Super Stanley Collymore

Stan Collymore at Southend United was a force of nature.  Plucked from obscurity by Colin Murphy for £100,000 from Crystal Palace reserves in 1992, he arrived at Southend with no reputation.  When he left Southend in June 1993 his reputation was sky high.

So what made Stanley Victor Collymore such a key player for Southend.  The man was explosive, he would get the ball with his back to the goal, 30 yards out, turn and strike fear into the opposing defence.  With his strength and power he would blast past the defence, and rifle the ball home.  In 33 games for Southend in league and cup, he scored 18 goals.  This run of form, saved Southend Utd from certain relegation.  To say they were a one man team, would be unfair as players like Brett Angell and club legend Steve Tilson chipped in with vital goals, but there was no doubt Stan Collymore was the catalyst.

A further legacy of Stan's Southend career was when he was sold to Nottingham Forest for £2.2m, it enabled Barry Fry the then manager, to re-invest the money into a entirely new team, players such as Ricky Otto, Tommy Mooney, Graham Bressington, Jonathan Hunt, Gary Poole, the list goes on and on.  This entirely new side went joint top of the 1st Division(the Championship these days) the following season after a 3-1 away win at Derby County.  Who knows what would have happened to that Southend side, if Fry was not tempted away by Birmingham in December of that season.

If you wanted a goal to sum up Stan Collymore at Southend, then his 2nd goal away at Huddersfield in the FA Cup is it.  Skill, pace, power and a keen eye for goal.



His three goals in that cup run, against Millwall and Huddersfield, got Southend the plum tie of Sheffield Wednesday away in the 5th round. Collymore had a goal controversially disallowed in the 1st half when the score was 0-0, and he tormented the Sheffield Wednesday defence for 90minutes.  This game proved that Collymore was destined for the top.

Southend were battling against the drop all season, and in the last six games of the campaign, Southend had relegation six pointers against Bristol Rovers, Grimsby and Luton.  What none of these sides had though, was Stan Collymore.  Against Bristol Rovers he scored one of the greatest goals I have ever seen. He picked the ball up 40 yards from goal, ran at the Rovers defence and curled a sublime shot into the top corner. It was a magnificent goal.

Before the Grimsby game I saw David Pleat the then Luton manager, and in my cheeky teenage youth, I asked him why he was at the game, the exchange went as follows:
Me - "David why are you watching the game"
Pleat - "I'm here to sign Collymore"
Me -"Not a f**king chance"

Pleat laughed and said that Collymore was going to be a great player, and on that night against Grimsby on a rain-lashed Roots Hall pitch he proved it again.  The man was a maelstrom.  He single-handedly carried Southend through that game, and again scored the winning goal.

It all went down to a final day shootout against Luton town.  It was fitting maybe that Collymore did not score the goals in that game, but other un-sung members of the Southend side, Andy Sussex and Brett Angell, scored the goals that kept Southend up.  Stan's contribution in that game however cannot be understated, he scored one of the greatest goals which had the misfortune of being disallowed in a game.  A 20yard shot which went like a tracer bullet.  As the final whistle went, I remember running onto the pitch, trying to get close to Stan, but by the time I got there, he was already lofted above the fans shoulders. We knew that season we had seen true footballing genius.

Stan Collymore himself said of his time at Southend "I count keeping Southend in the First Division in my season there as one of my greatest achievements."

I have seen a lot of football in my life, but for that 8months Stanley Victor Collymore was at Roots Hall, he will remain as one of the greatest players I have ever had the pleasure of seeing live.

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975

Rooney record flatters to deceive

Wayne Rooney will undoubtedly become England's all time international top goalscorer in the near future, however, should he be spoken of in 'legendary' terms, as mentioned this week by Gary Lineker.

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Once Rooney breaks the record he should rightly be applauded, but he should not be spoken of in the same terms as Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Michael Owen.  These three players got important goals in vital matches in World Cup and European Championship final tournaments.

Bobby Charlton scored four goals in World Cup finals, in a period where there were fewer games. Bobby scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over Portugal in the semi final of 1966.  He also scored in 1962 against Argentina in a 3-1 win, however England were knocked out in the quarter finals by the eventual winners Brazil.

Gary Lineker scored ten, yes ten goals in the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals.  He scored a classic Lineker-esque hat-trick in the winner takes all group game against Poland in 1986.  He ended up top goalscorer in the 1986 World Cup. No Englishman had been top scorer in a World Cup finals before, and no-one has done it since.  In 1990 Gary scored two penalties in the 3-2 victory over Cameroon in the quarter-final, and he memorably scored the equaliser against West Germany in the semi-final.  He also buried his penalty in the shoot-out, which England sadly lost.

Michael Owen was the first English player to score in four consecutive major tournaments.  Firstly bursting onto the scene at France 1998, with his mesmeric goal against Argentina. What is often forgotten is that he also scored the equalising goal against Romania, after only being on the pitch for 10minutes. In Euro 2000, he kept up his scoring record during a poor tournament for England, and in the World Cup of 2002, he scored in the knock out games against Denmark and Brazil.  His goal against Brazil was another fine individual effort. A typical Owen goal.
Owen will always be remembered by England fans for his hat-trick away to Germany in September 2001.  It was only cruel and persistent injury problems which curtailed his England career, which surely stopped him from breaking Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals.  He was highly regarded by coaches at club level and internationally, Sven Goran Eriksson said "You know that if he is on the pitch, there is always the chance to win until the last second of the game.  There are so many good memories of Michael, but the best must be scoring three goals against Germany, away.  I wonder how many players have scored a hat-trick away to Germany, there can't be many"

Does Rooney deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as these three? In my opinion no.

When Rooney burst onto the international scene at Euro 2004, he was sensational, scoring match winning doubles against Switzerland and Croatia, however he got injured in the knock out game against Portugal as England were eliminated.
Rooney appeared at the 2006 World Cup, only just recovering from injury, and never looked fit when he did play.  This off the pace, languid style of play was replicated in the following tournaments, 2010 World Cup, 2012 Euro's and the 2014 World Cup in which Rooney and England stank those tournaments out.

Wayne Rooney is a flat track bully of the highest order, he bangs in the goals in qualification games, against the likes of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Slovakia.  However what is the best side he has scored a meaningful, competitive, goal against? If you scrutinise his goal record it's not great reading.
Rooney scored the opening goal away to Russia in 2007, in England's doomed qualification for Euro 2008, he also got a tap-in against Uruguay in the World Cup of 2014. That is it, for a player of his ability, it is not good enough.

Compared to Charlton, Lineker and Owen, his actual record does not come close, Rooney's record will be one of longevity over quality.
Whilst Rooney has won every honour at club level and proved to Manchester Utd fans that he can affect and influence games against the best sides, England fans will be left urging - you could have done all that for us as well, Wayne.

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975

A Sri Lankan hammering on the cards for England

England ODI squad - Cook (c), Ali, Bell, Bopara, Buttler, Finn, Gurney, Hales, Jordan, Morgan, Root, Stokes, Taylor, Tredwell, Woakes

7 ODI's - 26th November - 16th December 2014

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England head to Sri Lanka for a 7 match ODI series later this month, in preparation for the 2015 World Cup.
It beggars belief why the ECB in their infinite wisdom decided that an England side lacking in confidence should go to Sri Lanka, especially with the spin friendly conditions, in which England have always struggled, and not to mention the oppressive heat.  The pitches and conditions will be completely alien to what they will encounter in Australia & New Zealand in January/February 2015. A pointless tour.
I can understand the need for players to get some game time before the World Cup, but due to the conditions in Sri Lanka, players are going to play, who should be nowhere near the side in the World Cup. The idea of warm up games is to find a settled side, it cannot be done in Sri Lanka.  James Tredwell will have to play in Sri Lanka, however can you imagine what the likes of Aaron Finch, David Warner, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and the Indian players will do to his non-threatening off spin in the World Cup, a scary thought!
Personally, there would have been more benefit in playing the South African A side, in South Africa, as these conditions would have allowed you to play your preferred line up, barring the two injured bowlers, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.  In a way, it is good news that Anderson is injured for this tour, as playing in tours like this, is doing damage to him prolonging his test career, especially with the Ashes next summer in 2015.  We know what Anderson and Broad can do, let them get fit and give them a new ball each in the World Cup, and watch them fire!

Then we move to the conundrum of Alastair Cook's captaincy of this side.  Whilst his captaincy is negative and uninspiring, and consistently under scrutiny, in my opinion, his actual place in the side should be under question.  Let's have a look at two sides who could play in Sri Lanka, one with Cook, one without:

Cook (c)                   Root
Hales                        Hales
Root                         Ali
Morgan                    Morgan (c)
Stokes                      Stokes
Bopara                     Bopara
Ali                           Buttler (wk)
Buttler (wk)             Woakes
Tredwell                  Tredwell
Finn                         Finn
Gurney                    Gurney

As you can see dropping Cook allows you to bring in another front line bowler, who can bat a bit.  Also the side's batting strength is not too severely affected, in fact it allows Mooen Ali to bat in a position more suited to his capabilities rather than crow-barring him into the team at number 7.
Would changing the captain now greatly affect England's World Cup chances? I'd say if anything it would increase England's chances.  Under Eoin Morgan's stewardship, he would be more aggressive in the field and his attacking approach would enable us to get early wickets and stop the opposition accelerating to the 300+ scores, which the English side struggles to chase or even post.

A World Cup starting X1 of:

Root
Hales
Ali
Morgan (c)
Stokes
Bopara
Buttler (wk)
Woakes
Broad
Finn
Anderson

Is a vibrant, exciting selection which could beat any side on it's day and in a knock out competition that is all what is required.

But back to the Sri Lankan tour, I wouldn't predict much from this series, apart from a good drubbing.  After 5 games, I expect Sri Lanka to lead 4-1.  England might pick up a few wins in the dead rubbers, but I except us to move onto Australia as a beaten and dis-spirited side.

Published on www.countrylife.co.uk November 17, 2014

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975

England hammer a dis-interested India

For a Test Match to take place, it requires two teams to contest a game over 5 days. The game at the Oval could not be called a Test Match, India were truly woeful, and the game if anything was a confidence boost for Alastair Cook's resurgent England.

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England are cock-a-hoop with confidence, but beating this un-motivated, and dis-interested Indian team, does not paper over the cracks which are still appearing within this England team. England won this Test Match by an innings and 244 runs, I will say that again an innings and 244 runs.

This demolition began once Cook won the toss and inserted the Indians on an overcast Friday morning in London. India's top order were completely abject, and were struggling at 44-6, after exceptional bowling, not just from Anderson and Broad, but finally ably backed up by Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes. This certainly bodes well for England's fast bowling future, when you consider the back up is Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn and Ben Stokes. If it wasn't for MS Dhoni's belligerent 82 from 140 balls, christ knows what the Indian score would have been.

As mentioned in a previous blog, the following players whilst lavished with superstardom in their own country, need to perform away from home if they are to be named in the same light as their predecessors. Virat Kohli, Pujara and Rahane need to concentrate on their technique and application. As the series has progressed, the English quicks have had their plans to bowl to the Indian middle order, and it would appear the Indian batsmen have not studied the English bowling or practiced in the nets.  India were finally bundled out for 148, and Cook and Robson handled the tricky overcast conditions with comparative ease to close day 62-0.

 Under sunny skies on the Saturday morning, Cook and Robson resumed, and again question marks will be raised against Sam Robson's long term future in the side. He played all round a full length delivery from Aaron, and was cleanly bowled. Robson is fortunate that there is no test cricket until April next year, if there were another test this calendar year, it would be unlikely that he would be opening. England have discarded the two previous openers Michael Carberry and Nick Compton erroneously in my opinion, and I would not be surprised if one of these two is given a go in future test series, quite possibly Compton due to his youth over Carberry. Cook and Ballance again showed the application and desire required in Test Match cricket, and they grinded out 79 and 64 respectively.

England have found a brilliant number 3 in Gary Ballance, and James Whitaker the chief selector should take some credit for giving him his opportunity. Since a slightly wobbly start against Sri Lanka in the summer, he has not looked back since the Indians arrived, and should have the number 3 slot nailed down for the foreseeable future. Joe Root has finally found a permanent position in this England side, and his 149* was a brilliant mixture of sensible batting, and increasing the run rate with techniquely sound aggressive batting. He was ably supported by Jos Buttler with a 45, and he has walked into this England side playing like a man who has been in it for years. Root is genuinely a world class player across all formats of cricket, and players like him should be cherished. They don't come along too often.

Whilst praising the England batting during their innings of 486, the Indian bowling and fielding should be admonished. They played like a side who could not be arsed, and as mentioned in a previous blog, serious questions should be asked about MS Dhoni's captaincy, especially out on the field. He gave an air of a man who would rather be elsewhere, and his motivational skills for his side are non-existent. The sign of a good team is by their fielding, and I have seen school teams field better than this Indian side in the last 3 Test matches. India will probably look to Virat Kohli as their next Test captain, however I feel that would be the wrong decision, he needs work on his technique, he is undoubtedly a fine batsmen, but you cannot play on roads each week when on tour. Murali Vijay would be my choice, he has worked hard to get into this Indian side, and shows great pride when batting, shame some of his team-mates cannot say the same.

After first innings India were 338 runs behind, and whilst nobody expected them to make England bat again, what followed was a procession of wickets, mainly due to a mixture of great bowling from the English pace quartet, and some genuinely lazy couldn't care less shots from the Indian batsmen. They saved their worst till last, and were bundled out for 94 in 29 overs, in little over 2 hours of play. Gautam Gambir played one of the most uncomfortable test innings you're likely to see, and he knew he was suffering, and ended up running himself out to stop the pain!

This series turned in the 3rd Test at the Rose Bowl when Alastair Cook was dropped on 15 by Ravi Jadeja. Since that moment England didn't look back. Who knows what would have happened if Jadeja had held that catch, would Cook have been replaced as captain? I would certainly have been calling for his head. However Cook and England have flourished since that pivotal moment, and I am happy to be proved wrong by the English captain. Long may this run of fine victories continue.

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975

India fold as England cruise to Old Trafford victory

Pathetic. Spineless. Useless Captain. These phrases have been used to describe England in the past 12 months, but over this Test, India served up a performance which truly plumbed the depths.

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From the moment they won the toss, and batted under leaden skies, they were thoroughly outplayed by an enthusiastic and steadily improving England side.  Brilliant swing bowling by the English opening bowlers Anderson and Broad, reduced India to a mind-boggling 8-4, and to give some credit, albeit not a lot to the remaining Indian batsmen to get to 152 was a fair effort.  Stuart Broad finally this summer being given a pitch that produces pace and bounce, used it to full effect to end up with tremendous figures of 6-25 off of 13 overs.

England's 1st innings started off a little scratchily, and there may be some growing concern about Sam Robson, who appears fidgety and frenetic at the wicket.  Opening the batting is a hard task, but he seems to lack a certain composure, and his runs are always hard earned.  Oh for the days of a Marcus Trescothick, to complement the doggedness of the captain Cook.  After the KP fiasco, which I have spoke about in the past, it seems England now have a settled middle order, with the increasing authority of Gary Ballance at three, the technically flawless Ian Bell at four, and the little Yorkshire fighter Joe Root at five.  There's a real glue to the England middle order, and after a period of finding the correct batting position for Root, he seems really settled at five.

One of the question marks over Jos Buttler's inclusion were - could he bat under pressure? When he walked to the wicket on Friday, England were 140-6. His circumspect 70 was an excellent knock in the context of the match, and his 134 run partnership with Joe Root was looking at the final score, a match winning partnership.  Buttler should be, barring another youngster coming through, the England wicket-keeper in all 3 formats for the next 5 years at least.  It is nice to see a young man break into the England team, and take his opportunity so brilliantly.

If India's 1st innings was shambolic, then their 2nd was spineless.  The young men in their middle order, have had to bide their time to get the chance in this Indian test side, whilst they await the legends Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to retire.  It's all well and good getting runs in your home country, but the mark of a real test player is to go overseas and get runs in difficult conditions.  Pujara, Kohli and Rahane need to stop reading the praise they get from the Indian press, and knuckle down and grow some balls.

Special praise must again be given to Mooen Ali, whilst he appears to have a problem with quick bowling, his bowling is coming on leaps and bounds, and if he can tie the supposed best players of spin in the world in knots, then it bodes extremely well for the future. In further test matches we may find  the batting positions of Ali and Buttler becoming interchangeable, depending on circumstance.

There was no play after 2.15pm on Friday, so England have wrapped up this Test Match in little under 2 and half days.  India are playing like a test team who want to get on the next plane home, however they still have a test at the Oval before they can. Alastair Cook must be thanking MS Dhoni, as Dhoni has helped to give England two easy test match wins, with some baffling bowling and field selections during England's recent innings.  Dhoni in the field is playing like a man who would rather be elsewhere, I would anticipate that he will call time on his test career after this series.

So England rock on to the Oval cock-a-hoop, India off to lick their wounds.  I can only see another comprehensive England victory in the final test of the summer.  Who would have thought England would be winning this series 3-1 a month ago.  Fair play to England, India however need a long hard look at themselves.

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975

Cook and England dominate India to silence the doubters

It all changed on Sunday morning, Alastair Cook tentatively had worked his way to 15 not out, when he offered up a simple slip catch to Ravindra Jadeja, which was not taken.  From then on England dominated every session in the 3rd Test against an out-of-sorts India.  Who knows what would have happened if Jadeja had managed to hold onto that catch.  Cricket, like most sports, is a game of small margins.

England decided to rotate their back-up bowlers, with Ben Stokes being dropped and being made available to play for Durham, in the hope that he finds some form with the bat.  Liam Plunkett was rested for this test, despite bowling well in spells at Lords.  Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes were called up, and whilst they didn't offer the wicket taking threat of Plunkett, they managed to bowl in a tight and economical manner.  Woakes especially will bowl worse and take wickets.  Personally I'm not sure about Jordan's ability at Test Match level, I find that he offers too many 4 balls to the batsmen, and it was only India's strange attitude to this test match, that they did not punish some of his wayward spells. For the next test at Old Trafford, I would hope that Plunkett is recalled, in place of Jordan.

This test match finally was the moment for Jos Buttler's debut, after England showed too much loyalty to Matt Prior by selecting him for this summer's earlier test matches.  Prior's contribution to English cricket should not be forgotten, and his poor displays this summer both behind the wicket, and with the bat should not overshadow his otherwise stellar England career.  Buttler could not have wished for a better time to come to the crease to make his debut, with England cruising along at 420-5.  Whilst Jos hit a typically belligerent 85 off 83 balls, it was a chancy innings and should have been out 3 times.  On one occasion Dhoni missed an easy stumping, which summed up his test match.  It will be interesting to see how Buttler goes when England are under the pump so to speak, and he has to come in when England are 130/5. Nevertheless it was an impressive debut with the bat, and he was tidy and efficient behind the stumps, but it must be said no great improvement on a fit and in form Prior.

It was finally good to see Ian Bell get a score this summer, is there another batsman in world cricket who looks in touch even when they don't get many runs? AB De Villiers is the only one who comes to mind.  Bell's innings of 167 in the 1st innings was sublime, and he also increased his own run-rate when England needed quick runs, and gave away his wicket in that chase for runs.

The only concern over England's batting in both innings was the form of Sam Robson, whilst he has great technique and bats in a tidy manner, there is maybe a clamour for somebody with more flair to open the innings, maybe a Hales or dare I say a Carberry, but I feel Michael's race has run. A little unfairly in my opinion.  I anticipate that Robson will retain his place for the final two tests of the summer, but with the plethora of one day cricket in the next 8 months, there is a real opportunity for Alex Hales to get himself in the forefront of the selectors minds.

Jimmy Anderson along with Dale Steyn are the best leader's of a bowling attack in world cricket, and in this test, Jimmy bowled as well as he has done all summer, quite possibly even for a whole year.  His control of the ball either outswing or inswing was magnificent, and he is only 15 wickets away from breaking Ian Botham's all time English wicket taking record.  Once Jimmy breaks that, it will be fully deserved, and a great honour for the Burnley paceman.

When Stuart Broad is on song, and Anderson is performing to his impeccable best, England have a front line pace attack to be feared by most teams in the world. What England hope is that their back up bowlers can chip in with a few wickets, to ease the pressure on Broad and Anderson.  Which leads me to Mooen Ali, what a superb bowling performance by the part-time spinner, a tremendous 6-67 in the second innings. Mooen Ali rushed England to a deserved victory, and certainly silenced his doubters, me included.  He rattled through the Indian line up which has questionably the best players of spin in the world.  Is Mooen Ali the long term answer, I'm not 100% sure, but again after these two tests there is no test cricket for nearly a year.  A chance again for a Briggs/Riley to impress, or more time for Ali to perfect his art.

Moving onto India, that was a performance as abject as England's was at Lords.  Obviously they were hindered by the injury to Ishant Sharma, but their display in the field in both innings was sloppy and their general demeanour throughout the test gave an impression of half-heartededness.  This all stemmed from MS Dhoni's performance as captain, from his initial team selection, in which he packed the team full of batsmen and again did not select Ashwin, to his quite baffling field placing, and his constant bowling changes, it was a poor test by the Indian captain.

Conversely, this was Alastair Cook's most complete performance as England captain, and whilst I have been critical in the past, I am equally magnanimous to applaud him when it is deserved.  Everyone wants to see a winning English cricket team.  After that drop from Jadeja on Sunday morning, Cook did not look back, and was incredibly unfortunate not to get a deserved century in the 1st innings.  Whilst the Indian batsmen let themselves down in their 1st innings, Cook's fields were generally attacking and he showed more confidence in his back-up bowlers than he has done previously in his tenure.  England's charge for runs in the 2nd innings was well changed, and they declared at a good time in the day, to allow themselves plenty of time to bowl to India before the close of day 4.

Thinking ahead to Old Trafford, England will be hoping that Jimmy Anderson avoids a ban from his hearing for his alleged altercation with Ravi Jadeja.  If Anderson is banned then I expect Jordan to retain his place, with Plunkett coming into the side anyway.  India will be crossing their fingers and hoping Anderson is banned, and surely they must consider picking Ashwin for this test.

It's nice to be able to report on a convincing English victory, and let's hope for another one at Old Trafford.

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975

Management bury their heads in the sand, as English cricket plummets

Lords, the home of English cricket, was the scene of another pitiful cricketing performance from an increasingly rudderless English team. Whilst much will be made of Alistair Cook's captaincy, which I have previously criticised, fingers should be pointed at the ECB, who are currently sitting in their ivory towers not commenting on the shambles which is going on before us.

The ECB in their infinite judgement, re-employed a coach who has previously shown that he was not up to the task of coaching international class cricketers.  With all due respect to the Lancashire team he coached, there is a huge gulf between coaching and motivating honest county players, and high class international cricketers.  What cannot be denied about Peter Moores, is his ability to pluck players from county cricket who adapt to Test Cricket immediately, for example Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann in 2007.  However does he have the respect of international players, and do they listen and take on his tactical ideas...recent results would suggest they do not necessarily buy into the Moores philosophy.

In my opinion when Andy Flower decided to walk away from coaching the English team, the ECB should have been more forward thinking in the appointment of new coach, and looked at candidates who had excellent track records in coaching international sides.  The likes of Tom Moody, Gary Kirsten and Micky Arthur should have, at the very least, been interviewed for the job.

However the ECB appointed a man, who not only failed at his previous attempt, but could not get on or manage England's most talented batsman of the last 20 years (Kevin Pietersen), thereby instantly making the English team weaker than the one he inherited.  Baffling decision making on every level.

It would be highly naive of a supporter of any sporting side, to believe that every single player gets on with everyone.  However, the role of a coach/manager is to manage a team of individuals, understanding what each person needs to perform to the best of their ability, ie a kick up the backside, or a massaging of their ego.  If this is done to an expert level, think Man Utd in their treble season when Sheringham and Cole did not talk to each other, then these things are put to one side for the benefit of the team as a whole.

In all this sorry mess, David Saker's role should be under scrutiny.  Some of the English bowling tactics have been mystifying in the last 12 months to say the least.  The barrage of short pitched bowling, by bowlers who average about 85mph, is nonsensical, and at times laughable.  We have seen one of English cricket's best young bowling prospect's Steven Finn, completely destroyed by the ineptitude of David Saker.  Watching Finn bowl towards the end of his spell in the England side, was dispiriting, here was a bowler who could bowl 90mph, taking wickets by bowling short, or pitching it up.  But under Saker, they shortened his run-up, the poor guy lost confidence, and will he ever find his way back, it's doubtful.

Finishing with Alistair Cook, now is the time for him to step down.  He re-iterates that he is a strong man, however the sign of a strong man would be to admit that he is not cut out for the job, and step down.  However, while the ECB bury their heads in the sand and employ a band of yes-men, I cannot see this happening. Cook was all set to break English batting records at Test level, and we must not forget that he is an excellent batsman, but this captaincy spell is seriously damaging his reputation, which he may never recover.

Who can take over the English captaincy if Cook does relinquish it?  Analysts say there is a dearth of good candidates, but until they are given the responsibility, you can't know for sure.  For years we were told that Cook would be an excellent captain, but he isn't.  For me their is an argument for giving the captaincy to any of the following; Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Joe Root, Jimmy Anderson.

English cricket is in a sorry state at present, and whilst the decision makers insist that all will be ok in the future, I just cannot see it without the people in charge, senior management, coach and captain being replaced.

Chris Clark © 2014    @Chrisclark1975