Rank the test playing teams by current bowling attacks and current batting lineups

[mr_mister]

So basically, who are the best batting and bowling squads going around today?

 

[hendrix]

1. Steyn-Philander-Morkel-Peterson/Abbott...

Philander hasn't backed up his early stats and there's a distinct absence of spin but Steyn is still gun, Morkel is the most consistent 3rd seamer in the world and they can often fit Duminy in.

2. Southee-Boult-Henry/Bracewell -Craig-Anderson/Neesham.

Just better than England base on away performances.

3. Anderson-Broad-Finn-Moeen-Stokes.

The re-emergence of Finn is a massive, unexpected boon. Big questions about away performances.

4. Starc-Hazelwood-Johnson-Lyon-Marsh.

Not a particularly settled lineup but a very consistent spinner and Johnson remains the spearhead. Starc and Haze have a tendency to be hittable.

5. Rahat-Imran-Yasir-Zulfiqur.

Hugely weakened by the absence of Hafeez. As much as I rate Zulfiqur I think they'd be better balanced to play someone like Malik so they can fit in another pace bowler and have the part time spin.

6. Ishant-Umesh-Binny/Bhuvi/whathisface-Ashwin-Mishra.

Haven't played as a unit much but signs are promising.

7. Windies

 

[mr_mister]

thanks for the added writeups, i enjoyed them

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Hard to rate Australia when half their team just retired and we don't really know who their long-term replacements are going to be.

SA no. 1 in both categories, I don't doubt that. I reckon the BCs are No. 2 in both bowling and batting at the moment, or close to it at least. We certainly are more settled than most of the non-SA sides going around. India probably 3rd in batting, England 4, Aussie 5. England probably 3rd at bowling, Aussie 4, maybe Pakistan 5.

England wouldn't be far behind us on bowling, but I reckon NZ just has it.

I expect Aussie to match us on bowling soon though as guys like Starc and Hazlewood improve. Not sure about batting - only Smith and Warner seem top class in their top 7 at the moment and we have Latham, Williamson, Taylor, McCullum and Watling.

 

[Athlai]

Not sure if I would rate NZ's batting line up anywhere near 2, sure it's a fairly solid top 7 but the depth is wafer thin. NZ would be 2nd-3rd bowling on recent form and 4th-5th batting.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Gotta say I love the delusional NZ support, confidence goes a long way and if the players can be 1/10th as confident as the fans we might actually get a close Test or two this summer

 

[hendrix]

India's batting the clear number 2.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Black Caps batting vs. England:

Cook better than Latham by a moderate margin, Guptill and England's other opener about the same, Root probably better than every Kiwi batsman but Williamon, Taylor and McCullum not far behind him and well ahead of Bell on current form and whoever's batting 5. Watling better than either Buttler or Bairstow.

vs. Australia.

Warner ahead of Latham by a fair bit, their other opener a total mystery (let's say he's as good as Guptill). Smith arguably ahead of Williamson by a small margin, but Taylor and McCullum are much better than Voges and probably much better than whoever the new top order batsman will be. Watling considerably better than Nevill. Anderson/Neesham considerably better than Mitchell Marsh at 6.

On balance it seems the BCs are ahead of both England and Australia to me. Someone else can do India. Don't think Pakistan, SL, West Indies or Bangladesh are in the running, SA clearly better than the BCs so 2nd seems about right I reckon.

 

[Athlai]

Gotta say I love the delusional NZ support, confidence goes a long way and if the players can be 1/10th as confident as the fans we might actually get a close Test or two this summer

Team records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Including India, Sri Lanka home, England, West Indies, Pakistan away.

NZ haven't lost a Test series since May 2013.

In terms of length of time, thats since before Holder, Hazlewood, Stokes or Rohit Sharma had debuted in Test cricket.

 

[TheJediBrah]

lol I'm not debating or interested in recent records, just want to see some good matches. I don't completely disregard the value or meaning of said statistics but it's hardly going to be the be all and end all.

I would be very surprised if NZ can win a Test this summer but would hope they at least put up a contest.

(I had the same thought about the Ashes too though and look how that turned out, but I can't imagine the Australian ground staff to prepare green, seaming pitches on purpose)

 

[Athlai]

lol I'm not debating or interested in recent records, just want to see some good matches. I don't completely disregard the value or meaning of said statistics but it's hardly going to be the be all and end all.

I would be very surprised if NZ can win a Test this summer but would hope they at least put up a contest.

(I had the same thought about the Ashes too though and look how that turned out, but I can't imagine the Australian ground staff to prepare green, seaming pitches on purpose)

I would be definitely backing us to win at least a match at home if not take the series. Australia is a quality team so we could easily go without a win.

 

[Bahnz]

Gotta say I love the delusional NZ support, confidence goes a long way and if the players can be 1/10th as confident as the fans we might actually get a close Test or two this summer

Well, a lot of that confidence does stem from Australia's hilarious capitulations against the same England side that NZ drew with 1-1 a couple months back. Tah for that.

Anyway:

Bowling: SAF, ENG, AUS, NZL, PAK, IND, SRL, WID

Batting: SAF, IND, NZL, ENG, PAK, AUS, SRL, WID

 

[Athlai]

BAN > WID with the bat.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Pakistan's batting is tough to evaluate. Most of their batsmen have been in outstanding form and have piled up the runs, but they've played virtually the entirety of the last 2 years in the SC. I think Azhar and Shafiq have the technique to replicate that overseas, but Hafeez and Shehzad don't imo. They've been very good though, and reckon they're better than England for sure (who've been ridiculously reliant on Root and have several passengers in the lineup) and maybe Australia.

 

[OverratedSanity]

1. Steyn-Philander-Morkel-Peterson/Abbott...

Philander hasn't backed up his early stats and there's a distinct absence of spin but Steyn is still gun, Morkel is the most consistent 3rd seamer in the world and they can often fit Duminy in.

2. Southee-Boult-Henry/Bracewell -Craig-Anderson/Neesham.

Just better than England base on away performances.

3. Anderson-Broad-Finn-Moeen-Stokes.

The re-emergence of Finn is a massive, unexpected boon. Big questions about away performances.

4. Starc-Hazelwood-Johnson-Lyon-Marsh.

Not a particularly settled lineup but a very consistent spinner and Johnson remains the spearhead. Starc and Haze have a tendency to be hittable.

5. Rahat-Imran-Yasir-Zulfiqur.

Hugely weakened by the absence of Hafeez. As much as I rate Zulfiqur I think they'd be better balanced to play someone like Malik so they can fit in another pace bowler and have the part time spin.

6. Ishant-Umesh-Binny/Bhuvi/whathisface-Ashwin-Mishra.

Haven't played as a unit much but signs are promising.

7. Windies

Looks about right. You missed Wahab for Pakistan though

 

[FBU]

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Gotta say I love the delusional NZ support, confidence goes a long way and if the players can be 1/10th as confident as the fans we might actually get a close Test or two this summer

Just hoping australia can take a couple of games to the third day tbh.

 

[hendrix]

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

Yeah, quite substantially misleading.