Over the last month or so we have seen two different sporting governing bodies in the same country being England come up with surprising decisions. Normally when a national team has a run of poor results there is a review taken which helps everyone plot their way forward learning from the mistakes looking how to improve. There has to be accountability by those in charge and there are normally no second chances as there are many people qualified to take your place.
The ECB which is the England Cricket Board recently reviewed the results of the England Cricket team. The team were thrashed in Australia 4-1 when oddly enough they were seen as favorites to win the series. The Australia England series is known as the Ashes which is seen as their biggest rival and key goal to win.
The planning and preparation for the latest series was questionable at best and the saying "fail to prepare and prepare to fail" rings very true in this case. The MD of English cricket Rob Key and coach Brendon McCullum were reviewed by the board and survived to fight another day. The players backed them which is apparently important for some reason these days. If you are a player in the squad you are obviously going to support them because you are already in the fold being contracted by the teams management group.
This sounds like a special boys club protecting all their jobs and not about fixing the problems that exist. With the MD stating mistakes were made with regard to planning and preparation you do wonder how they can stay in their positions. The failings have failed everyone including those players wanting to get into the team.
Something similar happened to England Rugby with a review of their Six Nations tournament under the microscope. The team who were expected to challenge for the title finished 2nd last with the worst performance in their history. The loss to Italy after wholesale changes to the team highlighted the lack of depth which does not bode well. The questions one has to ask is this the players who are no good or is it the team management and it seems this is a combination of both.
Reading between the lines the coach is safe until after the next World Cup in 2027. There is so much wrong with both teams everyone, but those who are doing the reviews can see the problems yet this will continue.
One can rewind and recall what happened to the England rugby team prior to winning the Rugby World Cup in 2003 when the coach Clive Woodward was given a second chance. The big difference is Clive was working on a project with a once in a life time type of squad and was more obvious to see where the team was heading.
If you look at the current rugby side there is no comparison and even though the coach has the backing of England Rugby the chances they have of winning the World Cup are very slim. The draw has been somehow manipulated in their favor with an easy ride through to the semi finals. The problem they have is the total package with the squad and coaching staff not in the same quality bracket as other teams around the world.
The team will be touring playing South Africa in June and an expected thrashing will set the cat amongst the pigeons being too late to change the team and coach in time for the World Cup. The problem is the arrogance and attitude of the team is all wrong and they are heading for a car crash.
England Cricket like England Rugby have not been honest with themselves and have let themselves down because they are not being honest. The losses in Australia were embarrassing with matches over within 2 days leaving supporters who had travelled spending a fortune feeling cheated. Tickets are not cheap and all you want is your team to be competitive and show some sort of fight.
This week a few players on the fringe of the squad have mentioned no one cares anymore and this could be sour grapes on their part knowing their careers are finished. With the coach staying in charge this ended any thoughts of a call up and has kind of protected the players already on central contracts.
A review is there to see that performance, growth and fairness along with a team culture are in line to create a winning combination. A mindset with arrogance is a problem in both of these sporting bodies which is that obvious to see and this stems from the team management. The great teams of the past have a certain arrogance about them, but you have to have the results and domination over years to back that up.
