10 December 2006

Ashes 2006/2007: Gilo's hate caller?

In another twist... OK, OK, just a wrinkle in the procession that is the 2006/7 Ashes, Ashley Giles yesterday revealed he had received a "nasty phone call" from a disgruntled England fan.

Now, as much as I have been vocal here - and just about everywhere else where I have discussed the Ashes - against the selection of the King of Spain this is clearly something that cannot be condoned. It is, however, most amusing that the same bloke then rang again the next morning to appologise - presumably it was all a drunken rant that got out of hand. This comedic twist doesn't make it any better though - it should never have happened.

Giles should not be playing, I cannot state it any clearer than that, but not because he is a "disgrace to the country" as he said he'd been called when revealing the call to the world. Rather it is just because Panesar is the better spin bowler. However, Gilo was picked so he played. He gave his best, and certainly didn't drop Ponting on purpose. The whole team wasn't good enough, not just Ashley Giles. For the team to be good enough to even compete (let alone win) requires the team to be capable of taking 20 wickets in a match, and frankly the team picked for Brisbane and Adelaide does not look capable of that. Changes are needed, without a doubt, and swapping Giles out would be one such change (though on the evidence of the 2-day game against Western Australia this weekend the priority change must be Read for Jones /broken record). But Giles has been a fantastic servant to England through the last 10 years when we've had a paucity of spin options and to brand him a "disgrace" now that someone genuinely talented has emerged is shortsighted and wrong. Not least because it isn't Giles' fault he was picked.

No comments: