Realism - How Good Are England

[dangermows]

In every sport, there are people who claim that whoever is the best in the world only does so well because they play in such a poor era.

They overlook the fact that the reason the others don't look so good is because the best keep beating them.

People tend to look back at their own favourite era and imagine there were scores of all time great teams or individuals playing in that era - there weren't.

Who were the great teams the great Australians were always beating? Or the great West Indies? Who were the dozens of greats Borg beat every year to win Wimbmedon, or Bristow at darts, Benn & Eubank in boxing, etc, etc.

There are no eras in any sport where all the competitors were greats, it's just nostalgia. The nature of greatness is you can only have one or two at a time.

That's basically a long winded way of saying you can only judge people or teams in the context of how they do in their own time, and Anderson and the England team are doing pretty well thank you very much.

great post.

 

[mikemanc]

Does anyone else think Boycott looks like a cross between Nasser and Sean Ryder in the photo in that article?

 

[eddyfinn]

England are a very decent team they might not have individuals that would get into the best ever test team but they all can come up trumps when its needed. The bowling attack is a great example as someone will always step up even when the others are struggeling.

 

[mikemanc]

England are a very decent team they might not have individuals that would get into the best ever test team but they all can come up trumps when its needed. The bowling attack is a great example as someone will always step up even when the others are struggeling.

Aye, definitely better than the sum of the parts.

 

[pkhap]

They are the best around at the minute which is all you can compare them to. Only SA come close at the minute so next summer should be good. Englands only really place up for grab is the No.6. Ideally they would like to find a batter who bowls well enough to be a genuine 4th seamer. Prehaps Stokes is the man but I havn't seen enough of his bowling to comment.

 

[eddyfinn]

They are the best around at the minute which is all you can compare them to. Only SA come close at the minute so next summer should be good. Englands only really place up for grab is the No.6. Ideally they would like to find a batter who bowls well enough to be a genuine 4th seamer. Prehaps Stokes is the man but I havn't seen enough of his bowling to comment.

his bowling isn't upto it yet imo but he's still young and as long as his batting holds up its not bad to learn on the test stage

 

[essex boy]

They are the best around at the minute which is all you can compare them to. Only SA come close at the minute so next summer should be good. Englands only really place up for grab is the No.6. Ideally they would like to find a batter who bowls well enough to be a genuine 4th seamer. Prehaps Stokes is the man but I havn't seen enough of his bowling to comment.

South Africa are a better side than us as they have a better bowling attack. We have 4 bowlers, they have fives and their firth bowler has 250 plus test wickets.

The only reason why we are ranked higher is because we play on average 4 tests more per calender year which enables us to pick up cheap ranking points against test minnows which boosts our average.

 

[dangermows]

South Africa are a better side than us as they have a better bowling attack. We have 4 bowlers, they have fives and their firth bowler has 250 plus test wickets.

The only reason why we are ranked higher is because we play on average 4 tests more per calender year which enables us to pick up cheap ranking points against test minnows which boosts our average.

SA dont have a spinner (well they do, Harris, but he is a joke)

 

[pkhap]

South Africa are a better side than us as they have a better bowling attack. We have 4 bowlers, they have fives and their firth bowler has 250 plus test wickets.

The only reason why we are ranked higher is because we play on average 4 tests more per calender year which enables us to pick up cheap ranking points against test minnows which boosts our average.

We will see next year won't we. They have a better 1st bowler in Steyn but IMO our 2nd and 3rd Seamers are better than theirs. Swan is also shit loads better than Harris. Tahir will close the gap in the spin dept. But i doubt he will be as good as Swann. We have a better Keeper and the Batters are about the same.

 

[essex boy]

We will see next year won't we. They have a better 1st bowler in Steyn but IMO our 2nd and 3rd Seamers are better than theirs. Swan is also shit loads better than Harris. Tahir will close the gap in the spin dept. But i doubt he will be as good as Swann. We have a better Keeper and the Batters are about the same.

Chris Tremlett has played 10 test matches. Tim Bresnan about 4. Broad was lucky to get a game in the first test here by all accounts.

Morkel and Kallis have been proven test match performers for a considerable amount of time

 

[pkhap]

Chris Tremlett has played 10 test matches. Tim Bresnan about 4. Broad was lucky to get a game in the first test here by all accounts.

Morkel and Kallis have been proven test match performers for a considerable amount of time

As you well know what you have done in the past doesn't matter. It what your doing now. Kallis is a great player and reluctant bowler who isn't getting any younger. Broad according to you is the best thing ever. Morkel is a good bowler as are Tremlett, Finn Bresnan, Onions.

I don't know who the SA current 3rd seamer is? Is it now Parnell?

I don't know who will win but these two teams are clearly the best at the minute. Its a pitty they couldn't play back to back 5 test series home and away.

I said England are the best as right now they are playing and wiping the floor with India who are ranked 1st. Going to be a good year seeing how England get on it Sri Lanka and Dubai against Pakistan then playing SA at Home.

 

[essex boy]

As you well know what you have done in the past doesn't matter. It what your doing now. Kallis is a great player and reluctant bowler who isn't getting any younger. Broad according to you is the best thing ever. Morkel is a good bowler as are Tremlett, Finn Bresnan, Onions.

I don't know who the SA current 3rd seamer is? Is it now Parnell?

I don't know who will win but these two teams are clearly the best at the minute. Its a pitty they couldn't play back to back 5 test series home and away.

I said England are the best as right now they are playing and wiping the floor with India who are ranked 1st. Going to be a good year seeing how England get on it Sri Lanka and Dubai against Pakistan then playing SA at Home.

In effect, South Africa have a left armer, leggie, offie, tall hit the deck bowler and someone who swings it two yards quicker than any of our lot

Our attack although they have done well have nowhere near the variation to call upon that South Africa do IMO

 

[rentaghost]

Chris Tremlett has played 10 test matches. Tim Bresnan about 4. Broad was lucky to get a game in the first test here by all accounts.

Morkel and Kallis have been proven test match performers for a considerable amount of time

But thats not your opinion is it? He is according to you the best cricketer England have had since Botham and then you are adding bowlers ranked numbers 2 and 3? into the mix.

Steyn is of course a class apart. Anderson is the next best ranked 2 in the world and averaging around 28 in the last 2 calendar years with Morkel and Broad being on a par. Kallis was a very good bowler in the past and his statistics are great but now more of a reluctant stock bowler and as far as SA are concerned they arent even sure themselves over the 3rd seamer with Parnell being pushed out by Tsotsobe and neither really looking up to it. The 3rd seamer and spin is a massive weakness for SA.

Swann is a class act - harris isnt and the other lad has never played a game.

In effect, South Africa have a left armer, leggie, offie, tall hit the deck bowler and someone who swings it two yards quicker than any of our lot

Our attack although they have done well have nowhere near the variation to call upon that South Africa do IMO

Variation is only a moot point if they are all quality. The offie offers no more variation to the mix than Pietersen. The left armer cant get a game and the leggie hasnt even bowled a ball in test cricket.

 

[Dexter]

In effect, South Africa have a left armer, leggie, offie, tall hit the deck bowler and someone who swings it two yards quicker than any of our lot

Our attack although they have done well have nowhere near the variation to call upon that South Africa do IMO

They have the variation but are there enough quality bowlers within in that. Morkel and Steyn are without doubt proven on the big stage but there's still question marks about their third seamer (all of Tsotsobe, Parnell etc are worse than anything we can put out) and they have a complete lack of spin bowlers.

Harris is nothing more than a containing bowler who averages in the high 30's, Botha is used very sparingly in test matches and Tahir still hasn't bowled a ball in a test match at the ripe old age of 32. Swann and even Panesar would walk into their team