Will England Retain The Ashes?.

[Colourful Chaddi]

The thought of Monty Panesar bowling the Austrlians out and retaining the Ashes is laughable and is highly unlikely IMO, sure Monty will have some part in the Ashes but I highly doubt he will be England's key player, I really don't think he will be successful this winter.

Sure he has had moderate success against the Asian teams who are known to be quality players of spin, BUT since that time im sure the Australians have worked him out, like we saw in the 4th Test between England and Pakistan, the Pakistani batsmen went after him and Monty really sturggled, maybe this is his weakness, maybe he isn't ready menatlly for International cricket. Monty could see him self thorn apart by the Australian batsmen who are not that bad at playing spin- Martyn, Langer, Hayden are all good players of spin and Michael Clarke is proabably the best player of spin in the world at the moment.

Also the picthes in Australia will not suit finger spin, they tend to help wrist spinners more. From what I have seen from Monty in Test cricket is that he gets most of the wickets with some big turning balls, he will struggle for wickets if he can't get the same turn on these picthes. He has been talked about to be good at flighting the ball in the air in county cricket, but I have not seen him bowl like that consistantly in Test cricket, he has bowled flat most of time, maybe he need to flight the ball more when he plays in Australia.

Don't get me wrong im not saying Monty is a bad spinner, he is infact a decent spinner and will have a decent Test career, but i really doubt he will be successful this winter in the Ashes.

[cantplaycantalk]

In the last test Monty was bowling on a 1st and 2nd day pitch, and a flat one at that, largely at two batsmen who were well set.

Now as it happens he was more than a match for Kaneria throughout this series, so that would suggest that Monty is quite capable of matching up to a leg spinner. I would not expect him to be as dangerous as Warne, but then Warne is something special, but he will give England an attacking option they have not had in a long time.

Of course if we go into the Ashes with our current injury crisis where Jones, Flintoff and now Harmison are all injured we won't stand a cat in hells chance, but otherwise underestimate Monty at your peril.

[cantplaycantalk]

Originally Posted by south beds mikey

Absolutely agree about Monty. Could be the key. Just a bit worried how much stick he'll get off the Aussie fans and how he reacts to it. I do believe there is a slight chance they might take him to their hearts. Its a long shot but you never know

Don't know I think the Aussie fans will warm to him in the same way the England ones have, I'm sure he will be a cult figure with the barmy army and the aussies like a joke.

[Quagmire]

Well he could be liked but he is more likely to get pelted with rocks, Monty is a decent spinner but I think that Giles should play instead of Monty, that assuming Giles is fit. Hussey, Ponting, Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist are all good players of spin, Martyn and Clarke have also shown in the past that they can smash hundreds on big spinning wickets in Sri Lanka against Muralitharan. The difference will be in the quicks and the top 4 batsman.

Hayden & Langer Vs Strauss & Trescothick
Ponting Vs Cook
Martyn/Hodge/Hussey/Clarke Vs Pietersen

[acker]

I think the Ashes defeat has stunned most of the Aussies into getting back to basics in match preparation. Such as training not only hard but making the most of their training time. Getting back to basics such as the recent Army boot camp is a step back towards reallity from their usual leave 5 star hotel train for X hours return to 5 star hotel talk to my publicist for X hours, I'm a "prima-donna" exsistence that I think a lot of them had fallen into prior to the ashes series.
I think they have got the hunger they lost back.

[Paoli]

That's probably true- I think in cricket, more than any sport, you need a motivator to coach you, because if you're winning all the time, it is a routine, as the Aussies got into. I don't think they actually lacked any hunger in the Ashes, they were just outplayed in 2 of the tests by a superior English team. I've never really doubted what the boys have done, and I really doubt the merits of this boot camp.

What is the role of a coach in cricket anyway? It's not like they're there to help players technically. Do they give each bowler a gameplan? Or do they just motivate? In the junior levels and through the academies, that's probably where the best coaches are.

[acker]

Might be best if coaches were given a limited tenure, lets say 4 years because eventually the new ideas run out and it seems to become a grind. But instead of finishing coaching completely the ex coaches could be retained in a personal/specialist/mentor role to be a resource to players and new coaches.
The ACB could employ Ian Chappell on a part time basis to mentor Ricky Ponting or Rod Marsh to mentor Adam Gilchrist even if its via phone call's the players could talk far more frankly and be in contact with those who have experienced the hype and lived through the pitfall's rather than bottling up.
I beleive players should be encouraged to discuss whats going wrong with things, just as much as they are encouraged to discuss the positives, sometimes I think they may feel threatened if they bring problems up frankly with people who may be involved in the selection/coaching process.

[Paoli]

See what I mean, it's all repetitive. A batsman who's not batting well- "Make sure you watch it closely, don't play unless necessary, work them away and when you've got more confidence play your natural game". A bowler who's not bowling well- "Find a place on the pitch, stare it down, try and hit it all the time".

I'm thinking all the coaches really do is take training.

[acker]

I'd like to think superior bat speed and superior ball release speed may also come into it Pauoli.

As well as training players how to reverse swing without clawring divot's into the ball and how to bat during time's extreme pressure is being exerted on you may come into play as well.

[Ernest]

Some players should not be coaches according to the legendary D Lilee, I remember his saying that if England attempted to coach ian Botham - they would ruin his.

I think he was right, coaching should be limited to when it's needed, and no tinkering.