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International Cricketer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2011
I've been inactive on this forum for far too long due to university and life getting in the way but with the excess of cricket I've witnessed over the last couple months, with South Africa in the UAE and then at home against Pakistan, then straight onto India, not to mention back to back Ashes and the West Indies, I thought it was about time I posted some of my thoughts on what I've seen. These may be totally irrelevant and you may disagree completely on what I have to say but I just had to write it down.
First of all, let's start with the once kings of test cricket, England, the golden generation, a team with exquisite swing bowlers and go getting batsmen...or so we thought. There were signs of their, dare I say it...weak nature as long ago as 2011, when they were befuddled by the brilliance of Ajmal and co in the UAE. This was an inferior Pakistan team, one of the worst in the last 15 years, lacking any of the sheering pace of Akram, Younis, Akhtar or either the lesser Sami, their best young player, a certain Muhammad AMir no longer played the game. Yet England looked lost at sea in almost every session in the 3 match series. They were out bowled, out batted at times and utterly humiliated.
What does that prove? That England can't play superior spin? "Hey, we all knew that anyway!" I hear you shout and you would be right. We all knew of the national teams inability to play masterful spinners, evidenced by decades of terror from Warne, Murali and Mushtaq (both of them) but that wasn't the biggest issue. It was the fact that the entire team looked like they had already conceded the series after the first test. Yes there were moments of resilience, Broad cropped up with some important spells, as he often does, and the ever reliable (then) Trott and Cook set about trying to rebuild during recurrent collapses but it was never enough. It wasn't just a lack of ability, i twas a lack of balls, cahoonas, grapefruits or whatever you would like to call it.
We are now seeing the exact same problem in the Ashes down under, by way of an embarrassing home defeat to South Africa. Once again, as was the case then, it is now, England have shown the inability to fight their way out of a hole, to rip themselves free of the chains of defeat. It's what great teams do, it's what the Windies had to do on several occasions at their peak, it's what Australia had to do on numerous occasions and most recently it's what the Saffers did in response to a strong start by Pakistan in the UAE. Great teams are forged in fire lit by lesser outfits. England may just be that lesser outfit.
Now don't get me wrong, England managed to beat Australia home AND away in the not to distant past but that was against a team still trying to find their footing, with players, batsmen and bowlers, out of form, a team dragged kicking and screaming by a resourceful captain who was also a great batsman. Clarke can now rely on an inform Johnson and a batting line up which seems to know it's role. This may all be temporary, what happens when Johnson is out of form and Australia's batsmen look lost at sea again? Time will tell but till then all we have to go on is the frigidity of England's batsmen and the verbal virginity of their bowlers. Have they ever heard of, "Give as good as you get"?
Now to transition smoothly onto South Africa and Pakistan. In test cricket, in the UAE anyway, they have looked like equals on 2 separate occasions. South Africa's batsmen have looked a class above and Pakistan's bowlers have, at times, looked truly special. Heck, they have unearthed yet another, 90mph quick with good control and some decent swing. Is there a Chinese factory somewhere that makes these people? The ODI series' however were more one sided, with South Africa handling Pakistan well in the UAE and with Pakistan returning the favour 2-1 in South Africa.
There were moments when both teams showed their old, ugly faces. The inadequate batting of Pakistan reared up again, time after time. Yet in the hostile conditions of Africa, they managed to string together some decent performances...before slumping back to basics yet again. South Africa's problem isn't batting or bowling but rather the dreaded choke. It's something they don't experience in test cricket but in the ODI game, tight match after tight match, they seem to lose their heads, as they showed against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI. When it looks like the Proteas will win, they find a way to lose.
And finally, to India we go...or they come to us. You see, India has a problem as old as the conundrum of how to answer, "does my bum look big in this?". India are a force to be reckoned with at home, barely losing, their batting a behemoth or 300+ scores and double centurions on a regular basis. All that changes when they leave the confines of the Indian subcontinent and travel to far, exotic lands such as England, Australia and South Africa. Here, their batsmen play like Pakistanis and looks like rabbits caught in the headlights. The swagger, the brilliance, the arrogance and the stroke play eludes them, it's a problem for which they have no solution. These are some of the best batsmen on the planet, how can they be replaced? Answer: they can't.
The bigger or possibly biggest issue is the impotence of their bowlers, India has never had a true pace bowler, not one who can be consistent for a long period of time anyway. Some many have come and gone and for some reason the BCCI persists with the long haired nuisance of Sharma, a clear indication of a bowling drought. Without a decent bowling attack, one to rival at the very least the lesser test nations of West Indies and Bangladesh, India can not and will not consistently win away from home, especially against the top opposition. How many times can their batsmen put on scores of 300+? Outside of the flat tracks of Asia, not many.
So cricket has changed a lot since I first started watching it, Australia are no longer the dominant force, India is now a major stake holder in the games finances, South Africa dominate the test arena and Pakistan have started to win more consistently. But the old problems persist, the Saffers still stutter when it matters, Pakistan still bat as effectively as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition, Australia can still be mean, India is still terrible away from home and England are still too easily cowed.
Ahh well, at least it's still cricket.
First of all, let's start with the once kings of test cricket, England, the golden generation, a team with exquisite swing bowlers and go getting batsmen...or so we thought. There were signs of their, dare I say it...weak nature as long ago as 2011, when they were befuddled by the brilliance of Ajmal and co in the UAE. This was an inferior Pakistan team, one of the worst in the last 15 years, lacking any of the sheering pace of Akram, Younis, Akhtar or either the lesser Sami, their best young player, a certain Muhammad AMir no longer played the game. Yet England looked lost at sea in almost every session in the 3 match series. They were out bowled, out batted at times and utterly humiliated.
What does that prove? That England can't play superior spin? "Hey, we all knew that anyway!" I hear you shout and you would be right. We all knew of the national teams inability to play masterful spinners, evidenced by decades of terror from Warne, Murali and Mushtaq (both of them) but that wasn't the biggest issue. It was the fact that the entire team looked like they had already conceded the series after the first test. Yes there were moments of resilience, Broad cropped up with some important spells, as he often does, and the ever reliable (then) Trott and Cook set about trying to rebuild during recurrent collapses but it was never enough. It wasn't just a lack of ability, i twas a lack of balls, cahoonas, grapefruits or whatever you would like to call it.
We are now seeing the exact same problem in the Ashes down under, by way of an embarrassing home defeat to South Africa. Once again, as was the case then, it is now, England have shown the inability to fight their way out of a hole, to rip themselves free of the chains of defeat. It's what great teams do, it's what the Windies had to do on several occasions at their peak, it's what Australia had to do on numerous occasions and most recently it's what the Saffers did in response to a strong start by Pakistan in the UAE. Great teams are forged in fire lit by lesser outfits. England may just be that lesser outfit.
Now don't get me wrong, England managed to beat Australia home AND away in the not to distant past but that was against a team still trying to find their footing, with players, batsmen and bowlers, out of form, a team dragged kicking and screaming by a resourceful captain who was also a great batsman. Clarke can now rely on an inform Johnson and a batting line up which seems to know it's role. This may all be temporary, what happens when Johnson is out of form and Australia's batsmen look lost at sea again? Time will tell but till then all we have to go on is the frigidity of England's batsmen and the verbal virginity of their bowlers. Have they ever heard of, "Give as good as you get"?
Now to transition smoothly onto South Africa and Pakistan. In test cricket, in the UAE anyway, they have looked like equals on 2 separate occasions. South Africa's batsmen have looked a class above and Pakistan's bowlers have, at times, looked truly special. Heck, they have unearthed yet another, 90mph quick with good control and some decent swing. Is there a Chinese factory somewhere that makes these people? The ODI series' however were more one sided, with South Africa handling Pakistan well in the UAE and with Pakistan returning the favour 2-1 in South Africa.
There were moments when both teams showed their old, ugly faces. The inadequate batting of Pakistan reared up again, time after time. Yet in the hostile conditions of Africa, they managed to string together some decent performances...before slumping back to basics yet again. South Africa's problem isn't batting or bowling but rather the dreaded choke. It's something they don't experience in test cricket but in the ODI game, tight match after tight match, they seem to lose their heads, as they showed against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI. When it looks like the Proteas will win, they find a way to lose.
And finally, to India we go...or they come to us. You see, India has a problem as old as the conundrum of how to answer, "does my bum look big in this?". India are a force to be reckoned with at home, barely losing, their batting a behemoth or 300+ scores and double centurions on a regular basis. All that changes when they leave the confines of the Indian subcontinent and travel to far, exotic lands such as England, Australia and South Africa. Here, their batsmen play like Pakistanis and looks like rabbits caught in the headlights. The swagger, the brilliance, the arrogance and the stroke play eludes them, it's a problem for which they have no solution. These are some of the best batsmen on the planet, how can they be replaced? Answer: they can't.
The bigger or possibly biggest issue is the impotence of their bowlers, India has never had a true pace bowler, not one who can be consistent for a long period of time anyway. Some many have come and gone and for some reason the BCCI persists with the long haired nuisance of Sharma, a clear indication of a bowling drought. Without a decent bowling attack, one to rival at the very least the lesser test nations of West Indies and Bangladesh, India can not and will not consistently win away from home, especially against the top opposition. How many times can their batsmen put on scores of 300+? Outside of the flat tracks of Asia, not many.
So cricket has changed a lot since I first started watching it, Australia are no longer the dominant force, India is now a major stake holder in the games finances, South Africa dominate the test arena and Pakistan have started to win more consistently. But the old problems persist, the Saffers still stutter when it matters, Pakistan still bat as effectively as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition, Australia can still be mean, India is still terrible away from home and England are still too easily cowed.
Ahh well, at least it's still cricket.
