Just accept the first 2 test you have had your indian arse well & truly Bhirianed, with a touch of phall to boot. Yes i'm gloating cause we are 2-0 up with 2 to play, IF you do decide to participate in the next 2 tests & actually show up & win a test or (never in a million worlds), win both, than i will bow down to the superior indians & you can rip into me as much as you like. Just accept you are toss & we WILL be no1 in the WORLD.
Mate...we are lucky India have turned up in no mood to play...and with 3 top line players out. Now they have also lost a couple more. Everything has gone our way so far, and this does not mean our team is great. We've had a good run of fixtures against a genuinely County-at-best-ability Australian team, Windies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (who we struggled to dominate). We were very lucky to draw the series in SA because of their selectors incompetence at sticking with a woefully poor Ntini to get him to 100 Tests. Wait until SA come here next Summer. They whipped us last time they visited, and our boys have shown they don't do well under pressure. India have failed to apply any pressure in this series so far. They simply haven't shown up, their captain has been awful in his batting and decision making and they have just rolled over Test afer Test. Has Broad really suddenly become an all-conqering bowler? Sri Lanka made him look silly, it was just their lack of bowling that cost them. Don't believe all this media hype, the number one status favours India and England because they play more cricket than anyone else. In fact, in the rankings before this series started, England and India had both played 32 Tests but SA only 21. The reason? Other countries don't have the money England and India have, so they can't afford to play as many Tests. The sad fact is that SA will now only play 2 Tests against Australia this year, because they have to play 7 one-dayers to get money in to pay their players, otherwise their stars will simply retire from international cricket and rather just play IPL where they earn ten times what SA can pay them. So let's see how we do when SA get here, and ignore this pathetic ranking rubbish. Neither England nor India are deserving of being number one.
It'll be very different circumstances when they visit next year. But just as India are deserving of their current ranking, England will be if they take it this series. If South Africa get the results to take them to No.1, they'll also be deserving of it. It's an impossible situation to fathom because teams change so much from year to year that unless you play all the top teams in one year it is going to be difficult to gauge.
Billy - England will beat SA comfortably next year. England have shown that they can perform under pressure unlike SA who nearly always bottle it (NZ World Cup QF the latest). England have a better pace attack with more depth than SA (although SA have the best bowler in Steyn), a vastly superior spinner and a better batting line up (especially its depth). I agree that India have turned up half cooked but England have not just beaten them but pounded them. Sri Lanka was a disappointing series but that's the English weather for you. England deserve to be number one because they are unbeaten with only one drawn series in the last 2 1/2 years, they are incredibly professional and have great back up to the bowling attack - Tremlett and Finn would start for any other team in the World. England will dominate World cricket for the next 5 years.
BillysStatue, success breeds success. If a team gets a winning mentality then they'll always keep going. Some England sides of the recent past have had a tendency to fold like a house of cards. This side has a spine. Fletcher found it, Flower has reinforced it. Let's just enjoy it while it lasts and not be too critical until the end of next summer. Then I think we'll be able to better judge the team.
We are number one now.. The best test side in the world.. maybe until we play SA but who cares. Enjoy it the barmy army and even you armchair cricket fans as this doesn't happen very often. I'm off to celebrate, ironically down the Indian
India will probably be third in the rankings after the next Test and seem very unlikely to get above that for years to come, in fact they'll almost certainly drop another place or 2 over the next year. This is because they still don't realise that bowlers win matches and they don't have a county standard attck, never mind an international standard one.
There is no doubt india have been outplayed this series, and England (for now) are the dominant test team in the world. Clearly, India has a weakness against quality swing bowling and will need to come back with younger players such as Kohli and Sharma who can face quality bowling. However, I believe Englands real test will be when they play abroad with well balanced sides such as South Africa and Sri Lanka. South Africa need a quality spinner, but otherwise are a strong side. Sri Lanka need to strengthen their lower middle order, but have a well balanced side. England with struggle in Sri Lankan conditions due to the lack of swing and bounce. We shall see how good England really are...
So having been utterly thrashed, you're now taking comfort in the hope that either SA or SL will beat England in SA/SL. Where does that leave India? Fourth? Fifth?
mmmm me think the IPL prema donna's in the indian side have had a wake up call.It ok bowling 4 overs boys but he real test comes when u have to do 4 spells and 20 overs in a day. Indian cricket team over hyped over here and over paid.
I'm saying an undercooked India have clearly not been a challenge to England. They will need to go and rebuild and implement the younger players into the side. While this is happening, South Africa will be the main challenge to England. If they beat them, then they truly deserve the World Number One title.
