England diary: Peter Moores’ Stanford reflections
November 6th, 2008 by Alan Tyers in Alan Tyers, England, Stanford Twenty20 and tagged Alan Tyers, peter moores
As I said, the most important thing about Stanford was not the money but actually getting the players tuned up for India. One of the key skills about an England tour to the sub-continent is having your moaning in really tip-top order, so that when you arrive, you’re ready to hit the ground complaining.
“Bang… The hotel’s not up to scratch… bang… That bloke’s looking at my missus… bang… This foreign muck don’t half play havoc with my guts…”
We worked on all those key areas in Antigua and that’s going to stand the lads in good stead here, barricaded in the honeymoon suite of the Swallow Hotel, Mumbai, watching Only Fools And Horses re-runs on UK Gold Plus Eight.
India is such an amazing, diverse place; to give you just one example, they call a Custard Cream a ‘Milk Biki’! From the days of Gatt’s Branston to Priory and Andersony passing up an opportunity to ride Sri Lankan elephants so they could play Championship Manager in the hotel for 18 hours, an England tour offers wonderful opportunities to see the world and interact with the locals.
However, we’re professionals and that means doing things for money. I want our lads to take pride in that, but not show it too much, but also to demonstrate that pride 100 per cent at all times. I was absolutely clear about that in the Stanford tournament and it was a bit disappointing the message didn’t get through.
As I’ve said elsewhere, a lot of our boys just couldn’t get their heads around the concept of the tournament – playing cricket and only getting paid if you do well. To be fair, we’ve tried to move away from that sort of one-dimensional “rewarding success” thinking in Team England and Michael Vaughan’s central contract is just one example of how effective it can be.
In the Stanford, we just came up against a side who wanted to win more than we did. It was a new experience, other than for the lads who’ve played against Australia, or South Africa… or India…
Their boys also seemed to be a bit better at cricket, but you can’t prepare for everything.
But that which does not kill me makes me stronger, as a wise man (Duncan Bannatyne, at the ‘Winning For Winners Management Seminar And Book Signing’, Croydon Conference Centre) once said. And there’s no reason whatsoever to suppose that we can’t come back from India with a few quid, and maybe even a victory in a One-Day International.
Alan Tyers found Peter Moores’ diary while he was looking for cold pizza in a bin outside Croydon Conference Centre
Posted in Alan Tyers, England, Stanford Twenty20 | 3 Comments »
November 6th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Ha ha..That was hilarious & so close to truth..I don’t see our guys doing anything great in future (as if they have done anything in the past). Its a shame that Peterson is busy reuniting the Ashes 2005 team, when he should be looking at the best team for 2008-09. I am surprised he didn’t give Michael Vaughan a chance to play in the Stanford match. Our lads couldn’t defeat India in 90’s when they were pretty ordinary side so how do we expect them to defeat them this time when they are now the world beaters. Remember they defeated us last year in Test series here in England too.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
The English players did not play like professionals. Professionalism does not have to do with the amount of money,but the fact that its your job,their job is to play,and play to the best of their abilities.That kind of performance in a 9-5 would draw the ire of one’s boss,and even cost one’s job. From Pietersen’s silly pronouncement before the game to his speech after the game there was a serious lack of professionalism.
Would they play in the same manner as “amateurs” competing for an Olympic Medal ?
April 14th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right