Experimental England fail again
It was a familiar story for England, but for different reasons.
Inability to play spin cost them the series here earlier in the year. Woeful bowling led to their defeat in the summer to Sri Lanka.
This time, they failed to deal with India's opening bowlers who exploited a pitch offering variable bounce...
England were 55-5 before the Indian spinners joined in.
England have only been in India for a week. After such a short period in which to adjust, it was asking a lot of their batsmen to find their touch immediately in such .
There is simply too little time in the international calendar for all teams to prepare adequately.
England's players needed a reasonable break after the domestic season, especially with such a demanding schedule in front of them.
England are still experimenting, which is not ideal with the World Cup six months away.
Andrew Flintoff has expressed his intention to stay at number three in the longer term, presumably even when Marcus Trescothick returns.
One low score does not make the experiment a failure, but the test will come when Flintoff is back to bowling his full quota of overs and captaining the side as well.
Kevin Pietersen has batted in the top four throughout the year, with some success.
Here he was down at five. Strangely, Michael Yardy was pushed up to replace him. Yardy does not come in that high for Sussex.
If the reason is to split up the big-hitters, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, then why not insert Paul Collingwood at four? He has the experience to take on the extra responsibility.
England's batsmen gave their bowlers little hope, but India's task was made easier by a wild first over from Steve Harmison which went for 20 runs.
His first ball set the tone. It was fired way down the leg-side and scuttled away for five wides.
As he demonstrated against Pakistan at Old Trafford, Harmison is a formidable force when he gets it right.
But at a time in his career when he should be a stable force in England's attack, there is a worrying inconsistency about his bowling.
More encouragingly, he got it right in his second spell and sent back Sachin Tendulkar, with a little help from the pitch.
India too struggled with the bat. Their form has dipped since their 5-1 victory over England in April, but they had the edge because the one-day game is second nature to their players.
Their team had 1,454 one-day appearances between them; England's only 476.
England have five days to prepare for their first match against Australia since the .
It is mathematically possible to qualify for the semi-finals with one group win, but realistically only victory will be good enough.
After three years of sporting success England have slipped back into the doldrums of five years ago. All three major sports (invented by us) namely rugby, football and cricket are a disgrace. Perhaps things would look up if the footballers played cricket and our cricketers played football? And as for our rugby...
Complain about this postWhat is the point of bring one of the best players of spin in the country (Ed Joyce) to India and not playing him?!!
Is it any wonder that England are so terrible at one day cricket when they play Yardy at 4, it's unbelieveable that people get paid to make those kind of decisions!!
Complain about this postYes, Andrew Cox ...
Complain about this postEngland are currently embarrassingly bad at all three major games though the rest of us thank you for inventing them so we can thrash you at them.
Australia let you win the last ashes in the same way a schoolboy plays with a dying insect before finishing him off.
Who really thought McLaren (Eriksson's yesman) would be any good?
Though again thanks - he is even worse than we thought and may even reach GrahamTayloresque proportions of ineptness.
Is it possible that Andy Robinson has not been dismissed? Roll on hilarious rugby season...
I dont know what kind of excuse this Higgins has dreamed up. England and Wales won the Ashes because they had the determination and quality the Aussies lacked. I am not too worried about the cricket team at the moment as the quality is there. As for the football and rugby teams, i am loving it! Haha!
Complain about this postIt's true that the international calender does not give enough time to for players to rest and settle down but thats not an excuse. Look at Sri Lanka and Australia - they seem to be enjoying playing at home or away. England is just not good enough - it's always excuses - injuries, the wicket, the climate and now the latest is not enough time to settle. England have a few talented players - but when they are injured they just don't have enough replacements - Maybe they should encourage players from other countries to play county crciket and make them eligible for selection to the england team after two seasons, oh, what the heck after one season - that way they will be able to get more Pietersen's. Also, remember that I said this one month ahead - The ashes would be one sided this time.
Complain about this postWhy was Jon Lewis not in the side. he bowled extremely well against Pakistan and he deserves his chance. James Anderson has not played for six months and Sajid Mahmood is very expensive. Steve Harmison struggles to pitch the ball on the square so Lewis should be in the side.
Complain about this postAs far as one day cricket is concerned-I am fed up with idiotic excuses. Doesn't anyone else out there think that we are looking too deep.
Simon manns article - where do I start
KP is always out before his time - I'm fed up with him saying he won't change his game. I love it when he gets it right just like everyone does but a consistant winning team does not "HOPE" that it is one of those days when every player gets it right - HE NEEDS TO TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY.
Talking about what went wrong in the summer, and then surprise surprise, something different went wrong on sunday,I wonder what will be our excuse against The Aussies.
Not enough time to prepare Laughable we have the same as anyone else.
This experiment thing is just going on too long - we are always experimenting we never have the finished article it seems.
The fact is that Strauss doesnt score consistantly in one day games,nor does Trescothick, nor does Bell, KP, in fact nor does anyone that is in our top order - THESE ARE NOT EXPERIMENTS they are alledged Top Class PROFFESSIONAL BATSMEN.
How do the other top nations manage to attack great bowlers and get up and running at 4 ish runs an over right from the start.
We can experiment all we like with different bowlers and different orders, but if our tried and tested international batsmen can't get runs, then we may as well come home now.
Maybe I'm to harsh, maybe everyone that we play just tries that much harder - maybe all the bowlers in the world find extra skill when faced with the prospect of our superior players.
IF ONLY THAT WERE TRUE
Complain about this postG.J Higgins
Complain about this postYou wouldn't by chance be an Australian would you ?
Mmm ! English sport may well be in a bit of a trough at the moment ,but if I remember rightly prior to the 2003 RWC when England thoroughly beat Aus and NZ both home and away we were told that you wre nothing until you had won a WC and Aus were still World Champions .Well does the same not apply ? The Aus cricket team may still be deemed to be the best side in the world ,but they don't hold the thing that is most precious ,The Ashes ... what is more this will be the last hoorah for many of their aeging side ... As an Englishman I know what is involved in supporting our national teams but it seems moe and more that Aussies are also living and surviving on past glories.We still are World champions and we still hold the Ashes ,lets just wait and see.
England should stop making excuses and accept the defeat at Jaipur and get on with the job. The public is not interested in reasons why England failed or else we would have got a bunch of politicians to play the game.
Complain about this postThe English players and their spectators are not optimistics. They have so highexpectations from a team that has been striken by injuries and the absence of some of the key players. The spectators and the commentators made the return of the flintoff as a major boast for English team. But I think the
Complain about this postEngland team is not on the position where they can be consider for the winning the champions trophy. I don't think even they can win a single match in this competition. They will face the same situation against Australia and West Indies although the West Indians are not in good form.
The main reason for their defeat is that they do not have a batsman who is determined to bat till the end of the innings and other players can hang and bat around him. The main English batsman, Kieven Pietersen plays every now and then a loose shot and lost his wicket easily.
The last reason for the defeat is the removal of the Andrew Strauss from the captaincy and the appointment of Flintoff as Captain.
can i know what is then cause indian cricket team very poor team in all world
Complain about this postEngland have not had a good one day team for a number of years now.
It is a completely different game to Test Cricket.
You have to attack from the start and maintain that level for 100 overs. U can't have a bad day then come back the next day to clinch victory.
I think this is where the England team fails in their approach to ODI's. They struggle maintaining an intenese performance over 100 overs. They can do it now and again and win test matches, but to be a top one day team u have to be able to do it consistently, and I don't think the England boys are capable of that.
Complain about this postWe did better when we used one-dayers as no more than a trial for the Test side. Some of the bits-and-pieces "specialists" aren't up to international standard. The same team should be used in both forms of the game.
Complain about this postit was a gud wicket to ball on, and there was nothin much between the batting perfomance of both the teams.
Complain about this posti agree with josh carter! his opinion is total true! jon lewis is by far the best england bowler in the one day at the moment! he bowls full and straight! he may not bowl at 90mph but pace is not everything! he is extremely accurate! bring jon lewis back!
Complain about this postEngland could do well in this competition but they need to deal with opening bowlers, if not they have no chance against lee and mcgrath in ashes
Complain about this postThe make-up of England's oneday side looks to be a good one. There is nice a balance between batsmen, bowlers and allrounders.
It does seem that some of the players are unaware of their role in their side and where they are expect to bat. Yardy at four is a mistake especially when you have a batsman of Colingwood's quality and experience readily available.
Flintoff needs an opportunity ot bat at three and has the ability and temprament to succeed. While dropping Pietersen down the order should giveEngland the opportunity to accelerate thoroughout the innings.
Complain about this postThe reason for England Team doing bad is maybe because citing inexperience is second nature to their players and to the author as well.
Complain about this postEngland has gone to the Champions Trophy with a half-hearted approach. What else can you expect from them other than defeat? They mindset is more towards Ashes. Indians themselves are going through rough patch and if this how Englad plays against them then God save England against Aussies. I hope they have a postive approach again Aussies and forget all experimentation like Flintoff coming early on to bat.
Complain about this postI just can't understand some of the decisions made by england. Why isn't KP at 3. Surely we need our best players to bat for as long as possible. Why isn't jon lewis in the team? He was our best bowler in the summer and why is Harmison still in the team? Sure when he gets it right hes good but how often does that happen these days? Too often does he spray it all over the place and has no consistency whatsoever. He complains about the white baal but is just as bad with the red one
Complain about this postengland have always been a success in test cricket but never in 1 day internationals. our core problem is who is captain under vaughan not a big hitter usually gets under 50 but makes match winning centuries he will never be as good as his golden year. flintoff we have overloaded him before the captaincy he is allready the man we have said will take the most wickets and score the most runs now hes been lumbered with captaincy. if we chose strauss like we did in the pakistan sieries he made brilliant decisions and scored fantastic centuries so if we lose the ashes then the people to blame will be the selectors for making flintoff captain.
Complain about this postSeriously, just forget it. England are going to get thrashed by the aussies. England are simply not A ONE-DAY TEAM. They are toothless in ythe pace attack without Daren Gough and their batting is OLD STYLE.
just excuse p[eitersen in this. Istill think Flintoff aint that good at batting at one dayers.
Complain about this postAs an ex pom, lving in Aussie for the last 20 odd years, the difference between the Aussie and English teams in attitude is remarkable. Take this last English ' effort ". Not enough backbone by a long way. Stop making excuses, get your heads down and grind it out. Too many rash shots from top class ? players, and it's a sin to not bat out the 50 0vers.
Complain about this postCome on England, pull your finger out !, it's going to be a long hot Aussie summer.
It is not the pitch or variable bounce, but the pampering media that caused the downfall of England. One Ashes win and you guys treated this mediocre team like Royalty. Just wait for the Aussies and England will be a totally demoralized team by the world cup time. They might just manage to beat Zimbabwe, if they are lucky.
All teams travelling to England to play tests and ODIs, get even trying weather and pitch conditions than what is on offer in India. Stop whining and show some grace in accepting the defeat.
Complain about this postThe selection is hopeless,for example,take the pair of openers, what is Mal Loye doing back in England,
Complain about this post& Ed Joyce who has a good rep for playing spin well
& Lewis, Esp. in one dayers, swing bowlers who bowl a nagging line & length are bound to be effective.Mr.Graveney needs to be sacked.
Once again England have lost an ODI. Its sad to read that in all England's loses its them who lose and not the other team that wins.
To make it crystal -> It seems all English journos are sore losers.
Complain about this postRemember we're a half strength side at the moment. I think it would have been a completely different story with Vaughan and Trescothic in the side. At least the injuries and happening now and by the time the World Cup comes we will hopefully have a full strength squad.
Vaughan - not because of his one day batting (which is quite poor) but his ability to stick around for long periods like Dravid even though they don't make that many runs.
Trescothic - has the ability to give England a good start and can make agressive big scores.
Then there are the players who seemed to be overlooked like Shah and Lewis. I can see why they left Lewis out due to conditions that won't suit his bowling but Shah totally wrecked the Indian bowling earlier this year.
Yardy and Dalrymple are hard working players but its going to take some time before they get used to playing in overseas conditions.
Complain about this postAye Aye Ram - you are so right - let me repeat what you said
"It is not the pitch or variable bounce, but the pampering media that caused the downfall of England. One Ashes win and you guys treated this mediocre team like Royalty. Just wait for the Aussies and England will be a totally demoralized team by the world cup time. They might just manage to beat Zimbabwe, if they are lucky.
Complain about this postAll teams travelling to England to play tests and ODIs, get even trying weather and pitch conditions than what is on offer in India. Stop whining and show some grace in accepting the defeat."
lets just think this through, england were never expected to beat India at their home patch so quit complaining about that for a start. Second thing is our boys in all sport need encouragement in what their doing. England are playing on the same ground against the Australians come Saturday, remember, we always pull out all the stops when the convicts r in town. Encourage our cricketers, ive come up with the XI which should look right...
1: Andrew Strauss
Complain about this post2: Ed Joyce
3: Ian Bell
4: Andrew Flintoff
5: Kevin Pietersen
6: Jamie Dalrymple
7: Paul Collingwood
8: Michael Yardy
9: Chris Read
10: Jon Lewis
11: James Anderson
im cool and so is freddie flintoff he should bat lower down
Complain about this postYes, we lost but surely India should have knocked them runs off with only one or two wickets down?? I think we did pretty well and we can win on Saturday!
COME ON ENGLAND!!!
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