We have all watched the recent back-to back Ashes series with great interest.
Before the series in the north England were supremely confident, having defeated India in India.
Australia were a rabble on and off the field following a disastrous tour of India.
The northern series went pretty well to script with England comfortable winners on the scoreboard.
But Australia had regrouped and performed reasonably well. Confidence and optimism had returned.
Now the southern series has seen the wheel turn full circle. England are the rabble and the confident, aggressive swagger has returned to Australian cricket.
How has this happened, you ask? Excuses such as a tired England team a long way from home can be made and may have some merit.
The overwhelming factor, however, has been the inability of the England team to see the momentum shift – and more importantly, to adapt to it.
Alastair Cook must bear the brunt of the responsibility for this situation.
Instead of matching fire with fire he has become completely defensive and reactionary. His own form has been poor but his captaincy has been just plain awful.
Many times his bowlers have had Australia on the ropes, only to be unable to land the knockout blow.
Aggressive or even positive captaincy may have enabled that killer blow to be landed. Cook’s tactics, however, have too often allowed the game to drift.
Cook’s field placings and tactics to the Australian lower order have allowed them to recover and get their noses in front in each Test.
England’s tactics when batting have been equally lacking in positivity. Scoring rates have been slow and attacking stroke play has been non-existent. They have drifted along.
Sure, Australia have had Mitchell Johnson destroy the England batting in every innings, but the England team have done nothing to even try to dictate terms to the Australians.
It is the lack of anything resembling a plan which is most damning. Cook is clearly not the man to lead England out of this mire.
Neither, it seems, is Andy Flower. They need someone brimming with confidence to turn things around.
One could draw a parallel between Flower and Bob Simpson as coaches. Both instilled a disciplined approach and their talented teams blossomed, gained confidence and achieved success.
Alastair Cook, however, is no Mark Taylor. Taylor’s confident and positive approach and tactical nous were the foundation for Australia’s long run of success.
So who is the Mark Taylor of English cricket?
In the current team there doesn’t appear to be one. Jonathan Trott may never play again, Matt Prior is totally out of form.
I will leave aside the appalling treatment of Prior except to say that however out of form he may have been, he should never have been dropped for a part-time keeper in Jonny Bairstow.
Ian Bell is another senior player, but is not considered to be leadership material. James Anderson is a good player but is near the end of his career. Don’t even mention Kevin Pietersen.
That leaves Stuart Broad, who can at least hold his head high and say he has performed well on this tour.
Broad has clearly been the best of the English bowlers and has shown a bit of fight with the bat as well. He is the England T20 captain so has some leadership credentials.
I wouldn’t expect Broad to work miracles but he might be a bit like Allan Border – the only choice available. If he is chosen he will at the very least bring some fight to the job.
Cook seems to me to have had his confidence both as a player and as a captain severely damaged on this tour.
He must be replaced as captain. Hopefully he can regain form with the bat from there.
Jason Cave
Guest
The home series (for England) against Sri Lanka and India in England will give us an indication of where England are at after the Ashes debacle. For me, the spotlight will fall on the ones that failed in Australia: Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Matt Prior. These guys really need a big-no, make that massive-home summer in England to show the selectors they want to be a part of the next England side to challenge Australia for the Ashes in 2015. And what of Johnathan Trott-will he be back in time for Ashes '15?
Tony Loedi
Roar Guru
Experimentation doesn't work. The selectors need to identify the players who they think can turn it around for England and then stick with them.
Tony Loedi
Roar Guru
The English selectors have lost the plot. Picking Borthwick as a specialist spinner was crazy
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
I just heard Sir Ian Botham say that there is no need for a new captain yet and that the bulk of the team that Cook is playing with is the team that Andrew Strauss built, now it's his turn to build his own team. I agree with that completely and must add that England must go through the same rebuilding and experimentation phase as Australia did after their 2010/11 Ashes loss. Clarke has built a team which took time and is now pretty much different to the side that Ricky Ponting led. It's time that Cook and the English management get down to doing that. At least they have got a look at the new players that they have debuted in this series and can sort of get an idea of who to put in line for their next test series. England play a lot of County cricket, more than what we play in Sheffield Shield so there must be talent out there. It just needs to be experimented with like we did between 2010 and 2013.
Luke Smyke
Roar Pro
You raise a very telling point there that many have overlooked... How on earth is Johnny Bairstow a test standard keeper? It wouldnt matter how many ducks on the trott Prior had scored for mine, i'd have to say hes better suited to test cricket.
JGK
Roar Guru
Ben Stokes.
Tony Loedi
Roar Guru
Obviously they will just stick with Cook, Like Andy had mentioned there is no alternative. Fast bowlers should very very rarely be Test captains its just too hard. Imran Khan could do it but Broad is not Imran Khan
Tony Loedi
Roar Guru
He still look petrified of the short ball, luckily for him this pitch didn't have the bounce as previous tests.
fadida
Guest
His natural mindset is that he is incredibly conservative and negative. I'd argue that they won the aforementioned series in spite of his captaincy, not because of
Mits
Guest
It wasn't that long ago that Cook defeated the Aussies 3-0 and defeated India in India (something which Clarke failed to do). I think replacing Cook after one (albeit terrible series) is a knee jerk reaction. Cook's still learning the ropes of captaincy and with young blokes like Stokes, Root, Finn (all talented yet raw admittedly) there is enough to work with to turn the tables around. I think Onions will come into the side for their next Test appointment and I expect them to be a lot more competitive. True Cook needs to be more attacking and innovating (and find a way to increase his over rates and stop the time wasting) but I feel any decisions to replace him would further destabilize the team and there is no better personal challenge for Cook to continue on, show leadership and take back the Ashes in two years time. Given Cook is below 30, he has time to become a good captain and with no obvious candidates to replace him, he deserves to continue
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
Nudge, Broad has been jumping around a bit but his batting hasn't been that bad. And in the first innings in Sydney I think I spotted a decisive change in his approach. He started to play attacking shots instead of just trying to defend. This showed also that he is fighting to find a way to counter Johnson's pace. He hasn't given up like Cook appears to have done.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Do they need a captain? Each decision seems to be made by a committee of nine between, and in the middle of, overs. Just draw straws for which one gets to announce the decision at the toss.
fadida
Guest
Agree SC, Broad is the only option. He's the only one in the squad (the inexperienced Stokes aside) whose testicles have dropped. The rest show a total lack of mental toughness and leadership
Sideline Comm.
Guest
I was just thinking yesterday that Broad was England's only option. No matter the downsides, he can't be worse than Cook, and literally, there is no other option. Needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle and all that.
Nudge
Guest
And head
Nudge
Guest
You can't have a captain I'm sorry ( Broad ) who is totally petrified and doesn't get behind the ball when he bats. It would be like having an AFL captain who jumps out of the way, whenever its time to put his end over the ball.