Thorpe blog: 7-0, unless things change

Eurosport - Fri, 21 Nov 14:31:00 2008

In the latest edition of his Eurosport-Yahoo! blog, former England batsman Graham Thorpe warns the tourists they could be hammered 7-0 unless they sort out their batting at the top of the order.

CRICKET England Graham Thorpe - 0

England are on the back foot and it's hard to see them coming back from 3-0 down. They need a miracle, because they have a big mountain to climb.

It's not difficult to see where the problems lie: they are just not getting enough runs on the board. Today they were 40 runs short, no doubt about it, and it was again that dead period in the middle of the innings that was the main problem.

England have been fine with the ball, but if they are not getting the runs on the board then they will never be competitive.

In the sub-continent, if a batting side doesn't get every part of their performance correct then you will lose - and England have not yet figured out that on the sub-continent you need to be aggressive at the top of the order in the powerplays.

The openers have got to get the run-rate up early, make a quick start, which will then allow our long middle order to score at four or five runs-per-over through the middle period against the spinners.

Ian Bell's role as a frontline batsman on the sub-continent is under a huge question mark for me. He just doesn't play at the right pace, with the right tone; he has not figured out that the openers have to be aggressive at the top of the order.

Maybe it's time for Luke Wright to be given a chance as opener in the fourth game, of perhaps even move Andrew Flintoff up the order. Freddie is being wasted as a batsman at the moment; coming in against the spinners in the middle of the innings is a nightmare scenario for him.

If they don't get their game together, they will get a good hammering - maybe even 7-0. At the moment they are downbeat and disappointed, but there is a glimmer of hope. If they can win the next game, that will get their confidence up and give them the belief to lift their game.

England still have the players; it is still the best one-day side in two decades. But they have got to realise that beating South Africa in England is one thing; challenging India on the sub-continent requires a different game altogether.

On Sunday, England need to get it right at the top of the order, get the impetus going through the middle overs and be more committed against spin. If they can do that, there is a glimmer of hope.

Follow live over-by-over coverage from Sunday at 4am as England look to get back on track.

Eurosport

Comment 1 - 7 of 27

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  1. do whatever, you are gonna be hammered 7-0 !!
    India are­ on hot form and at the moment­ "Invincibles"
    MIND U TENDULKAR is gonna be­ back for the rest 4 matches
    more misery
    feel sorry for­ the english
    concentrate on football people
    BLUE IS THE­ COLOUR ;-)

    From ankush, on Thu 20 Nov 7:16PM

  2. Spot on Rob too many "old boys" network in­ cricket. Looking at the current crop of selectors - how­ many of them have WON anything in cricket. Maybe we­ should strat getting rid of the dead wood selectors and­ put in some fighters who wont stand for second best:­ how about G. Boycott as a selector?

    From jonathan, on Thu 20 Nov 4:09PM

  3. Rob2b - Scotland would still beat them though with 9­ men!

    From ranger1_1873, on Thu 20 Nov 3:57PM

  4. It's quite simple - the current squad just­ aren't good enough! And why? Because they are all­ too proccupied with being celebrities and getting their­ faces on TV making inane, banal claptrap about how­ technical the game is, rather than getting on with the­ job in hand! When this lot take to the field, they are­ supposed to be the best 11 cricketers in England - I­ suspect most local village sunday league teams could­ give these wasters a run for their money! The­ cobweb-covered, out-of-touch OAP's that are the­ England cricket selectors are substantially to blame­ for picking these misfits, so why don't they do­ something radical and pick some people that can­ actually play the game as opposed to the ones who just­ happened to wear the right school tie?

    Fabio Cappello­ has proved that instilling discipline and enforcing­ codes of conduct can make a difference - and he­ isn't scared of trying out new talent. A lesson to­ be learned......?

    From Appalled, on Thu 20 Nov 3:51PM

  5. Its a massive pity that the recent match against­ Scotland was called off due to the weather as Scotland­ would have beaten them by at least 30 runs. Give the­ money to charity or something similar instead of paying­ someone to take a couple of swipes at a cricket ball­ and then take a 60 yard walk back for a cup of tea! ­ Can we buy them guide dogs to assist them with the walk­ back?

    From ranger1_1873, on Thu 20 Nov 3:42PM

  6. time for Pietersen to show how good a captain he is and­ make some tough decisions

    From johnjamesmcgrath, on Thu 20 Nov 3:25PM

  7. Sorry, but english cricket team are carrying too many­ passengers who either haven't figured out how toi­ play the 50 overs game (unlikely) or else are playing­ in their comfort zone - there are not enough good­ youngsters challenging some cricketers who are­ currently playing on their past records! Time for a­ change!!

    From jonathan, on Thu 20 Nov 3:17PM
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