How good are the tests at the moment...?

[Blocky]

After months without test action, we've got ourselves two series that are hotly contested with each side able to bloody the nose of the other.... about time we started to see competitive test cricket again. I get the feeling that South Africa aside, the Top 8 are going to be a lot more competitive in this decade than they were for the last.

 

[hendrix]

Yeah, it's good. Everyone is competitive.

More importantly, young players are getting experience in foreign conditions.

 

[watson]

Haven't watched the ENG v SR Tests, but they seem like crackers on paper at least.

 

[Maximas]

Yeah it's really good right now, NZ and WI evenly matched in the conditions they are playing in, Sri Lanka proving quite competitive in England and some interesting series' to come, SA in Sri Lanka could be an excellent series, Pak vs Aus in the UAE as well, great stuff

 

[Zinzan]

Yep, aside from Aust & SA, who are threatening to pull away from the rest of the field, there's really not that much between teams ranked 3 through to 8.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Test cricket has been pretty great for several years now, since 2011 I'd say it's generally been great. While SA have been the best team, I can't see how people are saying they are even close to running away from the rest of the pack. Over the last 5 years they've mixed in their great accomplishments with some sporadic average performances... They've lost some home games inexplicably and in recent times have found it veryttough to beat even a very young Indian side which barely had anyone with meaningful overseas experience. They've also lost Kallis and Smith, and the replacements don't look great, especially with a lineup that already has Alviro and Duminy.

Australia are riding on MJ's hot streak, and with no one knowing if Harris will ever bowl in a test again, and Clarke pretty much set to retire inside a couple of years, even they can't be marked down for long term dominance. Pakistan and SL are damn good under Misbah - Mathews, NZ have excellent seamers, even WI look to have decent players coming through. England are pretty much the only team which is currently staring at a dark future.

 

[hendrix]

yeah I'm really not seeing SA and Aus that far away from the rest. India has the best batting lineup and will do for the foreseeable future, and there is (as ever, I suppose) potential amongst the young bowlers. The Windies and NZ are developing excellent bowling lineups and the batting is slowly settling. Sri Lanka appear to have instilled excellent coaches and a culture that will see them extract the most from their cricketers. Noone ever knows what Pakistan is up to but they're there and there abouts. England will eventually come out of this fiasco, they have enough good players.

To be honest Bangladesh is still a concern. They need to look at what Sri Lanka are doing. None of this home track tactics, it just won't work for them long term.

 

[Flem274*]

I think we'll see a lot of moving around in the rankings through the next few seasons. Kallis is gone. Sachin and Dravid are gone. Ponting is gone. Smith gone. Batsmen/keepers who are important to their sides like Clarke, Chanderpaul, Gayle, Sanga, Mahela, Younis, Misbah, McCullum, Haddin will be gone soon. While the newbies are establishing themselves there could be some hilarious scorecards if they run into world class quicks on a rampage.

 

[uvelocity]

sa have wasted their time to shine tbh.

 

[GotSpin]

I for one welcome our new bowling overlords

 

[Furball]

Shame there's so many **** 2 and 3 Test series.

 

[LegionOfBrad]

Haven't watched the ENG v SR Tests, but they seem like crackers on paper at least.

The Lords test was played on a terrible slow featherbed and only got interesting in the last session because of the collapse.

It was 4.5 days of absolute rubbish before that.

 

[Debris]

I think we'll see a lot of moving around in the rankings through the next few seasons. Kallis is gone. Sachin and Dravid are gone. Ponting is gone. Smith gone. Batsmen/keepers who are important to their sides like Clarke, Chanderpaul, Gayle, Sanga, Mahela, Younis, Misbah, McCullum, Haddin will be gone soon. While the newbies are establishing themselves there could be some hilarious scorecards if they run into world class quicks on a rampage.

Steyn and Johnson are really the only two around at the moment and they are both aging too.

 

[GIMH]

There have been no good tests since last August