Third Test: West Indies v England, 1-5 May.

[Aidan11]

Rumour is his laptop has been fired though.

[Aidan11]

Graves might not be too happy about 4 day tests now.


We can't even win them in three.

[Aidan11]

Cook obviously not happy with Graves -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/32 ... um=twitter

[Aidan11]

Bloody Strauss is getting the Director of Cricket job.


That's it now. He loves Cook and Moores.

Let's hold the funeral for English cricket as soon as possible.

[Making_Splinters]

There was hardly a wealth of other options after Vaughan took himself out of the running. Strauss is a step back for England, far too familiar with the current step up and unlikely to have the spine to get England running again.

[budgetmeansbudget]

I say we give Strauss a chance, at least he isn't another Yorkshireman, cos with Vaughan and Graves at the helm they'll end up playing the whole Yorkshire team.

Actually that isn't such a bad idea.

[westoelad]

There was hardly a wealth of other options after Vaughan took himself out of the running. Strauss is a step back for England, far too familiar with the current step up and unlikely to have the spine to get England running again.

Strauss is familiar with the England set up but I don't think that will stop him making the difficult decisions. However unless we find out exactly what authority he has it's impossible to comment. What role will he play in selection?Will he be able to overrule Whitaker?He's intelligent and he has integrity-that's a good start.

[shankycricket]

England do have a good team on paper.

If I were an England fan, I'd be terrified about the state of the bowling attack if Jimmy gets injured and as it is, he won't be around for too much longer. Since the Ashes, they have lost to Sri Lanka at home and failed to beat WI. Thats about as low as it gets. They had 3 good Tests against an Indian side who had given up the moment Jadeja dropped Cook at Southampton thanks to some inspired bowling by Jimmy in the last 3 Tests (when he bowled poorly on a green top at Lord's, they lost) and they would've lost this series had it not been for his magical spell on a very flat pitch at Grenada and even in the Barbados loss, he was their standout bowler. What exactly are they gonna do without him? They are finding it impossible to replace Swann anyway.

[Making_Splinters]

England do have a good team on paper.

If I were an England fan, I'd be terrified about the state of the bowling attack if Jimmy gets injured and as it is, he won't be around for too much longer. Since the Ashes, they have lost to Sri Lanka at home and failed to beat WI. Thats about as low as it gets. They had 3 good Tests against an Indian side who had given up the moment Jadeja dropped Cook at Southampton thanks to some inspired bowling by Jimmy in the last 3 Tests (when he bowled poorly on a green top at Lord's, they lost) and they would've lost this series had it not been for his magical spell on a very flat pitch at Grenada and even in the Barbados loss, he was their standout bowler. What exactly are they gonna do without him? They are finding it impossible to replace Swann anyway.

Swann was a top class Test spinner, you don't simply "replace" those sorts of players. It's hard to judge where Ali fits into that situation as he had a very good summer last year but was terrible in the West Indies. It's important to remember that he was rushed back from injury and expected to be a front line spinner straight off the plane. There are decent spinners around in England but the ECB seem reluctant to give them a fair shake of the stick, quite what they were doing by taking Rashid along just to mess around with his action is beyond me.

Anderson is England's stand out bowler, but I'm not too concerned about what would happen if he got injured. We have decent bowlers around albeit not in the same ball park as Anderson but who could do a job if needed. Im far more concerned about how we are unable to pick a bowler with genuine pace to add something different to the mix.

[Aidan11]

There was hardly a wealth of other options after Vaughan took himself out of the running. Strauss is a step back for England, far too familiar with the current step up and unlikely to have the spine to get England running again.

I've just heard about this. Have any reasons been given why he suddenly withdrew?

[Arthur Crabtree]

The article I read said there was a difference of opinion between MPV and Harrison as to what the role should entail.

[Aidan11]

I didn't realise they had defined the role.

Maybe it just stated "Keep Moores & Cook happy and in employment".

[Arthur Crabtree]

I think it just makes sense not to pick a former team mate of the senior players. Or not so recent anyway. Actually, Atherton would be my choice if I could have anyone. He's not only pretty good on the game, but he has a bit of the statesman about him that would reflect well on the standing of the team internationally. That's something that's taken a blow in recent times. Beyond him, I think I'd have to look outside the country.

Gillespie has turned down a job in Australia, fueling speculation he will be the coach.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I didn't realise they had defined the role.

Maybe it just stated "Keep Moores & Cook happy and in employment".

Well that could be why Strauss got it.

Apparently a mini-job description has been available.

There shouldn't be any difficulty with Strauss' (still not confirmed) relationship with Whitaker. Strauss will be the main selector, and will be advised by two 'scouts'. My guess here, but it looks like Whitaker will be sacked, or found a new job.

[Making_Splinters]

It's typical of England, why announce the job before you've even decided what it is, then proceed to rule out a very popular candidate by fudging it so badly.