Archives for October 2011

The slaughter is over, it's time for the inquest.

Having arrived in India with high hopes after dominating Mahendra Dhoni's side all summer, England have been brought down to earth with a very painful bump.

The 5-0 one-day whitewash suffered by Alastair Cook's men was an all-too-familiar story, with England's players found wanting on the slow, turning pitches of the subcontinent, and suffering old-fashioned thrashings in four of the matches.

England have now won just one of their last 18 one-day matches against India in India, and just five of their last 20 away games against any side.

No.1 in the Test rankings, England are a distant fifth in the one-day table and appear no closer to mastering the requirements of the 50-over format, especially in unfamiliar conditions.

I chatted to former England players Ed Smith and Matthew Hoggard - BBC Test Match Special pundits for the series in India - about where it all went wrong for Cook and his team, and where they go from here.

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Jonathan Trott is fast becoming English cricket’s Marmite man.

To his supporters, he’s the team’s rock, their most dependable and consistent batsman, a player who does the dirty work while others steal the glory.

To his detractors – and judging by the anti-Trott emails that come into our inbox during live text commentaries there are plenty of them - he represents everything that is wrong with England’s approach to one-day cricket.

To them, his one-paced, risk-averse approach to batting is holding the team back and putting too much pressure on those around him to throw caution to wind.

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