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

No QuarterMoonII, there was not a single thread "crowing" about our England cricket side, because that is not our style, we are not an arrogant, biased bunch like you Indian supporters. Yes, I do think you look very stupid now,
and yes, I do think you are an Indian fan, you might live in Lincolnshire, but so what?
How many of your fellow Indian fans actually travelled from the sub-continent to watch your prima donnas get thrashed this series? Have the guts to admit you are an Indian fan, and just accept the fact that your initial derogatory comments, regarding this English side, are well wide of the mark. I will not even bother to gloat, as I feel sorry for arrogant losers, and I really do hope you engage your brain cell before your mouth next time. "Stimulating debate" as you put it, is one thing, spouting complete garbage is another, and yes I have read all of your, mostly crass, posts!

 

I saw that 'stimulating debate' excuse too. If someone spouts random thoughts and half baked theorys, it is not a debate no matter how many times they repeat it in response to being told they are talking nonsense.

Anyone using it is putting themselves on the same level as racists, fundamentalists, conspiracy theorists and other crackpots, who use exactly the same excuse to try to justify an equal hearing.

 

Tresco is a Legend, I was born in Lincolnshire of British parents and I am not an India fan. The rest of your response is similarly founded on some sort of narrow-minded jingoism, which might even be amusing if I were not English.

Whilst I was cheering on England, I would have preferred them to have beaten a full strength India with their best bowlers and with the batsmen actually performing and then we could justifiably lay claim to being the best team in the World on the grounds that we were victorious against a top quality side. As it stands, Bangladesh would probably have given us a better contest.

Clearly wanting to see two teams of quality players put on a good spectacle for the paying public is very unsporting of me. I thought we English were supposed to be advocates of that may the best team win spirit.

 

The thing is, everyone outside India knows that they were only ranked number 1 by default, that is, no team had really stood up and dominated for the last couple of years, so it's just a case of one team being marginally better than a few others.
England appear to have all the assets to be a true worlds best side, we can bowl teams out as well as scoring big runs, the next year or so will show whether we are a real number 1 side or just another who gets there by default.

 

England have proved they are No.1 by becoming No.1. Do you know how obvious that is? We didn't become No.1 after 1 game.

 

This full strength side argument is quite honestly silly. The best sides have the depth to get through even the worst crisis. It's why England are so much stronger than India. You have to roll with the punches and keep grinding out the results. England are deserving of number one status and have nothing to prove in that regard. Their challenge is to now establish dominance over a prolonged period. They look capable of doing so but there have been plenty great teams who have not realised their potential. I sway that they will because of Andy Flower and a selection process which, although not always our own picks, is largely consistent in its approach.

 

Why not go all all the way, and accuse me of being a bigot, for having the audacity to to say what you do not want to hear. You can give it out, but you cannot take it.
You are no England fan QuarterMoonII, you are just trying to wriggle out of being made to look very very stupid.
Indian fans are the most jingoistic of all the cricket fans I have seen,and you certainly know very little about English cricket fans. We have never been disrespectful of our hosts, as were you Indian fans, at Lords, on your previous tour of these shores, when you booed the English team.
You have a great team, Dravid and Kumar especially,both of whom are high class cricketers and men. Why not show some respect yourself, and give credit where credit is due. Take the weight off your shoulders, lose the chips mate.

 

I missed this before, "soccer"???
You are no Englishman mate, there is the proof, by your own hand too!
Which "soccer" team do you support? I think we all know the answer to that one, and I will wager it aint Lincoln City.

 

ReallyReal, you did not hear the man who invented the ranking system describing how it worked on TMS during lunchtime on the first day of The Oval Test. India were top because the system is scored when teams play and does not factor in home advantage or how often they play. Hence South Africa could go top of the rankings this winter if results go their way even though they have played eleven fewer Tests than England in the qualifying period. The South African's task could be made more difficult by England if they win at The Oval for a Series whitewash.


Tresco is a Legend, do you live on the Isles Of Scilly or are you a psychiatrist? The name is palpable nonsense otherwise outside Somerset.

If I thought you were a bigot, I would send Gordon Brown round to smile at you and then whisper it into a journalist's microphone when he thought no-one was listening. You appear to be a stuck record with your inference that I am an India fan. There is nothing I can do about your delusional state on the internet.

Why am I engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed man? Try looking in the English dictionary for the definitions of jingoism, bigot and legend.

There is little point me telling you that the word "soccer" is an English word that is widely used by the Americans to refer to what we English call "football" because that will doubtless lead to you accusing me of being an American (or an American Indian!). I will not take your wager because I have never supported the Imps or any other soccer/football team. I have been known to cheer for English teams in Europe and the woeful national side.

That could be true overseas; however, England fans were disrespectful to the umpires and the visitors after Ian Bell was (correctly) given out at Trent Bridge and then had to eat humble pie when Bell came down the steps to resume his innings because the sporting visitors had withdrawn their appeal and had him reinstated. Please feel free to reply and say that proves that I am not English because I do not go to sports events, consume copious quantities of alcohol and behave shamefully.

 

Where's Billystatue?

 

You get to look more stupid by the post. Get a life you sad "soccer" fan!
Does it hurt more, now that it looks like we will go four nil up in this test series?
Try easing the pain by removing those large chips you are carrying on your shoulders.

 

I think this is becoming somewhat pathetic! I understood that this was to be a forum to discuss sport not a slanging match. I didn't agree with Quartermoon II's original posting because of the way the Indians prepared for this series and the age of their squad. I believe my views have been borne out but I also think going by recent Indian cricket history there was at least some validity to what he originally contributed.

However, now some of you are no longer really interested in the sports aspect but just want to come on here and write utter filth. I'm sorry Tresco you're being just plain pathetic now.

To get back onto the theme what is going to be interesting from an Indian perspective is how much freedom Duncan Fletcher will have to change the Indian mindset! Most of the players view fielding as a chore and the vast majority of the side seem to prefer making a living from the IPL rather than represent their country at Test level. I'm all for players wanting to earn a living but if you become entrenched in playing the shortest version of the game you don't develop the skills to play the long version. If the Indian players react the same way that they did when Chappell was coach then Fletcher's tenure will become one of frustration.

Quarter Moon II I only hope what you've been subjected to on here doesn't put you off from contributing in the future.

 

GasheadinChelt, to answer your question directly, I think Duncan Fletcher is going to struggle to change things in the India set up. There does appear to be a consensus that the short forms of the game have become the problem as far as Test cricket is concerned in India. England have got a lot of ODIs coming up against India and it should prove very useful in looking at where our ODI side needs to go with a view to the next World Cup.

The inescapable fact of the matter is that many of the senior players in the India line-up are going to be hanging up their pads in the next couple of years and it is difficult to see how they are going to replace them. (Shame the Little Master did not get his hundredth century at The Oval)

The Australians have found that since Warne and McGrath retired, they suddenly do not have a dominant bowling attack. Slipping down the rankings has led them to have a long hard look at the situation and they are seeking to address the problem from the top down. It is very unlikely that anything will change markedly in the India hierarchy and their best bowler, Zaheer Khan, seems to spend most of the time out injured.

England have worked themselves into a good situation going forward because they have two or three top bowlers and at present have three or four batsmen in terrific form. Hopefully the ECB do not become complacent and keep working on our young players to generate competition for places. That worked for the Australians for thirty years so we should not be afraid to follow a winning strategy. Granted usurping Alastair Cook is going to take some doing on current form, but it will keep him concentrating!

 

Oh how right you are

 

So what you're saying you ****ing TIT is that the ranking system for cricket means ****-all unless they can prove to YOU that they are the best by beating teams in the tests that are coming up. They got to number one by being the most consistent over the past couple of years you supid twat. Thats how ranking work. You dont get to number one then have to prove to some prick that you are number one. They have already done that. FFS you cant please some people. If you dont like it go and support another sport like tiddlywinks you ****ing knobhead.

 

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Number ****ing one.

 

Well done, ReallyReal, you were spot on, we did actually humiliate India!

 

It seems we have some very sensitive little souls posting on here, do we not gashead? If your sensitive partner Quartermoon had not been so high minded and arrogant, with his statement of "England for No. 1, don't make me laugh!", then just maybe, he would not be subject to such ridicule.
What aspect of sport was he promoting with his belittlement of the English cricketers, before a ball had been bowled?
That was truly pathetic, as is your defence of his utterances. if you are referring to my posts as "utter filth", so be it, but I will have my say all the same.
The one point that I will agree on, is your hope that quartermoon continues to post contributions in future. It will give us all something to laugh at, his miserable negativity, renders him open to ridicule when it proved to be well wide of the mark. Humiliation is what he was asking for because of his unsporting comments, and he, along with the Indian cricket have been well and truly humiliated. How pathetic is that?
To people like you gashead, it seems that yours is the only opinion that counts, what arrogance!
If Indian cricket fans support their team in a fanatical manner that is brilliant, but woe betide any "pathetic"( little Englanders maybe), who want to support the English cricket team. People like you and moon
get a bit upset and label any celebrations jingoistic.
One or two other posters have been made to look stupid too, The Indian, and the old Billy Bremner lover, so it is not just quartermoon who should take all the flack, but he did initiate it all.

 

Here is another one who looks stupid now! "Schoolboy cricketers", "No chance", ooops!

 

How can anyone argue that we are number 1 right now, South Africa drew at home to India and then it was England 4 India 0. Pretty conclusive to me, if they don't do well against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa then they won't be number 1 for long.