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Cricket Thread

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ThorntonRunner 25 Jan 6:52pm, 25 Jan 2025 8,106 posts	0 ThorntonRunner Knight heads the batting averages for England in this series. There is no obvious replacement captain - most likely would be Sciver-Brunt or Ecclestone - Nat seemed to find it a burden when she took it on when Knight was injured, and in general batters rather than bowlers make more effective captains (bowlers need to concentrateon their bowling when in the field, not on running the show). With regard to Knight losing the last few ashes series the system for women in England has been years behind that in Australia and we are still trying to catch up. If you don't have the quality of player resource it doesn't matter how good a captain you are, you'll still lose. The quality and quantity of women players in England is improving, but it takes a frustrating time (in general you need to be giving talented players quality coaching and game opportunities at age 13 if they are going to be international quality by 18-20)
rf_fozzy 25 Jan 8:50pm, 25 Jan 2025 23,511 posts	0 rf_fozzy Not disputing those facts TR. Nonetheless, the performance and ethos of a cricket team is primarily dependent on the head coach and captain (not necessarily the results of course). Knight has been a good captain for England. And yes, she has scored some scores in this series, but it might be time for her to step down - whether she merits her place in the team is a different argument and not one I'm putting forward. Yes, the women's game in Australia is well ahead of that in England (we concentrated on a silly franchise format instead of developing a proper structure IMO - but again that's a different argument and one we've had before), but I expected them to compete. Except for one game, I don't think they've competed - and that comes down to the team ethos laid down by coach and captain - and yes, I think Hartley's comments were probably fair and that is something that doesn't require a settled coaching set up to fix. It's something they could have fixed (or at least improved) between the world cup and the ashes. And they haven't. Anyway, the men lost again too. Bit closer than the other day, but still disappointing.
phal 25 Jan 8:52pm, 25 Jan 2025 5,052 posts	0 phal Any suggestions for a new captain then, @rf_fozzy ? Nat Sciver-Brunt’s about to become a mum too so even less likely to want captaincy. Hartley was commenting as part of her job. Jon Lewis said he wasn’t aware about the fact that Ecclestone had turned down an interview with Hartley and said that he would have told Sophie to go ahead with it if he’d known. I’m not sure how much he did or didn’t know or if that’s him trying to distance himself. I think Sophie made a poor decision. But 🤷‍♀️ there’s probably far more to it that we know through the BBC though. I think it’s all a side show compared to the results. Some of the comments on social media have been pretty awful though - many of them very personal about the players - not constructive just downright nasty. There was a good discussion about the use of the word ‘fitness’ earlier that I’d heard and them being very careful to make sure it wasn’t used to body shame. So many of the comments I’ve seen do, openly and they are pretty grim reading. Completely agree with all you’ve written @ThorntonRunner
rf_fozzy 25 Jan 8:53pm, 25 Jan 2025 23,512 posts	0 rf_fozzy Put it another way, if this were the men's team in the ashes (OK, different format system, but go with the parallel), and they were thrashed in the same way that the women have been - losing every game, would the captain and coach's positions not be under pressure? We can ask Peter Moores and his spreadsheets if you like?
phal 25 Jan 8:53pm, 25 Jan 2025 5,053 posts	0 phal Without the Hundered I firmly believe that women’s cricket would be in a far worse place, Fozzy.
rf_fozzy 25 Jan 8:54pm, 25 Jan 2025 23,513 posts	0 rf_fozzy No, Phal. But the absence of a candidate doesn't necessarily mean it's the wrong decision to change the captain. I didn't think Joe Root should have stepped down when he did for similar reasons being suggested here - only other candidate was Stokes and it would have put too much pressure on him. I was proved wrong.
rf_fozzy 25 Jan 8:55pm, 25 Jan 2025 23,514 posts	0 rf_fozzy phal wrote:Without the Hundered I firmly believe that women’s cricket would be in a far worse place, Fozzy. You know I think it could have been done another way that would have resulted in a similar outcome, but let's not have that argument today.
phal 25 Jan 8:56pm, 25 Jan 2025 5,054 posts	0 phal But it’s not the men’s team. And women’s cricket is in a very different place to the men’s in terms of equality - funding, wages, and history of set up - as TR said at the end of his post… “ The quality and quantity of women players in England is improving, but it takes a frustrating time (in general you need to be giving talented players quality coaching and game opportunities at age 13 if they are going to be international quality by 18-20) “ The two can’t be compared because there isn’t parity in player depth or set up.
Dave W 25 Jan 9:00pm, 25 Jan 2025 25,967 posts	0 Dave W I was going to say a similar thing. You are comparing apples and oranges. There is a lot less of a talent pool to draw from in the women’s game than the men’s game at this point. Hopefully it will not always be so. Same with women’s cycling. Or anything else that men have been doing for decades and is new for women in the professional world. It will take time.
NDWDave 25 Jan 9:10pm, 25 Jan 2025 20,700 posts	0 NDWDave I sit one bank of desks over from an England cricketer. She played 3 T20s for England in Sri Lanka in 2010. Her city career is presumably a lot more lucrative but I wonder if the hundred existed (or similar suitable vehicle more compatible with the existing county framework), if she would have been playing in the WAshes?