1st Test: England v Australia

[Skater]

India v Pakistan is the second best series, but distinctly second best. The Ashes >> daylight >> daylight >> India v Pakistan.

Skater added 0 Minutes and 38 Seconds later...

Thank you.

It may be big for you, and it's big even for us, but I think I'd rather watch my own team play. The Ashes is the biggest thing for England and Australia. Fine. But it's not the biggest thing universally.

Biggest thing in cricket. Fact.

 

[shravi]

India v Pakistan is the second best series, but distinctly second best. The Ashes >> daylight >> daylight >> India v Pakistan.

Skater added 0 Minutes and 38 Seconds later...


Biggest thing in cricket. Fact.

No. Opinion.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The world doesn't revolve around England and Australia. The sooner you get off your high horse and realize it, the better.

 

[Skater]

No. Opinion.

There's no opinion in that statement - there is nothing bigger in the sport than the Ashes. If you introduce someone to cricket, the only thing they probably know about it is the Ashes.

 

[Will_NA]

By that logic, India-Pakistan clashes are better seeing as you are trying to convince us that The Ashes is the best thing since sliced bread.

Never mentioned that series. Didn't even know you lot still played eachother. I was busy being enthralled in this one-in-a-kind spectacle and all...

 

[shravi]

There's no opinion in that statement - there is nothing bigger in the sport than the Ashes. If you introduce someone to cricket, the only thing they probably know about it is the Ashes.

Once again, maybe in England and Australia. The first thing they'll know about it is the World Cup or the T20WC, or the Pakistan bombings (while SL was there), that it is hugely popular in India or that it is slightly similar (on some level) to baseball.

I've been to 5 International schools (having lived in 5 different countries) in my life and I can tell you with certainty that if someone only knows 1 thing about cricket, it is not The Ashes.

 

[pcfan123]

Even if all the other teams stop playing test matches, the Ashes will continue . I can see this being the case in about 50 years when the whole world only plays 2020 but Eng and Aus still contest the Ashes. One thing you cannot argue is that it is the most well supported test series. No other test series has such a massive following/buildup or sold out venues. That is a fact.

 

[Skater]

That's right, no Test series has as much fanfare or intense rivalry as the Ashes. People just wish they were a part of it.

 

[pcfan123]

That's right, no Test series has as much fanfare or intense rivalry as the Ashes. People just wish they were a part of it.

I think that is what it all boils down to

 

[King Pietersen]

Very rarely is an opinion wrong. In this case Shravi, you're so wrong.

 

[Will_NA]

I'll admit India vs Pakistan is a brilliant series. A fantastic spectacle. There was a point when it was far and away the best series around.






2004, when the Ashes wasn't on.

 

[SaiSrini]

That's right, no Test series has as much fanfare or intense rivalry as the Ashes. People just wish they were a part of it.

That sounds better than the 'Pinnacle of cricket', 'important than the world cup' stuff.

When you say 'people', who are you referring to? People from countries other than England and Australia? Then you are on shaky waters. People from India, Pakistan, South Africa most often wont feel the need to be part of the rivalry that England and Aussie fans have. Especially India and Pakistan because we have had our personal rivalries with many nations. And regarding the fanfare, these countries enjoy their own fanfare irrespective of the team that they are facing, and so even on that count, we are well placed. Maybe countries like West Indies, New Zealand who are low key teams might wish to be part of it, but I doubt it. I guess they are happy in their own worlds. They follow this series, but wishing to be part of it, I doubt so.

saisrini80 added 0 Minutes and 45 Seconds later...

Very rarely is an opinion wrong. In this case Shravi, you're so wrong.

Might be your opinion, KP (you'd be interested in bringing up that classic term coined by me). But you are wrong as well.

 

[shravi]

Besides, why are you talking like you've actually lived in India or Pakistan? You clearly haven't. I've lived in India for 3-4 years. I have a much better understanding of the importance of The Ashes there than you will ever have.

 

[Skater]

The Ashes is the pinnacle of cricket, and so much bigger than the World Cup. The World Cup has only been going since 1975 - 98 years less than the Ashes! The Ashes IS cricket!

 

[pcfan123]

BBC SPORT | Cricket | Ashes still the pinnacle - Ponting

Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that an England-Australia Test series is still 'the pinnacle' of any cricketer's career, and he is honoured to be playing in his fourth Ashes.

England's Andrew Flintoff regards the Ashes as the most important series in cricket and once again declared he will be fit for the first Test against Australia in Cardiff on July 8.

Sky Sports | Cricket | Internationals | News | Flintoff - Ashes the pinnacle

Game, set and match.

 

[shravi]

Not really. Find me an article where a non-English and non-Australian current player has said the same thing.