Another Loss – Tom Paddon

Sport cricket, england, India, Test Series, Tom Paddon Mr Hodson January 11, 2017 1 Comments

Imagine you’re on a roller coaster. The large peaks and troughs appeal to your more adventurous nature – you decide to go on and find some parts exhilarating, and some parts less so. The nature of the ride is that it rises up excitingly, and falls abruptly down. This roller coaster can be seen to represent the late performances of the England cricket team; the fluctuating standards to which the team performs bears a striking resemblance to the unpredictability of a fairground adrenaline junky ride.

The loss of the England Cricket Team to India by an 8 wicket margin took place on Saturday the 26th of November, and will be remembered for the grief it caused many avid supporters (exhibit A: Mr Hodson) who expectantly support the team, only to have their hopes cruelly crushed like car in an accident by an Indian batsman who’s name they probably don’t know how to pronounce.

Is Cook responsible for England’s inconsistency, or is the blame shared across the team?

But at least this thoroughly demoralising defeat was a mere one off coincidence, right? Wrong! In fact, the England team lost the last test by an embarrassing 246 runs (“a lot” to any uninformed readers) and, previous to this, earned only a draw and a loss to Bangladesh by 108 runs; another crushing defeat that proves the nature of the England cricket team and brings a new meaning to the phrase “room for improvement”. These frankly pitiful losses can serve to represent how the England Cricket team are currently about as consistent as the portions of deserts one can expect in the dining hall.

Now, I’m not even attempting to imply that I am of as high a cricketing standard as the England cricket team. That would be delusional. However, I believe that the cricket team could easily benefit from a new influx of players; ones that don’t quiver in their spikes when a fast bowler approaches, and throw their bat at a ball that’s wide of the off stump with about as much confidence as the world has in Donald Trump (so, no confidence at all, really).

This result was one of bitter disappointment, and has resulted in the series becoming 2-0 to India. Overall the result was evocative of the inconsistency that the England team regularly displays, and has lead to quotes such as ‘India are a better team’ by Michael Vaughn. This, combined with the statistic that Cook has been bowled 6 times in the last 9 tests (which is more than during 74 tests from 2006-2012) represents that England need to improve drastically if the series is to be won.