ENGLAND WERE NEVER A REAL NUMBER 1 TEAM IN THE WORLD

love the pundits who said england would go onto dominate test cricket for this decade with the bowling attack... and talent coming through

they didnt even dominate for one year

mugs

Who do you think were the number one team in this period ?

1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. India
4. Pakistan
5. Sri Lanka
6. England

Aussies will be back where they belong at the top after the next SA series though! And then we can start thinking about taking our ashes back from you overrated pommie *****.

Would you still be posting this rubbish if England had got the 340 odd yesterday?

Doesn't getting rolled over by new zealand or the fact you have no decent batsmen other thank clarke, or the fact your best bowler is peter ****ing siddle worry you?!

And by the way, assume they were still in transition a few weeks ago when the only freak thing about the result was the weather saving aus from a 5-0 bollocking?!

I thought that was 1 day cricket?

And that doesn't count? Youd rather talk about the last test series?

Well no it doesn't count when talking about test cricket.

yes this amazing saffer team was clearly the best team in the world despite no series win against a top3
opponent in nearly 4 years....

Do me a fkin favour...

Ok Joel have it your way, we'll use the last 2 test series as the yardstick!

SA might be better than England, but they're not that much better and aus are miles behind both.

Aus have improved since the last ashes series, particularly in bowling.  England may have declined. Aus obviously not as good yet but the gap is not as wide as it was after the Ashes...

South Africa deserve their promotion to top spot. All round the strongest test team in world cricket.

England are still a solid 2nd vying with India for this position.

All the others are still some way behind.

Australia very weak by their own high standards, especially bowling wise with Lee now retired. Very much in transition currently.
Pakistan not too bad but weak way from sub continent
Windies are in transition, although always a lot stronger with Gayle in the team
New Zealand - very weak sadly

Australia got a lot stronger in bowling when Lee retired and Mitchell Johnson was dropped.

Time will tell as regards Australia's bowling as their new crop are still very inexperienced. However they are completely lacking in anyone in the spin department so will have to rely on seam bowlers.

Nathan Lyon isn't too bad in the spin dept.

Aus's batting is also an issue

Clarke wont play forever
Hussey is nearly retired
Watson is always injured
Ponting - almost retired

in the next 2-3 years they will have to rely on a completely different batting lineup

Not sure Cowan and Warner will be the answer personally

Agree, batting is a real problem.

Yes you are most definitely correct on your future assessment there d13phe. I had left their batting out as currently they are ok but not for too long, so they will need new young batting blood to come to the fore over the next couple of years.

Warner is a flat track bully not exactly a test player IMO

Wurzel, Lyon is ok but nothing more than that

Agree with that nige, but he is better than beer or doherty.

I think Kawaja could be a star but needs a run in the team

its ridiculous that Ponting played in front of him for the West Indies series

Warner as a test batsman doesn't convince - I hope the Aussies stick with him for 2013 over here - his technique is going to be found out big time.

Yes Wurzel he is way above Beer and Doherty but no where near a quality test bowler currently.

Warner reminds me of Ally Brown - destroys bowling in the shorter format but no patience "and suspect technique" for test cricket.

Nige down south
22 Aug 12 11:11
Joined:
08 Mar 05
| Topic/replies: 814 | Blogger: Nige down south's blog
South Africa deserve their promotion to top spot. All round the strongest test team in world cricket.

England are still a solid 2nd vying with India for this position.

All the others are still some way behind.



Australia one point behind England in the rankings imo

I wasn't referring to the actual points Hans, i was just saying IMO they are a long way behind South Africa, England and India on current strength of squad. So i expect them to drop further.

england right to plummet down the rankings. Our form over the last year has been that of a 4th/5th ranked
team.

6 defeats in 11 games is utter garbage.

Exactly right Lix. Poms are going to end up right where I said they should have been already when they were officially ranked 1 by a broken system.

It's been a fun journey in fantasyland but in reality I think most people knew Eng were never the best team in the world. They have certainly never looked a great side. They've got nothing on the great Aussie teams. And nowhere near as good as the great West Indies teams either.

They just had some luck with how the fixtures panned out, that Australia was in a transitional period, and many of the teams they played not giving a toss about test cricket.

the aussie top 3 of warner, cowan and watson will be horribly exposed in english conditions

can't do any worse than engs top 3 who were horribly exposed in english conditions by south africa

England been smashing the aussies to bits in all three formats over the last few years - dont see any reason why that isn't going to continue. Hopefully we'll get to play your crew of cr@p in th 20/20 semis - be like having a bye to the final

i've seen the eng squad and there's no ******* way you're even getting to the semifinals

warney is right you poms have cut off your nose to spite your face by dropping your best player

Yeah the poker playing sex pest was bigging up your mob before the recent onedayers - look what happened there - he's sticking up for his mate doesn't mean sh1t.

okay

England fully deserved their number 1 ranking on results between 2009 and 2011.  As Lix said, their performances since the India series though have been really poor mainly, imo, because of two key factors.

Firstly, their top order batting hasn't consistently fired over the last 12 months.  Cook and/or Trott anchoring big scores was a huge feature of their success but their form has been patchy.  (both with just 1 ton in a year).

Secondly, Swann's form this summer hasn't been great (10 wickets in 5 tests).  Both his wicket tacking abilities and control are so vital to the balance of a four man attack and we've looked a bit toothless with the old ball without his potency (and a lack of reverse swing this summer).

I'd still have England number 2 at the moment, although it might not feel like that when India give us a tough time in a couple of months.  Australia have it all to prove.  If they beat SA and England in the next 12 months than fair enough, but I don't think they'll win either series.

Good reasoned points berto.

England not only deserved to become the no. 1 team, but in my opinion they ARE STILL by far the best team in the world. This SA series was far more closer than the scoreline suggests. Rain saved Saffers in the 2nd test, and England would've easily won the 3rd test but for some dropped catches and horrible runouts.

But more importantly ENGLAND ARE A BILLION TIMES BETTER THAN THE CONVICT BASTARDS. THE CONVICTC MOTHERF***** GOT PUMMELED BY THREE INNINGS DEFEATS AT HOME. HA HA HA... THE CONVICT BASTARDS WILL NOT WIN THE ASHES IN THE NEXT 50 YEARS.

By the way here's my test rankings at the moment:

1. England
2. South Africa
3. Pakistan
4. India
5. Sri Lanka
6. West Indies
7. New Zealand
8. CONVICT BASTARDS
9. Bangladesh
10. Zimbabwe

Good reasoned points Queen_Dulu.

Queen_Dulu

i miss that $3 to the £1 song you filthy poms used to sing at the MCG

now you unwashed pommie bastards cant afford a day in australia your pound is so weak

uk is a third world country
third world sporting nation
third world cricketing nation

and now saffers have cut off you stealing their players you ***** are ****** forever

Just have to say after England smashed India there were a LOT of fans on here going on about how good they were, and when anyone mentioned England's away record there was abuse flying.

Let's be honest, England rose to the top on home form and one decent away series against an Aussie side that was weak and in transition. Similarly India did the same, their series in South Africa was their highlight away from home, though they performed better away from home more consistently in their run towards the England series.

South Africa are the only side, IMO, who over the last few years have shown themselves to be consistent home and away and deserve their top spot.

Just look at Pakistan v England or Australia v India to show these two sides struggle without their home conditions big time.

3rd world sporting nation... you mean 3rd in the world right?


http://www.london2012.com/medals/

Tragic stuff Envy mate. Aussie sport going through a horrible low right now . no decent tennis players,
footie team just got hammered by Scotland

Oh yeah and we piss all over you at cricket too.

I agree with Berto on the whole.

India should be up there with SA in my opinion but have had too many problems with fitness of Sharma and Zaheer.  I expect them to recover with a solid batting line up and the return of Zaheer and Sharma,Yadav provides an added dimension.

England have flattered to deceive as far as I am concerned and have lost that bowling intensity with Broad well below par and Swann not at his best. Finn is dangerous.  Their batting without Pietersen has the look of flat track bullies.  They look great at times but vunerable against a good attack.  The SA attack is the best in the world and they just lack a spinner but have 4 great batsmen and 3 goodish ones.

Good to see some realistic englishers on here honest that their cricket team wasnt really worthy of the title number 1.

Shazza93    great post mate. Eng have been shown up badly in the past 12 months. They really havent improved much on the dismal teams that Aussie would smash by an innings every test match. Test cricket just got weaker when the aussie legends retired and england had some easy fixtures to benefit.

Whisperingdeath SA, India are both well ahead of english. The heralded eng bowling has amounted to nothing in the past 12 months it really proves the point some ex-aussie players were saying during the last ashes they would love to face that buffet bowling attack. And england batting is as weak as ever really just some freak results in australia made them look better than they were.

The next ashes series will herald the new dawn of another great era of aussie dominance

of course we were worthy no1s. we won 8 series and drew 1 when there was no other outstanding rival.

it's odd that south africa have largely outplayed england in most tests in the last 3 series between the sides but make an utter meal of beating modest opposition even at home whereas until this year england have generally annihilated the dross with a minimum of fuss

The aussies being ' in transition ' makes me laugh. They've been ' in transition 'for nearly 6 years ! Nearly as long as world war 2 It's just another way of saying they are sh1t

Ha ha ha CONVICT BASTARDS are a sporting nation? What a joke?

29 GOLD MEDALS for GREAT BRITAIN vs 7 GOLD MEDALS for the CONVICTS BASTARDS....
Got THRASHED by THREE INNINGS DEFEATS at HOME in the Ashes

England are the greatest cricket team of ALL TIME...

The CONVICTS BASTARDS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED FOREVER

THE CONVICTS BASTARDS WON'T WIN THE ASHES FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS

THE CONVICTS BASTARDS WILL ALWAYS BE OUR SLAVES, AND WE WILL ALWAYS BE THEIR MASTERS.... FOR ETERNITY... AND THERE'S NOTHING THE CONVICTS BASTARDS CAN DO TO CHANGE THAT... HA HA HA HA HA

Aug 23, 2012 -- 1:13AM, Lix wrote:

of course we were worthy no1s. we won 8 series and drew 1 when there was no other outstanding rival.

Can you go through each of those series? If I'm not mistaken, the away wins were in Bangladesh and Australia?

West Indies in England     2009         England
Australia in England     2009         England
England in South Africa 2009/10     drawn
England in Bangladesh     2009/10     England
Bangladesh in England     2010         England
Pakistan in England    2010         England
England in Australia    2010/11     England
Sri Lanka in England    2011         England
India in England    2011         England

Rose to the top on predominantly home series victories, the away series were against Bangladesh (come on!), Australia and South Africa.

Expand it a bit to show some more away series:

England in India         2008/09    India
England in West Indies   2008/09    West Indies
Pakistan v England      2011/12     Pakistan
England in Sri Lanka     2011/12     drawn

Doesn't look great. India pretty much did the same

So you're saying England didn't deserve to be number 1.  Who do you think did?

Aug 23, 2012 -- 5:10PM, berto77 wrote:

So you're saying England didn't deserve to be number 1.

^Well that was annoying, what I said (pretty much):

I didn't say England didn't deserver to be number 1, my point is that their rise was built on home wins. I thought the SA team over the past 2 years were better than this England side and they proved it over the past few weeks.

I don't think the rankings give a true picture sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, parts of this team are very good, I just don't think the team was that great.

I agree the rankings are imperfect - South Africa for example have played far fewer tests and only play 3 match series (which I believe is a bit of an advantage as it helps manage the workload of fast bowlers).

I think England's ranking was deserved after smashing India at home, beating Australia at home and thrashing them away, drawing away in South Africa and winning home series v Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies.  No team is, or at least has been, dominant since the demise of the great Aussie side so I think it's normal that quite a few countries would exchange top spot.

Let's see if South Africa can hold it for longer than England when they come up against the Aussies.

On the ranking system it was deserved, but again it was mostly based on home form. Look at their away series before and after the 8 wins/1 draw streak and I don't believe they were the 'number 1 side'.

Maybe the best side in England

it wasnt built on home wins. we won in aus and drew in safferland. these teams were 2nd and 3rd at the time.

Then we HAMMERED India 4-0 who were no1 at the time. saffers had the chance to hand out a beating to India
and could only manage 1-1. rankings are pretty fair. Eng unlikely to be No1 again for a while

Aug 23, 2012 -- 5:31PM, Lix wrote:

it wasnt built on home wins. we won in aus and drew in safferland. these teams were 2nd and 3rd at the time.Then we HAMMERED India 4-0 who were no1 at the time. saffers had the chance to hand out a beating to India and could only manage 1-1. rankings are pretty fair. Eng unlikely to be No1 again for a while

But it was, look at the away series against India, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The only away series win was in Australia, forget the Bangladesh one, most teams win there regardless.

teams win in aus like once every 10 yrs mate. its quite hard to do.

teams win in safferland about the same amount.

Those are very good results.

ok teams win in safferland more like every 4-5 yrs actually

Branching away from the rankings i want to touch on Whisperingdeath's comment about Broad being below par.

Correct me if i am wrong but didn't he consistently bowl at upwards of 85mph when he first came on the scene?

He seems to average no more than 80-81mph currently, whats happened?

Finn on the other hand has gone the other way and is now our fastest bowler averaging over 85mph.

Yeah broad has been down on pace all summer.

this thread stinks real bad. there's so much pro-englisher bullsh1t in here it disgusts me.

youve just been made to grovel by saffers on your home patch and you still have the temerity to spew garbage about aussies. fyi each and everytime in history when the poms win a couple of ashes series the aussies quickly go on to dominate for another couple decades without defeat.

aussies are strong favs to beat saffers in aus this summer. and the ashes will be reclaimed next year have no doubt about that. at least some of you begrudgingly admit when these achievements are recorded aussies will be worthy number 1s in the world again.

aussies are strong favs to beat saffers in aus this summer

Clueless. favs with you or the bookies?

Be amazed if Aus are favs let alone 'strong' favs this winter. SA team is miles better at the mo.

aussies strong favs on home turf against the saffers i am 100% sure. nobody will be paying much attention to them beating eng afterall anyone with half a brain knew they would win this series. and aussies are never odds against at home.

Will be a tight series. Saffers the same team that drew with Aussies at home albeit a 2 test series.

Just because they beat England doesnt suddenly make them a great team (Have been a very good team for 2-3 years )and while I do expect them to win it is not a sureshot as we saw in the brilliant 1-1 series draw.

well it could be a draw.... you'll defo get odds against on Aussie winning the series.

Aussies were strong favourites to beat NZ at home last year - look what happened there

i wish lix was my bookie

Will be an absolute wheelbarrow job on South Africa to win this series against Aussies.

I'll be your bookie Envy...

11/10 on Aussie winning the series sound good?  you can have as much as you like mate

ive just emailed betfair to setup the series markets

when they have the markets running put a 11/10 lay in there and ile back it

so erm.. saffers not lost an away series in like 4 years...

Eng were 11/10 to beat SA this summer..

Hardly think Aus will be shorter than eng. they couldnt even beat NZ

My my - envy does put some effort into her trolling on the cricket forum - she doesn't put nearly as much thought (or 'creativity') into her trolling threads on the football forum!

SA have only lost ONE Test Series since Aug 2006. In that period they've won series against Aus, Eng, Ind, Pak, SL, WI, NZ and Ban... in other words every Test playing nation. They beat Pak in Pak, Aus in Aus and Eng in Eng (twice). For 6 years they've only lost ONE series. In that same 6 year period England have lost 8 series, against: SA (twice), Pak, WI, Ind (twice), Aus and SL. Aus lost 5 series, against: SA, Ind (twice), Eng (twice). Ind lost 5 series as well, against: SA, Aus (twice), Eng and SL. It's not tight at the top, one team has clearly dominated Test Cricket for the past 6 years. Their record proves it. Yet still SA's dominance is undermined

lost one series in 6 years and Envy makes a 2nd rate Aus outfit odds on to beat em.. hilarious

only lost 1 series but drawn far too many they should have won especially at home. that's why they don't have a decisive lead in the rankings.