Best current test batting lineup

[stephen]

India in the subcontinent/WI.

South Africa in Aus/SA/NZ conditions.

England in England.

Would have said Australia were the bet tourists if Smith/Warner hadn't gotten themselves banned and only because Smith is a genuine great batsman in all conditions.

 

[Starfighter]

I think we should continue to dedicate this thread to mocking every top 7.

Eh, it's hard even to mock. The home/away dichotomy and all teams lack the spine the instant there's any swing or seam is, I think, symptomatic of a big problem.

 

[garylyon]

I guess the only positive side to having ****e batting lineups everywhere is, at least in theory, the roads might actually make for interesting contests between bat and ball.

 

[Bolo]

I think pitches are fine in general, and got over a lot of that 2010s nonsense by about 2012, with continued progress thereafter. Almost every country offers a pretty decent balance on the whole, although it varies from match to match- a series will often see a road and a bowlers pitch.

I far prefer bowlers pitches in general, but looking at the filth we have passing for batting lineups, I don't think I want more sporty pitches, for the first time ever

 

[SeamUp]

Eh, it's hard even to mock. The home/away dichotomy and all teams lack the spine the instant there's any swing or seam is, I think, symptomatic of a big problem.

Was trying to make a sarcastic joke but yes it is a real.issue.

Swing, seam and spin are the challenges batsmen face. The concern is, is there enough time to try get better at your weakest points and do players have the patience anymore ?

Can we honestly see an improvement any time soon ?

 

[Flem274*]

We're going to look back on this decade and say it was really interesting and competitive tbh. I can definitely see the difficulty of away wins getting pumped up by future 'back in my day' types as well.

 

[Mike5181]

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo

Since last year's English season. Should remember Aus have lost Smith and Warner, and SA de Villiers.

4 test matches in over 13 months. They're doing a good job of killing off any interest in the sport over here.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

None of the sides travel well and some are crap at home anyway. Such a poor bunch at present worldwide.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Big tour for NZ to the UAE. Last time (2014) there were 5 100s in 5 innings (Latham 2, BMac, KDub and Taylor 1 each) but there were no centuries in India in 2016 (although Latham got 3 50s). If NZ consistently gets 350+ vs Pakistan they'd probably be no 1, although I would have previously had India and South Africa ahead of them

 

[andruid]

NZ are so ****ed no one bothers playing with them.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks they're forgettable.

At this point in time that's actually better than being memorably awful.

 

[jimmy101]

I think what we're mostly seeing here is the effect of T20 cricket on Test match batting. Batsmen who can't play swing, or are out clean bowled trying to glide a ball through the slips. Also the inability to recover from a collapse.

 

[Maximas]

Conditions are regularly doctored for home teams to bowl out visiting batsmen as quickly and easily as possible

 

[Bolo]

Is Kohli currently the best top seven batting order in the world away from home?

 

[morgieb]

Is Kohli currently the best top seven batting order in the world away from home?

Only because of the ball-tampering scandal

 

[TheJediBrah]

Conditions are regularly doctored for home teams to bowl out visiting batsmen as quickly and easily as possible

*some home teams

 

[Starfighter]

Conditions are regularly doctored for home teams to bowl out visiting batsmen as quickly and easily as possible

Perhaps this effect wouldn't be so pronounced if each team's home conditions weren't so homogeneous. and it's not like these English wickets have been exceptional. I can only think of one team that scalps their pitches to get maximum advantage.

 

[Jack1]

India possibly. Not that easy to call across all conditions. India probably shade it considering they have the best batsman.

 

[Daemon]

Toss up between Australia and India wrt batting at home. Everyone's ****e away though.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Perhaps this effect wouldn't be so pronounced if each team's home conditions weren't so homogeneous. and it's not like these English wickets have been exceptional. I can only think of one team that scalps their pitches to get maximum advantage.

Yeah nothing about this series is related to doctored pitches, they're just normal English pitches. The main offenders in this regard recently have been Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India historically have dabbled but the last time they tried it (Pune) it backfired massively.

 

[Migara]

Yeah nothing about this series is related to doctored pitches, they're just normal English pitches. The main offenders in this regard recently have been Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India historically have dabbled but the last time they tried it (Pune) it backfired massively.

We have always produced dust bowls at Galle (except that Indian match), flat track at SSC, sporty track at PSS, and seaming track at Pallekale. When non SC teams tour, possibly the pitches get little less watered. But the real change used to happen when India toured in the past, with lot of grass to neutralize Indian spin attack. Kumble's and Harbhajan's stats in SL, gives a good idea about the pitch quality.

Having said that, I haven's seen Australia giving us a pitch with spin during Murali's reign, at least a SCG test. Warne never produced balls that he used to produce against non-SC teams against us or India, because the piches were clearly doctored to neutralize touring spinners. Despite amidst the demolition by fast bowlers, Warne averages 34 against SL and 100+ against India in Australia, giving an idea about the pitches that Australia prepared.

Every home team doctors their pitches, Eng and NZ may be the least to do it. SC teams (except PAK), Aus and SAF are notorious for it.