Is Standard of World Cricket going down?

[maniac]

I mean look at the Pak team and compare it to the teams they have fielded in the 80's,90's and uptil mid 2000's Aus is a joke compared to their teams of the past....apart from a few hiccups in the early 80's,they were always a strong side.Currently they might even lose to Bangladesh and Srilanka in overseas tours. Zimbabwe who were competitive Test playing minnows are obviously a nothing team these days Bangladesh haven't improved a bit in the last 14 years...They are the new Zimbabwe but Zimbabwe of the 90's was leagues ahead of Bangladesh of today Newzelanad has been well Newzealand,Giant-Killers on some days and Minnows the other Srilanka of the 90's was an exciting team today they are a nothing team especially in test cricket...they are competitive in LOI's though but still we can say their standard has gone down too Westindies is probably fielding their strongest LOI team in the last 12-15 years in this C.T and that is a joke compared to what they were in the 70's,80's uptil mid 90's South Africa if you take out the CHoker tag were a dominant force in all forms of cricket,Today without a doubt they are the best test team in the world but their LOI teams are a joke compared to the kind of impact players they had in the past As far as India goes,I still have doubts over it's test team as it builds from our best period but LOI teams are probably the best in the world despite average bowling which was never our forte. England is probably the only team that has shown signs of improvement I know it's normal for most of the sportrsfana to have a bit of nostalgia and say that things were always tougher in the past and rationalise things but definetely I can see that standards of cricket are going down from the 90's and 2000's era

[Swing_n_Speed]

Only Pakistan's standard (based on some eternal assumption that they are a cricket powerhouse) has fallen along-with SL. Australia are rebuilding, but they definitely have talent. And Ireland will take Bangladesh's place. So all in all cricket has never been better!

[vvvslaxman]

West Indies problem is mental.. They need a guy like Lloyd who would get these guys strike the opposition collectively. When that happens they will do far better than what they are doing right now. Some serious talent is there. Guys like Narine, Bishoo, Benn, Shillingford fill up the spin department. Roach, Rampaul, Taylor, Edwards.. , new crop pacers like Holder.. will fill up pace department.

[NareshK]

West Indies team looks much better than some of the teams they fielded before. So that's a good sign. On paper, they got one of the best sides in the tournament. Good batsmen, bowlers and all rounders. South Africa also has a good team but they dont seem to be serious about ODIs as much as they are about tests and they havent been consistent like they used to be. New Zealand has been doing much better recently and defeated SA in SA and Eng in Eng. They look good to reach Semis in CT. England has a good team even though they have been losing some games recently. India has dropped some seniors but also got some good replacements. Australia are in rebuilding stage. Overall, its a mixed bag just like before where there used to be some teams which were very consistent and other teams which would do well on a day.

[Vilander]

you should not compare the present team to that teams best side ever, thats not going to work. Compare a team say from 2000 to this current team/ 2000 Ind vs 2013 Ind 2000 Wi vs 2000 WI 2000 Aus vs 2013 Aus then it starts to become clear that its not all bad.

[saket123]

When you talk about Standards.. you have a predetermined benchmark that you are comparing to. the game was quite different in the past.. it's constantly evolving.. Certain teams are doing better than before (India and Sri Lanka).. other teams are doing worse (Pakistan) Australia is still transitioning since Ponting IMO...I would give Australia a bit more time before I write them off. New Zealanders were perennial minnows, until 1992 when Greatbatch started whacking everybody for six. A few years after that, they dipped down a bit and at this stage I would say they are at par with the better-than-early-90s-Srilanka" that is prevailing now. But over all, I think good cricket is being played. I would be disappointed if several teams were having difficulty in scoring runs or getting wickets. That's not the case.

[vvvslaxman]

Pakistan batting looks the most woeful i have seen in their history. If Misbah is their best batsman God saves them. 39 tests 2419 runs in his career. Through high percentage of notouts he is maintaining average of 43. No technique from anyone. Most of them are hacks against good bowling.

[vvvslaxman]

Some great players have retired or going to retire soon.. So obviously there is going to be a huge vacuum. But you have to see the state of English cricket in the 90s lol They were a joke team. That is a huge plus in the era. England is trying to play well against every team not just Australia.

[King Khan]

Its becoz IPL has become higher standard scale for current cricket, affecting other level of crickets boring & less compititive. I blame England in major for anchoring this wonderful sport stuck into this stuborn traditional robustness of unlimited over cricket instead of refining it too late.

[G_B_]

Some great players have retired or going to retire soon.. So obviously there is going to be a huge vacuum. But you have to see the state of English cricket in the 90s lol They were a joke team. That is a huge plus in the era. England is trying to play well against every team not just Australia.

its not just english cricket. But sports in general (barring football) in england has been doing well since 2000. The reason being there has been huge investment in sporting infrastructure. Teams like Pakistan especially will struggle for the lack of income support and infra at the domestic level. Australia is going through a mineral wealth boom due to demand primarily from China. Their sports seems to have gone down the pan with their rise in new found wealth. Lower middle class which provided the sportsman and women has vanished (they are now the middle class). Their decline is not just in cricket but in places like swimming and even the rugby union. It will take time for Australia to find a range of stars as they adapt to their changing socio economic circumstances. Its not just Australia. Same can be said of another sporting nation such as Ireland which used to be a middle income country but now is rich (despite the recession) and is struggling in sports in general. Teams like WI and Pak which rely heavily on abundant raw talent as going to find themselves more and more out of step in an increasing professional era.

[Clarke]

Without question, I mean what kind of maniac includes Rohit/Ishant in the playing XI ?

[maniac]

Look at the pattern here....NZL starts winning/Drawing in Aus and Srilanka of all places where they have always been streamrolled....Now looking at the current NZL side will you attribute that to Newzealands asendency or Aus and SL decline? South Africa destroys Pak in the test series and then struggle to win the ODI series against them,infact just scrape through,Lose to Newzealand,Look below par in CT so far,dont have a great T20 record...would the SA of 90's 2000's have faced the same problems?Also they lose a test to Srilanka of all people at home. Srilanka lose tests to Aus and Nzl and almost looks like there is no interest there to play tests since Murali's retirement but they manage to beat Pak Pak don't have cricket at home.....Overseas they get clobbered in South Africa and clearly they have been on the decline in the last few years abut suddenly they absolutely thrash England 3-0 which says a lot about England being a dominant force It's a circle and I can keep on going about team inconsistencies....There is a pattern here...It's not because of cricket being more competitive but because teams have started su***ng more. Gone are the days when India beating Aus and S.A meant a lot more or maybe WI in the 80's.

[G_B_]

wasnt the NZ team in the 80s and early 90s pretty good?

[maniac]

wasnt the NZ team in the 80s and early 90s pretty good?

Compared to now yes....Infact late 90's to mid 2000's NZL team was pretty good

[Crookbond]

Without question' date=' I mean what kind of [b']maniac includes Rohit/Ishant in the playing XI ?

316?