Fifty Years of Hurt

Henry Winter, five time Football Writer of the Year, is one of the most recognised football journalists of recent times thanks to frequent appearances on Sky's Sunday Supplement and BBC 5 Live.  His knowledge of the game is second to none, yet few would know of his love of the game and the national team.

His new book, Fifty Years of Hurt, may change any loose assumptions of a writer being not in love with his nation's best XI. Winter is eager for you to know he has seen the last 244 England internationals, and even saw some games off his own pocket when he was between jobs at the Daily Telegraph and his new employer, The Times.

Henry Winter

Winter has always come across as a well spoken, articulate intellectual about the sport; an admirer of the great purveyors of majestic football from our own Paul Scholes to the continental mastery of Xavi and Andrea Pirlo. Yet Winter is a disgruntled fan, one who is embarrassed that his nation has only won the World Cup once, only reached semi-finals of a major tournament four times and are seemingly always taking two steps back such as the woeful 2014 World Cup performance in Brazil proved.

Yet the author is full of hope and optimism for the near future, perhaps Euro 2016 is one tournament too soon for the new breed of zestful youth at Roy Hodgson's disposal in the guise of Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and John Stones; but he sees that the full influx of a plan of action culminating in the centre piece of St. George's Park in Burton is coming to fruition for a new golden generation.

Winter's book takes us on a journey from the halcyon sepia toned triumph of Wembley 1966 to every failure since. He speaks to great English players and asks why it is they failed at that certain tournament, and when we did have success why did we not kick on from there and build upon it as Spain and Germany have done in recent times claiming the ultimate prize in the sport, the World Cup.

The author attempts to dissect and pin point a problem as to why we fail at the game we love so much, a game that hosts the most watched domestic league in the world, a league where a team rated as relegation favourites can win the title convincingly. 

England's greatest day - 30th July 1966

This is a great premise for a book, yet at times the book comes across as more enamoured with the great players he is interviewing than getting to the crux of the matter. As a reader, I was expecting a more technical evaluation of the problems we have with our national team in the vein of say Jonathan Wilson whose Inverting the Pyramid is a keynote book for any football lover. I was expecting how changes of formations and styles of play have left us standing still, failing to qualify for tournaments whilst Germany never do.

Instead the book sometimes reads like a hard luck story for the national team, where all we needed was a little bit of luck and avoid playing a phenomenal talent at the peak of his powers and we might have won. If only Alf Ramsey did not take Bobby Charlton off when 2-0 up against Germany in Mexico 1970 or Gordon Banks did not have a dicky tummy? If only we did not have to play Argentina and Diego Maradona in 1986 we would have won? If only we knew how to take penalties? If only our players had stronger metatarsals?

England have encountered bad luck over many years

At times it reads like a sob story when it really should not, England have struggled for years to harness creative players and build around them from Glenn Hoddle to Chris Waddle to Paul Gascoigne. These players were marginalised and used sparingly when they should be at the centre of a side. Now Gascoigne had his demons and injuries but it is no coincidence that when he was at the peak of his powers twice, twice we got to a major semi-final.

England have picked the wrong manager and then jettison one when they are getting results as Bobby Robson and Terry Venables can attest to, they hired Steve McLaren when he was only a good coach not a manager. They failed to use the great players of the past and pick their brains when things went wrong, the FA being a situation of upper class elite thinking of players as mere servants and beneath them.  This has led to the FA selling their soul to the Premier League, and having no power over events. Players get paid handsomely for playing 90 minutes a week and then retire not wanting to give anything back to the game, they would much prefer to sit in a studio and be critical than coach or train the next flock of talent.

Neville's ambition is absent in his peers

The chapter 'Pathways' is an interview with Gary Neville (most likely interviewed after his short term spell with Valencia) and he puts it in great perspective about his peers from the so-called 'Golden Generation'; 

'Look at Gerrard, Lampard, Carragher, Ferdinand, Owen, Beckham, Terry, Ashley Cole, Sol [Campbell] - how many of them gone into coaching? You're talking about a whole England team, the best players, and only me coaching, and I'm in televison as well.'

This is not to put the book down, as it is a page turning endeavour. The sort of book you can devour in just a few sittings and it is to Winter's credit and established persona that he can get such luminaries as Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, individuals you suspect to be guarded to talk with such forthright honesty about the situation.

You could do without such chapters as 'In the Shadow of the Show' where Winter is watching a Premier League game in Los Angeles at 6am on a Sunday whilst on his gardening leave from the Telegraph. Its a nice angle to show the global reach of the League but you get the sense that the fact that football is being shown in LA is not the reason we left Brazil early. 

Nevertheless, Winter rights with a real passion and desire to see England succeed in this modern age, he wants to see a team be as admired by the tika-taka of Guardiola's Barcelona sides; yet perhaps the need for change might not come from a constitutional change as we have seen in France where there new footballing school ended in 1998 home glory during the World Cup, perhaps you need an individual with a vision to be the mainstay of the change of direction be it Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klinsmann, willing to bring something new to the party and stick with it. England had this with Glenn Hoddle, but then his personal views made his position untenable, England have never recovered and a chance was missed.

When will the years of hurt end for England? Winter may not necessarily have the answers but if people were put in charge of the national team with as much verve and ambition as him, then perhaps the hurt might not last for much longer.

Fifty Years of Hurt is published by Bantam Press in Hardback on 2nd June 2016 for £20.00. A perfect gift for Father's Day and a great read during Euro 2016 and to celebrate the anniversary of England winning the World Cup in 1966 on 30th July.

England Cricket in Crisis

Following the embarrassing 2nd test defeat at Lords yesterday, it seems it cannot get any lower for the England cricket team.  Having now gone 10 test matches without a victory, there seems to be more and more questions without any hint of an answer coming from within the England Cricket Board.

Yet how has it got this bad? Following the 5-0 whitewash in Australia, the decision was made to keep   Alastair Cook and remove the combustible Kevin Pietersen.  Rest was the order of the day for many senior players who missed the Caribbean one day series before the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.  Yet the results have not improved. A test defeat to Sri Lanka has been followed by inept cricket in two tests thus far versus an equally inept Indian side.

What is the solution? Do England make wholesale changes? Do they remove the senior players for a new zest of youth and form players. In this test series only four players can be picked on form; Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Liam Plunkett.  Tellingly there is only one bowler in my list, and he was nowhere near the Ashes squad in November.  It seems that Jimmy Anderson has got slower, Stuart Broad is again injured and Ben Stokes' poor batting form is affecting his batting.  Plunkett, meanwhile, has transferred his early season county form for Yorkshire to the test arena.

Therein is an answer. Plunkett played domestic first class cricket and his batting has been useful also. However, Anderson and Broad had torrid winters and Stokes lost to a locker room door in a straight fight.  Dropping Chris Jordan sent out the wrong message, he has youth and pace on his side as well as a desire to succeed and achieve.

Perhaps too many of these senior players have achieved too much and now want to gain riches of the IPL, where is there short term and long term targets now.  Matt Prior has removed himself from selection for the remainder of the summer and probably played his last game for England, his fitness issues were too much to overcome.  Yet the decision to play him despite being less than 100% fit was indicative of Cook wanting seniority instead of form, when Jos Buttler's one day form was screaming for selection for first test versus Sri Lanka.

Yet the in house hegemony of the England cricket team which is very cliquey and looking after their own is doing a disservice to the players who are and are not picked.  Look at how James Taylor was treated after he played two tests and did nothing wrong, supposedly dropped at the behest of Pietersen who did not rate him. Even the call back of Simon Kerrigan of Lancashire, who was coached by Peter Moores last season is a fair form of nepotism or naivety in not knowing who else is available.

England need to pick players in form. Players like Daryl Mitchell of Worcestershire, Ravi Bopara of Essex, Adam Lyth of Yorkshire and his team-mate Jack Brooks, the bowler. This is unlikely however as England do not pick players or from winning counties. They ignored Mark Alleyne when Gloucestershire was winning every one day competition; have any Lancashire player been selected after they won the domestic title, Glen Chapple remains the best county bowler not to earn an England test cap.

Yet I feel they need to change the order and ask Moeen Ali to open the batting as he does for Worcestershire with Mitchell. Then have Ballance at three, Root at four with Bell at five or six.  England need to have a long look for themselves and if players are not fit then they need to do the honourable thing and stand aside as Prior has done.

It seems England have been more worries about selecting eleven players who will fit the ethos and mindset of a supposed identity, yet when the results are not happening you go back to picking players who will create results and from there a new ethos can be ushered in.

There are many dilemmas to be addressed but only the coach, Moores and the captain, Cook, who should both remain can supply them.

England's ODI Batting Dilemma

Another English cricketing summer has begun again with Sri Lanka being the first of two renowned cricketing titans to tour our country this summer.

However, England despite the new regime change with new performance director, Paul Downton; the return of Peter Moores as Head Coach and a new group of selectors, England are still making the same mistakes in 50 over team selection.  With less than a year to go before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, England are showing their hand to be feeble and weak.

For years, England have refused to join the party of having big hitters at the top of the order as is the want of every other Test side.  Whilst there is a credit in maintaining consistency of selection across all formats and familiarity of roles for players, is that not ego massaging of the order by not putting pressure on players to succeed and garner a better quality of performance.

In Alex Hales, England finally have a player who is both bombastic and exciting at the top of the order.  One of the best T20 players in the world, he requires the opportunity to be promoted to the fifty over game and yet England are seemingly content with the opening partnership of captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell. Whilst Bell is scoring runs solidly, if there is someone disposable it is the Warwickshire batsmen whose removal from the limited overs team(s) will prolong his Test career of which he is the most solid of anchors following the dismal Ashes series over the winter.

Cook has shown himself quite adept at adapting to the shorter format of the game, however, do we have to select the Test captain due to his position of seniority or is he being selected on merit? The selection of Cook with Hales would give the left and right hand combination, and allow Cook to bat his way and Hales the freedom to swing his arms much like Sanath Jayasuriya was nearly 20 years ago.

Yet is this a matter of accommodation or a matter of bad management, because the formation of a competitive batting line-up is being ignored for the sake of posterity.  Ravi Bopara is possibly the most talented individual all-round cricketer in England, and yet he is mis-managed by England seemingly.  This writer has seen Bopara score centuries for Essex at the number 3 position; his experience and now veteran status should not be undermined and utilised.

Bopara at 3 followed by Eoin Morgan at 4 then the developing Gary Ballance at number 5 will allow some solidity to the order as Ben Stokes (in a perfect world) will enter at 6 followed by the wild card of Jos Buttler at number 7, where his inventiveness and unorthodox approach at the death of a first innings can garner bonus runs or be successful in a chase.

This would mean the removal of Joe Root from the team, this is required as Root a good member of the Test side and an important component of the side going forward is being accommodated in this respect of the limited overs side.  Whilst he scored a century in the Caribbean, he nonetheless scored at close or less than a run a ball.  Until Root shows he can play and score consistently for his county, only then can we add him to the discussion.

Currently England are not sitting pretty in the ODI rankings as a team and individuals, there is still time to make a statement. How about picking the ones making the loudest noises?

England v New Zealand Series review

England have beaten New Zealand in the 2nd test at Headingley by 247 runs which gave them a 2-0 series victory, more than making up for the three drawn test matches on the tour of New Zealand in February/March.

Whilst the margin of victory is huge, and came at just after 3.30pm on the fifth day with more than a session to spare - there does however remain an element of fortune in this England victory as they beat the rain, that started falling during the post-match ceremonies.

England's decision on the 3rd day to bat again rather than enforce the following on having gained a 180 run lead left many pundits and ex-internationals somewhat perplexed.  This was not helped by the play of Jonathan Trott who scored a measly 11 runs off 69 balls that stymied the initial effort of captain Alastair Cook who raced to 80 odd by the close of play.

On the fourth morning, Cook completed his 25th Test century before being out for 130.  Trott succumb for 76 before the young Yorkshire pair of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow both hit at more than a run a ball for 28 and 26 not out respectively, to set New Zealand an unrealistic target of 468 to win and England to get 10 wickets in over a day and a half.

Cook's reluctance to enforce the follow-on was mirrored by his safety first field positions for his bowlers who had a huge score to defend but a weak batting line up to attack.  Graeme Swann aiming for the footmarks left by the Kiwi left arm seamers, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, had not a lot of men round the bat especially versus the right handers who would struggle in spin from that particular rough.

Swann ended up with 10 wickets in the match, the first English spinner to take 10 in a match at Headingley (traditionally a seamer's wicket) since Derek Underwood in 1975.  Swann like Underwood though is a special talent that England must hope is fully fit after his elbow operation, unlike most other departments Swann is indispensable to the team as a specialist spinner and genuine match winner if the conditions suit him.

Cook's lack of ruthlessness could be interpreted as a weakness, would England have batted again if they were facing Australia and they had them on the rack as they so obviously had New Zealand.  Many Kiwis were laughing at the situation on the fifth morning as the game should have been completed.
England under Andy Flower have form in this over recent years when Andrew Strauss captained, England would be in the ascendancy but then bat again to apply 'scoreboard pressure' as Flower loves to entone and then dismiss the chasing side in the fourth innings.

Luckily England are in the position to field four bowlers who can take 20 wickets between them at this moment in time - Anderson's swing is threatening with the new ball, but wanes after that; Stuart Broad looks resurgent; Swann can do so much with his varying flight and speed yet one question must remain over Steven Finn who although taking wickets is still struggling with his run-up and his length of delivery, on the last day he bowled far too short to Tim Southee who dismissed him for two huge 6's.

Finn was bowling to a field of a deep backward square leg and deep mid-wicket, instead of doing what he did to Doug Brownlie on Monday by bowling an unplayable ball that Brownlie attempted to duck out of the way, yet could only glove a looping catch to Bell running in from gully. Finn was bowling with fire on Monday, on Tuesday he was like the weather a bit damp and not impressive - Finn must work on his consistency.

Another possible reason for England batting again was that it gave Nick Compton a chance to gain some valuable time and runs at the top of the order to cement his place at the top of the line-up before the Ashes start in July.

However, Compton's second single digit score of the match, 7 off 45 was quite a grind to watch and instead of giving England an answer, there are now more questions for England to ponder. Joe Root's continued impressive start to his Test career including his maiden Test century on Saturday at his home ground, means England have to give serious consideration to promoting Root to open the innings especially with the returning Kevin Pietersen likely to go straight back to his position of 4 in the order.

This is a shame for Compton who had endured a baptism of fire in India but scored some useful runs with Cook, then he answered the critics again in New Zealand by scoring two centuries, now he must return to Somerset and play some four day cricket and get some time at the crease and get his confidence back.

Compton was a victim of joining the inner circle of Team England, having gone on two tours he was not allowed to bat as much with Somerset as he would have liked, although he did score 105* at home to Warwickshire on 25th-28th April - yet he also had two ducks.

Whereas Root played week in, week out for Yorkshire and made some huge scores (182, 236, 179 for England Lions v New Zealand).  Root's confidence was sky high resulting in scoring 243 runs, averaging 60.75; Compton in contrast scored 39 runs averaging 9.75 runs.

Compton may be a better batsmen to replace Ian Bell in the middle of the order, as he is used to doing for the Taunton side.  Whereas, Root who has a great technique for someone so young and plays the ball so late, would be better suited to open the batting as he has done for his county side.

However, lets remain buoyant England have won the series convincingly and head for the Champions Trophy in good spirits, another good showing in that competition will bode well for the A-word series in July.  England will start favourites, more so because their order can score heavy runs against an Australian bowling line-up that has to prove it can take 20 wickets in a match, a fact that England's four pronged attack can.

England v San Marino Preview

Roy Hodgson is at the start of his first tournament qualification experience with England.  Having experienced a tournament proper without the burden of slugging through deepest darkest away days, he is sampling over the next five days the best and worst of international football.

On Friday night in front of a full house Wembley Stadium, Hodgson will be sending his team out to score goals goals goals against the feeble San Marino, who have not scored in four years and not won since their only international victory against Liechenstein in 2004.  Along with Bhutan and the Turks & Caicos Islands, San Marino are the lowliest ranked country under the umbrella of FIFA.

Hodgson must send out a team who firstly will find the game a test and be motivated to compete against semi-professional footballers.  Hopefully the home crowd can help suck the ball into the net.  However, like any England manager, Hodgson has to contend with selection headaches.  Already deprived of Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson through suspension; you can now add Frank Lampard (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (throat) to that list, as well as the ongoing furore surrounding Ashley Cole's supposed punishment for his tweeting against the FA last week.

Hodgson also lost captain John Terry to international retirement yet has gained newly installed captain, Wayne Rooney to the side after he missed the Macedonia/Ukraine games owing to the large gash he suffered on his left leg.

So what should Hodgson do with his formation?  The loss of both Gerrard and Lampard has deprived Hodgson a chance to look at one without the other following on from another dismal performance together at home to Ukraine.  This may give Tom Cleverley a chance to cement a position in the side, or alternatively allow Rooney himself to play off a front man such as Welbeck where he can gather the ball from clubmate Cleverley or Carrick and dictate play with his enthusiasm and zeal.

Who should play up front with Rooney, or in front of him?  Club mate Danny Welbeck has a good partnership with Rooney as the start of last season showed, yet the purchase of Robin Van Persie at Old Trafford has meant less starts for Welbeck who often plays on the wing coming into play rather than an out and out forward meaning a dip in form.  Perhaps Andy Carroll is the answer, returning from a hamstring injury, a 60 minute burst against the minnows of Marino where his height and strength will be overbearing may be the right result.  Then just when they have seen the back of that man mountain on comes the wily Jermain Defoe who is scoring consistently for Tottenham, and is known for scoring late junk goals in one-sided defeats against tired defenders.

But what of the wings, should he play both Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott from the start to bomb down both wings and offer support alongside Welbeck/Carroll with Rooney sitting deeper.  Personally, the sight of Carroll nodding headers down for free runners will be a good one and a certain amount of variety to proceedings.

As for the defence it picks itself right now owing to Terry's withdrawal, yet I would be prone to rest Ashley Cole and play the more in form, Leighton Baines of Everton who is in a rich vein of form and offers quality from set pieces and can get forward when necessary.  As does his right back counterpart Kyle Walker who is full of attacking threat but does not refuse to defend, unlike Johnson.

Suggested starting XI: Hart - Walker, Lescott, Jagielka, Baines - Carrick, Cleverley, Rooney - Walcott, Carroll, Oxlaide-Chamberlain

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In Praise of...Ledley King

So it is July 19th 2012 which is the day Ledley King finally gave in to the constant injuries that befell his 14 year career.  It could have been July 19th last year, or the same day next year.  But all in all it must be believed that Ledley has finally done the right thing.  For Ledley, his career will be more a case of what might have been, rather than what it was.

In his 14 year career he accumulated only 260 league appearances, 313 in all competititons.  That is an average of 18.5 games per season.  Where most professionals are expected to play 45-50 games a season, so really he should be quitting after having played 630 games.  He only played about 40% of the games he should have throughout his career.

However, sometimes it is what you do when you are around that makes people remember you with such fondness.  King came through the ranks of the Spurs Academy and was granted a debut in an end of season clash against Liverpool at Anfield in May 1999; however it was a performance against the same opposition at White Hart Lane over a year later in November 2000 that set him apart from the crowd.  King played in central midfield, a position out of his comfort zone yet he did a job for a team that resulted in a home win for Tottenham.  His maturity and control of his play made him look to be something special.

Soon he got to play at his preferred central defence and again he grew into the role as model professional and expert player.  After Sol Campbell left Tottenham for the hated North London rivals, Arsenal in July 2001 it was time to turn to Ledley as the beacon of hope and leader of the team, soon he was made team captain.

During that spell of transition he scored a rare goal away at Bradford, rare yes but it remains the fastest goal ever to be scored in the Premier League, King found the back of the net after 9.7seconds.

From 2006 though, King's career became one of stop start as the knee injury sustained in pre-season training of that year would define his legacy.  King's injury was not like normal knee injuries where cartilage and ligaments could be repaired; in King's case it was no cartilage at all. It meant his bones were touching each other and so the injury had to be managed with care meaning no training and not playing every game of the season, for instance if he played Saturday he could not play until the following weekend.

Whilst King did manage to find some great performances and a huge level of consistency in his play, especially during Spurs' charge for the Champions League in 2009/10 culminating in the victory at Manchester City.  That run of form allowed him to be selected for England's disastrous World Cup campaign in South Africa that summer, although a groin injury sustained in the first half of the first game versus America meant his tournament was over.

Another sad indictment is that during a 14 year career where he was heralded as one of the finest English defenders of his era, he only garnered 21 full caps and two goals.  In contrast to his Senrab clubmate from his youth, John Terry, who is closer to 100 hundred than 50 and has captained his country.

The argument can continue that King was and is a better defender than Terry; as a chorus of a White Hart Lane song can attest to.  King even had a last laugh in 2008 when he beat Terry's all conquering Chelsea in the Carling Cup final at Wembley, and was able to lift the trophy (and then proceed to attempt to drink Faces nightclub in Ilford dry that same evening)

Personally, I was at that game and was amazed at how two eternally crocked players like King and Jonathan Woodgate totally outplayed the dominant Chelsea attack of Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda et al.  They did not so much keep them at bay, as not give them a sniff.  For me it remains the most dominant defensive display I have had the privilege to see.

Alas, in what was now his last season, 2011/12 King was becoming more prone to mistakes letting attackers muscle him off the ball (Grant Holt of Norwich for one) and being clearly outpaced by younger legs; at least Younes Kaboul and Brad Friedel were able to account for any errors in a season that saw Tottenham finish 4th in the Premier League.

However, for all the way his season finished and for what his injury history will overshadow part of his career, for a man who it seemed was around forever, to retire at the young age of 31 is still sad news.  It should not be discounted that he is a rare breed - a one club man of distinction and class which in this day and age of mercenaries should be applauded.

England v Italy review

So once again, lady luck proves to not be an England fan as Roy Hodgson becomes the latest England manager to succumb to the dreaded penalty shootout.

England lost 4-2 on penalties after 120 minutes of stalemate football, as England struggled to create chances against a strict Italian defence led by the mighty Gianluigi Buffon in goal.  England were thankful themselves for the continued form of Joe Hart in goal, as he kept at bay his club team-mate, Mario Balotelli and the engineer Andrea Pirlo who was unanimous as man of the match.

Pirlo dictated the pace of the game, able to pull the strings and orchestrate the action at a pace he suited in his advancing years.  He was helped by the fact that he had two midfielders along side him, this meant that Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker were outnumbered in midfield allowing Pirlo a total freedom of the Kiev pitch.

Yet England looked lacking in ideas and originality, unable to create anything, not getting anything from the wide men, relying on set pieces to count as attacking opportunities.  So where did we go wrong?

1. Wayne Rooney failed to step up
Whilst it would be unfair to single out one man for England's defeat on a shootout, Rooney was expected to return to the England side full of vigour and intensity following his two match suspension.  He can be forgiven for ring rust in the first game against Ukraine, in which he scored, yet his anonymity for much of the two hours of football cannot be.  Rooney was in his fourth tournament, and yet it still feels that he has been unable to replicate good club form to an international platform.

2. Injuries ruined England's gameplan
The dual injuries to Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry denied England the opportunity to fully employ Roy Hodgson's gameplan of flooding the midfield.  If Barry had been fit, he would have joined Gerrard and Parker in the centre able to combat the three man Italian midfield, and also allow Gerrard to support the front pair more often; something missing from the game.  Too often Young and Rooney were isolated with lack of support runners.  Lampard's form for Chelsea at the end of the season was mightily impressive with his mix of stern defence, tackling and bombing runs into the box.  Lampard would also have been a definite penalty taker last night.  Barry and Lampard's presence would have allowed the opportunity to rotate and rest Parker's ailing ankle ligaments; the fact that Jordan Henderson was his substitute spoke volumes.  The introduction of the Liverpool player at the bar where I watched the game, was met with a mixture of 'Oh no not him' and sighs

3. England need creativity
England were seemingly hoping to soak up the pressure from Italy, and possibly counter them on the break with the pace of Young and Welbeck.  Yet too often the final ball was poor and by the end England were hoofing the ball from Hart to Andy Carroll, a good ploy has Carroll won plenty of ball but had no options when he gained possession.  England need a player with a creative streak in him like Paul Gascoigne or Glenn Hoddle,someone who can run at people with the ball from midfield with an air of fearlessness whilst being assured, sadly that player was also one who was injured, Jack Wilshere.

4. Defence is key
Hodgson in his six games thus far has had four clean sheets; he has a pedigree of sorting out this problem.  He was helped by having a Championship winning keeper defender combination in Hart and Joleon Lescott, two Champions League winners in John Terry and Ashley Cole, and the reliable Glen Johnson who has grown in this tournament.  It would have been interesting if Kyle Walker had been fit what impact his darting runs down the right would have made.  Yet with Terry in the twilight of his years and pace alluding him, England have backups in Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Michael Dawson and Phil Jones.  Thankfully also they have a world class goalkeeper for the next 10 years.

5. The FA picked wisely
The FA should be pleased with their appointment of Hodgson over Harry Redknapp, Hodgson did what was expected of him by getting England out of a difficult group.  He showed some tactical acumen as you would expect but also got a rub of some green and allowed the squad to display some harmony and unity from a press that were not expecting the world. You imagine if Redknapp was in charge, the gameplan would have been more gung-ho which can lead to it blowing back in your face.
Hodgson has laid the groundwork, now in conjunction with the FA and the new St.Georges Park complex opening in Burton; the head coach must have a say on what must be done technically to improve England in terms of ball retention, possession and ball retrieval.  At times Italy had three people swarming over Ashley Young to win the ball back; this is something Spain do effectively also.

Next for England is the qualification for Brazil 2014 in Group H involving Ukraine, Poland, Montenegro Moldova and San Marino. Whilst we should qualify as group winners and worst make a play-off, the away trips will be a big test of character for much of the squad.  Whilst we will not win the World Cup, and no European team has ever won a World Cup when it has been held in the Southern Hemisphere (you can include both Mexico World Cups in that also); the omens may not look good but then they did not four weeks ago.  Roy did the best he could do and so he should be applauded for that, having served himself with such distinction and class thus far.

England v West Indies 1st Test review

When reviewing the First Test between England and the touring West Indies, the most surprising element may be that I am writing it after the fifth day of play had been completed.  Many anticipated the tourists to not put up much of a fight, like their predecessors did in 2009 when led by (now absent) Chris Gayle they put up little or no battle.

This side now led by former England bowling coach, Otis Gibson, showed a little more tenacity and desire to hold up an England side who wanted to do away with this series and regain form before the visit of South Africa in July when it is a straight battle for the No. 1 side in the world.

Yet the thing to take away from Lords, is that this Windies side is starting to get better, a collective force that is a sum of its parts.  They arrive unfortunate to lose to the Australians at home, yet the defeats were all close and victory could have been gotten if luck fell their way.  Yet they will admit, when you are down and out - like a club fighting relegation - luck does tend to desert you.

On Thursday morning, day one, Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bowl - typical English conditions, cloud cover with his bowling line up of Anderson, Broad, Swann and Bresnan who was selected ahead of Graeme Onions and home boy Steven Finn.

The West Indies selected a side that had a surprise due to injury; Ravi Rampaul did not recover from an ankle injury picked up in the England Lions encounter last week, so a debut was handed to Shannon Gabriel, a 24 year old fast bowler, whose action reminds us of famous bowlers of yore.

In the first hour, England make inroads as with Anderson swinging it both ways removing Kieron Powell (or is it Pollard as the scoreboard suggested) and Kirk Edwards with his swing movement.  This brings Darren Bravo, the highly thought of batsmen whose motion reminds many of Brian Charles Lara in partnership with Adrian Barath - before Barath is undone by Stuart Broad an hour after tea.  Then Broad begins to takeover proceedings but not before we enjoy another batting masterclass by Shivnarine Chanderpaul who scores a selfless 87* as runs out of partners.

Broad who finishes with 7-72, bowled with a bit of venom inducing bounce out of a pitch to remove Marlon Samuels.  England are helped by a comical runout involving Shiv and Bravo, that ends Bravo's innings at 29.  England take the new ball, and Broad cleans up the tail.  One wicket was remaining at the end of play 243-9, he removes debutant Gabriel with the first ball of the second morning. Swann taking the catch at 2nd slip quite easily.  Broad would be on a hat-trick with his first ball of West Indies second innings.

England's first innings is one of hard work intitially as Strauss attempts to see out the first hour as the live wire pair of Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards offer zip and fire.  Having put on 47 for the first wicket, Cook tries to cut a ball too close to his body and plays on, gone for 26.  Jonathan Trott arrives and puts on a fine 147 partnership with the captain before he feathers one behind off of the slower medium pace of Darren Sammy, for another half-century.  Trott is an accumulator and helps Strauss with his pace of the innings.

Andrew Strauss is desperate to score his first century in Tests since November 2010 on the last Ashes tour in Brisbane, and he does so as he finishes the day on 121.  The ovation when he does reach three figures is prolonged showing how much in favour the captain is with the masses in terms of popularity.  The next morning Strauss adds just one to his total departing for 122.

The West Indies bowl much better on the third morning, collectively as a unit.  The last 7 wickets fell for 132, helped by Ian Bell going to 61 marshalling the tail.  Debutant Jonny Bairstow showed some flashes with some wonderful drives before falling for a plumb lbw.  Shannon Gabriel got his first Test wicket cleaning up Matt Prior who played all round a ball that seamed off the pitch.  England finished on 398 a lead of 155.

The Windies batted much better in the second innings, as the pitch got flatter although a mini-collapse left them at 36-3 after being 36-0 topped off by Bairstow running out Kirk Edwards with a direct throw.  Panic sets in when Bravo fails again shouldering arms to Graeme Swann leaving them 65-4.  Yet Chanderpaul (again) and Marlon Samuels bat diligently and with intelligence putting on 157 for the fifth wicket, before Samuels who looked very good on both sides of the wicket nips at one outside off with Swann snaring the catch at slip, for 86.  Chanderpaul then falls lbw to Swann, to one that straightens and is confirmed on review.

Some swishing from Ramdin and Sammy extend West Indies lead and eventually Gabriel is last man out again as Swann bowls him. West Indies all out for 345, setting England a victory total of 191, Broad takes 4-93 giving him 11 in the match.

Due to the resistance of the lower order England have to sustain a tricky 4 over spell on Sunday evening and with fire in Babylon in their loins, Kemar Roach removes Strauss (4th slip) and nightwatchmen Anderson caught behind leaving England 11-2 overnight.

After a good night's sleep Roach and Edwards come firing in and the plan to get rid of Trott early works as he fends at one to second slip to Roach; and Kevin Pietersen's attempt to hit Gabriel out of the attack fails as after hitting the previous ball for four, he then attempts the same shot from a slower ball with less bounce and lower edges it to Ramdin, leaving England 57-4.  With still over 100 runs required, England have work to do against a new ball attack which is getting seam movement off a slow pitch.

The coming together of Ian Bell with the anchored Alastair Cook, however, leads England to victory. This is not helped by the bowling options diminishing for the Windies; without Rampaul or a spin option in Shane Shillingford - they have to fall on Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels to bowl overs; neither bowl balls that are intimidating and Samuels does not spin the ball.  Cook and Bell pick off the runs easily, scoring 121 in the morning session, leaving just 60 required for victory after lunch.

Cook is caught out at gully with two runs still required on 79, Jonny Bairstow joined Ian Bell yet if falls to Bell to hit the winning runs as he finishes unbeaten on 63* his second fifty of the match.

For England, it was a job well done and get the victory that many expected.  As for West Indies there are a lot of positives to take from this test - a better disciplined and patient batting display second time around, good bowling all round from the three seamers. They will be hopeful that Rampaul can return to the line up and having that spin option may prove vital at Trent Bridge, where a spinner can be rewarded with some good fortune.

There were low expectations of this test series, yet the West Indies have shown a better side of themselves on this occasion and they can be proud of their efforts.  Onwards to Nottingham now, which starts on Friday 25th May at Trent Bridge.

England v West Indies, 1st Test, Lords, 17th-21st May
West Indies 1st Inns 243 (Chanderpaul 87, Broad 7-72) and 2nd Inns 345 (Chanderpaul 91, Samuels 86)
lost to
England 1st Inns 398 (Strauss 122, Bell 61) and 2nd Inns 193-5 (Cook 79, Bell 63*)
by 5 wickets.
England lead the 3 match series 1-0
Man of the Match: Stuart Broad, 11-165 in the match

Harry or Hodgson

The news that on Sunday (29th April), the Football Association (FA) made an approach to West Bromich Albion to begin talks with their manager, Roy Hodgson about the vacant position of England manager came as some sort of surprise to many.  Even more so when it became knowledge that Hodgson was the only manager that they have approached.  This means that the FA will be holding no talks with any other available manager, most prominently Harry Redknapp, the bookmakers favourite and People's Choice for the role this summer at the European Championships.

Hodgson is a vastly experienced manager, in world football and with esteemed clubs across Europe.  Hodgson took a limited Switzerland side to the 1994 World Cup in USA where they made the first knockout round, beyond expectations.

It seems that Hodgson works against this brief at every club.  Exceed expectations.  At Fulham, he took the team to the Europa League final, most notably defeating Juventus 4-1 at home to win on aggregate; before they lost to a very good Atletico Madrid starring Diego Forlan in the final.  This came a season after he saved the club with a last day escape at Portsmouth. Yet this journey to that final gave Hodgson some cache and was given the chance at a big club in England, having previously managed Inter Milan in Italy.

Liverpool came a calling and Hodgson understandably jumped at the opportunity, much like he will with the England job, yet Liverpool turned into a poisoned chalice of a job.  Hodgson struggled to gain rewards through his tactics and vision, there were chants from the crowds of boring football and a series of bad results ending with a home defeat to Wolves in early January 2011 led to the guillotine being dropped on Roy as he headed for the hills.

During a new takeover of the club by the Fenway group, Roy did not fit the bill as the head coach who installed Kop legend, Kenny Dalglish, as manager for the remainder of the season.  The new owners opened their chequebook for Dalglish, something they failed to for Hodgson who signed Joe Cole, a player who failed to impress or fit into the system behind Fernando Torres and in front of Steven Gerrard.

After Hodgson's departure, new signing Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll arrived in the January transfer window; then Jose Enrique, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson in the summer.  Hodgson could have benefited from such signings, yet his pedigree deserved longer than 6 months in charge at a big job.

He shortly returned to management landing with the baggies in West Bromich Albion; a team he resuscitated surviving a nervy relegation battle with games to spare.  A solid summer signing players who work hard and gaining more out of players has led to a solid season, that will avoid the threat of relegation easily without moving up.  That must be a target for the club to break the top 10 next season, of course it would need Hodgson to remain at the Hawthorns, something that looks unlikely.

So why has Hodgson being picked over Redknapp?  A lot has been made of Redknapp's trial in early January for tax evasion, for which he was acquited from.  Since then and following Fabio Capello's resignation, it was expected that Redknapp would be told the England job was his come the end of the season.

Yet the FA have played the waiting game to see how both managers have fared.  In early January, Tottenham were knocking on the door of a title race, and looking assured in 3rd place 11 points clear of Arsenal.  Yet a disastrous last hour of the game away at Arsenal, going from 2-0 up to 5-2 down led to defeats against Manchester United, Everton and further dropped points away to Chelsea and Sunderland, and a crippling home defeat to Norwich.  Tottenham are battling for 4th now, they are ahead of Newcastle on goal difference, yet have an easier run-in with three winnable games - Bolton (A), Villa (A) and Fulham (H) - compared to the Toon Army who have to travel to Chelsea and play champions elect, Manchester City at home.

Yet the poor run of results for Tottenham following a 5-0 home victory over Newcastle, resulted in one win (Swansea 3-1 at home) in 9 games showed a bit of naivety on Redknapp's behalf.  For most of the season, he has an idea of a starting XI who have played or started most of the season.  In this day and age of quicker more intense play, the team could have done with squad rotation yet unfortunate injuries to Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone and always niggled Aaron Lennon, has led to few players getting rest when it could have been afforded.  Also the requirement to give Ledley King a week off between games has actually  been counter-productive for continuity as King has actually looked slower this season than ever before as he fights father time.
Redknapp also let several squad players depart - Vedrun Corluka and Steven Pienaar left on loan to Dortmund and Everton respectively, yet Pienaar would have had a good run following Lennon's hamstring and his form at Everton has helped that side end the season in formidable form, assisting and scoring goals.  For Everton, Pienaar replaced Landon Donovan effortlessly.
Redknapp also trusts the starting XI too much failing to make substitutions or leaving them too late for any player to make an impact; also the lack of impact off the bench (sorry Jermain Defoe) might make this a mute point.
He has also not been helped by players such as Luka Modric and Gareth Bale not living up to their own standards or thinking about next season's employment.  It goes without saying that if Tottenham fail to get Champions League football, those two players will depart.

Yet Redknapp also has too much of a personality for the job, of course he has a good relationship with the press but can he deal with the pressure of a whole nation.  In a knockout tournament, his tactics might get found out quickly, and he has to be able to keep a lot of egos happy in one dressing room.  Whilst the players may respect Redknapp, there is a difference between appreciating a man and listening to him.

Hodgson may garner as much respect, but he has a bit more tactical nous about him in relation to how other nations play football; England need a tactical mastermind for the European championships, not a cheerleader.

England Struggling in Sub-Continent

It can be called that old adage, what goes around comes around.  Swings and roundabouts. Good guys finish last.  Unfortunately, you can put each of these labels to the England Cricket team at the moment.  After a glorious undefeated summer of cricket against India, where India supplanted them from the top spot of test cricket with a 4-0 whitewash followed by a 3-0 victory in the One day series.  It seems that England have come unstuck on the sub-continent.

Following Friday's old friend collapse against some very run of the mill spin, England again where given a right good spanking this time by 8 wkts with a good number of the alloted overs remaining.

Admittedly, the ODI game has altered with a new ball available from both ends meaning one ball gets 25 overs of action  This is interesting in that it limits the amount of reverse-swing available but the ball the batsmen faces is relatively new for the entirety of the innings - the ICC have made the 50 over format a slog-a-thon.  Unfortunately, England cannot get to grips with the pitches they are playing on.

On Friday, in attempting to chase down a formidable target of 301 (a target that was probably 30 more than it should have been) thanks to MS Dhoni's rallying call; England lost four wickets in the middle of the innings in just the space of four overs.  And the tail could not wag as the run rate escalated.

This time, Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat hoping to himself set a formidable target he and Kieswetter went against the grain and both lost their wickets meaning after two overs England were 0-2.  Cook was caught at backward point off an off-balance drive, whilst Kieswetter wafted outside his off stump when he did not need to.

Jonathan Trott seemed to be getting to grips and looked in touch but he was caught off the last ball of the mandatory powerplay meaning initiative suddenly went to India with Pietersen and Bopara.  The two most explosive hitters were together and set about building a respectful total, but both went in quick succession and the wind was suddenly out of the England sails.

Jonny Bairstow and Samit Patel accumulated runs rotated the strike, but again both were out quickly together meaning all of a sudden the tail was exposed without a batsmen.  Without a Stuart Broad in the side offering a left-hander down the order, England look poor with the bat for wickets 7-10 and resistance was not forthcoming as they reached only a paltry 237. 

That total was simply not good enough against a strong India line-up even without Tendulkar and Sehwag; here Virat Kohli scored 112 (off 98) and Gautam Gambhir 84 (off 90) as the bowling attack were torn apart, only Tim Bresnan having any joy as he got two wickets in his first three overs.

So why are England failing?
- For once, there fielding and catching are letting them down.  Trott's drop in the first over of the first ODI set a poor tone.  Ground fielding has gone lax with a lot of singles becoming boundaries after mistimed dives.  And India have been making crucial run outs when it counts.

- The timing of a chase, is built on the accumulation of runs and rotating the strike.  You sometimes get the impression that England would rather smash the ball as far as possible, this is alright if done properly as Bairstow showed in the warm-up match.  The absence of Eoin Morgan who can time a chase is vital here.

- They miss Jimmy Anderson's ability to bowl where necessary and restrict the scoring at the start of the innings; too often India's batsmen get easy balls to dispatch and get set.  Jade Dernbach is no Anderson, and his slower balls are easy to spot on these pitches.

- The batsmen need to make big scores; today KP got 46 and Patel 42, but nobody took the innings along to the higher total.

- England are also not used to playing in these conditions, in these temperatures and humidity; yet England have a whole winter in these conditions to muster with tours in UAE (v Pakistan) and away to Sri Lanka coming in the new year.

However, to blame the weather is a poor excuse.  Unfortunately, England still remain a limited team when it comes to one day resources with too much reliance on Kevin Pietersen and strangely too much emphasis on brawn - hence the elevation of Bairstow, when the finesse of Morgan was getting results. England needed a like for like replacement for Morgan, Jos Buttler of Somerset has shown he has the ability to change a game with his batting as he did at Lords albeit in vain as Somerset lost that final.  Buttler may well get a chancenow on this tour, as I hope does Chris Woakes an all-rounder eager to learn.

This is far from England's best ODI team, but at the moment due to injury and rotation it is the best.  Blame should not be put at Cook's door who admits that his team are well below par at this moment, but three games to go and already the thought of a whitewash is on Indian minds.

New guests in England's ODI party

With England and their selections for the ODI series (one T20 and five ODI's) against the touring Sri Lankans, it is less a case of out with the old and in with the new; as out with the past it and in for another try.

Following the appointment of Alastair Cook as the new ODI captain and the feeble exit from the World Cup on the sub-continent, England need to re-assess their format and team selection.  Several players have seemingly written themselves out of the equation and removed from selection - Paul Collingwood, so often the heart of the England side, has been put out to pasture and is grazing in Durham with a groin strain; Michael Yardy, who worked well with Graeme Swann, is out with depression and seemingly played his last game for England.  And as always there is the query over who should keep wicket, and if that person should open the batting.

England made their selection on Tuesday morning; selecting Craig Kieswetter (Somerset) as the wicketkeeper removing Matt Prior, and recalling Samit Patel (Notts) who has won his battle of the bulge and shown enough progress to be given another chance, although he has been warned to not let himself down in terms of fitness.

In terms of Prior, he should not really worry about his position.  Far from him be looking over his shoulder for the test gloves, Prior is firmly implanted in that position and the picking of Kieswetter is England's intention of creating a pecking order.  Prior will have to do a lot wrong (of which he did not in the recent test series) to be usurped from the test side, but his non-selection is more a reflection of his inability to become an effective ODI opener, which saw him bat down the order once Pietersen took charge, and stay there once KP was injured.  Prior never scored an ODI century, and most importantly failed to be an explosive power hitter at the top of the order.  England must hope that the combination of patience (Cook) and bombast (Kieswetter) will prove decisive.

As for Samit Patel, it cannot be construed as a controversial selection, as once his weight was under control his sheer talent with bat and ball could not be overlooked.  His non-appearance in the recent World Cup on surfaces that would have suited his bowling was the x-factor missing from a dormant England side; as Yuvraj Singh showed for triumphant India - a powerful batsmen who could chip in for some profitable overs is something essential in the overall set up of a winning side.

Presumably, the non-selection of Chris Tremlett for the ODI side can be considered one of two things, either he proved too costly or one-dimensional for the one day game, or they want to keep him fit before the touring India side hit town.  You will probably see James Anderson miss one or two games for that same reason, and the inclusion of Jade Dernbach (Surrey) and Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) is indicative of that, as England attempt to breed some youngsters in high intensity atmospheres.

All in all the batting remains the same expect Cook and Kieswetter to open as discussed, with Trott coming in first wicket down, followed by KP, Bell and Morgan in a not too different Test/One day crossover, with Ravi Bopara again being the nearly man as Patel is picked ahead of him for his bowling prowess - with Swann, Anderson, Broad and one other filling up the places.

Against a Sri Lankan side itself in transition, expect a different story from the test side.  Sri Lanka are very capable one day players with proven track records and have the returning Lasith Malinga (who retired from tests) joining up with the squad and the versatile Angelo Mathews, a one-day specialist.

Expect a 3-2 scoreline to go either way, but hey the winner may be the weather who may have the last laugh.

Ravi to the Rescue

It is with sadness that England cricket's leading figures confirmed today that Eoin Morgan is to miss the World Cup in the sub-continent which starts in the next two weeks, his replacement has been named as Ravi Bopara, the Essex all-rounder.

This is a positive step-forward for the England one day team, that has taken a step back after the Ashes down under, well make that six steps back, as they lost the series to Australia, 6-1.  Admittedly, they could and maybe in hindsight, should have won the first two but unlike the test matches were scoreboard pressure led to the dominance of the test victory; the batsmen came undone when having to chase a target or even create that scoreboard pressure.  Only twice did they bat out the complete 50 overs allotted to them.  Part of the problem was the extra pace on the ball supplied by Shaun Tait and Brett Lee in this series, but too often players would reach 30 and then get out to a loose or lazy shot; only Jonathon Trott, who was thought to be a weak link for the line-up, has batted with conviction scoring two hundreds, but he himself had three single digit scores.

Personally, I was worried by Morgan's form, having been the 7th batsman on the test tour and waiting forever to make an impression on the tour it seemingly seemed to pass him by, his highest score came in the first T20 game and he got found out by Australia, who plugged his gaps.  Whereas, he was to be solid on the subcontinent working the gaps off of spin; Australia would try and attack him with pace which proved his undoing.  Last winter it was a century against Bangladesh that brought him to prominence, there his ability to hit over the top against spin and slow bowling led to the opinion that he would be more key to England's success than Pietersen.

However, with the inclusion of Bopara, England maintain the ability to have a heavy hitter down the order against slow bowling on slower pitches.  Bopara's favourite area is leg side with pulls and heaves over square leg as his maiden T20 century for Essex last summer was proof, but he has improved his scoring shots down the ground and through and over cover in the last year.  He is a plus because he can either open with Strauss, or come in down the order at 7 providing power down the order; he is interchangeable with Prior dependent upon feel and unlike Morgan he offers another bowling option and his ability to take pace off the ball and possibly bowling in tandem with Collingwood can put pressure on middle orders, his bowling has improved three fold in the last two seasons, he can bowl at the death (much like England wished Luke Wright would) incorporating a clever yorker into his repetoire.

The team now reads: Strauss, Prior (wk), Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Bopara, Swann, Yardy, Broad, Anderson.  With the option of Bresnan for Bopara or Yardy depending on pitch and opponent.  I would question the role of both Colly and Ravi, virtually the same player, but having six bowlers, seven if Trott can continue developing that area of his game; means the workload must be spread about but puts pressure on Broad and Anderson to get wickets first up and not have England rely on Swann and Yardy, where their tandem offence is where England's chances may ultimately lie.

Bopara is a plus for this squad and a welcome addition, but in spite of my headline stating he is coming to the rescue; he will not be the reason why England either fail or succeed in this World Cup.

The Problem with Prior

Like many, I was surprised by the inclusion of Matt Prior into England's final 15 for the World Cup in the sub-continent next month. Coupled with the belief that England were happy with Steve Davies' work at the top of the order and tidy keeping behind the wicket. Again, this smacks of England becoming a cliq of a group again; mates one and all who watch out for each other, and once you get into the group you really have to do something bad to get dropped. Injury would be the best solution for everyone a la Flintoff, or 'retiring' before you get pushed as Harmison, Collingwood and Sidebottom have done in recent years.  For Colly, it was the ultimate end of the road, unable to accumulate enough runs to muster any consistency; for Sidebottom it was time to move aside, even though his variation of left-arm attack remains a rarity now and Harmison had too many 'injuries' in body and mind to attend to.

The Prior inclusion, was a little bit out of the blue, but really we should have seen it coming. After the 3rd test, he signed a contract with Victoria for the Big Bash T20 competition taking place during the seven match series, was that a collusion between the England management and Prior saying, 'Stick around in case Davies fluffs his lines'.

Unfortunately, on the basis of two ODI innings amounting to six balls and no runs, it is Prior who is fluffing his lines.  However, I do not feel this is all his fault. I feel it is a problem of the team line up and selection of sorts. But it is everyone following the Gilchrist position. Few players have altered the game much like Adam Gilchrist did with his brazen batting and high scoring rate, much like Sanath Jayasuriya, he could take a game away from you before you have even batted, putting 100 on the board in 10-15 overs, scoreboard pressure as Andy Flower described during the Ashes series.  Now every international side, feels they have to follow suit and have a wicketkeeper/batsmen at the top of the order who can score quickly and take the game away from the opposition. New Zealand have Brendon McCullum. Pakistan have Kamran Akmal. England have anyone who can wear a pair of gloves.  They have toyed with the identity of this individual; Mustard, Davies, Kieswetter and Prior. Prior has tried twice before (and failed), yet I feel should England fail to make at least the semi finals of this World Cup; and if past form should count for anything, the 50 over format does not suit us, I feel England have a scapegoat in place ready for their collective failure.

The reason I call it it a line up issue is that the line up is disrupted by Prior's presence at the top.  Strauss and Prior open, followed by (on a perfect day) Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Morgan (at 7). Followed by Bresnan, Swann, Broad and Anderson. Not a bad line up but I feel if that team bats like it has in the past week, problems will arise from scoreboard pressure. The team are immediately on the back foot, and play falsely to what they would normally do.

England need to bat like they do in a Test match, bat solidly, do not lose wickets making sure you have them in reserve for the last 10 overs and you have big hitters down the order.  Trott and Bell are not big hitters but accumulaters. I would like to see Trott open with Strauss, and give the captain the free rein to attack the bowling much like he did last summer when he scored a lot of runs against Bangladesh and Australia.  That means Trott can play his own game, go at his pace whilst others around him supply runs aplenty.  And if Trott in unison with Bell or Pietersen have scored 220 by 35 overs, that allows Morgan and Prior coming in at 7 alternatively to attack the weary fielders and bowlers especially in the utilised powerplay of 45-50 overs.

When Prior was last dropped from the England set-up, following the World T20 victory, there was initial interest in Prior's reaction when playing for Sussex in the national competition. He responded by being his side's best performer scoring at better than a run a ball, and scoring his first century in the format. And his usual position for his county side - 6 or 7.  If Sussex know what is best for Matt Prior, maybe someone should get a long distance line set up between Hobart and Hove asap.