Ashes 2025-26.

[andy]

If England bat first the deck suit the batting style and huge score could be racked up however if we have to bowl first...archer will be on his knees by tea...tongue has barely bowled on your and carse always looks exhausted...cue stokes bowling a marathon spell and going down injured

[Arthur Crabtree]

Hmm. Not sure I share your optimism...

[andy]

Would love to know why they've suddenly done a 180 on Bashir....we all knew it was gonna happen would love to hear it from them though

[Arthur Crabtree]

They've been reading CMS...

But ignoring my posts.

[sussexpob]

Selecting Bashir and Bethell as key components of a small squad, only to basically accept neither should be anywhere near a test, just demonstrates how fundamentally broken Rob Key's vision for English cricket is. That might sound dramatic, but we don't reach conclusions like this randomly, you get to this point as a result of all the decisions you make and all the systems you put in place.

The most important part of this is Key's disdain for county cricket, and his belief that the stats it produces are meaningless in assessing players because the quality is not high enough. Even taken at the most simple, can you imagine trying to argue that players good records are meaningless because all they are doing is pasting crap bowling around the field, and then use that point to explain why you picked someone with a FC average of 28 and no 100s to play at 3 away on an Ashes tour? Can you imagine trying to argue that point in any other context? Ah yes, this defender can't get a kick on any League Two forward, but that's because its just too easy for him - give him Lionel Messi to man-mark, he will be fine? Sorry, this is just flat out idiocy.

Take it further, and what is this doing for the selection and pathway models? Well, the first stage of discussing a players worth is to essentially ignore what they achieve on a daily basis, and to substitute into the discussion a list of characteristics you believe each player possesses that makes them better. This player is faster, this player is taller, this player spins it big... etc etc. The focus is often on what an isolated characteristic gives in the positive, and not the negatives that hold back a player despite having these special abilities. Its pointless extracting bounce if every ball flies over the keepers head.

Born out of this, is a selection system that has no foundation or repetition, and has no clear strategic objectives. A great example of this was the Kookaburra experiment - well, we destroyed several rounds of the CC for two years to get the the point of sending a team to Australia which includes no players who took part in it. Who was the only guy in the first two rounds who did anything ? Cook. Ah but this guy only takes wickets with the swinging ball in April, give him a ball that don't swing and .....ah... damn. Well who cares anyway, because he's still sh*t because....because because... er, because I say so. He performs for years on end, he performs in a test designed specifically to thin out players who will do well for what I need, but he won't do well because I already made an arbitrary judgement based on bowlers who have longer fingernails not being good, despite never actually producing any evidence (and arguing against plenty in the counter) that shows it.

A good system leaves no room for debate really. At any given time, with all the data analytics in the game and the resources available, England should know exactly what they expect. Every player in the team should have a person tomorrow already decided up to take their place, and another to take his place, and this list should be updated with every run or wicket scored. You identify what level of form is needed to come into the team, how long it needs to be sustained - and the same of the failures.

What have England done? Well, they anointed Ben McKinney as the next guy to come in for a struggling Crawley, and he then averaged in the 20s opening all year. He then went to the Lions, but you can't pick him after last season. Crawley will basically play all tour now. Same with Haines, when Crawley couldn't hit a ball last year Haines scored 3-4 hundreds, was ignored, and then when his form turned into a steaming pile of horse dung, there he is in the Lions team.... as unselectable as McKinney. And then its the same story with Bethell.... a legend before he did anything, we ignore everything that tells us the counter until we get to the heat of an Ashes series 2-0 down and badly in need of some new blood, and yeah... can't trust that either.

[sussexpob]

And then we get to the shambles of the spinner. We can conclude from Bashir not playing that the last test he played, England had already lost faith in him. So why, with 2 tests left in the summer did they not at that point revert to someone else they had some level of faith in, or who would at the very least have survived one bad audition? England picked in the end Dawson, a 36 year old batting all-rounder who again was in dire form..... and he bowled badly, and that was it...career over. They then went to Bethell to do the extra batter/bowl a bit role - one test, dropped for another part-timer who fulfils now the same role as him. So, they picked Bethell TWICE for roles they now wont pick him for. What changed?

Its a damning indictment of the state of the management of the team that since that Lords test Bashir had his finger blown apart, the management could not settle in 4 months on a replacement for Bashir. Put simply, they bottled the decision by picking him just as a tourist. But their actions show they have moved off him. Their actions show they had no faith in him.

40% of overs were bowled with spin during the Kookaburra test. And despite a huge weight of overs being sent down and spin coming into the game more, the selectors didn't have any plan in place when they dropped Bashir. Not one. 4 different spinners in 5 tests.

Meanwhile, the decent if unremarkable Jack Leach quietly had one of the better years of his FC career.... is anyone telling me right now on a flat deck with a history of spin coming into the game, and possible 40 degree heat.... you prefer Jack Leach needing to bowl 40 overs when the seamers faint, or do you prefer Jacks because he might score an extra 20 runs?

[Durhamfootman]

you prefer Jack Leach needing to bowl 40 overs when the seamers faint, or do you prefer Jacks because he might score an extra 20 runs?

Equally, do you pick the best keeper at your disposal or the guy who can score faster and may score more, but is also likely to cost you 100 runs in drops and missed stumpings

Whenever it comes to specialist positions, England answer that question the same way over and over again. They always want the extra 20 runs and justify it by convincing themselves that the other stuff may not happen and is, therefore, irrelevant

[Arthur Crabtree]

Smith has kept fairly well in the past. Maybe some adjustment is needed to keep on Aussie pitches/grounds?

Selectors seem to have made the decision to not go back to players who have not excelled in the past. Which is why they gave Bashir a chance rather than going back to Leach. And they they picked Smith rather than going back to Foakes. And stuck with Crawley and not returned to Sibley or Haseeb.

In this context, it seems less predictable that they went to an experienced pro like Cook at all, than not recalled him for the Ashes.

OK this approach hasn't been applied consistent or always been justified. But in a way it's quite a fresh and optimistic approach. Even if it hasn't worked.

[sussexpob]

Whenever it comes to specialist positions, England answer that question the same way over and over again. They always want the extra 20 runs and justify it by convincing themselves that the other stuff may not happen and is, therefore, irrelevant

Not even trying to be hyperbolic, I genuinely fear if England lose the toss and end up struggling to take early wickets on a docile deck, Australia could wrack up 600-700 plus. Bowling in 35-40 degree heat is going to be punishing for either side that has to do it, and with England's reliance on whipping up extreme pace, I just don't see that ending well unless they can rip out 4-5 batters in the first session. By session 2/3, they will be dying on their feet.... and the job of keeping a cap on it goes to the part-timer. And that sensation of dying will only get worse on Day 2.

Consequently, if England win the toss they have a huge opportunity to inflict damage on Australia. But they have to go out and bat time more than anything. And they have to realise that keeping Australia out for the best part of 1.5 or even 2 days might break the series open for them.

Starc will soon be 36, Boland is 36, Cummins hasn't bowled in an age... what is left of this attack also if you put 150 overs into some of those legs in 35-40 degree heat.

[sussexpob]

I heard an anecdote from Matt Roller of Cricinfo on a podcast today which made me chuckle. After having to hear McCullum bang on about England's golf holiday preparations, he explained that a long time ago he had called Dale Steyn after hearing rumours Steyn would be offered the England bowling coach role, something that Steyn was interested in but said England had not spoke to him about at all. In a subsequent recent phone call, an apparently miffed Steyn explained to the Cricinfo journo that England eventually did offer him the role a mere 2 weeks before the first warm up game, and having already committed to other plans, had to refuse. In the end, England appointed Saker at the last minute.

Roller suggested that England knew Tim Southee would depart the England setup after Perth for sometime, as he had a contract for the Gulf T20 and made no secret his intentions to play. Rather than re-appoint someone for the tour, they did nothing until the last minute, and then decided to retain Southee.....leading to the rather awkward situation of having two official bowling coaches in place until Brisbane.

He went onto semi-joke, but actually make a serious point, that the literal only thing England have seemingly put any advance planning into was their mid-tour holiday. Knowing which people would be in place as senior coaches was only thought about when they started packing.... but the tee times were booked 15 months before.