18-02-2024, 13:58
It's got to be the death-knell, if not for Bazball overall, then at least for the one-dimensional way they've been playing it. There'll be the usual petulant, passive-aggressive remarks from whatever team spokesman they send out ("you weren't complaining when we were winning!"), but when your rock-paper-scissors strategy is to play scissors every time, your 33% win record before you got sussed out is no defence against people asking you to adapt and evolve.
The Achilles heel of Stokes as captain is that he wants to keep things as simple as possible on the batting front, because simplicity breeds self-confidence, and self-confidence can take you a long way, which is why the team for the last two years has been behaving like a self-help group for divorced dads: all bucket hats, bro-hugs and keep-it-real mantras. Complexity breeds self-doubt, so they've tried to banish it altogether, but in the long run you just can't do that and expect to keep rolling sixes. Two years into the project, it's not unreasonable to expect some ability from the captain to use common sense, assess the match situation and change approach accordingly.
The Achilles heel of Stokes as captain is that he wants to keep things as simple as possible on the batting front, because simplicity breeds self-confidence, and self-confidence can take you a long way, which is why the team for the last two years has been behaving like a self-help group for divorced dads: all bucket hats, bro-hugs and keep-it-real mantras. Complexity breeds self-doubt, so they've tried to banish it altogether, but in the long run you just can't do that and expect to keep rolling sixes. Two years into the project, it's not unreasonable to expect some ability from the captain to use common sense, assess the match situation and change approach accordingly.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley