England
Andrew Strauss - 3/10. On the end of a few shockers, but criminally he never once went on to make a big score after plenty of starts. I can't help but wonder if being overlooked for the cpatiancy has affected him more than his bland public utterances have suggested.
Alastair Cook - 4/10. Struggled with the ball slanted across him & his shot selection was poor at crucial times. Gets one more than Strauss as he made one start count.
Ian Bell - 5/10. Much, much better than 2005, but to get past 50 four times & not make a ton is pretty unforgiveable.
Paul Collingwood - 5/10. Showed fighting spirit in Brisbane & Adelaide, but his tour tailed off dramatically after that. IIRC he never once got past 30 after the first innings in Adelaide & ended up averaging less than Warne. Very much the curate's egg.
Kevin Pietersen - 8/10. The only player to really take the fight to the crims, but even he looked beaten in the second innings of the final two tests. Arguably the only Pom who'd definitely make a combined XI.
Andrew Flintoff - 3/10. Poor, really. His ankle has denuded him of his potency as a bowler, his foot work has been shamed by its absence in his batting & his captaincy has been, frankly, awful. Defensive & unimaginative.
Geraint Jones - 2/10. Kept fairly adequately & not his fault he was selected ahead of Read.
Chris Read - 3/10. Kept with his usual pedantic correctness, but his batting was horribly exposed. No more than a 9 at test level I'm afraid, not matter no many runs he churns out in the CC.
Ashley Giles - 2/10. Batting was ok, bowling average & he did drop Punter in what may've been the defining moment of the series.
Sajid Mahmood - 3/10. Potential (
). Nah, seriously he struggled to land two balls in the same spot & any pretensions he had as an 8 have turned to ashes (see what I've done there?) in his mouth.
Matthew Hoggard - 7/10. Our best seamer by a country mile, but is always more of a sidekick than a leading man. Batting seems to be regressing too.
Steve Harmison - 2/10. He was ranked number one in the world once, you know. I don't know whether it was nerves or what, but his opening ball was possibly the nadir in a series of lows.
James Anderson - 3/10. Bowled decently in Sydney, actually, but his lack of overs showed him up in the first two tests he played. A long, long way off the finished article.
Monty Panesar - 6/10. Should've played all along, but really wasn't a factor after Perth.
CBA to do Oz.
