vvvslaxman Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2122059/England-fall-short-Rangana-Herath-spins-Sri-Lanka-win.html#comments Stop being No 1 imposters: Batting fiasco makes mockery of world-beater status By PAUL NEWMAN PUBLISHED: 04:36 EST, 29 March 2012 | UPDATED: 16:41 EST, 29 March 2012 Forget EnglandÃÔ gallant failure to pull off an historic run chase. Forget, also, the red herrings of Monty PanesarÃÔ comical catching and Stuart BroadÃÔ no-ball that both gifted Sri Lanka significant tail-end runs. No, this first Test was lost when an England batting line-up who have conquered all before them outside Asia again spectacularly failed to post anything other than an inadequate first-innings score, again on a blameless pitch but this time against a mediocre attack. This was worse, much worse, than failing time and again against the mystery of Saeed Ajmal during PakistanÃÔ 3-0 whitewash of England in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. The first-innings capitulation for 193, from which there was no return, came against the modest left-arm spin of Rangana Herath, who somehow ended up with better figures than even Muttiah Muralitharan ever recorded against England in Sri Lanka. For that reason alone, the touristÃÔ big guns must now be at crisis point and batting for their very Test futures in the second and final Test of this mini-series at Colombo next week. How quickly things have changed. Consider the evidence. This winter, as they tackled their ÃÇinal frontier of winning in subcontinental conditions, a line-up boasting some of the best batsmen in the world have reached 300 just once in eight collective attempts. It really is damning and does not augur well for this groupÃÔ chances of succeeding in India next winter. For a while on the fourth day at one of the best venues in world cricket, it was possible for England to believe that they were about to pull off the most spectacular run chase in their Test history. Never before have England reached anything like 340 to win a Test, let alone on the subcontinent, but while the immense Jonathan Trott was together with Matt Prior it was permissible to dream. Reality came crashing through the 17th-century Dutch fort here on the beautiful Sri Lankan coast in the form of a collapse that saw EnglandÃÔ last six wickets fall for just 31 runs, Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar departing in successive balls just after tea to complete a fourth successive Test defeat this chastening winter, this time by 75 runs. Trott displayed enormous skill, concentration and application to reach 112 in conditions that seem to be getting more extreme by the day. He simply batted sensibly, eschewing risk but keeping the board ticking over, to show his team-mates how to do it before perhaps tiredness got the better of him and he became the seventh England wicket to fall. Otherwise it was pretty much the same old story. Kevin Pietersen, who just does not seem able to play according to the situation, gave it away while Ian Bell fell sweeping the wrong ball, a mistake later repeated by Graeme Swann when it was too late. Prior, proving that he can both keep wicket in intense heat and bat at No 6, was unlucky to be out to an instinctive, probably fortunate catch at short leg, while debutant Samit Patel drilled Herath to cover to become one of 12 victims for the man of the match. World No 1? England will be having a laugh if they do not arrest the decline at the same Colombo stadium where Keith FletcherÃÔ team played the first Test against Sri Lanka 30 years ago. Whisper it, but even the Aussies not just South Africa will be poised to overtake England in the ICC rankings if Andrew Strauss does not rally his troops to claim a share of this series. How unlikely did that seem just over a year ago when Strauss won the Ashes and last summer when they defeated India 4-0? Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown and it is resting very uneasily on StraussÃÔ head right now. EnglandÃÔ most successful captain brushed off questions about his future after the game but he knows those questions will be back with bells on if he cannot repel little Herath and his big mate Suraj Randiv in Colombo. A personal view remains that Strauss should stay in charge for at least this summer after all he has achieved, not least because of a lack of credible candidates to replace him as opener. The best English batting prospects all play in the middle order while the possible long-term successor, Joe Root of Yorkshire, is a long way from being ready for Test cricket. Trott could open but he would be reluctant to and is doing quite nicely at three, thank you. Strauss is an honourable man and it is possible he might consider jumping before he is pushed if the second Test goes badly, a la Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, but it is to be hoped that he will not give up on his dream of ending his illustrious career with next yearÃÔ back-to-back Ashes series just yet. He may have to reverse EnglandÃÔ fortunes without Broad, who damaged his right calf here after injuring his left ankle at the start of the tour, which would throw up more questions about the balance of the side. There are no such worries for Mahela Jayawardene, who led Sri Lanka to only their second victory in 18 Tests since Muralitharan retired, in his first match back as a reluctant Test captain. Ultimately it was the pure class of JayawardeneÃÔ first-innings 180 that won this match for a Sri Lanka side who came here unprepared after a non-stop diet of one-day cricket and having only just been paid after battling their impoverished board for outstanding monies. EnglandÃÔ attempts to acclimatise by coming here as early as possible counted for nothing as they still seem to have psychological problems against spin in Asia. But they have one last chance to get it right, starting on Tuesday.
vvvslaxman Posted March 30, 2012 Author Posted March 30, 2012 I like when England loses very badly.. not because i hate England.. but it brings out the best comedy from English supporters. Their sarcastic attack on players is fun to follow. I think we are too soft on India.
Prakat Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 I like when England loses very badly.. not because i hate England.. but it brings out the best comedy from English supporters. Their sarcastic attack on players is fun to follow. I think we are too soft on India. too many touchy fans try to shut out anything resembling a criticism. :idunno:
rkt.india Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 too many touchy fans try to shut out anything resembling a criticism. :idunno: No one can criticize Gods and cricketers are like Gods here in India. It is not just about SRT, most cricketers who play for India get that larger than life status.
NareshK Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 I like when England loses very badly.. not because i hate England.. but it brings out the best comedy from English supporters. Their sarcastic attack on players is fun to follow. I think we are too soft on India. I think Pakistanis take the cake when it comes to being soft on their team. The team can indulge in match fixing, spot fixing, infighting, ball tampering and lose against all sides consistently but they are still the besshttt. If it's not for BCCI, they would have won all the trophies including World Cup.
Pagalpanti Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 I like when England loses very badly.. not because i hate England.. but it brings out the best comedy from English supporters. Their sarcastic attack on players is fun to follow. I think we are too soft on India. Soft? Most fans here are questioning Sachin's moral value or calling Dravid and Tendulkar a disgrace to Indian cricket, what more you want?
rkt.india Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 Soft? Most fans here are questioning Sachin's moral value or calling Dravid and Tendulkar a disgrace to Indian cricket' date=' what more you want?[/quote'] It is not about fans. No one listens to fans. It is about experts in business and former cricketers. They rarely talk or write hard or sarcastic on our players, especially seniors.
Karan114 Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 It is not about fans. No one listens to fans. It is about experts in business and former cricketers. They rarely talk or write hard or sarcastic on our players' date=' especially seniors.[/quote'] It works both ways though. Large swathes of the English media were saying this English team is on line to become the next great team after Aus/WI (George Dobell of Cricinfo had even already anointed England one of the five best teams ever). Even the Indian media, no matter their many flaws, weren't claiming India had become one of the best teams ever even when we were world no.1/World Cup winners.
rkt.india Posted March 30, 2012 Posted March 30, 2012 It works both ways though. Large swathes of the English media were saying this English team is on line to become the next great team after Aus/WI (George Dobell of Cricinfo had even already anointed England one of the five best teams ever). Even the Indian media' date=' no matter their many flaws, weren't claiming India had become one of the best teams ever even when we were world no.1/World Cup winners.[/quote'] Agree completely.
vvvslaxman Posted March 30, 2012 Author Posted March 30, 2012 Australia media FOX News especially was hard on them http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=265270&highlight=captions
Crookbond Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 It's time to make a DVD - England on Top of the World.
CG Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 It is not about fans. No one listens to fans. It is about experts in business and former cricketers. They rarely talk or write hard or sarcastic on our players' date=' especially seniors.[/quote'] Bishen singh bedi and others have blasted the team in the past and we even had shows like match ka mujrim, cricket has lost popularity compared to 2003-2005 ,You see greater tolerance.also wc win has helped this team as masses are pleased.
vamos_rafa Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 This was always coming considering the Poms' behaviour after reaching the #1 ranking. The statements had become too over the top without realizing that they had not played any test in SC. They had beaten OZ which was no doubt a great acheivement, but rather than trying to consolidate the ranking, they got full of themselves.
vvvslaxman Posted March 31, 2012 Author Posted March 31, 2012 Bishen singh bedi and others have blasted the team in the past and we even had shows like match ka mujrim, cricket has lost popularity compared to 2003-2005 ,You see greater tolerance.also wc win has helped this team as masses are pleased. seriously? Jadeja would have retired by now if they listen to fans :cantstop:
Old guy Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 they will still beat any team at home..quite comfortably and they deserved this no 1 just as much we did .. englsh just ran out of luck 3 straight series in subcontinent right after they got no 1 anyway they are competing better then us in these conditions :((
CG Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 they will still beat any team at home..quite comfortably and they deserved this no 1 just as much we did .. englsh just ran out of luck 3 straight series in subcontinent right after they got no 1 anyway they are competing better then us in these conditions :(( What! we drew the series and remember muruli played in first test which was main reason of them winning.we would win against this lankan team,When we were no 1 we drew agianst sa away also against nz,Eng is yet to win a test after being no 1.
Old guy Posted March 31, 2012 Posted March 31, 2012 What! we drew the series and remember muruli played in first test which was main reason of them winning.we would win against this lankan team' date='When we were no 1 we drew agianst sa away also against nz,Eng is yet to win a test after being no 1.[/quote'] firstly im comparing indian performance outside of sub continent.. with theres performance in subcontinent yes we drew in south africa.. but even pathetic sri lanka team won match there and im tlaking abt current form.. thing is even if we would ve played 10 matches in australia or england.. we would ve lose them all.. thats how bad we actually played! now in this match against sri lanka england came close to winning.. dont jsut go by score card.
vvvslaxman Posted March 31, 2012 Author Posted March 31, 2012 firstly im comparing indian performance outside of sub continent.. with theres performance in subcontinent yes we drew in south africa.. but even pathetic sri lanka team won match there and im tlaking abt current form.. thing is even if we would ve played 10 matches in australia or england.. we would ve lose them all.. thats how bad we actually played! now in this match against sri lanka england came close to winning.. dont jsut go by score card. But we never compared ourselves with all time great sides like Windies of 80s, OZ of 2000s :cantstop: . We knew our short comings
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