Do England's Ashes hopes lie in ruin?

Frank Praverman

If the reports are to be believed, England are currently without a captain and a head coach.

Both Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores are said to have resigned their posts this morning following their very public dispute and with six months before the Ashes series begins, the team's preparations are in tatters.

Or are they?

If Kevin Pietersen knuckles down and concentrates on his batting he is still England's biggest threat to Australia. However, if he decides that he no longer wants to represent the country due to the perceived lack of support he received from his team-mates over the Moores issue, then where does that leave the side?

And does it really matter who the coach is? As long as a decent captain is installed (which is most likely to be Andrew Strauss) and the batting, bowling and fielding coaches are in place then surely the cricket will take care of itself?

How much effect will today's events have on the Ashes series? Are England doomed before a ball has already been bowled?

Have your say below.

Comments

[chris]

Nothing stopping KP playing a full IPL season now. What a mess. No one comes out of this looking good.

[Michael Bulley]

Here are the answers in order:
1. I've never had the impression that the England cricket team prepare. Certainly, they didn't for the last Ashes series.
2. Without Pietersen.
3&4. I'm not convinced coaches are needed. They may even be a disadvantage.
5. On a scale of ten, 4.
6. (I feel the word "already" is grammatically ill-chosen in this question.) If they're doomed, they're doomed and there's nothing to be done about it.

[Louisanthony]

The oppsite...we've a muh better chance of winning now.

Moores reminds me od David Mellor's comments on the appointment of Steve McLaren 'he has LOSER on his forehead in neon lights." Same as Moores, the heart sank the day he was appointed...

Pietersen is a differnt issue. He could be a terrific captain, and the problems with the dressing room are partly because Flintoff and Harmison need to grow up and realise what is important/.

[Martin]

As an Australian I believe this is good news for England. It was clear that Pietersen and Moores were out of their depth at the helm of English cricket.

I don't know who should replace them however there are some superb coaches available (mostly Aussies) and I'm sure that the captaincy will experience a dose of 'comith the moment comith the man'.

[Adam]

It'll all be OK. Pieterson will settle back in the team and concentrate on scoring runs and this will all be forgotten under the calm captaincy of Strauss.

[Judith Webster]

Pietersen is an immensely talented batsman that we cannot afford to do without. I also feel he has had a rough press. Yes he can come across as arrogant but I do think it is more a question of being passionate about playing well rather than arrogance. Rather like Beefy and Freddie before him, Pietersen plays better when he can play naturally and freely without the confines of captaincy

[Brewer]

As a Saffer, I can tell you it was just a matter of time, KP has a history of throwing his toys and not taking responsibility for his actions, hate to say it, but told you so

[Matt]

Perhaps a six month return of M. Vaughn will restore a bit of stability. Someone who will command respect on and off of the pitch and create a clean slate from which another captain can be appointed after the Ashes; rather than giving an impossible job to someone now.

[Punit]

It's too early to judge whether Pietersen is a good captain or not, but he impressed me in the recent tour of India.

For once though, I think the ECB made the right call. Pietersen should not have issued an ultimatum (as the speculation goes). However, I think there are other factors also - Harmison and the exclusion of Vaughn are the biggest ones. I guess the drip-drip realisation that England aren't willing to do what it takes to win finally caused KP to snap. It's not big or clever and if I was an England fan, I think I'd be annoyed with him for that. I wasn't impressed with Ganguly threw his toys out of the pram when he lost the India captaincy.

However, I'm not sure KP's going to walk out on England. He may well sign for an IPL team, but there isn't a cricketer alive who would choose T20 over a Test career right now - especially the few who can really leave a mark on the sport. KP is an an outrageously talented batsman and I seriously doubt he's going to wizz it up a wall.

[Brian Andrews]

The choice of Andrew Strauss, the other South African in the side, to lead as he is a stable and unflappable solid person,should do the job very well.

[Bailey ( not T.E.)]

No Pietersen.. Ashes gone.. end of .

Get real , ECB gave him Captaincy let him get on with it. Leaks are part of modern life. He just didn't get on with Moores. So what. Don't we all have people we can't stand. Cannot work with them in close proximity for months on end. Moores should go.KP stay. The old buffers at ECB feeling aggrieved by his "behaviour" is no excuse to sack him. They seem to have a death wish. Do they actually want him to go to IPL ? Some of them would probably answer - yes. Oh Dear.

[Paul McGrath]

England can't kiss the Ashes goodbye because Australia holds them. Maybe you poor old Poms could dredge Australian or South African country cricket for someone with a British grandmother to be your next captain.

[TigerBoy]

Why do they actually need a coach?. Don't international players know what's required of them and/or how to go about it?.

[Roger Harrison]

England's Ashes hopes? - That's all they ever were - hopes,and long ones at that.
Just take a look at the world rankings. Australia minus Warne & Co are still good enough to beat a second rate team.

[Vic Nicholas]

KP is a headcase just waiting to explode. Strauss will be a much better skipper for England - a very level headed man. As an Aussie it disturbs me to say this, but the reality is that in Monty England have the only decent spinner between the two sides and therefore will prepare raging turners that will kill off any chance Australia may have.

[Tony Eaton]

Re Brewer's comment: As another South African, I admire KP immensely, and root for England (against anyone but SA) purely because he is in the team. Talk of "toys" and "cots" is puerile -- you don't build a track record like the one he already has without considerably more strength and self-control than most of us internet opiners have. I just hope England's cricket management (sic) doesn't end up blighting the career of this rare star of the game.

[Russell]

Australia - no Warne, no McGrath, no Gilchrist. No hope really.

[David Anderson]

The term 'England team' is somewhat inappropriate if the Captain couldn't be confident of the total support of so-called 'team' members. If the England Test cricketers can't gel and maintain a real 'team', yes, the Ashes are seriously in doubt. Australia's effort in the last Test in Sydney against SA suggests that, even though a significant cohort of youngsters has made its way into the national side, they're already a 'team'.

[Chris]

The ECB have done it again. Moores was out of his depth from day 1. as for the Aussies going on about England having foreign players - how about Birmingham born Andrew Symonds & English born Tim Neilsen? They should face up to the fact there is no Warne, no Mcgrath any more & they were verey lucky to beat a 10 man SA yesterday. That is after conceding the 2nd highest run chase in history. Not content with that they then get battered by 10 wickets in "The sporting capital of the world". Michael Clarkes statement when Symonds got sent home from Darwin that Australia are "The greatest sporting team in the world" seems a bit hollow now doesn't it? The Ashes? bring it on.

[Christian]

Vaughan and Collingwood both resigned after failing to get on with Moores and his statistic and figures led coaching (the forced training session straight after a last over win in the one dayers finished Collingwood, the ridiculous selection of a bowler Vaughan had never heard of was his final straw so why did Morris let it get to this?). The ECB must have assured KP that the Moore issue would be dealt with and they'd back KP's selection and coaching issues. They didn't. This isn't about ego, its about a third Endland captain finding Moores impossible to work with. Considering Moores record in tests it seems ridiculous that the ECB and Morris in particular didn't act sooner. KP going public had more to do with Morris' and the ECB's inaction over the issue when theres 6 months to the Ashes and the importance of going to the West Indies with a good idea of the side that'll be playing in the summer.
Losing KP is a disaster, Strauss is hardly an adequate replacement. The ECB are a joke. We've lost terrestrial coverage of cricket and the whole fiasco of Moores super quick appointment and the backing of him despite a poor record in tests, one dayers, selection, man management and coaching is unforgivable. What area was he any good in?..set of old farts anyone?

[Simon Macdonald]

We should forget about the ashes for the moment. The focus should be the Windies tour... We need to get past Gayle, Chanderpaul and Edwards & co before the aussies show up and personally the way our bowlers are bowling we will probably still be trying to get Chanderpaul out the time the Aussies arrive..

[jolpye@sky.com]

Since no one has told us what as actually gone on,we only speculate on the recent debacle .KP. should not have been appointed in the 1st place as he has never struck me as being particularly loyal except to himself.Disagreements such as this should be behind closed doors and the ECB musrt take some responsibility for this. Perhaps KP. should take a leaf out of Atherton's book on how to behave as an English captain and keep his own council. KP. should learn that that no one person ,however talented, is bigger than the team and the ECB should learn how to manage and make better judgements. No doubt KP. will make a lot of money out of this ,but I fear he has lost a lot of respect and friends in the process. He is talented, rich and personable but he has lost a golden opportunity to endear himself to the cricketing public. I can only hope that he thinks it's worth it.

[Freddie]

No Warne + no McGrath = no chance

[Kap]

I can't understand worries about a split in the England team afffecting results. And to then use Australia as an example of a united group is beyond me. They claim to be "mates" but fall out with each other all the time. Ponting and Gilchrist never got on. Warne was disliked by most of the team. However because they kept winning it was all ok. But look at the current squad. Symonds went fishing instead of supporting his best mate Clarke's captaincy. Ponting and Lee squabbled on the field in front of everyone and then spin different stories off it to cover their own backs. Ponting's very visible negative body language to the players he clearly doesn't rate/like and then his refusal to support them when questioned by the press. Only recently Clarke made it very clear that Ponting chooses the bowlers and fields to deflect a question he was asked. Fact is most international teams are full of big egos. It is only when the team keeps getting beaten that it becomes obvious. I don't see England losing to West Indies so I'm sure the concerns of a spilt will be forgotten. Come the summer it'll be the obvious fault lines in the Australian dressing room that will be on the back pages.

[Craig]

Sounds like a lot of Engishmen are quite confident that the next Ashes series will be won by them.

Back in 2005, Australia had a tired team, with incorrect selections being made by the selectors. Lessons were learned when Australia thrashed England 5-0 in 2007.

No different now, Australia has again learned that selection of "fit" players is key to winning.
Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds should not have been playing test matches against NZ or SA, because they were unfit, so too Stuart Clark when he went to India and then came home with an elbow injury that he is only now starting to recover from.

Clarke will go to England, so too Symonds. Hayden is doubtful, but Australia has Phil Jacques in the wings and a young Phil Hughes who is smashing bowlers all over the countryside right now as well.

Brad Haddin the keeper is a very competent batsmen, better than any English keeper going around. Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke love English conditions they will score well.

Mitchell Johnson will cause havoc with his bowling, if Lee is selected and fit watch out England, an attack of Lee, Johnson, Clarke, Symonds (medium pacers/off spin), plus one spinner (our only weakness), I'd say England is in for a real hard time.

As for Pietersen glad to see him go, all mouth, his cricket on the field should do the talking. As for the rest of the English team and now no coach, 5 months to go until the Ashes start, the ECB and the team had better start getting their collective houses in order.

If the English players think that playing and beating the West Indies will be an indicator of the how they will do in the Ashes, then they need to rapidly rethink, as you can bet that the South Africans have already worded the Australian players in on how to deal with the English team on the field.

This recent series between Australia and South Africa shows just how close the two teams are. You can bet that Australia will perform even better in South Africa as they build up for the Ashes.

If I were an English player I'd be seriously worried about who the coach of the team will be and whether the team itself will jell together in time to play an Australian team that is hell bent on retaining the Ashes in 2009.

[joe of sydney australia]

If Australia lose the ashers in England this year i buy all you englishman a beer (a warm one at that.) as for warnee take him a tratior if there was one to the old foe

[BK of Queensland]

Another English cricket team self implosion.

Forget Warne, McGrath and co. Seriously you blokes are our best weapons.

Go luck over in the Windies. They should give you a run for your money.

Look forward to reading about the your next saga...hopefully soon!

[pezza72]

Lets face it, KP should never have been captain. Talent bordering on genius was always going to be suffocated in the dusty corridors of Lords, and if he was to ever succeed, his tutorige could only ever come from one man.

Michael Vaughan.

The beginning of the end was initially reported by the Daily Telegraph, in sporting terms, a paper that doesnt delve into the incendary unless fully substantiated. Yet KP, the apparant antagonist in all of this, was holidaying on safari, out of journalistic review. Nevertheless, this broadsheet felt confident enough to print a story that has lead to the current turmoil. The culprit; the only person that has the personal motive, the trusted relationship, and the journalistic respect. What ex-captain writes an article for the DT, Mr Michael Vaughan.

It is public knowledge that KP and Moores final full-out was regarding MV's ommission for the Windies tour, and thus the Ashes, and thus the one trusted guide for KP...

Conspiracy...maybe, but get off KP's back. Cricket isnt the only talent required if you're going to survive as captain. Ask Mr Vaughan.

[Dr Joy Thomas]

England is not ready for brilliance , exceptional talent or an outsider!