***Official*** England in India

[Your mama]

Cook has some obvious weakness. He's primarily a back foot player and the south africans and pakistanis exploited that. Unfortunately india has bowlers of circus clown calibre and they are unable to exploit it.

 

[grecian]

Well yes, but there's looking weak and then there's looking plain bad. Great batsman can potentially ride out consistent line and length bowling with a bit of nip, Cook really can't.

He scored a ton against South Africa didn't he?

 

[silentstriker]

Not to forget tests played as well.

Agree with all that you say, though as good as Cook is he isn't in the same league as SRT to be honest.

Didn't say he is as good but I think he has a solid chance to get the Test records (England play a lot more Tests, especially compared to what SRT played in his heyday). Especially if the proposed bilateral four/five test series every other year vs. India comes through .

But IMO he's still very very very good. I'd take him as an opener above almost anyone else in cricket atm.

 

[smash84]

But IMO he's still very very very good. I'd take him as an opener above almost anyone else in cricket atm.

Smith or Cook?

 

[Daemon]

Both?

 

[cnerd123]

Both?

Oh God, that'll make for awful viewing.

 

[smash84]

both are top notch for sure.....

Smith very very under rated......most of the SA players get very under rated.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Oh God, that'll make for awful viewing.

So who else would you have instead?

They are clearly the top two on the last couple of years evidence. Sehwag was once there but he doesn't appear to be the player he was.

 

[Prince EWS]

So who else would you have instead?

They are clearly the top two on the last couple of years evidence. Sehwag was once there but he doesn't appear to be the player he was.

They are definitely far and away the best two openers around at the moment. If I was picking a World XI I'd seriously considering making Amla open so I could still fit him in without disturbing the Sanga/Kallis/Clarke/Chanderpaul middle order thing I've got going on, but that "cheaty" option aside you'd be mad to pick a different opener.

 

[smash84]

So who else would you have instead?

They are clearly the top two on the last couple of years evidence. Sehwag was once there but he doesn't appear to be the player he was.

btw Sehwag looks to be awfully unfit. Seems to be on the heavier side.

Zaheer Khan also seems to be carrying a bit of excess weight.

Now that I think about the Indian team probably doesn't look like a very physically fit unit.

 

[Daemon]

Well no ****

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well no ****

If they had a few they might not be so fat.

 

[Stapel]

So who else would you have instead?

They are clearly the top two on the last couple of years evidence. Sehwag was once there but he doesn't appear to be the player he was.

Sehwag's ton in the first test was his first in 2 years, iirc. I haven't really checked the facts, but I've always had the idea that Sehwag is the type of player that makes a really big innings every once in a while, to make up for a few failures and half decent performances. Consistency, though not as important as averages, does matter a bit for an opener.

 

[cnerd123]

The Indian team has always been very unfit barring a few exceptions - Kapil, Sachin, Dravid, Dhoni, Raina, Kohli, Srinath come to mind. Guys like Robin Singh, Uthappa, Kaif, Jadeja (both of them) and Y.Pathan too I suppose. Azhar was a pretty good fielder but I'm not sure if he was very fit?

Ashwin is completely useless in the field. Guys like Panesar and Tahir were really bad fielders, but atleast they put the effort in to improve...don't see Ashwin doing that.

 

[cnerd123]

Sehwag's ton in the first test was his first in 2 years, iirc. I haven't really checked the facts, but I've always had the idea that Sehwag is the type of player that makes a really big innings every once in a while, to make up for a few failures and half decent performances. Consistency, though not as important as averages, does matter a bit for an opener.

I dug up some stats on this on PlanetCricket before the England series:

From 31st August 2010 to 31st August 2012, Sehwag has played 19 Test matches (Aus in Aus, Eng in Eng, RSA in RSA, and WI/NZ at home), and has averaged 37.26 with once century and 10 fifties.
His one century was a mammoth 173, which accounted for 13.65% of the 1267 runs he has scored in that time.

Not too shabby in itself. In India, however, he has averaged 55.25 and has scored his 1 century and 7 of his fifties.

This suggests that while he has be wayyyy below average in playing outside of India in the last 2 years (383 runs in 18 innings @ 21.27 with 3 fifties), selecting him for a series in India is completely justified.

He's doing quite well for an opener on tracks that suit him. I would consider picking him in a current World squad just to have him open in Asia, maybe replace Smith with him.

 

[Xuhaib]

They are definitely far and away the best two openers around at the moment. If I was picking a World XI I'd seriously considering making Amla open so I could still fit him in without disturbing the Sanga/Kallis/Clarke/Chanderpaul middle order thing I've got going on, but that "cheaty" option aside you'd be mad to pick a different opener.

there is no way Sanga or Chanders get ahead of Amla these days.

 

[SS1]

Hi chaps...

First post so go easy.....

I just wanted to put this idea to bed that Cook has been found wanting against certain sides.

Against SA, he averages 40.55 and has 2 centuries and a HS of 118.

Pakistan overall he averages 36.45 and has 3 centuries. His HS is 127.

NZ are his nemesis with no Test hundreds and an average of 30.8. He has only faced them in two series though back in 2007/8 and you would expect this to change somewhat when they face them next year.

 

[centurymaker]

welcome.

i really do hope now that england go on to score 620+ and bat india out of the game.

 

[SS1]

welcome.

i really do hope now that england go on to score 620+ and bat india out of the game.

Thank you.

I would expect England to go and make 450+ here. They'll be confident after Mumbai and are clearly batting well. It wouldn't surprise me to see them go really big and bat once. Cook overnight on 136 is a scary prospect as he could go massive, absolutely massive. His wicket will be the prize one. If England are level(ish) with KP in and Bell, Prior to come then India could be staring down the barrel of a massive defeat.

I expect England to win here pretty comfortably. It appears that they've realised spin is not too tough to master if you apply yourselves properly.

If they go 2-1 up with one to play and Dhoni not having the first clue how to attack England, then a MASSIVE series win in India looks on the cards. I would never have predicted that. It is a huge statement from Eng. After losing to SA, many thought they'd been put in their place but to respond with a series win in India would be absurd. Full of quality cricketers, Anderson I expect to become Englands leading wicket taker, Cook leading run scorer, KP and Cook to set benchmarks in Test hundreds, Prior best ever keeper/batsman, Swann as main spinner, Monty backing up. They are a seriously quality side.

Ashes coming up soon as well, in England. I expect Aus to get hammered off this England side in England, absolutely hammered.

 

[silentstriker]

Can't determine anything from how they play this Indian side. Dare I say it but these guys are giving the 90s a run for their money. Just as bad abroad but now ****ty at home too.