Feast and Famine- Andy Flower as England Coach.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe because I refer to some Prior runs in the narrative bit.

[D/L]

Correct. Any road up, Prior seems to be a long way from a return to the test team.

My post was really to express surprise that one of Prior's innings had made it into the top 5 in the Flower era. It's not bashing; it's merely reflection.

[pompeymeowth]

Fair do's then. I have watched Matt bat for Sussex many a time and he was great to watch when it was going well. But I'll be the first to admit that I've torn what's left of my Barnet out watching him get out to silly shots far too regularly.

[Arthur Crabtree]

If Australia were no longer the team of legends, they still won the series they were supposed to. They hadn't lost at home to England since 1986-7.

The tourists couldn't have started much better, with two wins and a draw in the warm ups. There was a plan, and it was coming together... until England were bowled out for 260 in Brisbane, and Australia replied with 481. But that was ok, England didn't just fold. Strauss and Trott batted with Cook for two days to draw the first Test. Then, after Anderson knocked the top off the Australian batting spectacularly on the first morning in Adelaide, Cook and Pietersen demolished Bollinger and Doherty and England won by an innings.

The Australian win in Perth levelled the series, and really gave a lie to the impression that England won easily. At 1-1, the series was in the balance. But then England played a pair of perfect Tests, two of the most complete games any England team can ever have played. They found an answer to every problem, and rarely had to wait long. Trott in Melbourne, and Cook, Bell and Prior in Sydney broke the home bowling, in many different ways. Anderson, Tremlett, Bresnan and Swann were a machine.

They finished the series with three innings wins, which was unprecedented. They stopped Australia from scoring, and then suckered them. They got Watson out lbw so often it felt inevitable. And if there was a partnership against the seamers, Swann would break it. The catching and ground fielding were near faultless.

But in England's success, there must have been seeds of the struggles that were to come. It may be that the heavy defeat at Perth suggested a team comfortable within a particular range of circumstances. The defeat at the WACA gave Australia a blueprint for their reclaiming of the Ashes last winter. The huge partnership of Haddin and Hussey in Brisbane repairing a top order collapse was a pattern that would become very familiar. And when the tail wagged for Australia, it was too late for it to matter in 2010. Not so in 2013.

Still, it would be wrong to lose sight of the truth that England steamrollered Australia and played brilliant cricket. While Cook most obviously made the hosts suffer with his immense appetite for facing their bowlers, on some pretty flat pitches, Anderson was the real hero. He bowled himself to exhaustion and overturned the Aussie public's expectations of him formed in 2006.

The impression of England as an irrepressible force was fortified on the last afternoon in Cardiff when Swann, Tremlett and Broad scattered the Sri Lankan batters like pigeons, in a generally wet early summer, dismissing them in under 25 overs to produce a win from nowhere. India were next, and resisted well at Lord's and the early part of Trent Bridge. But thereafter it was a one sided procession. At Edgbaston, Cook's 294 saw England to 710-7 declared and an innings and 242 run win. Bell and Pietersen repeated the dose at the Oval, Swann then bowling England to another innings win. Instead of the sprinkler celebration in Australia, England carried the ICC mace around the outfield, according to the rankings, the number one side in Test cricket. Cricinfo called them one of the five greatest sides ever.

Hubris. Meet nemesis.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ten great innings of the Flower era.

6. Alastair Cook, 235* at the 'Gabba v Australia, 2010.

Facing up to a monumental 221 run deficit, Cook batted for ten hours and twenty five minutes and faced 428 balls. No draw in Brisbane, no series win in Australia, with the Perth Test a home banker. And Cook showed the way to his team mates as he would later do in Ahmedabad. Australia let slip a game they thought they'd won. Cook's unbeaten innings here bled out into his 148 in Adelaide, and across the whole series. It was like he was wearing an invincibility cloak. Even if the umpire gave him out, he was reprieved on TV evidence. He posted his intentions here at the 'Gabba.

7. Kevin Pietersen, 202* at Lord's v India, 2011.

Those who seek to denigrate Pietersen, say he only plays one way. They take him at his word. If any innings laid bare that untruth it was this brilliant unbeaten double ton. On day one, as the ball swung around under low, fat clouds, he scored 22 runs off 72 balls, with two fours. When he walked off at 474-8 declared the following afternoon, he had added 180 more off a further 254 balls striking 19 fours and a six. Pietersen may not have been as consistent under Flower as before, but he played most of the great innings he will be remembered for.

Ten great bowling performances of the Flower era.

2. James Anderson, 4-51 at the Adelaide Oval v Australia, 2010.

It was a start to a Test of unbelievable, adrenaline releasing joy. As if still bursting with the relief of saving the game in Brisbane, Anderson, and the outstanding England fielders tore open the Australian top order to leave them 2-3 after 2.1 overs. Trott memorably ran out Katich, then Pietersen caught Watson driving to gully off Anderson, who induced Ponting to edge to Swann at slip. Anderson should have caught and bowled Hussey shortly after, but, no matter. Australia recovered a little to 245, but on a batting paradise, it wasn't nearly enough.

3. Chris Tremlett, 4-26 at the MCG v Australia, 2010.

1-0 up in the series, England unleashed the Terminator on the Australians. He took wickets in the Perth defeat. In Melbourne on Boxing Day, he shot the Aussies out for 98. Anderson and Bresnan were almost equally as excellent. But Tremlett was a bit more than just good. he was a bit frightening too. Not just his immense frame, but his downright silent menace. He looked like an English aristocrat turned into a justice seeking superhero, possibly by an unfortunate nuclear mishap. What a bowler he could have been, and on days like this, he was.

[SaintPowelly]

I'm glad Tremlett made the list, he also bowled very well at the rose bowl vs SL.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes, he only really had a fraction of a career. Such are the rewards of fast bowling.

I've got five great Tests for this section but it's getting on so I'll come back to them.

I've left England here at their peak, so it's worth looking at the stats for the first part of Flower's time as coach. Pretty impressive.


http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=batting

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... pe=bowling

[D/L]

I like retrospectives in this style. My own recollections may not completely tally with them, but they are well written and well worth reading. Keep 'em coming, AC.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ten great wins of the Flower era.

3. Melbourne against Australia, 2010.

With Australia having won in Perth to level the series, England might have been expected to approach the Melbourne Test with a little trepidation. Instead they produced a team performance of resolve and panache that brushed aside the Australian recovery and put the result beyond doubt even by the end of day one. Anderson, Bresnan and Tremlett were miserly, the apogee of the discipline that Flower and Saker demanded from the bowlers, which saw their top wicket taker Finn rather ruthlessly axed. At stumps on day one, England were 157-0 in reply to 98 all out. Trott's invulnerable 168* and Bresnan's hostile and precise second innings bowling did the rest.

4. Sydney against Australia, 2011.

England won all three Tests in this series by dismissing Australia for sub-par scores in the first innings and amassing huge totals quickly enough to leave Australia nowhere to go. England were under a little pressure at 226-5, with the impediment of having to bat last at the SCG. They didn't need to. Cook's 189 and Bell's ton saw England to a lead. Prior's maiden Ashes century felt like mental disintegration. The ostentatiously celebrating England team was at its peak. And the Australian team, including injured and struggling batting legend Ricky Ponting, was at absolute zero.

5. Sophia Gardens against Sri Lanka, 2011.

In dismal weather, there was a slight impression of a post Ashes hangover against Sri Lanka. Anderson's body finally gave in to injury and many couldn't understand Broad bowling short in early season conditions. The Cardiff Test meandered with the passing rain for four and a half days, and England seemed unable or unwilling to force the game, delaying their declaration to allow Ian Bell to complete his century. Fifty minutes before tea, England walked off and looked to score a few points ahead of the Lord's Test. They flattened Sri Lanka for 82 in 25 overs. Tremlett and Swann took a wicket at a rate of every other over. Sri Lanka looked out of their depth.

6. Lord's against India, 2011.

India's invaluable toss win in overcast conditions was neutralised by Trott and Pietersen's resistance on day one. On day two, in the sunshine, Pietersen and Prior saw England to an above par first innings of 474-8. Second time around Prior and Broad thrashed the Indian bowlers after a top order collapse. The best bowling in the match was Jimmy Anderson's second innings 5-65. The pitch was under anaesthetic, as Lord's often is on days four and five. There was nothing there for him. Yet he never gave up. He dismissed Dravid, a big pole in this series, and in front of an adoring crowd, Tendulkar, not for the last time. He wouldn't be denied. He looked in a class of his own that day.

7. Trent Bridge against India, 2011.

India fought back at Trent Bridge but were denied twice by Stuart Broad. First, his tail end assault on the Indian bowlers in the first innings turned a perilous 124-8 into a merely disappointing 221. Then with the ball, his hattrick and six wickets defused the Indian reply just as they went past the England score with only four down. Bell played his best innings since Durban to put England in a match winning position with a composed 159, Prior and Bresnan turning on the burners at the end. Bresnan then shot out India in the second innings with some hostile short stuff. The game really turned on Broad's all round contribution, though the Test as much deserves to be remembered for India's sportsmanship in reinstating Bell after a controversial run out.

[D/L]

Very enjoyable reading again, AC.

[shankycricket]

Surely the KP innings at Mumbai has to rank up top?

[Arthur Crabtree]

They're not in order of best, the numbers refer to chronology.

[Arthur Crabtree]

In the aftermath of a series win in Australia and the defeat of India, the England team and staff received some very flattering press. The coaches were praised for their bowling plans in Australia in particular, and everyone knew the merits of bowling dry. Many felt that England's five pace bowlers, Broad, Bresnan, Anderson, Tremlett, Finn, represented a rare golden era, riches that wouldn't run out for years to come. Gooch, as batting consultant took a permanent job and the England batters were happy to talk about their daddy hundreds. They were in astonishing form: cautious from Cook to Trott, expansive from Pietersen to Morgan, destructive from Prior to Swann.

It is difficult to find auguries of decline in such success. But how about these? Perhaps there was some inflexibility in planning, in that England would win the same way every time. They found no way to integrate a second spinner, or an all rounder. There was some evidence of obstinacy in the coaches' plan for Stuart Broad to be an 'enforcer'. Broad unilaterally abandoned the plan against India and looked twice the bowler; but as Bresnan took up the role successfully, maybe they just picked the wrong man. When England allowed Bell to complete a hundred before declaring in Cardiff, Strauss talked of the value of celebrating the milestones of their successes.

So did this mean that the means were becoming more important than the end? It is tempting to see this now. Flower had a reputation for managing every aspect of the team. This method of achieving a notable improvement by working on small gains in the details of performance had been tried in other UK sports like gymnastics and cycling. But these were sports where they had to peak for a big one off payday. And this took its toll. Some competitors accused the coaches of borderline abuse. There was talk of mental fatigue and breakdown. And these sportspeople were aiming at a specific pinnacle. England had to go on year after year. They already looked physically tired.

England looked to be enjoying a glorious boom. Yet all of these players, we can see now, had peaked, or were about to in the next few months. Beyond the tour to UAE lay the meeting of the best two teams in the world, England and South Africa. It looked like the ultimate, and last test of England's pre-eminance.

[Arthur Crabtree]

England had a few months to recuperate after the unusual demands of the Ashes, the 50 over World Cup, and a pair of home series, all within ten months. Flower let them take time off, and they reunited shortly before the Test against Pakistan in Dubai. The pitches in UAE, slow and without any bounce, presented a new challenge to the England batters, which they failed in their entirety. There wasn't a hundred in the team, daddy or not. And only five times did anyone pass fifty... It was (by runs per wicket) England's worst batting, ever.

It was surprising that Flower and Strauss chose to start the series with Tremlett when Pakistan had prepared tracks to help their spinners. Panesar played in the last two Tests and finished top wicket taker. But Panesar was never plan A. He, Swann and Broad were superb. The batters, who got out repetitively to the sweep, were mystified by Rehmann and Ajmal, but the bowlers always kept England in the contest. When England were bowled out for 72, chasing 145 to win in Abu Dhabi, it was a reminder of Jamaica in 2009. They lost all three. England at least recovered to beat Sri Lanka in Colombo, and draw that series, thanks to PIetersen's rhapsodic 151, and ten wickets from the dependable Graeme Swann.

England beat the West Indies at home in May. But they looked a tired group of men. The rapture of Sydney had gone. They had to work hard to clinch their advantages. For the third Test in Birmingham, England did a sensible, but untypical thing. They rested the entire pace attack (but not Swann). And though the press felt Onions was the pick of the second string, England stuck to the original plan, and Bresnan, inconvenienced by an elbow injury, was chosen to face the South Africans.

A more emphatic, demoralising defeat than England's innings loss to South Africa at the Oval doesn't come easily to mind. South Africa turned 1-1 into 637-2. England's attack was impotent. The hype about England's pace bowling strength, for the first time, began to appear facile. Swann looked, and was, injured. Pietersen scored a quite brilliant hundred in Leeds, but the team was damaged by an ongoing disagreement between him and the ECB. After press reports of an injuriously disunited dressing room broke, Pietersen was dropped. Without him, England lost again at Lord's. The illusion of England's supremacy had been exposed.

The affairs of August, on and off the field, saw the end of Andrew Strauss' England career and captaincy. Alastair Cook would take over not only a deeply divided team, but the prospect of a trial that can overwhelm even the most resilient of sides: a tour to India.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ten great bowling performances of the Flower era.

Graeme Swann, 4-75 & 6-106 at the P Sara Oval v Sri Lanka, 2012.

Monty Panesar's impressive return to the England side, ran into Mahela Jayawardene in Galle; whereas Swann remained effective. The recovery in Colombo emphasised Swann's value to the England side, and his great versatility. Swann could trouble batters on almost any surface, almost to the end. Here again, he carried the spin burden single handedly and took wickets on day one, as well as at the end of the game.

Ten great wins of the Flower era.

8. P Sara Oval against Sri Lanka, 2012.

England's capitulation to Herath in Galle meant that England had lost four in a row to spin. They had often come back well from bad performances before, but this was a slump. That they levelled the series in Colombo at least gave England a little cheer at the end of a tour that had exposed huge failings in the England side. That England rallied through Cook and Pietersen echoed down the line in India later in the year. Pietersen's 151 in hot conditions was a superbly aggressive knock. Swann carried the bowling, dismissing Jayawardene twice. It was impressive that England could still produce a winning performance after playing so much bad cricket.