From Newsgroup: uk.sport.cricket
In article <
h4lm6l1ba1ks42s2crkvcsi6gqhj0n9osv@4ax.com>, max. it
<
max@tea.time> writes
I have the feeling that despite never having coached a red ball side
Stephen Fleming will be a great England test coach
He has been a very successful T20 coach in the IPL, and has lots of
experience of Test and English county cricket as a player, so the omens
are favourable. And apparently he's friends with McCullum, which may
help reduce friction between what's best for the Test and white ball
sides.
and Joe Root will
be a decent captain if they can find someone else to help make some
runs.
I have my reservations, as when Root captained before he often seemed
overly cautious, and he seemed pretty much beaten down by the end of his
stint, though admittedly the Covid restrictions were a big factor in
that. But there isn't really any good alternative to him, at least in
the short term. Hopefully being captain won't adversely affect his
batting, and at least on paper the side's batting should be fairly
robust. The biggest problem will be balancing the side in the absence of
Stokes and so without a class all-rounder. Maybe it's time for Sam
Curran to return to the Test side as middle order batsman and fourth
seamer?
Judging by how Pakistan have been getting on in the West Indies, they
may provide a reasonably gentle start for the revamped England side.
--
John Hall
"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
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