Alastair Cook - 4 (133 runs at 26.60, SR 84.71): A pair of sixties sandwiched three failures in the middle three games. His honeymoon as captain is well and truly over and as leader must take share of blame for England's poor discipline and negative body language in the field.
Craig Kieswetter - 4 (135 runs at 27.00, SR 101.50): Shocking performance with the gloves cost England the game in Mohali and with his batting flattering to deceive his place will come under scrutiny. Did bat well in Kolkata, though should have dug in to see his side over the line.
Jonathan Trott - 6 (202 runs at 50.50, SR 79.84): Received ridiculous and undeserved criticism after his 98* at Mohali - the only game that England ran India close in. Does need to find another gear, but it is churlish to call for his head when he has a one day average in excess of 50. Definitely not Trott's fault.
Kevin Pietersen - 6 (170 runs at 42.50, SR 82.52): Dealt with the furore of Swann's autobiography with dignity and looked close to his best in Delhi and Mohali but still couldn't pass 64 despite reaching 40 on three occasions. Hasn't scored a one day hundred for three years now.
Ravi Bopara - 2 (80 runs at 16.00, SR 62.99): Went horribly backwards after taking what seemed to be several significant steps forward in the summer. His dreadful dismissal bowled behind his legs in Kolkata could prove his international epitaph.
Ian Bell - 2 Endured a frustrating time on the sidelines before being part of the woeful collapse in Kolkata.
Jonathan Bairstow - 3 (49 runs at 12.25, SR 59.75): After all the hype from to his remarkable debut in Cardiff, the youngster looked woefully out of his depth against spin and the slower Indian wickets. Needs to learn from the experience.
Samit Patel - 6(160 runs at 40, SR 91.95; 4 wickets at 45.50, ER 6.03): One of the few plus points - memorable innings at Mohali and was as good if not better than Swann with the ball.
Tim Bresnan - 3(5 wickets at 49, ER 5.65; 61 runs at 15.25, SR 87.14): Out of sorts with the ball and proved a poor leader of the attack in the absence of Anderson and Broad, which perhaps explains his fractiousness. Useful knock in Mumbai at least gave England a slither of hope.
Graeme Swann - 2(2 wickets at 95.50, ER 5.30): Being dropped for the Mumbai game must have been a chastening experience for the side's budding Shakespeare. His performances and mood were as bad as the timing of the release of his autobiography, and the success of Ashwin and Jadeja puts his poor form even more into context.
Scott Borthwick - 2: Came in for Swann at Mumbai but didn't look even close to an international class spinner. Has plenty of promise though and the Durham leggie's time will come again.
Steven Finn - 6 (8 wickets at 31.62, ER 5.27): England's lone star with the ball was up on pace and at times the Indian batsmen found him too hot to handle. Needs to channel his temper better.
Jade Dernbach - 2(1 wicket at 168, ER 6.54): Struggled badly and completely lost the plot in the final overs at Mohali and was consequently dropped for the last two games. However, given it was his first venture on Indian pitches, should be persevered with.
Stuart Meaker - 5 (2 wickets at 55, ER 5.78): Came in at Mumbai and Kolkata, showed immense promise and character and didn't let anyone down - even if his final over at Kolkata proved to be a MS Dhoni masterclass.
Where next?
Virat Kohli - The (Little) Master's Apprentice
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the King of Cool
Is it really Jonathan Trott's fault?
They also played cricket - an XI of illustriously named Cricketers
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Yes, I'm broadly in agreement with these scores, but Finn was surely worth 7/10. Craig K is not good enough to be England's keeper and his batting doen't save him: Steve Davies is better. Moreover, CK has got the Somerset choking malaise. England's humiliation was magnified by the boorish behaviour displayed on various occasions by Swann, Finn, Dernbach and Bell (to name but four)and for this Cook on the field and Flower off it must take some responsibility. A man's character is accurately judged by how he accepts defeat (compare Dravid and the great Sri Lankans, Kumar S and Maleha J, with the mob above). There was a time when the ambassadorial qualities of a player were given consideration in selection and although that may have been taking things a step too far, there is no doubt that there is the necessity to send many England cricketers on a course in good manners. They are not footballers and need to know that cricket fans have a right to expect better.
Posted by: Ian Pyne | Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 08:10
Ian, you are probably right about Finn deserving a seven. Kieswetter is an interesting case: he has the highest strike rate of any England batsman ever in one-day cricket (qual of min 20 innings), and he got his runs in this series at over a run a ball. On the down side, his keeping was atrocious at Mohali and probably cost England the game. The case of Davies is a strange one as he hasn't been picked since being jettisoned for Prior just before the WC and coming out as gay. Davies too is hardly any great shakes behind the stumps and neither is Bairstow - personally I'd have given James Foster more of an opportunity, but I guess that his time has come and gone.
On the behavioural front, some of England's antics in this series was disappointing although mild compared to the footballers and rugby players that represent our noble country. Learning how to lose is an important part of life - we don't expect them to enjoy it, but at least be gracious about it.
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 08:59
I feel that there should be half-emptied pint pots on the table between us! Thank you for your detailed and thought-provoking answer. I actually agree re: James Foster, but, like you, I believe that his time has gone (and actually he disappeared off the selectors' radar long before he should have!). Why he has been ignored has always been a mystery to me. I know he is competitive to the point of abrasiveness, but provided he knows how to behave, why shouldn't he play for England again? He's only 31, for heaven's sake! Perhaps you could use your contacts to dig out this well buried 'reason'! Speaking as one who is only an outsider, albeit a close observer and well read on cricket, it seems to me that there is something against him in the England camp.. Gooch is Essex; Flower was Essex by adoption.. I don't know; it is one of cricket's small dark mysteries. Incidentally, I do believe that Gooch is not the best batting coach to have prepared the Eng. ODI side for India. His method was/is all front-foot press, strong arms and playing in the V. Sound generally, it has severe limitations when playing spin on dusty tracks. Graham Thorpe knew how to play late, off the back foot, nurdling the ball into and through gaps, etc. Only Morgan of England's current crop has the right technique (and that is why he - and he alone of Eng players - is sought after in IPL bidding, btw). Stephen Davies' coming out raises more issues. Want my take? It's to do with religious susceptibilities. As soon as he came out, I wondered if he had cooked his goose. Just for a moment suppose he was selected for matches v Pakistan and, Inchallah, the matches could be played in Pakistan... D'Oliviera all over again, with Islam playing the part of apartheid! It's all wrong, but it seems there is a shortage of moral fibre in the ECB, but what do I know? What's yours? Bitter? Right!
Posted by: Ian Pyne | Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 19:40
strewth, I really hope Stephen Davies' coming out has played any part in his non-selection. It hadn't occurred to me until now -- let's face it, our selection of 'keepers has been a touch arbitrary at the best of times (not knocking the selectors too hard, though -- one reason has been a glut of realistic options, and so there were always going to be people with decent claims on the sidelines). I think Kieswetter has to be under major pressure now, but I don't know who we ought to turn to next, to be honest. Neither Bairstow nor Buttler would represent a step forward with the gloves at this time (perhaps in the future, but not now).
(I'd've given Finny 7 too, btw)
Posted by: wilo | Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 23:57
oops -- that should, of course, read "hasn't played any part".... sorry
Posted by: wilo | Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 23:58
Wilo, I'm sure that Davies' coming out has nothing to do with his absence from the squad, but his sudden jettisoning does seem strange.
Personally, I think they should stick with Kieswetter - he did well enough in the summer and like pretty much everyone else struggled a bit in India.
He needs to improve behind the stumps, but it wasn't that long ago that people were saying the same thing about Prior.
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:29
Yes Ian, Foster's handling by the selectors has been pretty poor - he was given his opportunity too early in his career and has been pretty much ignored since despie - along with Read - being the best gloveman in the country for the best part of a decade.
As I replied to Wilo, I don't think Davies' exclusion is down to his coming out - Miller and Flower don't strike me as the bigoted type. There must be some other explanation - unless of course, having seen him at close quarters Flower just decided that Kieswetter was the better bet.
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:33
Thanks. It may not be Miller & Flower who were responsible for jettisoning Davies, but some of the faceless ones who are hypersensitive about upsetting some of the other national boards, esp. in the subcontinent. I think his coming out is a can of worms that no one cares or dares to open. The only public reason proffered for his departure is that he wasn't assertive/extrovert enough in keeping the fielders on their toes, yet he was new to the job, so that was harsh indeed. Vaughan did for Read ('Time to Declare' page 168) for Read not keeping his captain informed about what the ball was (or was not) doing in Jamaica one afternoon! Vaughan always had clear favourites and those he had no time for. Let no one let him into the diplomatic corps!
Posted by: Ian Pyne | Friday, October 28, 2011 at 11:31
I couldn't manage to catch any of the games down here in Australia seeing as they were on so late, but what was the problem with Bell, Swann, Dernbach, Finn etc.?
Posted by: Lloyd Townsend | Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 09:48
Finn actually performed well Lloyd, but he was but a beacon in a sea of darkness. Bell was dropped, Swann had a really poor series and Dernbach found bowling on Indian pitches far more difficult than he had English ones just a few weeks earlier
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Wednesday, November 02, 2011 at 09:59