India v Australia is main course, not entrée

[Gunner_Mania]

It seems something of a sin to see the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as a warm-up for the Ashes, given its standing in Test cricket There cannot be many English cricket journalists at work this week. After seven straight months on the England beat there is finally a little break in the schedule for them to enjoy ahead of the Ashes. As for the Spin's own thoughts, well they are a little preoccupied with India, which is where I will be flying out to on Thursday for the start of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. That same day sees the start of the Border-Gavaskar Series between Australia and India. While the England team are putting their feet up after their mysterious four-day bonding camp, the Australians will be taking on the world's No1 team in two Tests in Mohali and Bangalore and the Spin will be ducking collapsing ceilings and chasing snakes out of hotel rooms. The tour was originally due to include seven one-day internationals, but the BCCI decided that it would be better to cancel four of those and schedule two Tests instead. In hock to the Indian Board as it is, Cricket Australia agreed, though Ricky Ponting was quick to gripe that this was far from the ideal preparation for the Ashes. He was most likely harking back to the tough time his team had on their 2009 trip to India, when four of their leading bowlers, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus suffered injuries of one calibre or another. A quick look at their squad list shows they can hardly afford another spate of similar setbacks this time. They have a trio of talented but young quicks in reserve, all of them uncapped and also unfamiliar to most English fans. At 23 Peter George is the eldest, he played against Derbyshire during Australia's recent tour of England. George is tall and his bowling accurate and economical. He is first reserve, having taken Doug Bollinger's place in tour's opening match against the Indian Board President's XI. Bollinger was away playing in the Champions League final with the Chennai Super Kings. Behind him are Mitchell Starc, 20, a tall left-armer who has a similarly slingy delivery to Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson, younger brother of the infamous Darren, who played a single Test for England not so long ago. The younger Pattinson does not have an English passport because unlike his brother he was born in Victoria, so England can forget any plans they have about poaching him. Besides which he told Cricinfo recently that "Darren always gives me crap about playing Test cricket, so hopefully I can play Tests and get more than one Test in so I can give it back to him. But I think it's better to play for Australia than England, so I'll give him that one as well." Time was when it seemed Australia only had to whistle at the State sides and they would be able to find a gnarled old 30-year-old to come straight into the Test team, but these days Tim Nielsen seems to have taken a change of tack. Starc and Pattinson were called up as cover for James Hazlewood, who at the age of 19 is even younger than any of the other three. Troy Cooley clearly has an abundance of talent to work with in his new role as head coach of Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence. Whether any of these young colts can make a strong enough impression in India to force their way into contention for the Ashes squad will be one of the more intriguing subplots of this short tour. India's squad also includes a young Turk, Cheteshwar Pujara, a 22-year-old middle order batsman with a first-class average of over 60 after 50 matches. If only the series lasted longer than two Tests, then we may have had a chance to unravel some of these threads. As it is we will still get to enjoy some of the other captivating clashes that the series will throw up. Fitness allowing, Harbhajan Singh will resume his old duel with Ponting. Nobody has dismissed Ponting more times in Test cricket than Harbhajan. Will Ponting be able to keep pace with Sachin Tendulkar? Or will the series confirm the impression formed over the last two years that Sachin has pulled head-and-shoulders clear of the Australian captain as the outstanding batsman of this generation? Will Johnson and Bollinger be able to follow up on their public promises to tame Virender Sehwag by bombarding him with short deliveries? Will either Steve Smith or Nathan Hauritz be able to break through and nail down a place as Australia's first-choice spinner? Can Tim Paine prove he is a better bet behind the stumps than Brad Haddin? And can Marcus North cling on to a spot in the middle order? The more you think about it all the more the mouth waters. Despite Ponting's worries, his side will be able to iron out a lot of kinks in the next two weeks. In the last decade, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has arguably come to surpass the Ashes as the premier series in Test cricket. It seems something of a sin to see the one as a warm-up for the other, especially given the respective rankings of the three teams. India sit at No1, Australia at No4 and England at No5. Given that there is so little to separate the top six teams in Test cricket at the moment it would be unwise to put too much store by those numbers but still, India visit South Africa this winter and England next summer. Over the next 12 months they will have a chance to conclusively prove themselves to be the best Test team in world cricket.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/28/the-spin-india-australia-tests

[Lord]

Behind him are Mitchell Starc, 20, a tall left-armer who has a similarly slingy delivery to Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson, younger brother of the infamous Darren, who played a single Test for England not so long ago. The younger Pattinson does not have an English passport because unlike his brother he was born in Victoria, so England can forget any plans they have about poaching him

good one:haha:

[vamos_rafa]

Go through the comments of that article. The Gora man has written all filth about India's #1 ranking. I seriously hate this double standards from the whites. When they were #1 no 1 had the guts to question it and now suddenly the whole ranking system is fake. Bloody Hypocrites. Makes me recall one line by Wasim Akram,when asked about reverse swing and how the Englishmen use it to great effect. His reply was :

Ye sab goron ki double standards hai. Jab hum kare to Ball tampering aur jab wo kare to Great art called Reverse Swing.

[punjabi_khota]

Entree is THE main course AFAIK :dontknow: Did you mean appetizer ?

[cowboysfan]

Entree is THE main course AFAIK :dontknow: Did you mean appetizer ?

too many chinese restaurants??:cantstop:

[Gunner_Mania]

Entree is THE main course AFAIK :dontknow: Did you mean appetizer ?

specifically a smaller course that precedes the main course

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entr%C3%A9e :dontknow:

[zen]

I agree that Ashes is the main course as a series b/w a side ranked #4 and another ranked #5 should be more competative then b/w a side ranked #1 and another #4. The later is seen more like a cake walk for the #1 side by many :P

[punjabi_khota]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entr%C3%A9e :dontknow:

Did you read the next line ?

Usage differs in North America where the disappearance in the early 20th century of a large communal main course such as a roast as a standard part of the meal has led to the term being used to describe the main course itself.

[Gunner_Mania]

anyways they are the CI's words not mine. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/surfer/

[Dinx - the Jinx]

I agree that Ashes is the main course as a series b/w a side ranked #4 and another ranked #5 should be more competative then b/w a side ranked #1 and another #4. The later is seen more like a cake walk for the #1 side by many :P

:adore::adore::adore::adore::adore: