The Ginger messiah has gone

[Andy]

Great timing. What a shambles.

[dazedpenguin]

Obviously before it leaked out. I would have expected any announcement to come on the morning of the final day- much like Stuart Broad. I don't think anyone can begrudge him a send off. I thought he would have stayed until the end of next summer to try and regain the Ashes, so something clearly has gone on behind the scenes. Maybe the lack of support from the management after the nightclub non incident? Maybe a clash with McCullum on the Ashes tour? Perhaps he woke up in the morning and decided he'd had enough.

I'd rather see Bethell as captain than Brook, but either of them will be a risk. And balancing the side is going to be very difficult. A huge opportunity for the county cricket allrounders if they work hard enough to grab it.

[vim]

Nasser Hussain waited until he had won a test match with a Century in a successful run chase. Making the announcement after the end of the game.

[bwildered]

 Revert to five bats, five bowlers and wicket keeper with Brook to be captain.
Surely breaking team curfew, although game finished, and then being dropped was the final straw.
Time for some IPL money and now with no curfew some nights out with Kevin and Perry .

[Andy]

Obviously before it leaked out. I would have expected any announcement to come on the morning of the final day- much like Stuart Broad. I don't think anyone can begrudge him a send off. I thought he would have stayed until the end of next summer to try and regain the Ashes, so something clearly has gone on behind the scenes. Maybe the lack of support from the management after the nightclub non incident? Maybe a clash with McCullum on the Ashes tour? Perhaps he woke up in the morning and decided he'd had enough.

I'd rather see Bethell as captain than Brook, but either of them will be a risk. And balancing the side is going to be very difficult. A huge opportunity for the county cricket allrounders if they work hard enough to grab it.

Stokes showed a complete lacks of awareness by breaking his curfew. He shows a complete lack of humility in making his stupid speech to the team during the match. He has now disrupted the batting order by opening and unsurprisingly has slogged a quick 30 before getting out.

I have little time for the management but I did feel some sympathy over the curfew breaking.  The poor behaviour of this team over the past few years means they are under extreme scrutiny. Stokes should know this but obviously so wrapped up in himself he could not get it. KP used to get a lot of deserved flak because of his attitude. This is the same behaviour.

If England lose this match against a moderate Kiwi attack with half their bowlers missing then the consolation would be the removal of the other muppets. A really low point for the National side.

[Andy]

Disgusting despicable and depressing. My vote is for Allan Border to come in as head coach. Or Nasser. Or both.

[JasonP]

Revert to five bats, five bowlers and wicket keeper with Brook to be captain.
Surely breaking team curfew, although game finished, and then being dropped was the final straw.
Time for some IPL money and now with no curfew some nights out with Kevin and Perry .

He's never been very good at T20.  He wont make much at the IPL

[honkytonk]

 Brook should be no where near the captaincy

[Andy]

Brook should be no where near the captaincy

Or a bar. Another manchild. Clowns.

[vim]

He marked his departure by batting like an idiot. Making a running start, to chase down the total on the 5th day. Dream on.

[nat]

Whoever thought he was a good captain needs their head examined. He was like one of those WWI generals whose idea of tactical acumen was to instruct their troops to charge stark naked at the enemy.

[bwildered]

 Lost seven out of last nine test matches now for England.
England get their just desserts with a 2-1 series defeat after being one up, playing shoddy, senseless stuff.
First class cricketers playing village cricket by England, against a test side that did what test sides do best, compete.

Congratulations to NZ, Blundell standing up exceptional, former Colchester and EE player.
 

[spirali]

I'm going to buck the trend here and point out that in the last 50 years, only Brearley had a higher win percentage as England captain.

Worth remembering how bad things had become when he took over - they'd won just one out of the previous 17 Tests. After he took over they won 11 of the next 13. The early days of Bazball were wildly entertaining and mostly successful. The final day of the Edgbaston Test v India in 2022 (when England scored 378-3 to win) was one of the most incredible days of Test cricket I can remember.

And that's before you get to his many extraordinary individual performances. Just seen this posted elsewhere online:

Stokes. Over 7000 Test runs. Over 250 Test wickets. Only the second player to achieve this double. Fastest Test 200 for England, second fastest ever. T20 and 50-over World Cups - the latter won with a quite astonishing individual effort. A candidate for the greatest ever Test innings. A couple of catches that have become iconic. A win rate of around 54% as captain which is better than anyone except Brearley in the modern game - and over far more matches

All of that is factually correct.

And yet... there were also some teeth-grinding failings. The crazy declaration on the first day of the 2023 Ashes, without which England would probably have won the series. Innings where he came out and charged down the pitch from ball 1, before getting out for a quickfire 20 (his best Test innings were characterised by playing himself in before bringing out the big shots). The debacle of last winter's Ashes, with its lack of preparation and basic cricketing nous. The bizarre events of yesterday where it felt like he had become bigger than the team or even the game itself. Any attempt to win the match was seemingly abandoned in favour of one last mad dash at the danger.

So a complex legacy. But on balance he should be remembered as one of England's greats. I do wish he hadn't bowed out with the insanity we saw yesterday evening though.

His speech to the players yesterday morning seemed to hint that something else might be about come out. We'll find out soon enough.

And yes we should also be talking about a tremendous performance from NZ, especially having to overcome injuries to key players both before and during the match. Mitchell's innings yesterday was an epic of grit and determination, a masterclass in proper Test batting.

[vim]

Nasser Hussain as Coach, would shake them up. When he was made England Captain. It was said, the same as Captain Mainwaring. He got his ambition, to be put in charge of a group of men. Just like Captain Mainwaring, he was given a bunch of idiots.

[nat]

Nasser Hussain as Coach, would shake them up. When he was made England Captain. It was said, the same as Captain Mainwaring. He got his ambition, to be put in charge of a group of men. Just like Captain Mainwaring, he was given a bunch of idiots.

If you want a right piece of work then employ Nasser's brother as coach.