Another day, another World Cup defeat for England. This time it’s the Sri Lankan batsmen helping themselves to the generous offerings from England’s bowlers. This England team are approaching rock bottom. The captain Eoin Morgan doesn’t have a problem fronting up and telling it like it is. But one person notable by his absence from the front-line is coach Peter Moores. It is Moores who bears the ultimate responsibility for England’s critical under-performance. Peter Moores is clearly an effective coach. After all he was won county titles with two different counties. He is known for his planning and organisation skills. […]

England coach Peter Moores has promised to review England’s death bowling, after they conceded a massive 105 runs in the final ten overs of Australia’s innings in Melbourne last week. England bowled to plans in allowing the Aussies to build an unreachable total. And plans are very much a part of contemporary cricket strategizing. But the down-side of plans, is that it means that experienced cricketers simply follow pre-set orders. We have a plan. We follow it. There appears to be little room in the modern game for players to simply work things out for themselves. Smart experienced players don’t […]

Does every successful team need a Maverick player in it? No – probably not. You can win collectively with organization, discipline, and team-spirit. But a Maverick player brings something else into a team. They bring the X Factor,. The ability to do things differently to everyone else. And it’s this sense of ‘difference’ that can make the integration of a Maverick into a team, both rewarding and challenging. A team is made up of a set of individuals. And the stronger the individuals are, the more that the leadership need to help the strengths of those individuals be allied towards […]

England’s less than successful cricket tour to Australia ended a couple of weeks ago. But the recriminations are still rumbling on. After a week of speculation on who said what about who, The ECB finally took the bull by the horns and sacked Kevin Pietersen as a contracted player. The debate about whether this was the correct course of action, perhaps won’t be resolved until England get down to the business of winning cricket matches again. But the Pietersen affair raises plenty of interesting issues, as to how you handle maverick players. In some ways it has similarities with the […]

The holy grail for any team or collective is to be of one mind. United in thought and deed. All working towards the same outcome. A team dynamic where everyone feels important and a key part of the group. Where the individual is given clear roles and responsibilities. And thus they know exactly how their contribution aids the collective success. On the other hand you can have a team with two minds. Where divisiveness holds sway. Where cliques form, and there is a feeling of enemies within. Thus the factions within the team pull against each other. And this is […]

So despite a declared intention to remain the Team Director of the England cricket team, Andy Flower will no longer be at the helm as England rebuild following the Ashes debacle. It could be argued that Flower had earnt the opportunity to put right the wrongs of Australia. That having led England to the coveted position of number one in the world, he knows what it takes to build a successful team. But something has gone badly wrong Down Under. On his watch England have significantly under-performed. Players have openly admitted to a lowering of standards off the field. One […]

It’s an Ashes tour that has shown England to be adept at something they would definately prefer not to be known for. Batting collapses. Clusters of wickets going down for next to no runs. It happened in Melbourne with six wickets being lost for a mere nine runs. A position of strength was surrendered, and with it went the Fourth Test. The number of times England’s batting has dramatically collapsed on tour, suggests that they have not built a reservoir of collective inner strength to handle adversity. Thus one person’s dismissal leads to another. Why? Kevin Pietersen was dismissed in […]

It’s almost time to get the plane home! After their eleventh defeat in twelve games, England appear to have lost the will to compete against The Australians. In sport, winning is a habit. And so is losing. Players can take the field, somehow expecting things to go wrong. A mood envelopes the group, whereby no one is prepared to take responsibility for team outcomes. That mood can create a defeatist atmosphere. Past defeats hang heavy in the air. Doubts and uncertainty hold sway. Players talk bullishly about taking the postives or working hard, but it makes no difference. Jade Dernbach’s […]

It’s England wicket-keeper Matt Prior, speaking ahead of the third test at The WACA. England are on the verge of losing the Ashes. And Dr Reality has come to town. Matt Prior is speaking frankly. He is explaining that the players have been brutally honest with each other, and telling it like it is. And this is good. And how it should be. But is it too late? The Australians have developed a high level of confidence, belief and bullishness. They know how to beat England. They have done so twice. And will feel they can do it again. Frankness […]

Sometime through the first Ashes test in Brisbane, it looked like little had changed. Stuart Broad, supremely focused and positively thriving on the uninhibited insults from the tetchy locals, was putting Australia to the sword. The dominance England had established in the home series, looked set to continue. Then the game dynamic was turned upside down. Brad Hadden and Mitchell Johnson dug in for a crucial partnership, and the Australian bowlers had a total to defend. Then the carnage began. Johnson’s pace and unforgiving hostility had England on the back foot and as wickets fell cheaply and tamely the hosts […]