Dick Rockett
International Vice-Captain
Remember when rugby was a winter sport? *sighs wistfully*
Pehaps?Hard Harry said:Perhaps that has contributed to the drop in quality of English cricket over the last decade-and-a-bit?
yep- on that, i would agree. its been a while since england has produced a quality cricketer who would put fear in the opposition. the recent 'greats' of eng cricket include alec stewart and nasser hussein, both of whom average less than 40 in test cricket. and there doesnt seem to be anyone in the horizon, other than flintoff and maybe, vaughan to an extent, who can lift eng out of this mess.Richard said:Pehaps?
IMO it's beyond a question that it has.
Well England and SA had a drawn series last summer, we drew with India the year before and in between gave a reasonable effort in the Ashes (all things considered)prithvi said:i think its going to take atleast 6-7 years for eng to be competitive in test cricket again - and im talking abt being competitive with the best - aus, SA and india. england can forget the ashes for a long long time !!
Yeah, Australia have alright pitches though.Richard said:So the rest (bar Basin Reserve) have still got squares that are trampled on by rugby players for 6 or 7 months?
I am right that McLean Park, Carisbrook, WP Trust Park, WP Trust Stadium and the two aforementioned are all primarily rugby stadiums?
By and large the experiments worked - the pitches had much more pace and bounce than is usual in this country. The problem was excessive sideways movement, which combined with the pace and bounce, made life extremely difficult for the batsmen.prithvi said:hey - what kind of excuse was that?? these are international pitches and professional groundsmen - did they have to 'experiment' in a test series? and what does the weather have to do with the amount of grass thats left on the pitch? dont grass cutters/mowers work in NZ summers?
prithvi said:yep- on that, i would agree. its been a while since england has produced a quality cricketer who would put fear in the opposition. the recent 'greats' of eng cricket include alec stewart and nasser hussein, both of whom average less than 40 in test cricket. and there doesnt seem to be anyone in the horizon, other than flintoff and maybe, vaughan to an extent, who can lift eng out of this mess.
i think its going to take atleast 6-7 years for eng to be competitive in test cricket again - and im talking abt being competitive with the best - aus, SA and india. england can forget the ashes for a long long time !!
And the fact India's selectors werent using their brains and left Srinath back in India.Tim said:Im also tired of hearing constant whining about the pitches during the NZ/India series...sure they were poor, but NZ weren't exactly doing much better than India.
If you look at the scorecards, NZ was even bowled out for less than India in their 1st innings at Wellington I think.
If India had stopped worrying about the pitches, it could have easily have been 2-0 to India in that series.
Im absolutely certain a more professional side like Australia or South Africa would have won 2-0 but NZ were in no great shakes during that series.
I think you mean 5 out of 7 ODI's. Out of the 7 ODIs the team, which lost the toss and had to bat first,lost the match in 6 of the matches. The only match in which this didnt happen was the 2'nd ODI played on a decent pitch on which the score crossed 200.I think that says something abt. the quality of the pitches.Hard Harry said:I think it's about time that Indian fans stop blaming the pitches and admit they were bested. After all, in seven of the nine internationals, NZ scored more runs than the Indians did - simple as that.
They obviously didnt want to overwork him before the WC. He did play in the ODIs. If they had dropped him thinking he wouldnt perform,then that would be not using their brains.Craig said:And the fact India's selectors werent using their brains and left Srinath back in India.
well - u're in for a long wait - for u to be proved wrong, ie.Langeveldt said:Yeah id agree to an extent... England is full of test standard cricketers, but it seems there is something entrenched in the cricketing culture which stops a world beater emerging.. I just cant see where the next Botham/Gooch/Laker/Boycott/Hobbs is going to come from... Id like to be proved very wrong though...
What makes you so sure?prithvi said:well - u're in for a long wait - for u to be proved wrong, ie.