The England & Wales Cricket Board is spending a lot of money on other elements of the game but unless the mens national team is strong everything else around it will collapse.

The England mens team is the flagship. If it keeps performing like this the big TV money will soon dry up and then the ECB will sit up and take notice. They might even do something about it.

Perhaps there is too much money floating around from Sky. Maybe life is too cushy for administrators and coaches.If they were all paid on results then their pay packets would be a lot lighter and they might make these batsmen play a bit better.

Losing is part of cricket. Not a problem with that. You are not going to win every match but it is how you lose that counts. Supporters, and I include myself in that, want you to go down with a fight and show us something we can be proud of.

If you cant bat, you cant win. It is simple and as a unit England just keeping making too many mistakes because their techniques and mental thinking are so poor.

At Edgbaston the conditions for batting were as good as you will ever get in England. There was hot sunshine for three days. It was a dry pitch, with lowish bounce so you couldnt be bounced out. By the third day there was only a smidgen of turn. England cant make the excuse they were without Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler or Chris Woakes either. New Zealand were without six of their players.

We just dont seem to have the application, discipline or shot selection. Somebody needs to sit down and ask what were you thinking when you played the shot that got you out? Were they even thinking at all?

For example Rory Burns played beautifully in the first innings, and then in the second innings and only his second ball he drove at a wide one that he did not need to play at. It was a teaser, a sucker ball. He played an extravagant cover drive as if he still thought he was 80 not out after the first innings. The coach should be asking what was your thought process?

In the past we were taught the basics and told that a thinking cricketer is a better cricketer. Application is important. Stay sideways on. Move your feet right forward or right back. Bat and pad together. Leave wide balls alone. Get used to the pitch and the bowlers before you go for the big shots. If it swings, which it does at times, see it early, wait for it and play it late.

Generations have been taught the same things.We cant all be wrong. Another basic was stay in and dont give your wicket away. Take your time as it is a five-day game. These basics have not changed. Why do our batsmen not understand these fundamentals of Test-match batting?

Do coaches not teach these basics or do the players refuse to listen? England pick the guys who are making the most runs in county cricket. That is it. For some reason the counties are not turning out enough youngsters with good techniques and the mental attitude to face up to better bowlers and the pressure of Test match cricket.

If you think about it, since Joe Root came through, Ollie Pope is the only one who has looked technically sound. He moves his feet beautifully front and back, has balance and plays straight but still finds ways to get out. He flatters and then deceives. Its extraordinary.

Both openers play chest on. They put their front foot on the wrong side of the ball, and then have to play around their front pad. They are supposed to be the best two openers in English cricket. Yes, they will get runs sometimes but consistency is not possible with those techniques.

Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence do not have good enough defences. They want to hit the ball before they get in. These are the top four young players we have. Blimey. That is a recipe for inconsistency. They have good hand-eye coordination so will make runs at times but not consistently. Their averages are in the low 30s. That is not going to win you many Test matches.

Originally posted here:
If our coaches cannot teach England's youngsters to bat, I will do the job - Telegraph.co.uk