England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
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Goa Forward Party likely to contest 25 assembly seats in 2027, looks to strengthen voter base
Panaji (PTI): The Goa Forward Party (GFP) is likely to contest 25 of the 40 assembly seats in the coastal state as the outfit on Monday discussed plans to strengthen its voter base ahead of the 2027 elections.
The State Executive Committee of the party held a strategy meeting here under the chairmanship of GFP president Vijai Sardesai and discussed organisational matters and preparations for the next year's assembly polls.
GFP currently has one MLA in Goa and is an alliance partner of the Opposition Congress in the tiny tourist state, where the BJP is in power since 2012.
Talking to reporters, GFP general secretary Mohandas Lolienkar informed that the meeting discussed extensively the way forward for the party, which was part of the BJP-led government in 2017.
He stated that the GFP may contest 25 assembly seats as part of its plan to strengthen the organisation across Goa.
Lolienkar asserted his party's primary aim was to defeat the BJP and bring what he called "people's power" to the forefront.
On the Ponda assembly bypoll scheduled on April 9, he confirmed that the GFP will extend support to the Congress.
GFP general secretary (Organisation) Durgadas Kamat maintained the meeting focused on measures to expand the party and deepen its grassroots presence.
Kamat announced that a public meeting would be held on Goa Statehood Day (May 30) to connect with the masses and take forward the party's vision.
