Best Test Team In The World?

[DingDong]

The best sides can get away with that, i'm not deluded enough to think we are one of the best sides at this moment in time, when we have to play Dowlin, Richards, Rampaul etc like we have lately then beating the top guns is almost impossible.

yeah ur not that deluded. only a little bit.

 

[Sir Alex]

"Shut up"? yeah like your gonna make me!! , i've told you many times if you have a problem with my posts IGNORE THEM!!, i simply asked a question about why Pak was on this poll ahead of WI and SL, it's a debate many people have taken part in!!, furthermore i didn't see you "moaning" when you were agreeing with Zinzin either!!, but don't let that spoil your argument!! .

Dude I agree that Pakistan does not deserve to be there at the moment. You've made your point too. No point in stating the same thing again and again. You just disagree with them and move on.

 

[Pratters]

Gah @ thread direction.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Gah @ thread direction.

DingDong was right. This is all Flem274's fault.

 

[Flem274*]

u pull ur head in joe ok?

 

[Athlai]

Give Phlegm 7

 

[Flem274*]

leave him alone athlai flems trying his best ok.

 

[Jono]

Pakistan and West Indies are light years away Wtf have they even been mentioned for.

 

[social]

Sri Lanka v India: Kumar Sangakkara questions ICC Test rankings | Cricket News | Sri Lanka v India | Cricinfo.com

Sanga seems like a smart guy but he's way off mark on this IMO

 

[Jono]

The FTP is harsh on SL, he's right about that.

 

[social]

The FTP is harsh on SL, he's right about that.

Trouble is that they are barely competitive against some teams away from home and not a draw

Cricket is a business unfortunately

 

[Jono]

Yeah definitely, but I think the point is that if the teams aren't playing the same number of games, the rankings don't mean that much anyway

 

[akilana]

Not going to derail this thread any further.

I think that SA is the best test team in the world right now. I think IND, ENG, Aus could all beat eachother on any given day depending on things like conditions and if any key players get injured. I also think SL at home could concievably do any of those four teams quite comfortably. But their away record doesn't really put them in this argument.

but how about England's away record? They did nothing of note but are there with India and Australia. Eng should be with SL not India.

 

[L Trumper]

but how about England's away record? They did nothing of note but are there with India and Australia. Eng should be with SL not India.

They drew in SA, didn't they?

 

[akilana]

They were totally dominated and were just two wickets away from 3-1 against SA who didn't have fit Steyn for the most part.. but still one drawn series is not enough to put them on with India. SL drew in England last time they toured. Does it count for anything?

 

[L Trumper]

They were totally dominated and were just two wickets away from 3-1 against SA who didn't have fit Steyn for the most part.. but still one drawn series is not enough to put them on with India. SL drew in England last time they toured. Does it count for anything?

It doesn't matter whether they are 1 or 2 wickets away.. No one is claiming ENG won in WI because they've come within 1 wicket, 2 wickets. They still lost that series..

IND lost in AUS, SA, SL;
SL lost in AUS, SA, IND;
AUS lost in IND, ENG;
ENG lost in IND,SL,ENG;
SA lost in SL;
Nothing much to separate...

 

[Shifter]

Sri Lanka v India: Kumar Sangakkara questions ICC Test rankings | Cricket News | Sri Lanka v India | Cricinfo.com

Sanga seems like a smart guy but he's way off mark on this IMO

I don't see why you think hes way off the mark, the FTP is a joke. Sri Lanka haven't toured certain places for something like 5 years or more. You need a balanced schedule where all teams play each other a comparable number of times over a time period for rankings to be as relevant as possible.

 

[Johnners]

dwta

Anyways:

- India are let down by their lack of fastmen
- Aus are very well rounded on paper, but are very hit and miss at the moment. Guys are going in and out of form regularly. Not one batsmen is interested in making a big hundred, it seems. Happy with the bowling nonetheless. I think they just need to find one rock middle order player and everything will fall back into place. Until they rectify their tendency to collapse like a pack of cards they have no place in this discussion.
- SA win just because Aus and India have fallen out of the race and also because Morkel has gotten better so they're no longer a one man bowling attack. Still if Steyn ever gets injured, like fast bowlers tend to do, especially later in their career - watch them freefall.
- England - ineligible to ever be a part of these discussions just because.

Hard to disagree with this. The combination of Steyn/Morkel and the fact that they still have a fairly reliable batting order puts them over the edge for mine. India has no proper seamers to speak of, and our middle order is waaaaaay to flimsy. Bowling attack is also being shown up at times away from home for being as inexperienced as it really is.

 

[Spark]

SA. Steyn+Morkel coupled with Smith/Kallis/ABdV is a damn good side.

Definitely wouldn't pick us with our middle order. Speaking of which... who would've thought a few years ago we'd be relying on Michael Clarke to show the middle order how to graft out an innings in tough conditions? At once a good and not-so-good thing.

 

[akilana]

It doesn't matter whether they are 1 or 2 wickets away.. No one is claiming ENG won in WI because they've come within 1 wicket, 2 wickets. They still lost that series.....

that's not the point. But you were pointing to that one series as if it was enough to put them on par with India. I was mentioning that SL last drew in Eng, NZ, WI and I think they won in Pakistan. England weren't better than SL away from home in last few years. No reason to put England on par with India.