Maybe one Ashes series has tainted your memory, but England competing at all with Australia, home or away, is a pretty immense achievement.
Fair call.
I'd say Edwards is a very talented bowler and would cite his recent record. Yet besides that I'd say it because of how he has actually played the game. He's always looking for a wicket, and he knows where he is putting the ball. He doesn't just seem to be throwing it in as hard as he can anymore.Regarding the controversy, I don't expect it to make them much worse. They lost a coach with a rotten record, and Strauss is a miles better captain than KP. Absolutely miles better. If the controversy is a distraction, it'll be more than cancelled out by having the, err, best captain in their team as captain.
What is it that makes you think Chris Gayle is more talented than Alastair Cook, or Fidel Edwards more talented than Jimmy Anderson? There's nothing in their respective records to suggest that's the case. Actually, I can barely imagine how much excitement there would be if Cook was West Indian.
West Indies to win the ODIs though.
Also- just to add something- so what if Flintoff gets injured? He'll be replaced by Owais Shah, a top-order batsman who would walk into the West Indian side. What if Sidebottom gets injured? Jimmy Anderson comes in, a superior bowler to everyone the Windies have to choose from bar Taylor. Remember what he did to New Zealand?Having their star players available will be a massive plus, but if they get injured, England should still have more than enough firepower to win this series.
I must have missed what Sidebottom has done to be called 'great'. His test bowling average is over 40 when you only count performances against good test outfits (countdown until someone mentions Sri Lankan tour and catches dropped...).
Edwards has been a good player recently though. I'd agree with you about how well he's played lately- I've been much impressed over the past year- he just isn't as good as Jimmy Andeson. I've never seen Edwards rip a team apart for absolutely nothing the way Anderson does, and his FC record is miles better too. Which comes back to the point about double standards- an encouraging Caribbean bowler is a frustrating English one.
For the purposes of this tour, his record against "good test outfits" is irrelevant
Ah okay cheers for clearing that up.
I said great player hardly implying he is an all time great.
His hamy usually gives way before he has any chance. It will be some effort if Fidel makes it through the test series.
I think Anderson is a hit and miss player. He has brilliant days and sometimes he plays a pretty good impersonation of Powell.
Yeah, absolutely. Edwards is too though. They're quite similar, but Anderson's definitely better for mine.
I'd day Edwards has been a bit more consistent as of late. Though he certainly has his off days. The guy has been excellent in recent times and I'm hoping for a big series against England.
Both don't make the batsman consistently take enough risks to score against them.
Anderson's really improved his consistency as far as Tests go, lately. Edwards has a bit as well but not to the extent of Jimmy, IMO.
It's not a double standard really. It's a realization of two distinct standards. In the English game, Anderson is a frustrating bowler. In the significantly less staffed West Indian game, Edwards is quite encouraging.
I could, he's good at best. But a handy asset for england non the less, there are never too many left armers knocking around. West Indies looked to have a decent one in Pedro Collins, not entirely sure were he went though.
I think Uppercut's point is that the different ways of looking of similar players depending on the context of the team they are playing for gives people a tainted perspective on the actual quality of said team.
Na I think of him in Tests, where he bowls pies and looks nonthreatening for 4 days and has 1 absolutely fantastic spell...
He hasn't really done that lately though, barring the one game in New Zealand which followed exactly that storeline.Na I think of him in Tests, where he bowls pies and looks nonthreatening for 4 days and has 1 absolutely fantastic spell...
Exactly!He hasn't really done that lately though, barring the one game in New Zealand which followed exactly that storeline.