Do England spend too much time concentrating on the Ashes?

Question

New England captain Kevin Pietersen has stated his intention of regaining the Ashes for England in 2009.

England appear to concentrate on building a team towards the next Ashes campaign.

Is there too much concentration on one series? Should England develop a "ten year plan" to reach the pinnacle of world cricket, with victory against Australia as part of that plan, rather than the conclusion of their plans?

If we look at the 2005 campaign, England had built for four years to win that series. Job done, they had no system in place to continue, so to the drawing board they have returned.

Answer 1

Possibly so but because of Englands lack of success in the ashes over the past 20 years it is the one that all teams are judged on. Its not wrong to want to beat the best in the world and strive to compete with them. But to be the best you need to beat everyone.

Answer 2

We all have a dent somewhere...

We also have some special rivalries, like Ashes/ Australia and England , India and Pakistan (now past), and so on.

Teams are undergoing changes and so will all these. But it will perhaps be the newer generations who may forget the Ashes.

Had KP not made such a statement, some sector may have disliked him. It may be what is expected of him. If he is smart, he will concentrate on Team building too.

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Answer 3

Possibly and I think you are right in saying that they need to develop a long term solution instead of the quick fixes they have been doing for quite sometime.

Once in 20 years to win an Ashes is not something to be proud about,they should have tried to maintain that level of cricket for at least 4 years.Injuries didn't help I know but it looked as if they only targeted one series and that was all they wanted.

KP would turn it around I'm pretty sure and bring back the days of glory to   Eng again.

Answer 4

yes its possible mate~

Answer 5

Yes totally agree

But would be nice to stuff the Aussies an bring the Urn home

Answer 6

Yes; absolutely 100% true!!!

Answer 7

Watcha talkin 'bout Willis? Isn't the Ashes the most important thing in the world? lol, you are probably right, and David's answer at the bottom is right as well, they haven't been concentrating on anything. But I see a new resurgence in England cricket. They have slowly been getting their act together over recent matches & one would hope it's only going to keep getting better. But in the meantime, The Ashes is one thing to get them motivated.

Answer 8

They are men without ideas. What they need is a good Aussie coach. If Lawson gets out of p**i alive try him, lmao

Answer 9

Good question. Yes, I think you are right. They need to concentrate on every series they play instead of one (Ashes).

I don't mean denying the importance of Ashes, but each and every match counts equal in the stats. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss.

A ten year development plan would be awesome. We too need to develop something like that. All the seniors will retire in the coming two- three years, if not earlier. Their bodies are already giving up.

Answer 10

They dont concentrate on anythin' at all. If they do, is that why they just lost the vital test series against the proteas.

Answer 11

Maybe that is true because they didn't take it that serious against South Africa, but, Kevin Pietersen would be a good captain because Micheal Vaughn is not good because he didnt score much runs against South Africa and he is old. lol.

Answer 12

no they don't they just concentrate on the next series and squads for the future