Tom Moody rejects Australian coaching job
In something of a shock announcement, Tom Moody has withdrawn from contention for the Australian coaching role. John Buchanan is shutting down the laptop after the World Cup and there's been a clamour for his job of coaching the #1 team in the world. This means Tim Nielsen, one time Buck's assistant and head coach at the Centre of Excellence moves to front runner position, at least according to Nielsen.
To be honest, I find myself more interested in who will replace Duncan Fletcher as England coach, charged with the unenviable job of rebuilding the shattered team. Will they go for an English ex-player like Mike Gatting? Harness some Aussie mongrel with Darren Lehmann? Or the typically English and therefore most likely option - just stick with Fletcher.
It seems most international coaching contracts end after the World Cup so there'll be a bunch of guys out of jobs and a lot of vacancies suddenly open. Somewhat like the end of footy season where player contracts end and the swapping begins. The best solution may be just to gather them together for a game of musical chairs. They could play Brett Lee's Bollywood song for backing music.
| Posted by JC on Tue 30 Jan |  10 comments |
I think sacking the coach is just the beginning for England. Only a few players have done enough to keep their spot in either the oneday or Test sides. Pietersen, Flintoff, Hoggard, Collingwood, Panesar, Anderson, and Bell are the core players. Maybe Vaughan if he recovers from injury. The rest should all be going back to country cricket with their tales between their legs. And by the way, am I right when I express disgust by saying that Anderson isn't even a contracted player in England?
Posted by TA on 2007-01-30 12:14:07
Posted by TA on 2007-01-30 12:14:07
Short memory regarding Anderson TA. Bowled tripe during the Test series, so much so that he was dropped. Bowled some decent spells in the one-dayers but only when conditions were to his liking.
Why couldn't Australia try and snaffle Lehmann to replace Buchanan? That guy has a cricket brain second to none and in any other era would have played 100 Tests and captained his country. Let's not allow him to go over to England (unless to covertly corrupt their cricket even further, if that is possible!)
Read some interesting stuff on the Net regarding the Poms and their attitude to touring. Heavy-handed security guards, unwilling to mingle with the locals, motel room to motel room without experiencing our country etc. One wag reckoned that the security guards were not there to protect the Pommy players, but rather to stop any one escaping from the touring party!!!
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-01-30 13:19:36
Why couldn't Australia try and snaffle Lehmann to replace Buchanan? That guy has a cricket brain second to none and in any other era would have played 100 Tests and captained his country. Let's not allow him to go over to England (unless to covertly corrupt their cricket even further, if that is possible!)
Read some interesting stuff on the Net regarding the Poms and their attitude to touring. Heavy-handed security guards, unwilling to mingle with the locals, motel room to motel room without experiencing our country etc. One wag reckoned that the security guards were not there to protect the Pommy players, but rather to stop any one escaping from the touring party!!!
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-01-30 13:19:36
Dan, where's that article - can you post the link?
Anderson has been one of the better bowlers which says a lot about their bowling attack at the moment. His Test bowling got better as the series went on but all their bowlers had fairly ordinary figures.
Re contracted players, I find it weird that they don't even have a contracted wicketkeeper - that they've played 3 wicketkeepers is a huge muddled mess.
Boof as Aussie coach? I just can't see it happening. I wouldn't be surprised if the Poms went for him though - a desperate move after this tour and what will most likely be a disastrous World Cup.
Posted by JC on 2007-01-30 14:16:06
Anderson has been one of the better bowlers which says a lot about their bowling attack at the moment. His Test bowling got better as the series went on but all their bowlers had fairly ordinary figures.
Re contracted players, I find it weird that they don't even have a contracted wicketkeeper - that they've played 3 wicketkeepers is a huge muddled mess.
Boof as Aussie coach? I just can't see it happening. I wouldn't be surprised if the Poms went for him though - a desperate move after this tour and what will most likely be a disastrous World Cup.
Posted by JC on 2007-01-30 14:16:06
http://blogs guardian co uk... (Note from JC - I've trimmed the URL but the link goes directly to the article)
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-01-30 14:53:51
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-01-30 14:53:51
Great article - there is a lot of wondering why England has sucked so much this summer. I think there's a whole host of factors and this insular mindset is just one more brick in the wall. As is usual, some gems can be found in the comments afterwards. I like this comment from a Dad in Bellerive:
Posted by JC on 2007-01-30 15:22:44
When the squad was in Hobart a few weeks back I took the kids down to Bellerieve to watch the match against the Kiwis. We got down there early as its always a great experience to see the players up close in the nets. The England squad arrived in their splendid looking coach and the twenty or so kids that were there all bubbled with excitement as they were going to get there first sight of the English team up close. The coach doors opened and these 6 very aggressive security men jumped out and formed a guard so the players wouldn't have to be bothered by these excited little tikes. They started barking orders at the children and a scene of joy was soon turned to one of fear and confusion.The players hopped out soon after and quickly filed into the ground without making eye contact with anyone. As one parent quipped, 'Geez you'd think they were playing in Baghdad not sleepy old Hobart Town".I particularly like the bit about Stephen Fleming driving one of the team minibuses.
Fortunately the Kiwis arrived about ten minutes later in two rented minibusses, one of them driven by Stephen Fleming! They had no security and departed their vehicles with smiles on their faces and spent the next twenty minutes on the pavement outside the ground signing autographs and chatting with the youngsters. Shane Bond apologised to all when the time came to go to the rooms and promised to return after the match to "catch up".
Posted by JC on 2007-01-30 15:22:44
That's probably why his concentration has been shot so far this series. Spending too much time before the games with his eyes on the road.
Posted by TA on 2007-01-30 16:34:07
Posted by TA on 2007-01-30 16:34:07
But hang on a minute, I don't buy all this insular crap. Weren't we discussing a few months ago England players partying up going to Kylie Minogue concerts and the like? I think this insular mentality probably took root after their growing collection of losses.
Posted by TA on 2007-01-30 16:39:15
Posted by TA on 2007-01-30 16:39:15
The Kylie Minogue concert drove them to hiding out in their hotels - the tour went downhill from there.
Posted by JC on 2007-01-30 19:40:09
Posted by JC on 2007-01-30 19:40:09
Shame really that they didn't go see a Leonard Cohen concert (if the man is still alive and performing). Fellow bloggers might be too young to know what a bit of Cohen can do to the psyche.
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-01-31 09:48:48
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-01-31 09:48:48
Post New Comment
You need to be logged in to post a comment. If you're new, register here. Existing users, login via the right margin.
