggests a cosmetic exercise will ensue.

I guess that Collier thought anything less than wholehearted support would be misinterpreted, although we all know in Football what follows a board's vote of confidence in a coach.

Reading Johnathan Agnew's piece for the BBC Sport website today, then listening to his interview with Alistair Cook, is rather illuminating and all too similiar to those familiar with the attitude of No Change Essex over several decades.

He wrote;
"You can look at every aspect of this tour - the attitude of the players, the fact England arrived as favourites, the 82-page menu  - and it all paints a picture of a team which has become far too insular.
That was illustrated when I put a question to captain Alastair Cook.
I asked whether the opinions of those outside of the team - those who have played cricket all their lives and have watched the game for years - were worth seeking, and he said no. He said essentially it was for those within the team to work out what has gone wrong. That is a worry to me and shows there is no real awareness of what is happening outside the team's bubble."

This derives straight form the insular little world of ECCC - from the corridors of CM2 0PG. Perhaps it is time that Cook, Flower...and Gooch, plus the England hierarchy started listening more to George Dobell (who is of course detested by ECCC), Michael Vaughan, Geoffrey Boycott and Aggers, etc. and a little less in belligerent defence of the ECCC "Essex Way" of East, Hilliard, Irani, Fletcher.