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[FattusCattus]

When is the first India test? Do we have a load of Noddy cricket first?

[petehosk]

When is the first India test? Do we have a load of Noddy cricket first?

A week on Wednesday (the 9th) so it'll be interesting to see what changes (if any) take place!

[Buzz]

stat of the Day...

number of test matches played by Buzz (me) = 0

number of test matches played by the whole England backroom staff = 0.

[FattusCattus]

Oooooooo controversial.

I must know what I'm talking about with selection, as in my imagination I've played at least 115 magnificent tests!

[Manormanic]

I do wonder whether there is a link between successful international coaches and the amount of cricket which has been played by them at international level.

Fletcher played no significant international cricket (the Zimboks were not a front line test playing nation at the time) and did fine.  But Buchanan was a total nightmare...

[Buzz]

I am not saying the coach needs to have played a test match, but there surely needs to be some big test experience somewhere in the setup.

[Cumbrian Pete]

Alec Stewart would bring 100+ tests experience, a fantastic work ethic and a fighting spirit, he's slowly getting more involved in coaching and management so could be a good shout for the future, maybe the next winter tour.

I'd also still like to see Botham have some kind of meaningful involvement with the England team, but doubt that it will ever happen with his TV and charity commitments. 

[Manormanic]

Not sure with Botham - he's a long time out of the game now and, whilst he can be occasionally entertaining on Sky, his commentary doesn't suggest that he is a deep tactical or technical thinker either. 

[jamielsn15]

There's the suggestion that great ex players, because it came so easily to them, do not have an understanding or the empathy to work successfully with 'lesser' players. 

Coaching goes far beyond having played at an elite level, whereas those who have worked hard at their game throughout their careers, or have never reached the heights of Botham, etc have the experiences and knowledge of how to improve.  There are examples of this across all sports.  You can argue that it helps, that elite players will respect elite performers, but I would suggest that can work both ways.  Respect comes from proving you can do your job, whether that's as a data analyst, physio or coach.  Take Arsene Wenger - never played top flight football and when he went to Arsenal, got rid of many top players, such as Paul Merson, who thought he was ridiculous.  You can speculate all day about his overall success but what he did at that club in the following years was amazing.  brought in new methods that are replicated around the world and earned the respect of great footballers.

There's also the hunger - do these great players have it in them to knuckle down as it were and work tirelessly, arguably more so than when they were players, when it was 'easy' for them?  Add to that tarnishing their reputation - why have unsuccessful management or coaching on your cv and for ever onwards 'great player, terrible coach?'

I'd take a successfully elite player becoming a coach - but I'd also want him to be 'current' i.e. not living off techniques of their playing time and who recognises the game has moved on...

[Cumbrian Pete]

I take the point about Botham, he was never the best net trainer, but I was thinking about him more for his amazing self belief and hoping that he would be able to work on the mental side and instill some of that into our current crop of players, as well as encourage our batters to express themselves more, we seem to be those qualities compared to Australian test players for example.

Alec Stewart is still a good shout for a full time coaching job though, same will to win as Botham but much more of a dedicated trainer and self-improver who thought about his technique a lot and worked hard on both his batting and keeping throughout his career.  Is anyone else a Stewart fan?

[ppccopener]

yes Cumbrian..very much so
We(well some on the forum) would of grown up seeing Stewart repel the West Indies and keep wicket to a higher standard than Prior does now test match after test match for England
He used to counter attack the quick stuff and was one of our best players in an era of Ambrose/walsh/wasim/waqar/warne etc....
England are in a bit of a mess right now and it's clear the press will not give the new coach and players any time to settle,we have been bad in the last year there's no getting away from it.
If you look beyond the bad press there are some young players coming thru with plenty of talent,what we do about Cook God only knows.

He needs runs badly against India, I can't see him surviving another series loss,if we do lose the 'new' coach and regime could be over before it's really started...

[skip1973]

Lehman was an average trainer, at this level I think it's more about man management, Stewart would be good at that, as well as having the right work ethic. Better than all these laptop coaches.

[uknsaunders]

Despite a poor record on his last outing and forcing 3 England Captains to quit, nobody smelt the coffee and realised Moores wasn't a great option. If you ask me KP went because Moores was a forgone conclusion. Had it been anybody else the whole KP thing would of been resolved or never even come to light. A proper coach with man management skills would of told Cook to grow a pair and KP to grow up. England are now left with a Captain who can't score runs, a Coach with dubious credentials and we don't even pick our best players (KP/Stokes). No wonder we can't beat Sri Lanka.

[Cumbrian Pete]

PPCC - good to know that there's a few more Stewart fans on here.  I agree with you totally, he was a fantastic attacking player in an era of seriously quick bowling.  His keeping was much underrated and good enough to justify his selection as an all rounder and keep Jack Russell out of the side, no mean feat.

We do have some good young players coming through, they just need some self belief and a captain to inspire them...I just don't see that man being Cook.  The problem is, there is really no-one else at the moment with the necessary charisma and tactical nous to take it on.

[Cumbrian Pete]

Skip - agreed, laptop coaches are no good to us, we need charisma, a solid grasp of tactics and strategy and a team buildling work ethic from our coach.  Also, someone the players can look up to and respect always helps.  I know Fletcher was not a top player, but someone like Lehmann demands respect for his playing career and Alec Stewart falls into the same category.