Will England retain the virtue of loyalty?
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
AFP
England's policy of loyalty may have to end under their new leadership, says Stephen Brenkley in the Independent on Sunday. He thinks Ian Bell might be the first to go.
England have rightly made a virtue of loyalty in the past few years. Recently, this has seemed to reach obsessive heights, especially with regard to the batting. The only notable amendment has been the omission of Michael Vaughan and that, originally at least, was of his own doing.
Others have been imbibing more regularly in the Last Chance Saloon than Eddie Grundy in The Bull at Ambridge. This has been born partly out of loyalty, the resistance to easy change, and partly because of the feeling that Test players take time to become accustomed to the rhythms and pressures of international cricket. It was one of the verities trotted out by the erstwhile coach, Peter Moores, that almost all Test batsmen scored far more heavily in the second half of their careers than the first. Moores was to find, of course, that loyalty is not always a two-way street, and it will be fascinating to discover if England retain his philosophy.
Andrew Strauss has much on his plate right now, more than Billy Bunter ever had. But one simple move will ease his troubles considerably. He must implement a players' management committee, says Steve James in the Daily Telegraph.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo