England World Cup feedback

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You probably have something to say about England getting bundled out of the World Cup by Bangladesh’s seam bowlers. You can leave your thoughts in the comments of this article while we keep ourself busy writing some sort of… actually, we’re not too sure what you’d call it.

To quote absolutely everyone: they moved the Ashes for this?

DON'T BE LIKE GATT!

Mike Gatting wasn't receiving the King Cricket email when he dropped that ludicrously easy chance against India in 1993.

Coincidence?

Why risk it when it's so easy to sign up?

34 comments

  1. An excellent result. Far better than scraping a win then losing in the next round, because it will now show English cricket’s true colours. If Downton and Moores still have a job this time next week, it means the ECB is happy with things. Trebles all round, and another 20 years of mediocrity on the way.

    1. For the pessimists, things could scarcely have gone any better… Moores has got to go, hasn’t he? And Downton should do the respectable thing and follow him out.

      There’s still chat of not playing well as a unit in the post-match interviews… what positives can be taken from this? Pressure off the game vs Afghanistan? Sadly the wooden spoon looks just beyond our grasp.

    2. well, you’re certainly right about there not being much pressure (on afghanistan) for friday’s game…

  2. You look at New Zealand and the whole seems to be so much more than the sum of the parts.

    Contrast England, with a far bigger and (on paper) better pool of talent, but the whole seems so much less than the sum of the parts.

    I have followed every world cup from the very beginning, including the ignominy of 1999. This one has been far and away the worst showing by England. An unmitigated failure.

    1. thing with NZ is that Hesson timed his coup right, even if it was done in the most clumsiest of manner.

      But England (in the immortal words of Andrew Hughes) sold their Cook shares at rock-bottom after last minute Panic.

      I have full sympathy for Morgan & Moores. convenient scapegoats. They were set-up for failure by being appointed so close to the World-Cup. Again go back to my earlier point about Hesson-Taylor-McCullum

      and those bitching about KP remember McCullum didnt bring back Ryder, despite strident calls for him and he has actually gambled/gone-all-out by promoting himself to the top.

      Unprecedented for a skipper to be playing like Greatbatch really. not that I am complaining about that. I love how he closes his eyes and has a full swing. Fortune favors the brave?

    2. The difference between KP and Ryder is that KP is a bit of a tosser who was still serving it up on the pitch. Ryder has genuine issues with alcohol that international cricket only seems to exacerbate.

    3. yes I over-reacted on KP but the point I made endorsing Ged’s view stands

      “England are less than the sum of their parts in total contrast to New Zealand”

  3. England have had no clue about their ODI cricket for more than a year. The mess around Cook as ODI captain, the KP drama, bad selection in the actual tournament, no real intent about the playing batting order. England have got nothing right. Fitting result.

  4. Bangladesh have beaten England in the last two World Cups, they’re showing signs of becoming a pretty competitive side (at least in the shorter forms) and have developed a better depth of talent than they had a few years back.

    Regardless of my feelings about England, I’m genuinely delighted to see them doing so well.

  5. Mahmadullah accidentally sticking the knife in during the post match interview was probably the best part of that game – “We thought we were about 15-20 runs short initially”.

  6. Bangla-DECKED
    England’s World Cup dream reduced to RUBLE
    TASKIN-NED alive
    etc and so on

  7. If England lack flair and individuality, perhaps it’s time they brought in a coach from the subcontinent. Wishful thinking but at this point what do they honestly have to lose?

  8. I remember watching at 3am or whenever when Gatting reverse swept Border’s first ball and got out. I was inconsolable. This time I couldn’t be bothered to get up early and was closer to indifferent when we actually lost.

    Having read KP’s autobiog I will be pleased England lose until Broad and Anderson have retired or been kicked out.

    Maybe if Paul ‘the selectors I employ’ Downton and the fool Moores go earlier, I will compromise.

    Yeah – the ‘we didn’t perform as a unit’ excuse has to go. The team collectively has to take individual responsibility better. It’s as simple as that.

    I did wonder if someone ran up to Tamim after he dropped Broad and taunted him with ‘you’ve just dropped the place in the quarter finals of the world cup’ or similar.

    Top puns there Sam

  9. Taking the positives, at least Tamim won’t get his house stoned for that drop. He’s got to be relieved.

  10. This. “We thought 275 was chaseable – we’ll have to look at the data,” said Moores.

    1. It was chaseable and I can name the players who could have chased it:

      Kohli, de Villiers, Amla, Steve Smith, Tendulkar, Sehwag, KP, McCullum, Grace…

    2. …me, my kids, my granny, that bloke over there who’s never played cricket, Helen Keller…

    3. This would be funny were it meant ironically. Instead, it just sadly sums up a big part of what’s wrong with this setup.

  11. In the words of the immortal Mark Kermode (not about English cricket but it really could be these days):

    “The Emperor is running down the street, waving his nouvelle vagues in your face, with a camera secreted somewhere the sun don’t shine.”

    1. Never thought of Mark Kermode’s surname as an aptronym, but for that particular quote, Alec, it is!

  12. I remember something worse than this by England at a World Cup. It was Vaughan and Bell opening in a first round match in 2007 and blocking everything for the first 15 overs. Never seen anything quite as bizarre as that by any other team before or since, but then it was against Australia.

    With any luck, Moores is searching the job sites as I write…

    1. The game vs NZ in that tournament better fits that description of events, I seem to have banished that particular failure from my memory.

  13. So as a fairly depressing thought experiment, see if you can pick our best ODI team for 2019.

    This is mine, necessarily incomplete.

    1. Moeen Ali
    2. Alex Hales
    3. James Taylor
    4. Joe Root *
    5. Jos Buttler +
    6. Eoin Morgan (Finisher a la Bevan)
    7. Ben Stokes?
    8. Chris Woakes
    9. A bowler who can bat a bit. A lefty would be nice.
    10. An actual spinner
    11. A real fast bowler

    No space for Broad (past it), Finn (not sure he’ll ever be back), Ravi “47 off 40 in a 10 run loss” Bopara. Not convinced by Jordan either.

    I’d like to think that Ballance is good enough to force his way back.

    But I have really no idea where 9,10 Jack come from. Anyone got suggestions?

    It goes without saying that Downton, Moores and (especially) Saker should be long gone.

    And that whomever we pick should get a whole year of selection before being discarded. We have a lot to learn…

    1. Lewis Gregory and/or one of the Overton twins (or maybe both?) not that I want the cream of Somerset’s crop poached just yet, but these guys are showing great promise.

    2. The Overton twins would make our lower order nice and solid. Two years for Somorset, and two for England. Seems like a nice compromise.

    3. Chris Jordan would be my choice at 9. Someone should pay Scott Borthwick to become a serious leggy and maybe work on cloning Dale Steyn.

    4. If you put Jordan, Tredwell & Finn at 9,10 & 11 respectively then that can make-up the best side for the dead rubber against Afghanistan!

    5. The tragedy in all this is that England had the germ for a top-notch bowling attack because of Moeen Ali, who could deliver 10 overs & bat in top-6.
      A luxury which very few other teams in this WC can afford.

      A shame really.

  14. India were knocked out by Bangladesh in 2007 and went on to win the 2011 World Cup. So, maybe there is hope? Unlikely, but you have to assume things can only get better from here.

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