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The England cricket team have lost virtually everything: their form, their minds, their No.3 batsman, their hunger, their pride, their mateship and camaraderie, and now the Ashes. So, what now for England?
They have been beaten pillar to posts by an Australian team that has found a renewed sense of clarity, form, and sheer aggression with bat, ball and in the field.
They have shown England how you are meant to win playing cricket here in Australia – by asserting yourself on the opposition, taking the game away from the opposition and draining the opposition, physically, psychologically and mentally.
England have to take a leaf out of the book of the Australian team by picking a team that has players known for their aggressive intent, and by giving players the necessary clarity to produce the form to win Test matches for your country.
To achieve this, you must have a core of very experienced players, still at the peak of their powers, who can still have an influential impact on the game to help England win games of cricket.
Looking at the current England Test Squad, these players are Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan.
I don’t understand why people are questioning the place of Kevin Pietersen in the England team. In an article by BBC Cricket Correspondent Jonathan Agnew, he questioned Pietersen’s ability as a team player and his place in the team.
“Pietersen bats as if he is simply taking on the bowler and fielders, rather than considering the team situation,” Agnew wrote. “Now, you can have cricketers who put themselves first, most often in a team that is winning and can be accommodating.
“However, when you are being hammered, you need players that will toe the line. For that reason, England have to decide if they can continue or move on without him. They have a big decision to make.”
To answer your view, Mr Agnew, Pietersen has always been a man who bats in an aggressive manner, challenging any man and his dog to raise their level in an attempt to beat him at his own game.
In an Australian cricketing environment, this would have seen him average over 50 runs per innings/dismissal, probably closer to 55.
His current team environment, however, is ‘suffocating’, both in terms of psychological stability of players, as well the playing ability of the majority of the player group.
This is the key reason why Pietersen is not only lacking clarity and understanding of his role within the team, but why the team has been thrashed and utterly humiliated in this series so far.
It is clear that Pietersen should remain in the England team, but unfortunately that isn’t clear to people like Agnew.
Some media figures like to see their own men and women lose in sporting contests, so that they can influence the powerful and faceless men within their sporting hierarchy to get rid of people, who are allegedly not team players and possess uncontrollable egos.
As for the rest of the England team, you need some younger players in the team to build for the future.
I would keep Joe Root and Ben Stokes, but I would also bring Steven Finn into the team for James Anderson, as he has lacked the hunger and the want to succeed on this tour.
Gary Ballance should also replace Michael Carberry, who I feel doesn’t have the tools to be successful at this level long term. He didn’t cash in when he got himself set in those few innings that he did get in.
Matt Prior is an interesting one because I feel that he is a very good player – full of brilliance with the bat and usually good with the gloves. Since the start of the English summer, however, he has had an awful time with the bat, which is now affecting his glovework.
Prior may need to have a break away from the game, to allow him to relax and recharge the batteries, so I would bring in Jonny Bairstow for the final two Tests of this series, then assess the form of both Prior and Bairstow before their home series against Sri Lanka.
As for Graeme Swann, I feel he should remain in the side as I feel there is no one better to take his spot in the team.
Here is my England team for the fourth and fifth Test Matches:
1. A. Cook (c)
2. J. Root
3. I. Bell
4. K. Pietersen
5. G. Ballance
6. B. Stokes
7. J. Bairstow (wk)
8. T. Bresnan
9. S. Broad (fitness pending)
10. G. Swann
11. S. Finn
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