Does culture influence a test team's performance

[Red]

The individualistic aspects of cricket appeal less to indigenous Australian culture than the team aspects of footy. And the resources needed to progress beyond "having a hit" aren't (or haven't been) generally available in indigenous communities.

Considering Australia's history, it's fascinating that an aboriginal team was the first to tour England, and not an Anglo one.

 

[subshakerz]

When I first saw Pankaj Singh bowling last week it struck me how "English" he looked, and indeed all the other Indian players. Rahane has really impressed me but there's nothing distinctive about him. It's very different from my first memory of Indian cricket which dates back to 1971. Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Engineer, Abid Ali, Solkar, Bedi and Chandra played the game in a totally different way to the England players - Venkat and Wadekar were the only two who I recall having an "English" technique - Pakistan were over that summer too and I'd say exactly the same about Mushtaq, Asif, Zaheer, Sadiq, Majid and Intikhab, the quicker bowlers looked a bit more English, even if Asif Masood did have that rather odd action, but he could have been English - but that distinctive sub continental style seems to have gone now - that loss of "identity" started with Imran and Kapil - the sides are stronger now, but the game has lost something - is it cultural, or just a result of there being much more coaching and hence standardisation?

The subcontinent I feel still retains its own distinctiveness when it comes to style of play. In fact, I think its more obvious post Imran and Kapil.

Pakistan with their reverse swinging fast bowlers, India with the wristy batsmen, Sri Lanka with their freak bowlers, etc. Hashim Amla plays for SA but has a very subcontinent style of play. You would never see bowlers like Abdul Qadir, Saqlain, Harbajan, Mendis and Murali come out the Anglo system.

 

[silentstriker]

The subcontinent I feel still retains its own distinctiveness when it comes to style of play. In fact, I think its more obvious post Imran and Kapil.

Pakistan with their reverse swinging fast bowlers, India with the wristy batsmen, Sri Lanka with their freak bowlers, etc. Hashim Amla plays for SA but has a very subcontinent style of play. You would never see bowlers like Abdul Qadir, Saqlain, Harbajan, Mendis and Murali come out the Anglo system.

Mendis has a grip that's very similar to Jack Gleeson and Iverson. While it's true that India does produce 'wristy' players, I don't think that's cultural - it's a product of the pitches and what they grow up facing. Surely distinctiveness has to mean more than that?

 

[G.I.Joe]

Is it just me or does anyone else get the feeling that Australian players tend to play more "freely" than the South Africans?

 

[silentstriker]

Boxes are expensive.

 

[BoyBrumby]

They choke less...

But, nah, plenty of Saffer dashers: Gibbs, de Villiers, Klusener et al & a few Aussie blockers, Rogers the obvious current example.

Biggest difference is the Aussies produce spinners worthy of the name, which is odd as SA test success was initially based around leg spin, as one understands.

 

[simonlee48]

Yaah, Methodical teams are likely to do better in the longer formats. Team with flair tends to do well in the shorter formats.

Culture has a big influence in shaping teams. Sure, team matters but culture has some influence.