An Aussie as the England coach
England are hunting for a new coach following the sacking of Peter Moores, and Shane Warne believes the team needs somebody from outside their set-up to take an objective view and bring in a few ideas
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
England are hunting for a new coach following the sacking of Peter Moores, and Shane Warne believes the team needs somebody from outside their set-up to take an objective view and bring in a few ideas. He writes in the Times:
I'd like to throw in the name of an Australian who would do a really good job: not S. K. Warne, but Darren Lehmann. As a player he did wonders for Yorkshire and had the respect of everyone. Now he has moved into coaching. He would be great at installing confidence right across the board, through the players, the ECB, sponsors, supporters ... everybody.
In the same paper, Patrick Kidd tries to work out what cliques exist in the England dressing room.
The Flintoff Camp Made up of sensitive fast bowlers who don't like batsmen getting all the credit for their hard work.
The Pietersen Camp Made up of batsmen who were acolytes of Duncan Fletcher and less enamoured of Peter Moores.
The Darts Camp Those who spend hours on the oche on tour: Harmison, Cook and Flintoff.
Angus Fraser writes in the Independent that much will depend on how Pietersen reacts to his fall. Will he sit in the corner waiting for the right moment to undermine those that he believes undermined him, or will he put his hands up and say: "Sorry, lads, I got that wrong. Now can we all move forward together?"
It is to be hoped for the sake of the England cricket team that Pietersen, having learnt his lesson, takes the second option, and there is no reason to believe he will not. Yes, Pietersen has a rather large ego and his career to date has not been littered with tolerant acts, but behind the at times thick skin is a man who needs to feel wanted and loved. It is these characteristics that make him the player he is. There is little Pietersen desires more than standing with his arms in the air acknowledging the applause and adoration of a full-house crowd, and it can only be achieved by scoring a hundred for England.
In the Guardian Gideon Haigh writes that England have finally mastered the art of mental disintegration but they seem to be applying it on themselves instead of their opponents.
With the Ashes six months away, the series already looms as a competition between two teams almost so consumed by their own weaknesses that their opposition's weaknesses are a secondary consideration. Yet Australia's challenges are at least identifiable and familiar: they have simply been beaten, in two of their last three series, by better cricket teams. England's problems seem more pervasive, systemic and elusive, arising mainly from a cricketer in Kevin Pietersen whose talents first loomed as a solution for all ills.
Nishi Narayanan is a staff writer at ESPNcricinfo