The State of the Strollers Cricket Team
During the lowest attended Strollers annual dinner of all time there was some, hugely premature in my opinion, talk of "the death of the Strollers". Though i disagree with the doom-mongers, there are admittedly some growing areas of concern which need to be addressed.
Without the need for conducting an FA style "root and branch" investigation, there are a number of parallels between The Strollers and the England football team:
1) Committment - Fans have questioned the committment of some players recently who "don't look like they want to wear the shirt". Should the selectors keep faith with "the golden generation" or is their time running out? Are they being picked on name and reputation alone? Why do so many players pull out of friendly fixtures at the last minute? I'm against making knee-jerk wholesale changes. There is no substitute for experience, and i think you need players who know how to go to Cowden away on a wet and windy day and win. I'm not keen on blooding too many new players but apparently there are ringers who would give their right arm to play for the Strollers.....
2) Overseas Players - The much coveted Player's Player Award was (worthily)won for the first time this year by an overseas player, Andrew Carey. Surely younger, inexperienced English players such as Rick Bristow can only improve by working alongside dedicated,older, wiser and more talented overseas players of the calibre of Andrew ? Or does it stifle the development of homegrown talent? Where are tomorrow's heroes ? (Though i hear George Jefferson and Charlie Fletcher are showing early promise.) Should we be setting up a Strollers youth academy?
3) Fear factor - Is the pressure of playing for the Strollers becoming too much? Expectations are always to win every game and players know they will be slaughtered by the press/ in the match report for any mistakes they make. Is this the cause of some early retirements (Crocker, Jeffers etc)?
4) The Gerrard/Lampard, Paddy/Johnny Debate - Are they too similar to play in the same team?
5) Off the pitch distractions - Just as John Terry and Shaun Wright Phillips were reported cavorting with scantily clad ladies and urinating on the dancefloor shortly after defeat against Croatia, Paddy was rumoured to have been out dancing in a sequinned dress at a foam party the night before a potentially big clash with the Old Laedocians. Should they have been tucked up in bed like Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and Alex Finlow?
More questions then answers.The analogies are endless and we haven't even touched upon the issue of leadership. (Rick's captaincy was a little bit Maclaren-esque, muddling through and hoping everything will be alright on the night.)
Taking measures such as implementing Tom's 5 Point Plan appear sensible to reignite enthusiasm and ensure the future success of the Strollers
Luke Feltcher