England desperately need a manager
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
AFP
The events of Saturday afternoon reflected more than just a momentary mental lapse. They suggested not just that a grim month for English cricket, when internecine warfare replaced any sense of team unity, has had a lasting effect, but also that there is a deeper malaise, one that has become increasingly apparent as England have stumbled along these past three years, says Michael Atherton in the Times.
The most fundamental issue of all is the absence of authority at the heart of the England team. We have a new captain and a temporary coach but whose hand is on the tiller, steering the team through a difficult period that poses such awkward challenges as the Indian Premier League (IPL)? For all the backroom staff with the team — masseurs, spin doctors, physiologists, you name it — there is one crucial position missing; that of a manager, a decision-maker who is ultimately responsible and ultimately accountable.
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Usually it is the former players who missed out on the moolah who tend to sound all moralistic. Mr Graham Gooch loved to play for his beloved country so much that he was willing to chuck it all up and captain a rebel tour in South Africa, then banned from international cricket. He was banned for three years for placing money above country.
There's all this camaraderie in front of the cameras, but how genuine is it?, former England coach Duncan Fletcher asks in the Guardian. He feels the need for a head coach is important, since otherwise it leaves Andrew Strauss with a lot to handle.
Sure, not many dressing rooms can say they contain 11 happy chappies, but some get close. I used to talk in terms of a critical mass: if eight of the 11 guys get on well they can outweigh the influence of the three who may feel like they're on the outside. But as soon as that critical mass reaches 7–4 or 6–5 you have problems. I look at this side and wonder where we are at. Team spirit is not something that can be faked. It has to happen naturally.
Fletcher suggests Steve Harmison be dropped in favour of a second spinner and Owais Shah replace Ian Bell.
The one thing England can no longer afford to do is to stick with the status quo, says the Guardian's Mike Selvey.
Something has to give. In 1994 [the year England were bowled out for 46], determined that the selection merry-go-round that had characterised England cricket at that time should cease, Mike Atherton and Keith Fletcher kept faith with the same side and were rewarded. Times have changed. Continuity has been the norm, which is fine up to a point. But it has made some players bomb-proof and complacent. They dare not let things stand.
Kevin Pietersen's brilliant but truncated innings in Kingston will join the ranks of the game's memorable almost-hundreds, writes Michael Henderson on the Guardian website.
If Andy Flower is as tough as everyone says he is, he should demand the selectors recall Robert Key or Michael Vaughan, says David Hopps on the same website.
Stephen Brenkley expresses a similar view in the Independent.
Check out Patrick Kidd's 51 special quiz in his Line and Length blog on the Times website.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo