To those doubting how good our Test Side is

[barmyarmy]

I'm a first time poster and I look forward to discussing some cricket with you Indian fans. Having read for a while, I must say I've been a bit disappointed with some of the comments from some posters about our team. We are deservedly the World Number 1 team. A few points: Two of our 10 highest batting totals in English cricketing history have been in the last year. We haven't lost a test series since the freak result in the West Indies in 2009. We've demolished you and the Aussies recently. And in the last 10 test matches we have won 5 of these matches by more than an innings. Bowling: Our bowling attack is the best in the world bar none. You reached 300 runs just once in the entire series. We take wickets regularly, and up until the last test match, there wasn't a single session in any day where we didn't take a wicket. True the real test will come in the sub-continent pitches when we play there, but Anderson and Bresnan will get the ball to reverse even on these types of pitches where conventional swing may not happen. Additionally, I don't think there is a better and more effective spin bowler than Swann in world cricket currently. The batsmen: We have runs all over the team. Even the tail scores and regularly. Cook averages just under 50, and in the last year and a half it is closer to 65. At the young age of 26 he has scored nearly 6000 runs, he has 19 test centuries, and he has scored three figures at least once against every test side except New Zealand. If he carries on in the same vein, and makes it to a similar age, he may get close to emulating your great batsman Sachin. Strauss has scored runs consistently for years. Trott is reliable, can bat all day, and averages just under 60. Pietersen is explosive and on his day unplayable. Averages over 50. Bell is another averaging just under the 50 mark. Morgan is a good all rounder who can also bat explosively and score runs quickly. Even Prior the wicket keeper averages mid 40s. I look forward to talking cricket with you all and I hope Sachin gets his 100th century soon. I think we will stay on top for a good while yet as long as we keep up the high standards. All the best, Jon

[Cricket Tragic]

I'm a first time poster and I look forward to discussing some cricket with you Indian fans. Having read for a while, I must say I've been a bit disappointed with some of the comments from some posters about our team. We are deservedly the World Number 1 team. A few points: Two of our 10 highest batting totals in English cricketing history have been in the last year. We haven't lost a test series since the freak result in the West Indies in 2009. We've demolished you and the Aussies recently. And in the last 10 test matches we have won 5 of these matches by more than an innings. Bowling: Our bowling attack is the best in the world bar none. You reached 300 runs just once in the entire series. We take wickets regularly, and up until the last test match, there wasn't a single session in any day where we didn't take a wicket. True the real test will come in the sub-continent pitches when we play there, but Anderson and Bresnan will get the ball to reverse even on these types of pitches where conventional swing may not happen. Additionally, I don't think there is a better and more effective spin bowler than Swann in world cricket currently. The batsmen: We have runs all over the team. Even the tail scores and regularly. Cook averages just under 50, and in the last year and a half it is closer to 65. At the young age of 26 he has scored nearly 6000 runs, he has 19 test centuries, and he has scored three figures at least once against every test side except New Zealand. If he carries on in the same vein, and makes it to a similar age, he may get close to emulating your great batsman Sachin. Strauss has scored runs consistently for years. Trott is reliable, can bat all day, and averages just under 60. Pietersen is explosive and on his day unplayable. Averages over 50. Bell is another averaging just under the 50 mark. Morgan is a good all rounder who can also bat explosively and score runs quickly. Even Prior the wicket keeper averages mid 40s. I look forward to talking cricket with you all and I hope Sachin gets his 100th century soon. I think we will stay on top for a good while yet as long as we keep up the high standards. All the best, Jon

Not recently though. He was good for a couple of years after his comeback hundred in NZ (177 I think) but he hasn't been a consistent run scorer for a while. I agree with most of the other things you've written. Welcome to the forum!

[Ramzz]

No mention of England's record in India. Let's see how they fare on spinning wickets.

[punjabi_khota]

[daryl1985]

I'm a first time poster and I look forward to discussing some cricket with you Indian fans. Having read for a while, I must say I've been a bit disappointed with some of the comments from some posters about our team. We are deservedly the World Number 1 team. A few points: Two of our 10 highest batting totals in English cricketing history have been in the last year. We haven't lost a test series since the freak result in the West Indies in 2009. We've demolished you and the Aussies recently. And in the last 10 test matches we have won 5 of these matches by more than an innings. Bowling: Our bowling attack is the best in the world bar none. You reached 300 runs just once in the entire series. We take wickets regularly, and up until the last test match, there wasn't a single session in any day where we didn't take a wicket. True the real test will come in the sub-continent pitches when we play there, but Anderson and Bresnan will get the ball to reverse even on these types of pitches where conventional swing may not happen. Additionally, I don't think there is a better and more effective spin bowler than Swann in world cricket currently. The batsmen: We have runs all over the team. Even the tail scores and regularly. Cook averages just under 50, and in the last year and a half it is closer to 65. At the young age of 26 he has scored nearly 6000 runs, he has 19 test centuries, and he has scored three figures at least once against every test side except New Zealand. If he carries on in the same vein, and makes it to a similar age, he may get close to emulating your great batsman Sachin. Strauss has scored runs consistently for years. Trott is reliable, can bat all day, and averages just under 60. Pietersen is explosive and on his day unplayable. Averages over 50. Bell is another averaging just under the 50 mark. Morgan is a good all rounder who can also bat explosively and score runs quickly. Even Prior the wicket keeper averages mid 40s. I look forward to talking cricket with you all and I hope Sachin gets his 100th century soon. I think we will stay on top for a good while yet as long as we keep up the high standards. All the best, Jon

Totally agree with everything apart from this. England have an excellent team, an excellent coach, superb fitness and the ruthless mentality that a number 1 team should have.

[CG]

I'm a first time poster and I look forward to discussing some cricket with you Indian fans. Having read for a while, I must say I've been a bit disappointed with some of the comments from some posters about our team. We are deservedly the World Number 1 team. A few points: Two of our 10 highest batting totals in English cricketing history have been in the last year. We haven't lost a test series since the freak result in the West Indies in 2009. You were extremly lucky to leave sa without losing 3-1 We've demolished you and the Aussies recently. And in the last 10 test matches we have won 5 of these matches by more than an innings. Bowling: Our bowling attack is the best in the world bar none. You reached 300 runs just once in the entire series. We take wickets regularly, and up until the last test match, there wasn't a single session in any day where we didn't take a wicket. england always has done well at home they only have lost to india in last 7 years,bowling attack is not the best with bowlers averaging above 30 . True the real test will come in the sub-continent pitches when we play there, but Anderson and Bresnan will get the ball to reverse even on these types of pitches where conventional swing may not happen. Additionally, I don't think there is a better and more effective spin bowler than Swann in world cricket currently. yes they will reverse it but so had anderson last time and flintoff who is quicker ,swann is not much of threat to sub contiennt batsman The batsmen: We have runs all over the team. Even the tail scores and regularly. every good team has a decent lower order. Cook averages just under 50, and in the last year and a half it is closer to 65. At the young age of 26 he has scored nearly 6000 runs, he has 19 test centuries, and he has scored three figures at least once against every test side except New Zealand. If he carries on in the same vein, and makes it to a similar age, he may get close to emulating your great batsman Sachin. nah cook has technical problems he has been in good form but bowlers who have pitched it up have got him and we did not have zak otherwise he would have had a horror series like 2007 Strauss has scored runs consistently for years. joking right Trott is reliable, can bat all day, and averages just under 60. Pietersen is explosive and on his day unplayable. Averages over 50. Bell is another averaging just under the 50 mark. Morgan is a good all rounder who can also bat explosively and score runs quickly. joking right Even Prior the wicket keeper averages mid 40s. I look forward to talking cricket with you all and I hope Sachin gets his 100th century soon. I think we will stay on top for a good while yet as long as we keep up the high standards. All the best, Jon

welcome to forums mate

[Cricketics]

Welcome to the forum. There is no doubt you are world no. 1 rite now. Everyone questions your ability to play abroad and you can't deny that. When you will perform there, we will call you the real geuniune no. 1. But rite now, I will offcourse won't be in any denial and would call you guys world no. 1 because you have beaten aus in aus and have earned points after pointgs to reach that no. 1 Thrashing a pretty good Indian test side 4-0, was the best thing one team could have done. Well played. Task is tough ahead to keep that ranking where it is rite now. But England, because of the importance they give to test cricket rite now, I think they will remain in top 4 for next 5 years atleast. There is no consistent team rite now. Only one was, and that's Australia of the 90s which continued till 06. After that, both India and South Africa and England are playing musical chairs. It shall con tinue to happen I think for a while.

[jukkha]

England have a really good team. So many players in form batting, bowling and fielding. I cannot imagine any team who could beat them at the moment. India were definetely at their worst. Proof of that was that they struggled v the 2 county teams too.. It took 15 years for you to finally beat us and you did it with some style. (Not sure I would have wanted to wait 15 years though if it was India doing the waiting...)

[Hell Raiser]

No doubt in my mind that England deserves this number 1 ranking and they have earned it by comprehensively beating India. It will take something special for other teams to beat England in England if they continue to play like this but their real test will be when they play in sub continent.

[Vijay.Sharma]

Nothing to take away from the sheer domination of England over India. England are deservedly number 1 today. But let's wait and see if they are a better number 1 team than India were. India held on to that spot for 21 months. Let's wait and see if England can. If they do, then no shame in saying "England were/are a better number 1 side than India was". I think India's fall was coming in many ways given the way they played defensively at times they need not have. for ex- NZ 2009 when they could have won the 3rd test, SA 2011 when they could've made an effort to win the third Test, WI 2011 when they could've given a go to win the Test. Their defensive attitude cost them their ranking. Had India won even 2 of those 3 games they would've had better points but more importantly would have been better for the experience. Now destiny calls upon England to show what it has to offer. I will not mask my dislike of England here but even given that I don't see England holding on to the number 1 spot by the end of the season. I expect the Saffers to be number 1 even as early as the turn of the year. Let's see how England perform against SL and India in Asia. You beat SL and India in Asia and you are truly a better number 1 team than India were. A team's number one-ism depends on how they play in alien conditions. Australia did well on that front. India and SA have done well on that front. Eng need to show us what they got. They've ticked off Aus and SA...they need to tick off SL, Ind.

[CG]

Nothing to take away from the sheer domination of England over India. England are deservedly number 1 today. But let's wait and see if they are a better number 1 team than India were. India held on to that spot for 21 months. Let's wait and see if England can. If they do, then no shame in saying "England were/are a better number 1 side than India was". I think India's fall was coming in many ways given the way they played defensively at times they need not have. for ex- NZ 2009 when they could have won the 3rd test, SA 2011 when they could've made an effort to win the third Test, WI 2011 when they could've given a go to win the Test. Their defensive attitude cost them their ranking. Had India won even 2 of those 3 games they would've had better points but more importantly would have been better for the experience. Now destiny calls upon England to show what it has to offer. I will not mask my dislike of England here but even given that I don't see England holding on to the number 1 spot by the end of the season. I expect the Saffers to be number 1 even as early as the turn of the year. Let's see how England perform against SL and India in Asia. You beat SL and India in Asia and you are truly a better number 1 team than India were. A team's number one-ism depends on how they play in alien conditions. Australia did well on that front. India and SA have done well on that front. Eng need to show us what they got. They've ticked off Aus and SA...they need to tick off SL, Ind.

we did better than eng did on tour of sa and the side eng beat in aus we whitewashed them in india .

[Cricket Tragic]

Nothing to take away from the sheer domination of England over India. England are deservedly number 1 today. But let's wait and see if they are a better number 1 team than India were. India held on to that spot for 21 months. Let's wait and see if England can. If they do, then no shame in saying "England were/are a better number 1 side than India was". I think India's fall was coming in many ways given the way they played defensively at times they need not have. for ex- NZ 2009 when they could have won the 3rd test, SA 2011 when they could've made an effort to win the third Test, WI 2011 when they could've given a go to win the Test. Their defensive attitude cost them their ranking. Had India won even 2 of those 3 games they would've had better points but more importantly would have been better for the experience. Now destiny calls upon England to show what it has to offer. I will not mask my dislike of England here but even given that I don't see England holding on to the number 1 spot by the end of the season. I expect the Saffers to be number 1 even as early as the turn of the year. Let's see how England perform against SL and India in Asia. You beat SL and India in Asia and you are truly a better number 1 team than India were. A team's number one-ism depends on how they play in alien conditions. Australia did well on that front. India and SA have done well on that front. Eng need to show us what they got. They've ticked off Aus and SA...they need to tick off SL, Ind.

Agreed. We also haven't made full use of home advantage. Flat tracks make it tough to beat teams convincingly.

[Vijay.Sharma]

we did better than eng did on tour of sa and the side eng beat in aus we whitewashed them in india .

All said and done, England whitewashed the Indian team which whitewashed an Australian team. I don't wanna take away anything from England's results in Aus and SA. I'll wait and see if theyt can do good in SL and India.

[NareshK]

India drew 1-1 against the mighty Aussies under Steve Waugh in 2004 in Australia. They would have won the series if they had bowled out the tail in the final test. That was the biggest achievement by this test team and probably by any other team. That Aussie team was almost unbeatable. Try and top that, England.

[CG]

India drew 1-1 against the mighty Aussies under Steve Waugh in 2004 in Australia. They would have won the series if they had bowled out the tail in the final test. That was the biggest achievement by this test team and probably by any other team. That Aussie team was almost unbeatable. Try and top that' date=' England.[/quote'] australia had lost mcgrath for that series ,but still they had gillespie,macgill

[Cricket Tragic]

India drew 1-1 against the mighty Aussies under Steve Waugh in 2004 in Australia. They would have won the series if they had bowled out the tail in the final test. That was the biggest achievement by this test team and probably by any other team. That Aussie team was almost unbeatable. Try and top that' date=' England.[/quote'] That bowling attack was poor though. The Aussie attack in 2007/08 was actually better because it had Lee bowling close to his best, Clark was one of the top bowlers in the world and Johnson knew where the stumps were. Hogg was useless though.

[CG]

That bowling attack was poor though. The Aussie attack in 2007/08 was actually better because it had Lee bowling close to his best, Clark was one of the top bowlers in the world and Johnson knew where the stumps were. Hogg was useless though.

gillespie,mcgill were not poor by anymeans

[daryl1985]

gillespie' date='mcgill were not poor by anymeans[/quote'] No McGrath generally meant that India became competitive. We struggled when he played for Aus. Although he did play in 2 tours of India.

[Karan114]

gillespie' date='mcgill were not poor by anymeans[/quote'] Gillespie missed a Test and was injured mid way through the second innings at Adelaide, though.

[CG]

Gillespie missed a Test and was injured mid way through the second innings at Adelaide' date=' though.[/quote'] brad williams was quick at that time and future of aus fast bowling,lee might have also played.