Pathetic from England really, but maybe we're simply achieving what we are currently capable of? This is not a strong side, by any stretch of the imagination. We are a limited side, lacking a strike bowler, with a batting order that essentially revolves around the enigmatic figure of Kevin Pietersen. In this series, he has been desperately unlucky, and his failures are the exact reason behind England's collective failure to muster 400 runs in a series.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the bowling has always revolved around Flintoff. It was always likely to, for a 90mph, hit-the-deck bowler with unerring accuracy is the most likely candidate to obliterate the opposition. Flintoff was our control, our quality and our balance, and without him, the team looks a desperate shadow of the winning side of before. As someone more intelligent than I so aptly put, "Flintoff is the most aggressive defensive bowler I have ever seen."
Therein, the quality lies. You don't just get brilliance from Flintoff, you get reliability and solidity. He ties down an end but also threatens an end. If there's someone half-decent bowling opposite him, their bowling becomes more threatening as the batsman look to counter Flintoff's brilliance, so he is therefore an inspirational catalyst to. Outside of Flintoff, we had Simon Jones, another crock who bowled reverse swing at 90mph+. To lose them both damaged the team substantially.
We need to get back to basics. We have one world-class batsman. He needs to be nurtured a bit more, for he seems unable to learn from his mistakes. I'm not doubting how hard Pietersen works on his game, nor how special a talent he is, but at the same time he often gets out inexcusably in low scores. My personal grievance is his unwillingness to reach double figures before attempting to impose himself - if he followed this simple route, his average would be three or four runs higher, and he would also be more effective further along the line.
After Pietersen, we need to build an effective batting line-up around him. Simply, that would involve selecting the best five batsman. For me, they are Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook, Owais Shah, Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell. Where England go from there is completely up to them. It's also time to get rid of the old and bring in the new. Harmison doesn't seem to have "it" any more. Stuart Broad is the young gun who can bat, so why not give him a run of games to see what he can do.
Then there's Hoggard, Panesar, plus another. Finally, the keeper. Pick someone who can bat and catch. Jon Batty, Tim Ambrose, James Foster. They're all better than Prior.
) ...well timed Kablooee.
issed: Not very Christmassy of me at all.
