broadsword

I'm banging my head against a wall, why didn't Cook stand up to him. It was Cook's call to put Australia in, a somewhat strange decision, he should've backed himself and told Anderson what field he'd be bowling to.

There's life in him yet. Was he setting the field, or was Cook? No-one was slating Jimmy this summer.

Broad is the stand-out for me. Prior too if he can get back into the side. Cook honestly doesn't know what he's doing. He genuinely has no clue.

How can anyone think Carberry is test quality is beyond me. I'm not sure if Panesar is genuinely unfit, but he's been mucked about too. We've really plumbed the depths with this tour. If Flower won't bin Cook as captain, the Flower has to go. Cook cannot carry on as captain, he doesn't know what he's doing.

Drop Root and keep Carberry. We're being run by tits.

If you dish it out, you have to take it back.

Loving the podcasts with Geoffrey, it eases the pain somewhat.

I think previous series wins have masked some serious problems with the side which Australia are now mercilessly exposing. cook's inability to captain properly is now there for all to see. it's a mass slaughter now and entirely reasonable for England fans to want to see changes. that doesn't mean throwing the baby out with the bath water but the selectors would be fools to not mske changes. something has gone badly awry in that dressing room. broad as captain has my backing . or prior if he can get his form back

Well Dave, that was exacting what I was trying to allude to, perhaps I needed to be less subtle. Questioning his captaincy is not the same as asking for him to be dropped. I mean, it's not exactly a subtle dividing line, surely?

Bowling Root ahead of Panesar - pure idiocy

Who says Cook should be dropped? How many people want Flower sacked? Are you sure the rest of the team are trying their best? Calm yourself down man, you're foaming at the mouth, that must be one hell of a chip you on your shoulder. I'm sure if Australia were to capitulate on an English tour and be in danger of getting whitewashed, you'd be a model of equnimity. This team is disintegrating and of course questions will be asked.

I despair

cook must've bumped his head

pain

I've been following English cricket long enough to know who alan igglesdon is. bad old days. just keep haddin off the strike and you'll end the innings. I think the signs are good at the minute.

pack it in, that won't happen. we have the upper hand now

It was certainly difficult for the bowlers in not getting enough respite due to the upper order failing to occupy the crease for any significant time. I should imagine Anderson is absolutely burned out right now.

Yes, I think Cook is the wrong guy to have as captain, but who do you put in his place? Prior?

Every time I think it can't get any worse, it promptly does.

We're taking a doing for sure. On the evidence of say the past 5 years we have the better players, but that counts for nothing. Australia are dominating because they're perfectly executing a game-plan that exploits the weaknesses in the English side. If you're going to go down, go down with a fight, and it's particularly alarming to see the English reversion to the bad old ways of the late eighties and early nineties. The mentality isn't the only reason we're getting done, but it's a large part of it. For God's sakes, let's have some fight back, please. A whitewash is no good for anyone. I can understand that the body language has been awful from England, but they really do have to man up. 90% of this is in their heads. There's far too much frailty an dlack of conviction about England right now. The dressing room must be an unpleasant place to be.

We need to talk about Kevin.

It's all in their heads. They can do it, Cook in particular. I really think it was a mistake to make him captain. More controlled aggression required, you can't create confidence without first performing well, but you can at least be determined that if you go down, then go down fighting. If a few players can take the lead on that, they could take the others with them. But this situation does again make me think that the cricket calendar is too crowded. I'm not talking about the physical effects here, but rather the mental drain. Cricketers are only human. But if some players are so jaded that they've lost all motivation, then they should be removed from the team temporarily, for their own good if no-one else's.

Forget Northern and add in Willey and Robin Smith.

It seems like England are a bit too pampered and bow their heads at the first sign of adversity.

At least Carberry and Root have the right idea. Mentally some of England's players seem all over the shop. 500+ to win and Cook pulls it, not too clever. It seems that Australia are winning not solely by talent, but by guts, nous and application. If England could only just find some fight, it would be far more of a contest. Don't just hand them the bloody urn on a platter.