England v West Indies at Mumbai

Why does me saying that our bowling isn't good enough and we deserve to have lost that game make me a fairweather fan?

On any other day, South Africa would have won that hands down, in fact they should have done and if a team scores 229 in a T20 then you'd expect to go on and win it.

Yes it was a good run chase by England, and certainly the best they've ever had in this format of the game, but why was we in that position in the first place?

Because you said you would be glad when England are back on the plane and eliminated from the tournament. Only a fair weather fan would say that. Why would you be happy for England to be eliminated from the tournament? A true fan watches every single ball and carries on supporting the team whether they are winning or losing. England being eliminated from a tournament shouldn't be cause for celebration but cause great pain.

I also said "IF THIS IS ALL WE'VE GOT"...but you seem to have ignored that bit, so I'll say it again but in another, maybe simpler way for you. If this is all we've got, the way the bowlers have been in the two games already played, then we aren't going to be able to rely on the batsman to pull us out in every game.

It's no fun fun watching your team get hammered on the world stage and if those bowlers don't get a grip then that's what is going to happen to England. That's only going to be detrimental to the team in the long run.

It's one thing having faith, but having blind faith is something I won't have.

Personally I think that's a bit of a ridiculous question to ask, as I'm sure no coach in the world would want to see their main players fail, just so he could see what the other members of the team are made of.

They should be able to step up and take inspiration from Gayle, not sit back and take him for granted.

Why is everyone copying my Kiwis strategy ?    :-\

The definition of a fair weather fan. A real fan has faith and support in their side whether they are good, bad or indifferent.

Anyway, it's not as if you were watching the match against South Africa. You were busy posting here in the Carl Hooper/Marlon Samuels thread and mocking DownUnda in the Australia/New Zealand game thread.

Finally, I am surprised that you weren't aware that England's bowling is so weak. This is no secret. They have no seam bowling. Their batting is far superior to their bowling right now, and their best seam bowler in this format (Steven Finn) was injured in the buildup and not in India.

England's seam bowlers are young and still learning T20 cricket. Topley is a junk bowler that relies on slower pitches where the ball will grip and his off cutters hold up in the wicket creating false shots. Chris Jordan is only in this team because of the one Super Over he bowled against Pakistan. He is a one dimensional bowler. He can only bowl at the death and he is not very good at that. Stokes is in the side more for his batting ability and as a fourth seamer. Willey is the pick of England's seamers, but when the ball isn't swinging, he is far less effective.

That leaves Mo and Rash to carry this side - but that is awfully difficult to do when the seamers have been whacked to all parts of the ground in the power play and momentum is with the batting side. That said, the three overs they bowled (overs 11-13) turned the tide in this match. They yielded just 14 runs and help to at least stem the flow for a brief period and reel South Africa back.

England, South Africa and Australia all have serious question marks regarding their bowling. However, all three have such dynamic batting lineups that they can potentially overcome this short coming in this short format of the game, especially in a one off match.

I, along with Ketch, Calypso, The Chairman, Trinidaddy, The Captain and DownUnda will be here watching all of the matches and live game threading as we did at last years World Cup. Why not come and join us.

I wasn't aware that I couldn't do both? Watch the games and post on the forum at the same time?

Anyway, I've said my piece so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then because even though I take your point, we can't rely on the batsman, no matter how good they are, to keep pulling us out of trouble and I think that's where England will come unstuck.

As for the fair weather fan, wanting and hoping your team win is one thing, which I do, having faith that they will no matter what, your right, I don't!