***Official*** England in India

[Salamuddin]

I feel England will need luck with the tosses (ie win the toss and bat first) if they wish to win the series in India.

I think Australia were very fortunate to have won 3 tossess in a row in India in 2004 and they capitalised fully.
It is very, very hard chasing runs against the formidable spin pairing that is Kumble and Harbhajan.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I feel England will need luck with the tosses (ie win the toss and bat first) if they wish to win the series in India.

I think Australia were very fortunate to have won 3 tossess in a row in India in 2004 and they capitalised fully.
It is very, very hard chasing runs against the formidable spin pairing that is Kumble and Harbhajan.

Good call. Tosses are crucial, especially seeing as we're terrible at chasing runs no matter what the situation. Multan and Trent Bridge both spring to mind, even though we won the latter.

 

[luckyeddie]

I feel England will need luck with the tosses (ie win the toss and bat first) if they wish to win the series in India.

I think Australia were very fortunate to have won 3 tossess in a row in India in 2004 and they capitalised fully.
It is very, very hard chasing runs against the formidable spin pairing that is Kumble and Harbhajan.

There's no doubt that it's a huge ask for England to go to India with confidence that isn't going to look misplaced following the 2-0 reverse in Pakistan.

Like Marc implied earlier though, without Shoaib I doubt that Pakistan would have won the series, so I suppose that's one thing to cling to.

/ratify Kyoto, you git
//I kid - welcome to Cricket Web

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I don't like Hoggard, the guy pretty much only swings the newish ball and I think he will struggle in India. I'd like to see Anderson get another crack at Test cricket, or even Plunkett, who impressed me in Pakistan, before Hoggard, but it's unlikely to happen, so here's my squad.

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan*
Bell
Pietersen
Flintoff
G Jones+
Giles
Hoggard
S Jones
Harmison
**Anderson
**Plunkett
**Prior
**Blackwell
**Collingwood

I predict and India 2 - 0 or a 1 - 1 if the English can handle Kumble and Harby well enough.

 

[Scaly piscine]

especially seeing as we're terrible at chasing runs no matter what the situation. Multan and Trent Bridge both spring to mind, even though we won the latter.

Not true, England have a near flawless record of chasing (realistic) totals over the last couple of years in Tests. England batsmen are good under pressure, but unfortunately they're also a bit stupid and it still doesn't alter the fact that they're not that brilliant a batting line-up to start with.

 

[Dasa]

Not true, England have a near flawless record of chasing (realistic) totals over the last couple of years in Tests. England batsmen are good under pressure, but unfortunately they're also a bit stupid and it still doesn't alter the fact that they're not that brilliant a batting line-up to start with.

A lot of those batting chases were anchored by Thorpe though...

 

[PY]

I would say absent members rather than Thorpe.

Nass had a hand in one of the best efforts against NZ at Lord's last summer but I do agree with you.

If England were set 250-300 to win in most circumstances (against real opposition) then I would fear the worse to be honest.

 

[Dasa]

I would say absent members rather than Thorpe.

Yeah, that's more accurate. Looking at fairly recent matches where England have won chasing more than 150, there was the NZ match anchored by Nasser (and Thorpe finishing things off with him), another in that series where Thorpe made an unbeaten 104, and the last against the Windies where Thorpe got them somewhere near first innings parity but Key did most of the work chasing....there don't seem to be any batsmen around now who would tough it out in a fairly difficult chase, perhaps apart from Bell.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

This may seem like a weird comment, but I think Pieterson's personality as a cricketer will prove him to be a very good batsman in a tough chase. He is fiercely competitive, and if presented with a difficult anchor-type role I think he could surely be the man.

Although, he'd probably just try to hit them out of the park...

 

[luckyeddie]

A lot of those batting chases were anchored by Thorpe though...

Given another year, I'm sure he will be (largely) forgotten.

(yes, I really rate Bell)

 

[Jono]

I agree Eddie. I think Bell will be able to play a similar role for England in the future. Big shoes to fill, but I liked what I saw of him in England and especially Pakistan.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I agree Eddie. I think Bell will be able to play a similar role for England in the future. Big shoes to fill, but I liked what I saw of him in England.

I agree too, he's a top talent and I've been saying this ever since he made his debut against the Windies.

 

[aussie]

My Starting line-up:

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell
KP
Collingwood
Freddie
G.Jones
Gilo
Hamry
Jones

the bowling is weak, but i worry that Hoggard is going to get nil assistance in India. Also i reckon England's bowlers would have learnt from pakistan that they have to pitch it up more once they do IMO i think Harmy/Fred/Jones will be enough to combat the India batsmen along with Gilo who we all know once he has assistance which he will have in India is a treat.

So again once the quicks adopt the right line in India & Gilo bowls well England have a chance...

 

[Autobahn]

My Starting line-up:

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell
KP
Collingwood
Freddie
G.Jones
Gilo
Hamry
Jones

the bowling is weak, but i worry that Hoggard is going to get nil assistance in India. Also i reckon England's bowlers would have learnt from pakistan that they have to pitch it up more once they do IMO i think Harmy/Fred/Jones will be enough to combat the India batsmen along with Gilo who we all know once he has assistance which he will have in India is a treat.

So again once the quicks adopt the right line in India & Gilo bowls well England have a chance...

That line-up is gonna place a big load on flintoff, harmy and jones.

Hopefully vaughan will bowl himself and collingwood more to try and ease the pressure on the main bowlers.

And what's KP offspin like? I hear he used to bowl them quite a bit early in his career.

 

[irfan]

That line-up is gonna place a big load on flintoff, harmy and jones.

Hopefully vaughan will bowl himself and collingwood more to try and ease the pressure on the main bowlers.

And what's KP offspin like? I hear he used to bowl them quite a bit early in his career.

Apparently he started off his career bowling off-spin and then realised his batting talents. I have never seen him bowl so am ill-advised to pass judgement

 

[greg]

My Starting line-up:

Trescothick
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell
KP
Collingwood
Freddie
G.Jones
Gilo
Hamry
Jones

the bowling is weak, but i worry that Hoggard is going to get nil assistance in India.

Well he did alright last time, and he's a better bowler now. Also people are overlooking the extent to which all the England bowlers' figures were "skewed" in Pakistan by the last test. How can people get worried about Flintoff (and Harmison) being overbowled and then start suggesting we should pick (completely unnecessarily) a four man attack? Crazy IMO.

 

[greg]

I would say absent members rather than Thorpe.

Nass had a hand in one of the best efforts against NZ at Lord's last summer but I do agree with you.

If England were set 250-300 to win in most circumstances (against real opposition) then I would fear the worse to be honest.

In some respects I'm more comfortable with England chasing 250-300 than smaller totals (on OK pitches, obviously). Part of the problem they've got into trouble chasing low scores is because they have completely abandoned the approach of just batting properly, in preference for a "hit their way to victory" approach. It's something probably not helped by having Pietersen at 5. When England get off to a dodgy start their middle order are not exactly temperamentally suited to getting their heads down. I would like to see

3. Bell
4. Pietersen
5. Vaughan (especially considering Vaughan remains an EXCELLENT player of spin bowling), but unfortunately it doesn't seem like it's going to happen.

 

[Salamuddin]

Well he did alright last time, and he's a better bowler now. Also people are overlooking the extent to which all the England bowlers' figures were "skewed" in Pakistan by the last test. How can people get worried about Flintoff (and Harmison) being overbowled and then start suggesting we should pick (completely unnecessarily) a four man attack? Crazy IMO.

Hoggard got very atypical Indian conditions last time In Bangalore. That's why he did well.
If he's confronted with a flat trrack, he will be ineffective - just as he has always been whenever there is no swing.

 

[aussie]

That line-up is gonna place a big load on flintoff, harmy and jones.

it wont if England go with the idea of bowling the 3 quicks in short burst of 5 to 6 overs with Gilo bowling away at the other end.

 

[godofcricket]

I think it would be a far more interesting series than the Pak one:

1: England will be more prepared having seen their recent performance against Pak and will be more fimiliar with the pitches in the sub-continent and would know what to expect.

2: They wont have security fears to that extent.

3: They will probably have their full strength, with captain Vaughan, simon jones and kevin pietersen most likely to be fit.

4: They can definetly take out the positives from the Pak tour e.g. they dont need to play an extra spinner like shaun udal as he doesnt seem any useful in those pitches. They should play the normal bowling line-up which would include the 4 fast bowlers, Hoggard, jones, Flintoff and Harmison, that would be much better than experimenting with having a spinner.

The above reasons make me believe that it will be a really interesting series. On the other hand it can largely depend on the Pak-Ind series aswell, if India win the tests/ODI's, they will be high on confidence and will be favourites, and if pakistan beats them convincingly then i should think England would edge it.

My predictions: (For tests) 2-1 to England (For ODI's) 4-3 to India.