WindieWeathers
International Regular
Just looking at the top sides these days they have quite a few players who are 30 and over,
India
Tendulkar= 36 years old
Sehwag= 31 years old
Laxman= 35 years old
Khan= 32 years old
Dravid= 37 years old
Australia
Ponting= 35 years old
Hussey= 34 years old
Lee= 33 years old
Katich= 34 years old
Haddin= 32 years old
Clark= 34 years old
South Africa
Kallis= 34 years old
Harris= 32 years old
Prince= 32 years old
Boucher= 33 years old
England
Strauss= 32 years old
Collingwood= 33 years old
Sidebottom= 32 years old
Swann= 30 years old
You look at some of the ages of the players and it's hard to imagine them still playing in 3 or 4 years, so my question is once most of these players are gone will the gap between the top sides and the lower tier suddenly be much smaller? i have to say it looks like Australia and India are gonna have some big shoes to fill once those lot are gone , though it would be a huge task to replace Kallis i think South Africa won't be in bad shape at all, England don't look like they'll have many problems either (especially if the South African link is still in play).
Of course it all depends on who comes through the ranks for Australia and India respectively, but if the quality isn't adequate then teams like Pakistan and WI who are bringing through talented young players just might smell blood while SA and England remain solid, the next few years should be very interesting in test cricket.
India
Tendulkar= 36 years old
Sehwag= 31 years old
Laxman= 35 years old
Khan= 32 years old
Dravid= 37 years old
Australia
Ponting= 35 years old
Hussey= 34 years old
Lee= 33 years old
Katich= 34 years old
Haddin= 32 years old
Clark= 34 years old
South Africa
Kallis= 34 years old
Harris= 32 years old
Prince= 32 years old
Boucher= 33 years old
England
Strauss= 32 years old
Collingwood= 33 years old
Sidebottom= 32 years old
Swann= 30 years old
You look at some of the ages of the players and it's hard to imagine them still playing in 3 or 4 years, so my question is once most of these players are gone will the gap between the top sides and the lower tier suddenly be much smaller? i have to say it looks like Australia and India are gonna have some big shoes to fill once those lot are gone , though it would be a huge task to replace Kallis i think South Africa won't be in bad shape at all, England don't look like they'll have many problems either (especially if the South African link is still in play).
Of course it all depends on who comes through the ranks for Australia and India respectively, but if the quality isn't adequate then teams like Pakistan and WI who are bringing through talented young players just might smell blood while SA and England remain solid, the next few years should be very interesting in test cricket.