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England for World No. 1 – Don’t Make Me Laugh

Discussion in 'International Cricket' started by QuarterMoonII, Jun 8, 2011.

  1. QuarterMoonII

    QuarterMoonII Economist

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    After duckmachine had posted news of Somerset’s domination of India at Taunton, the tailenders got the alarm call and Raina banged an unbeaten ton while Patel stood around for an hour at the other end.

    Since the game was going to be a draw, Somerset did not enforce the follow-on but allowed Andrew Strauss – a mid-season West Country recruit – some batting practise, that he used to garner a three-hour ton.

    India will miss Virender Sehwag at the start of the Test Series but it is debatable whether England have the bowlers to knock the tourists over twice to win at Lord’s and Trent Bridge. If the ball is swinging, Anderson should get some wickets. The suspicion is that Broad will stay in the team because of the perception that India cannot handle short-pitched bowling. The hole in this theory is that Broad has been so erratic this year that the Indian batsmen will pick up lots of runs for very few wickets just like Sri Lanka.

    When the 2000th Test match kicks off at Lord’s on Thursday morning (weather permitting!), India will still field a stronger, more consistent, batting line-up than England but their chances of victory are probably going to depend on Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.
     
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  2. GasheadinChelt

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    QuarterMoon II now the dust has settled over the 1st Test I think it's fair to say that England do have the bowlers to take 20 wickets, the Indian batting line up (Dravid & Raina apart) looked under cooked and the bowling attack without Khan doesn't look threatening enough on a consistent basis.

    India will get better as the series goes on batting wise but I don't think they've got enough in the bowling to put England consistently under pressure. I believe England will win the series 2 - 1 so India will keep their No 1 status.
     
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  3. Albert's Chip Shop

    Albert's Chip Shop Top Grafter
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  4. QuarterMoonII

    QuarterMoonII Economist

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    It is a little too early to start talking up England after their deserved Lord’s victory. When India were here in 2007, they drew at Lord’s before winning at Trent Bridge and drawing at The Oval to claim the series.

    India played half the 2000th Test without their front-line bowler Zaheer Khan and had a couple of other injury scares during the game.

    Stuart Broad bowled surprisingly well and could have ended up with five wickets but for dropped catches. Ironic that he probably only kept his place in the side because of the perception that India do not like short-pitched bowling and yet he then bowled wicket-to-wicket. It was a shame that England declared, preventing him from possibly getting a second innings century, but if Matt Prior and he had not made up for the middle order collapse, England could have been in a losing position at stumps on Sunday.

    Listening to Michael Vaughan on TMS, he reckoned that England are probably the best Test side in the World right now and there may be some truth to that, but I do not see how they can justify the title when they cannot win a series on the sub-continent’s dry turning wickets.
     
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  5. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Talk about an epic fail, this thread is the daddy. Regardless how the rest of the summer goes, I think we've seen England certainly do have genuine cause for belief they can become Number 1. As for needing to win on sub continent? That's like saying India are not number 1 in the world because they have never managed to win a series in Austrailia! They haven't but they are the current number 1. Bottom line is there is not much between South Africa, India and England once you take into consideration their records in a ll conditions.
     
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  6. QuarterMoonII

    QuarterMoonII Economist

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    Warm Pouch, the fact that India are ranked Number 1 disguises the fact that they are not really that good except for a few stars with the bat. Their bowling in the second Test has been very mediocre and they are clearly missing Zaheer Khan.

    If they can manage to bat out a draw at Trent Bridge, which does not seem very likely, the return of Virender Sehwag will hopefully introduce a bit of spine into their batting line-up for the final two Tests.

    If England win and go two-nil up in the series and avoid defeat in the remaining two Tests, they will get the hollow title of World Number 1. When they go on tour this winter and their bowling attack does not have advantageous home conditions, neutrals will quite rightly question their status.
     
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  7. GasheadinChelt

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    Suddenly being World No 1 Test Team is a hollow title. This is beginning to sound incredibly hypocritical. England's rise to the top is built on the fact that we've not lost in 8 Test series - including going away to South Africa and home and away against Australia. Yes our record on the sub continent isn't great, but recent tours to Sri Lanka when they've had Murali bowling from one end have been tough for all teams who've toured there. When we're next in India will Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Harbhajan Singh and Khan be playing? That's also a tough side to beat in India, but if they've all retired by the time we're there next then there's a good chance we'll run you very close in the series.

    Finally another post on this thread said Prior wasn't a batsman. Averaging over 45 in 45 Tests, mainly coming in at No 7, with 6 hundreds and 18 fifties would suggest otherwise. Stats don't lie!
     
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  8. QuarterMoonII

    QuarterMoonII Economist

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    GasheadinChelt, I am missing the hypocrisy angle here. Perhaps you think that I am from India rather than Lincolnshire.

    England did beat Australia in back-to-back Ashes series and that is laudable. They did not lose the 2009/10 series in South Africa but I do not recall them winning it either.

    Unfortunately the England winter tour starts in India but it is only One Day Internationals, then they go to the cricketing bastion that is the United Arab Emirates for three Tests against Pakistan and finally in March/April they have two Tests in Sri Lanka.

    At the time of writing, India are in total disarray and with six wickets down and over four hundred needed England will soon have a two-nil series lead with two to play.

    If England claim Number 1 status at the end of the current series, perhaps they can justify that ranking in the five away Tests.
     
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  9. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Not hollow at all, there is just no dominant team like the aussies. Nothing between the top three, all have weaknesses in different conditions. I think the problem is people are looking for the perfect team. The aussies had an unreal cycle with two of the best bowlers of all time in one team, plus strength in depth. It can happen (the great windies team) We are now in a period where there is a struggle for dominance and you'd incorrect to say england are not in that mix.
     
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  10. The IncREDibles

    The IncREDibles Well-Known Member

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    Forgive me for adding a football analogy to this thought process, but at the moment Manchester United are the number one team in England, and dew will argue with that. They justified that by winning the league. How many away wins did they get last season? Few would also argue that man utd have a lot of room for improvement

    Does the same not apply to England then? It's true that there is still room for improvement in the England team, but at the same time, if they avhieve the required result in this series, you can't really argue that they are the best team in the game simply because no other team have achieved the necessary results to argue otherwise. While I don't think India are that great, you can't argue with their results going into this series
     
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  11. charmingmikeylfc

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    TBH I'm a bit gutted Khan is injured. It would be nice to trounce the Indians with him playing, and make it more competitive. I agree that in the sub-continent we're gonna find it hard but I feel we'll win both series against SL and PAK.

    As for world number 1's, we'll be there for a while, the only teams who are near us are SA and IND but IND are a fading force.
     
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  12. Sharpe*

    Sharpe* Senior Member

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    Not anywhere near India as we give them a record beating? lol

    Some people need to wake up and smell the cheese. 2.0 The rankings will not lie either way.

    No pleasing some people.
     
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  13. devonblue

    devonblue Member

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    Looking a little stupid now arent we?
     
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  14. QuarterMoonII

    QuarterMoonII Economist

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    devonblue, it is very easy to take out of context quotations from before the Test Series even began.

    At the time of originally writing (8th June) most observers would have expected India’s strong batting line-up to give England a game. As it has turned out, to date, they have been a shadow of the team that is on paper ranked Number One in the World. The India bowling attack has been depleted by the loss of their strike bowler Zaheer Khan in the first Test and the others have not performed consistently (or England have batted very well).

    It is very easy to crow after the fact but I did not see a thread being started by you or anyone else claiming that England were going to thrash India in this Series and claim the Number One spot because they were worthy of the accolade.

    So the answer to your question is ‘No’, I am not a little stupid because I can see that hindsight is a great thing and this thread does at least appear to have stimulated some debate – the whole purpose of this forum.
     
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  15. fevriul

    fevriul Well-Known Member

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    Thats good typing while eating humble pie, well done that man!
     
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  16. ReallyReal

    ReallyReal Member

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    India are now ranked second and baring their best performance by miles (or the weather) in the final Test, they'll drop to third.
    They've look weak in virtaully all departments and their bowling is an absolute joke for such a great:emoticon-0102-bigsm side, the simple reality is, unless they unearth 3 new bowlers, they will stuggle for years to come, you can no longer rely on dominating with the bat
     
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  17. rockape

    rockape Member

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    India great batsman that are all , bar Dravid one major tour over the hill. Khan was not fit and the rest of bolwing attack woulnt bowl Derbyshire 2nd team out, except on a good day.
    Really the gap between theese sides was as great as the gap between England and the great West Indies side of 70-80s
     
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  18. Sharpe*

    Sharpe* Senior Member

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    I love how stupid this thread looks now!

    Absolultey hammered the previous world number one twice now, setting records along the way.

    This team is excellent, the stats don't lie, we are number one!

    Hope you're choking on your cereal.
     
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  19. QuarterMoonII

    QuarterMoonII Economist

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    Sir Bow4fowler, I am not choking on anything. As I previously stated on this thread, that you clearly did not bother to read, it is very easy to be clever with hindsight. The India batting line-up have failed to perform and England have capitalised. On the form that India have shown on this tour, they were not worthy of their Number One status.

    England need to prove that they are the best in the World by beating Pakistan and Sri Lanka this winter and then what they need to do is beat South Africa to prove that they really are as good as it appears and that their Number One status is not just simply statistics.

    I would suggest that you stick to supporting that soccer team that have never won the Premier League.
     
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  20. addzlfc

    addzlfc Active Member

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    We fully deserve to be number one and the lads should be very proud of what they have acheived. When you look at the Indians batting line up on paper, there is a serious ammount of talent there and that is a testament to how well we have bowled.
    However, although we are at the top, we are certainly not dominant like they aussies were a few years back but I think it will be a long while before anyone repeats their feat again.
     
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