Predictions for England winter tours in IND & PAK

[Anil]

when i said he was a proven performer in those conditions i wasn't refering basically to India i was talking about the entire sub-continent in general where Gilo has done very well on those pitches which have assisted him.

Yeah i remember that he bowled negatively AT TIMES in India the last time but he did well, if the pitches are turning i think he would be effective in India for sure, he had shown that in the past so why cant he do it again???.....

Looking at the way the Australians bowled to India last year McGrath & Kasper were getting a lot of reverse swing in Bangalore, Chennai & Nagpur (to an extent) while hardly any in Mumbai & they really troubled the Indian batsmen, also the fact that they bowled at lot straighter. So with the extra pace of Harmy, Freddie & Jones added with the fact that both Jones & Freddie are experts at reverse swing they could really trouble the Indian batsmen.

india is definitely different from the rest of the sub-continent as far as spin is concerned specifically because of the quality of its batsmen against spin...giles has 6 wickets in 2 tests in india at 33.00 and that included a 5 wicket haul...he hasn't shamed himself but that hardly makes him a proven performer....

mcgrath is one of the greatest bowlers ever and has shown time and again that he can adapt to any condition and bowl superbly, just because mcgrath could do it doesn't prove anything with respect to jones, flintoff and harmison being able to do it....they neither have his metronomical accuracy nor his consistent brilliance....extra pace without control in india can backfire big time....

 

[Anil]

What you dont think Freddie is a quality batsman?????

flintoff struggles big time against spin....that's why...

 

[Shane Warne]

flintoff struggles big time against spin....that's why...

Yeah, he's Kumble's bunny.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Flintoff does struggle against spin, but he's done okay against Warne this series.

Anyway, I think England will win in Pakistan, with a drawn series in India. Flintoff and Jones will be a menace on those dry pitches with reverse, while Hamison and Hoggard (if he plays) will struggle massively. The keys to the series will be Giles against the Indian batsmen, and the application of England's batsmen who can play spin reasonably well (Trecothick, Vaughan, Pietersen) against Kumble and Harbhajan.

Very much looking forward to them, and praying that we get shown the matches on TV here.

 

[cricket player]

No England will not win a game in sub-continent

They will lose in odis and as well as in test matches

Remember me when they lose all the matches and say cricket player was right

They will struggle big time.

 

[honestbharani]

Flintoff does struggle against spin, but he's done okay against Warne this series.

Anyway, I think England will win in Pakistan, with a drawn series in India. Flintoff and Jones will be a menace on those dry pitches with reverse, while Hamison and Hoggard (if he plays) will struggle massively. The keys to the series will be Giles against the Indian batsmen, and the application of England's batsmen who can play spin reasonably well (Trecothick, Vaughan, Pietersen) against Kumble and Harbhajan.

Very much looking forward to them, and praying that we get shown the matches on TV here.

One thing the English batsmen will find tough is the fact that the Indian bowlers themselves will get good reverse swing. Even Zaheer and Pathan posed quite a few problems for the Aussies and the Proteas during last year. I just get this funny feeling that England will end up preparing so meticulously for the spinners that they will get beaten by India's left arm swing bowlers... Don't ask me why, just a gut feeling. I mean, I wonder how many times Zaheer went past the edge or even took the edge (only to see Parthiv drop them) last year against Australia.


I think England will win against Pakistan 1-0. I think they will struggle in India though. They are coming at March April as well, and even Australia (I don't mind sticking my neck out here) would find it difficult at that time. The heat is at its peak, the pitches (after God knows how many domestic games) will all be tuned well to suit the Indian spinners, the batsmen will be battle hardened after tough series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan... Sorry, I don't fancy England to even draw more than one test... But if they prove me wrong and win the series, I think they can call themselves the best side in the world. (assuming they beat Australia and Pakistan before that)

 

[Jamee999]

England 2-1 in Tests
Pakistan 3-2 in ODI's.

2-2 vs India in Tests
India 3-2 in ODI's.

 

[C_C]

What you dont think Freddie is a quality batsman????? , yea i agree that Bell may struggle with the spin. England dont have great players of spin but on past sub-continent tours they battled well & weren't annihilated at all except for only two occassion ie the 1st Test againts India in 2001 & the 3rd test vs SRI 2003 so i would my resurgent Englishmen to make a good account of themselves in India this winter....

No, i dont think Freddie is a quality batsman.
I define quality batsmen as the likes of Thorpe or Saurav Ganguly at worst and Freddie is nowhere close to that.
I dont think England will be annihilated but there is quiete a gap between 'getting annihilated' and 'winning the series'.

I do expect England to paste India in the ODI series though.

 

[godofcricket]

In Pakistan:
England can secure a win in the test matches, it will be quite tough but looking at the current form i can say they can manage it.....specially when pakistan only managed to draw a series in the west Indies, they cant even find suitable openers ATM.....but it will be interesting.........In ODI's i can say Pakistan will win it 3-2 becuase they are a very strong unit in that part of the game!!!

In India:
Looking at the current form then india cant win either tests or ODI's....unless tendulkar can get back his form and Dravid scores big runs (most likely).

 

[aussie]

Yeah, he's Kumble's bunny.

thats a proven fact isn't it....

 

[aussie]

flintoff struggles big time against spin....that's why...

well he has played the greatest spinner of alltime pretty well in this series plus his last test in the sub-continent vs SRI he made a good 70 so may be he is improving....

 

[aussie]

Very much looking forward to them, and praying that we get shown the matches on TV here.

how come you dont get to see non-australia matches???

 

[simmy]

England should win in theory due to the obvious skills they have with reverse swing. One dayers though may have a different outcome as the sub-continent teams play so many these days.

England to win... especially in Pak where I think they should get the better of their seamers in particular.

Massively looking forward to these series and the rest of the Ashes. Cricket is the winner!

 

[tooextracool]

i cant see england losing to pakistan, but as far as india is concerned its very difficult to predict which indian team will show up, the team thats been rubbish in the last year or the team that was considerably better before that. i expect our bowlers much like in the recent series to be capable of taking 20 wickets(assuming fully fit), but im worried about our batting. tresco, vaughan, pietersen and possibly geraint jones all can play spin. but flintoff(struggles against spin at both ends), strauss and bell are all worrying. it will be a very tight series though.

 

[Anil]

well he has played the greatest spinner of alltime pretty well in this series plus his last test in the sub-continent vs SRI he made a good 70 so may be he is improving....

remains to be seen how much damage he can do with the bat on spin-friendly indian wickets....

 

[simmy]

i cant see england losing to pakistan, but as far as india is concerned its very difficult to predict which indian team will show up, the team thats been rubbish in the last year or the team that was considerably better before that. i expect our bowlers much like in the recent series to be capable of taking 20 wickets(assuming fully fit), but im worried about our batting. tresco, vaughan, pietersen and possibly geraint jones all can play spin. but flintoff(struggles against spin at both ends), strauss and bell are all worrying. it will be a very tight series though.

Tresco for one is a fantastic player of spin. If they can counter Shane Warne they can deal with any Asian spinner.

Strauss certainly is a worry but even he played Warne very well in his 106 the other day. I'm sure they will all practice against the "Merlin" machine and be fine. The real problem is our lack of spin department. Giles needs to be replaced or added to. Keedy in for Hoggy perhaps.

 

[aussie]

Tresco for one is a fantastic player of spin. If they can counter Shane Warne they can deal with any Asian spinner.

Strauss certainly is a worry but even he played Warne very well in his 106 the other day. I'm sure they will all practice against the "Merlin" machine and be fine. The real problem is our lack of spin department. Giles needs to be replaced or added to. Keedy in for Hoggy perhaps.

1. I think that first statement will backfire in your face mate, Tres is by no means a fantastic player of spin. Brain Lara is.....

2. Dont think the Merlin machine will be that helpful when he faces the likes of Kaneria, Kumble & Harbhajan this winter & i dont think Giles needs another spinner in India at least, Pakistan England could work with:

Tres
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell/Butcher - it depends if Butch comes good this summer
Pietersen
Flintoff
Jones
Giles
Swann/Keedy
Harmison
Jones

While in India stengthening the batting with either (Butcher/Collingwood)& depending of Harmison, Flintoff, Jones & Giles to do the bowling will be good enough:

Tres
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell/Butcher
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Jones
Giles
Harmison
Jones

 

[Swervy]

No, i dont think Freddie is a quality batsman.
I define quality batsmen as the likes of Thorpe or Saurav Ganguly at worst and Freddie is nowhere close to that.
I dont think England will be annihilated but there is quiete a gap between 'getting annihilated' and 'winning the series'.

I do expect England to paste India in the ODI series though.

dont make me laugh...I would pick Flintoff over Ganguly any day of the week these days.

 

[simmy]

Hmmm... well he played Murali well in Sri Lanka.

 

[C_C]

well he has played the greatest spinner of alltime pretty well in this series plus his last test in the sub-continent vs SRI he made a good 70 so may be he is improving....

Flintoff averages somethign like 10 or 12 in India and less than 40 in the subcontinent. For a top six batsman, its rather poor.
And Flintoff has looked mostly clueless agianst Warney so far this series.... ofcourse, Warney doesnt bowl from both ends and Flintoff's managed to get off a the strike a few times....but in India, you can pretty much garantee that it will be Kumble-Harbhajan tandem from both ends for session after session.