I wrote a post about coaching in UK sport and how we are way behind the rest of the world in many areas. Cycling is one of the few sports where we have set the standards.
As a former coach of young athletes it used to make my blood boil when I listened to the idiots who called themselves a coach. I am not a violent man but trust me, my Krav Maga was itching to be used when I heard the bullshit they were spouting.
So what is the issue? Actually it is not restricted to sport only, it is a psyche which stops many people from chasing their dream or reaching their potential. In football, it was always a size thing, "you're too small" but nobody told Messi or Maradona that! In swimming it was a similar thing, "you're too short" or "you're not strong enough". This usually led to idiot coaches pushing youngsters to their physical limits too early and they simply burned out! Now if you want to be a jockey you cannot really be 1.9m and 90kg but that is a physical restriction not a talent thing. There are plenty of small rugby players and suddenly the powers that be are realising there is a place for them!
Anyway, I started this rant...sorry....because of the state of English cricket. I am a fan of Kevin Pietersen and his talent is not in question. Yes, perhaps he is difficult to manage but that is a problem for the management to work with. If they cannot handle a problem like that then should they really be in the job? Even if we forget KP and kick him into touch we have to look at how the ECB are dealing with things and determine if they are fit for purpose? My view is they are not!
English cricket had a period of success and some people were jumping up and down saying we are the best ever. Well, I am sorry to burst that bubble but we were nothing more than average. Let me put this into perspective so you don't think I am a hater of English sport. I am proud of my country and I would support them in tiddlywinks if there was a tournament. I always want my national team to win but there comes a point where I simply cannot be @rsed anymore. Sorry to stray into the vernacular but I don't know how else to convey my feelings.
I am a realist, I can see talent when it exists and I can see mediocrity too. If we go back to the team under Michael Vaughan we had a team with spirit. They were not all world beaters but they gave their all. If you look back at those Ashes matches we had many things go our way and came out on top. I will take that and I know you need a bit of luck from time to time. However, I also accept that luck with good grace and don't start shouting from the roof tops about how great we are. The image of Freddie Flintoff commiserating Brett Lee summed it up perfectly for me. Let's not forget the final decision to give Kasprowicz out was a wrong one, his hand was not on the bat! If we take the luck and accept it and then try to improve then great but we don't, we think we are great and believe all the hype.
That Australian team was coming to the end of its shelf life with many of the old guard already retired and many close to it so we were catching a team on the wane. Yes, we won but we never seem to add perspective to things! KP was okay to manage then it would seem!
We scraped home in 2005 but in the 2006/7 series down under we were hammered 5-0 but despite this we still couldn't see it!
In 2009 we had the ultimate Yes Man Andrew Strauss as the captain. He always reminded me of the dog in the Churchill adverts as he could only nod and say yes! It is never mentioned that Strauss was not even considered for the team and at one point was playing club cricket in New Zealand. I think he was a pretty good player with the bat and a good slip fielder (holds the record for catches) but his captaincy was boring as he simply went defensive all the time. It needed the other side to get themselves out and if that failed he never seemed to have a plan B! He retained the captaincy in 2009 after a mixture of injury for Michael Vaughan and his eventual retirement.
We scraped a draw in the first test with Panesar and Anderson hanging on grimly. We sent the "physio" on twice for no apparent reason other than wasting time but that was soon swept under the carpet. Now I know others time waste but that doesn't make it right and it certainly doesn't make us a better team. In the 2nd test we won the toss and had the best of the pitch. Australia lost Hauritz to an injury which hampered them. We managed the win. 2010/11 saw a fledgling Aussie side and we won 3-1 - nobody was more pleased than me. The ECB were slapping themselves on the back and revelling in their great achievement but I was advocating caution as we had a settled side against Australia who were almost starting from scratch. 2013 was similar and now, the great Ponting was also gone.
Rather than go on with the history which I am using to set a context let's look at what followed.
2014/15 saw us handed our @rse again and we were thrashed 5-0. Australia were still rebuilding but they had new blood in the team and were functioning as a unit.
It was all KP's fault, he was disconnected and that was having a bad effect on the team. How can you blame one player? It's simple really, rather than look at the real issues let's find a scapegoat. We did it with others like Boycott and Botham whose faces didn't fit. We have Paul Downton who was another yes man for the ECB whose playing career was nothing special. We have Whittaker who was nobody in terms of playing career but a good yes man again. So irrespective of it being KP or Donald Duck the issue is with the yes men who run the game. I say that because I don't want you to think I am just taking KP's side. I would like him to play again for England but if he is to be excluded permanently I still want a change in the ECB to ensure we move forward.
So what have the ECB done? They have appointed Churchill the nodding dog as Director of English Cricket. Are you ****ing ****ing me? That’s like letting the fox take charge of the hen house! Churchill will simply ensure the "yes" culture continues and he will be nothing more than a mouthpiece for the ECB, you will NEVER see or hear him challenging the system. He will always find a way to champion their archaic old school tie network and nothing will change. I pray I am wrong and we regain our form but I simply cannot see it.
Alistair Cooke is a fine young player but England captain? Please don't make me laugh, he is another yes man, a clone of Strauss. Have you seen some of the fields he has set or the bowling changes he has made? He is a ball chaser and adjusts the field according to the action.....just 3 balls too late each time! He uses the Strauss plan....bore the opposition to death. In One Day cricket he was wasted and he should concentrate on Test cricket. He was dropped for the World Cup but the culture was the same and we were hopeless. Look at this recent set of results for Cooke and Strauss. We always bat too long when we have a lead and look to set a new world record for the opposition to chase. The result is the usual bore draw because we cannot upset the old school tie brigade for fear they'll spill their G&T if we set a challenging realistic target. We then lose to the West Indies in the final test and the series was a draw 1-1!
Don’t even get me started on Peter Moores! Coach? He would only be a coach if they took his teeth out and replaced them with seats! When asked why we were so sh!t in the World Cup he replied “We need to look at the data!” OMFG, the players were knackered, they were demotivated and their love of the game was drained from them by the constant training and fitness regimes!
Now let’s look at the national Football team…….only joking!
This attitude will strangle the game the same way it kills young talent because people dare not step outside of the norm and speak out of turn. Young people give up because they do not have “natural talent”, are “too small” and the cycle continues.
Ignore the idiots who say you can’t, tell them to stick their attitude where the sun doesn’t shine and then get out there and go for it!
Sorry folks….rant over!
Yes men ruining sport!
It's always darkest before the dawn.
I want English cricket to recover. Winning 5-0 is boring. Playing robots who lack personality is boring.
I loved cricket growing up in the 80s because the Windies were almost unbeatable and it was a challenge. 1989 became one of the greatest years of my life because I was at university and could stay up all night watching the ashes.
2005 was heart braking but contained all the majesty of cricket. It was great England was on the rise.
I want a vigorous contest. England sort yourself out.
I want English cricket to recover. Winning 5-0 is boring. Playing robots who lack personality is boring.
I loved cricket growing up in the 80s because the Windies were almost unbeatable and it was a challenge. 1989 became one of the greatest years of my life because I was at university and could stay up all night watching the ashes.
2005 was heart braking but contained all the majesty of cricket. It was great England was on the rise.
I want a vigorous contest. England sort yourself out.
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JollyGreen
- Posts: 2047
- Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:06 am
I listened with interest to the Michael Vaughan interview on 5 live last night. I know am reading between the lines but I'd say it was rather obvious that much of what he said and a lot of what he didn't say resonated with the feelings expressed here.
He said he ruled himself out but I would say the ECB had already done that because he wanted the option to include KP at some point.
It seems obvious nothing will change, Strauss says he wants to stop the leaks from the ECB. That is code for "the same attitude will prevail but we'll keep it among ourselves and keep doing just as we like!"
As one caller to the program last night said "We (Barmy Army) pay our money to see the best England team NOT the ECB!"
He said he ruled himself out but I would say the ECB had already done that because he wanted the option to include KP at some point.
It seems obvious nothing will change, Strauss says he wants to stop the leaks from the ECB. That is code for "the same attitude will prevail but we'll keep it among ourselves and keep doing just as we like!"
As one caller to the program last night said "We (Barmy Army) pay our money to see the best England team NOT the ECB!"