Keystone Cops Performance

England crashed to a humiliating defeat against the West Indies losing by an innings and 23 runs. They could only manage a pathetic 51 runs between them and just like the first innings most of the wickets were soft dismissals. It is a simple game and the West Indies bowlers bowled fast and straight at the stumps. They realised that to get wickets on this pitch it was important to bowl straighter.

In the run up to this game, the talk was of England blowing the West Indies away again but that is certainly not going to happen if this evidence is anything to go by. England has been going backwards for a while and it is now time for changes. Owais Shah should have been picked for this game but once again Miller and his cronies stayed loyal to Bell who failed in both innings. Shah must be given his chance now otherwise the selectors will be a laughing stock

It is a pity the squad does not contain Michael Vaughan or Rob Key because either of those two would be candidates to replace Collingwood who seems to be competing with Bell to see who can contribute the least runs for longest. Collingwood is an all rounder who only occasionally bowls his gentle pace and does not take wickets yet is selected as a batsman. That is fine except he does not score runs and does not look like doing so.

Then we come to Panesar who is a shadow of the bowler we had under Duncan Fletcher. Swann showed in India that he is worth a run in the team and is a better all round cricketer than Monty. The selectors are an absolute joke sometimes. Poor old Matthew Hoggard was cast into the wilderness after one poor performance while some bowlers keep their place regardless of how poorly they play. Sidebottom is continually picked simply because he offers variety as a left arm bowler which is ridiculous if he is not doing the business.

We are currently relying on two players to see us through. Pietersen is carrying the batsmen and Flintoff is carrying the bowlers. This is nothing new and has been going on for some time. Yes they are the two outstanding players but too many of their team mates are not making a contribution. The selectors need to get ruthless and ditch the passengers otherwise a series defeat is on the cards.

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