ALASTAIR COOK : TIME TO GO !

Once again, the England cricket team have succumbed to an embarrassing defeat, absolutely unable to compete with India with bat, ball or in the field. Despite scoring a seemingly impressive 477 in their first innings in the final test match in Chennai, they still contrived to lose by an innings - quite an achievement.

The British media tells us, repeatedly, that we have lots of great cricketers. Rightly, they say that Alastair Cook and Joe Root are 2 fine batsmen and Jimmy Anderson is one of the world's best bowlers; in other players such as Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad there are very good international players. Sadly, as a whole, they fall well short of top class.

The media also carries regular stories about Cook's captaincy, generally telling us what a great captain he is. This bit is utter rubbish. Given the array of talent at his disposal, Cook's record as captain really should be rather better than it is; as things are, it's nothing like as good as the records of numerous former captains, including Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan, Mike Brearley, and Peter May, all of whom won close to 50%, or more, of the matches for which they were in charge.

Admittedly Cook's record is not as dire as some. He's won 22 out of 59 games, 37%, while the much vaunted David Gower won only 5 out of 32 and Mike Atherton only 13 out of 54. Others such as Ted Dexter and Graham Gooch also managed poorer records, while Nasser Hussain's was virtually identical to Cook's.

Measured by matches lost, Cook also compares poorly with the best.  23 lost out of 59 games played looks pretty sick alongside Mike Brearley's 4 out 31, Ray Illingworth's 5 out of 31 and even Ted Dexter's 7 out of 30. Several others, May, Hussain, Gooch and Dexter among them, also come out better than Cook. Indeed, the worst records are those of David Gower, who lost a staggering 18 out of 32 matches, followed by Cook and Atherton, who lost 21 out of 54.

Looking at the win / lose ratio for these captains shows Mike Brearley way out ahead of the rest, with Cook, Gooch, Atherton and Gower bringing up the rear. Brearley was a captain who batted, while the best of the rest learnt their trade by coming through the ranks in their respective county sides. The poorest, by some distance, are Atherton and Gower, both now acclaimed for their punditry, though one would have to question why. These became captain as a result of being perceived to be the best batsman in their team, although their leadership credentials had little to commend them, as is the case with Cook.

How this adds up to Cook being a great captain escapes me. Fine batsman, yes, great captain, not a chance. In fact, his demeanour on the field is hopeless. He meanders around, looking worried and confused; he shows no dynamism and no active leadership. Apparently the team is fully behind him, but I see that as part of the problem; Cook is very much 'one of the boys' and that's no good if you're also the boss.

The only real question that needs to be answered is "Who will replace Alastair Cook ?" The problem is that none of the England squad has any real experience of captaincy; none has been trained as a captain in the County Championship, indeed most have rarely played much cricket outside of the international arena. None really has the look of a true Captain. Joe Root seems to be the designated choice as successor to Cook, but on what basis ? What are his credentials ?

Unless those in charge sort their thinking out, more humiliating defeats look sure to be on the cards.

RECORDS OF ENGLAND CAPTAINS WITH 30 OR MORE MATCHES IN CHARGE; ORDERED BY WIN / LOSE RATIO.


Brearley     - P 31  W 18  L  4   D  9
Illingworth - P 32  W 12  L  5   D 14
Vaughan     - P 51  W 26  L 11  D 14
Strauss        - P 50  W 24  L 11  D 15
May            - P 41  W 20  L 10  D 11
Dexter        - P 30  W   9   L  7   D 14
Hussain      - P 37  W 14   L 11  D 12
Cook          - P 59  W 22   L 23  D 14
Gooch        - P 34  W 10   L 12  D 12
Atherton     - P 54  W 13  L 21  D 20
Gower        - P 32  W   5  L 18   D  9

ENGLAND THRASHED BY INDIA : TIME FOR CHANGE ?

With England licking their wounds after a humiliating innings defeat at the hands of India's rampant Test team, the commentators and pundits are turning their attention to the future of captain Alastair Cook. England got everything wrong in Mumbai - initially team selection but then their batting bowling and fielding was simply nowhere near good enough.

Cook has been captain for some time and questions are now being raised about his desire to continue in the role. Of course, he is a fine batsman and it would be hoped that he would continue to open the batting for a while yet, but the truth is that he never has been much of a captain. Cook shows little energy on the field of play, rather wondering about often with a puzzled look on his face. He has rarely, if ever, appeared to either have the ability or desire to make any effort to galvanise his players and has, instead, been happy to be led by them. Thinking back to the days of Mike Brearley, probably the best England captain of the last 50 years, Cook is, in comparison, immobile, dour and wholly lacking in charisma.

The problem is that there are no obvious successors to Brearley waiting in the wings. When Cook steps down, there's little chance of him being sacked, his replacement will almost certainly be Joe Root. He is, of course, a fine batsman but, at just 26, does he yet have the maturity needed to lead the England team ? Might giving him the added burden of captaincy blunt his worth as a batsman ? In his favour is the fact that he does seem slightly more animated than Cook and, until he's had a go, we won't know the answers. What we can't afford is another case of handing the captaincy to whoever is seen as the best batsman, simply for that reason. Far too often in the past this has been the approach, and it's rarely produced results.

We must also not forget that England's poor performances in India are not simply down to mistakes in selection or any shortcomings in the side's captaincy. Our batsman have failed to cope with India's bowlers and our bowlers have failed to contain India's batsmen. These failings indicate that there are serious issues to be addressed when it comes to developing our young players, though no one shows any signs of understanding what the problems are.

In short, our domestic games are played on flat, unresponsive pitches. Batsmen are rarely tested by the bowlers as wickets are consistent, with regular bounce and little turn; bowlers have little opportunity to exploit these wickets, so restrict themselves to a largely defensive mode of operation. Our counties have few spinners of real quality, but are replete with mediocre seamers. On wickets in countries such as India, we simply aren't equipped to cope.

What we need is a return to uncovered wickets and 3 day county games, meaningful penalties for failing to bowl overs at an acceptable rate and less, rather than more, limited overs matches. Our players need to be able to develop their skills in more challenging environments than is currently allowed by the structure of our domestic cricket.

Sadly, the chance of any of this happening is remote, if not non-existent. We will carry on as we are, and still get thrashed in the sub-Continent.

LEWIS HAMILTON SHOULD BE SACKED.

One again, I find myself writing about Lewis Hamilton.

In yesterday's F1 season finale, Hamilton's only chance of winning the drivers' world championship was to win the race and hope that his team mate, Nico Rosberg, finished 4th or lower. Given the season-long supremacy of the Mercedes team, this was an unlikely scenario barring accidents, incidents or breakdowns. However, Hamilton has never been one not to look for alternatives.

Leading the race and with Rosberg not far behind, Hamilton began to play a dirty game which could even have handed race victory to Sebastian Vettel's fast approaching Ferrari. Instead of continuing to drive at his previous race-winning speed, Hamilton slowed down, knowing that Rosberg was hardly likely to try to overtake him and, even if he did, Hamilton's equally matched car would make it impossible. The consequence was that Vettel closed in and Max Verstappen, on worn tyres, wasn't far behind either; despite repeated and very clear instructions from his team's management, Hamilton refused to drive any faster in the hope that Rosberg would be overtaken and drop down to fourth place.

Hamilton's objective was clearly to win the world championship for himself though his lack of sportsmanship is plain for all to see; he did everything he could to place his team mate's second place in jeopardy. This negative tactic was distasteful to say the least and is certainly not something that drivers of earlier generations would have contemplated; the likes of Stirling Moss, Fangio, Brabham, Jim Clark and others, would surely have concentrated on their own race performance rather than trying to mess up anyone else's race. Sadly, today's generation do not seem to share the same values as those gladiators of the past.

Thankfully, Hamilton's behaviour did not achieve its desired result and Rosberg did finish second to claim the drivers' title. The atmosphere after the race was icy with Rosberg and Hamilton not speaking; Hamilton's subsequent congratulations to his team mate were uttered through gritted teeth and the play acting between them was painful to see. Rosberg clearly doesn't like Hamilton and Hamilton clearly hates and despises Rosberg.

Hamilton is simply not a team player. He is the Geoffrey Boycott of Formula 1, playing for himself and giving no thought to team mates and the hordes of others who have made his team's success possible. He is selfish and childish in his behaviour; he is like a spoilt child who screams and stamps his foot when things don't go his way and refuses to do what he's told whenever it doesn't suit him. His refusal to follow team orders in Abu Dhabi has caused a degree of unhappiness in his Mercedes team, with Toto Wolff, the team boss, saying that Hamilton's insubordination amounted to 'anarchy'. Clearly, there will be consequences though one has to wonder if Hamilton really cares. It's most unlikely that he'll be sacked or even suspended; a fine would be pretty meaningless given the wealth he's accumulated over recent years. What else is there ?

Formula I racing is a team sport and those who don't want to play it like that don't belong; I'd sack Hamilton and say good riddance. He may be a good driver, almost certainly one of the very best, but his divisiveness is there for all to see. It cannot be good for team morale or performance and they'd be much better off without him.

LEWIS HAMILTON : SUPER-RICH MORON.

Lewis Hamilton's puerile and rude behaviour during yesterday's drivers' conference ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix was a new low.

While other drivers listened to, and answered, questions from members of the media, Hamilton fiddled aimlessly with his mobile 'phone and giggled to himself. When he tried to draw some of his colleagues into what he considered to be 'fun', they looked distinctly unimpressed. This surely was one of the most childish and pathetic performances ever seen from a supposedly 'great champion'.

Hamilton may be a good driver but that's all he is. Basically, he is a super-rich, moronic child and the sooner he's gone from our lives, the better.

LEWIS HAMILTON : WHAT A SILLY BOY HE IS.

Oh Dear, he we go again. Poor Lewis Hamilton, the entire world, and particularly the Mercedes F1 hierarchy, is against him. Failing to finish in today's Malaysian Grand Prix leaves him 23 points behind his only real rival for the drivers' title, the German Nico Rosberg, and he doesn't like it at all.

Admittedly he's been unlucky with technical issues this year but his regular outbursts suggesting that there are dark forces at work really are becoming tedious and are, frankly, ridiculous. No Formula 1 team would ever take deliberate steps to disadvantage one of its drivers, there's simply too much at stake in terms of money, prestige and future sponsorships. Additionally, does Hamilton really think that Mercedes are happy with the world seeing that one in every 2 of their cars has problems ?

Hamilton may be a very good driver, quite possibly one of the best ever, but he is also a miserable, self-absorbed, puerile little twerp. Let's hope that Nico Rosberg actually does win this year's drivers' championship.

YET ANOTHER FOOTBALLING HORROR STORY.

Dear God !

What on earth is going on in English football ? Not only were they humiliated by Iceland at the Euros, an event which caused the resignation of then manager Roy Hodgson, but now Hodgson's replacement has shown himself to be a naïve idiot.

Sam Allardyce may have been a reasonably effective club manager, but how did the Football Association ever believe that he was the right man to appoint as manager of the national team ? Yes, Allardyce obviously wanted the job and didn't make the excessive wage demands of other candidates, but those are hardly reasons for handing the job to a man who was always likely to prove a disappointment. In the event, it took him only just over 2 months to embarrass both himself and the FA sufficiently for his tenure to be terminated.

Allardyce is the headline story but the real story is the utter incompetence of the Football Association. For decades, they have distinguished themselves by their inept managerial appointments and the consistency with which English national teams have been humiliated on the world stage. Given that English football has vast wealth, it is a shocking indictment of its management, that is the FA, that they have been unable to secure the services of a genuinely top-class manager who has then delivered top-class international results.

No doubt there will be much soul-searching and gnashing of teeth before the next no-hoper is appointed to the manager's job - whether this one will just not be up to the job, will have strange world-views, will be a 'wide-boy', or will have hitherto undisclosed 'baggage', we can be sure that, as long as the FA remains in charge and unreformed, the appointee will be another 'wrong-un' and the English national team will remain a second rate presence in the international arena.

ENGLAND - WORST TEAM AT THE EUROS ?

Oh Dear !

The result that was considered a foregone conclusion has turned out to be nothing of the sort as the England football team has produced another miserable performance and been beaten by Iceland. I repeat, England has been beaten by Iceland.

Iceland is a nation with a population of 330,000 or thereabouts while England lays claim to having the best league in the world and, listening to the 'experts', also has some of the best players around. In truth, the league is good because of the huge number of foreign players it includes and the best of the English really don't cut the mustard. Iceland has no professional league of its own and its players only come together for international games but they have passion, something which most of the England players sadly lack.

In the past, we were told, by English pundits, that the likes of David Beckham were amongst the greatest in the world and yet neither Beckham nor the others of his generation were ever as good as they were said to be. Today, we're regularly told that Wayne Rooney is a 'great' player; we're told that Kane, Vardy, Sturridge, Sterling and the rest are, at the very least, very good. Watching this bunch of no-hopers tonight was an embarrassment; they scored a goal, from a penalty, conceded 2 from open play and then spent the next hour or so making little impact and giving Iceland few problems.

This England team was dreadful. There was no passion, no plan, little skill and no spark. The manager, Roy Hodgson, probably has little more than a few hours or days in his job but the players will continue to draw their vast club salaries; what do they really care about it all ? Yet again, they've been shown to be mediocre at best, poor at worst, and England has been humiliated at its national sport.

Let's hope Andy Murray wins Wimbledon, even though he is a Scot; it would at least help to take our minds off of the football for a while.