Ten reasons why England will be world number one!

[Sir Alex]

Simon Hughes: Ten reasons why England will be world No 1 - Telegraph

Interesting article. Quoting the ones which goggled my eyes.

10 SPIN VISION
The ECB research people have developed Trackman, a piece of kit which monitors a spinner's revolutions on the ball. It has revealed that Graeme Swann spins the ball more than any other finger spinner in the game. Also, every county is now equipped with a Merlin bowling machine, which can replicate any spinner in world cricket.

9 HIGH-PRESSURE ZONE
You cannot create the adrenalin of a match situation in practice. But you can place a player under duress to explore their powers of concentration. England batsmen are often expected to run two, or three, or sometimes even 10 runs between practice deliveries, taking them to the edge of exertion, after which they still have to respond to the ball. Or they are forced to bat while being bombarded with noise.

6SPIT AND POLISH
It sounds basic, but many fast bowlers are so consumed by their bowling that they forget to polish the ball. England have developed a more strenuous routine centred around Paul Collingwood. They have also identified the men who have the least sweaty hands in hot conditions. The ball must be kept scrupulously dry to maximise reverse swing in such conditions so only these players handle the ball as it is relayed back to the bowler.

 

[Neil Pickup]

9 isn't a new idea - it's one that gets used constantly in coaching at all levels here; well at least by me, anyway. Obviously not to the same extent, but it's only a logical progression from the basic overload training you do at youth level.

It is good to read though, both to confirm the impression that Flower is a great pair of hands to have on the steering wheel, and to steal ideas from for my own coaching. The whole piece strikes me as an excellent summary of what excellent team management should be about - working with players to stretch them physically, tactically and mentally whilst at the same time ensuring you have a great team unit.

 

[Debris]

Cricket seems to be the one sport where the English press are super positive. Until things start going wrong, at least.

 

[kingpin]

Shhh......They can never be no.1....Yes they are T20 champs but Pakistan was once T20 champs......

And if these 10 points are secret for a team to become no.1....Every one must be no.1 by now.....

 

[Sir Alex]

Uh oh.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Would be interesting to compare this with Pakistan...

1. Arrive as late as physically possible at touring country.

2. Net practice Confidence building exercise for the seamers.

3. Fielding drills Pray.

4. Wicket-keeping drills Pray even harder.

5. Team building exercise: Selectorial musical chairs.

6. Team meeting Listen to Ijaz Butt.

 

[kingpin]

England didnt played SA ,INDIA and Sri Lanka in England for five years i think so.........Last time when ENGLAND visited INDIA the were washed away 5-0.....

Yes they have improved a lot...But they have to beat the best if they want to be the best....

 

[Jono]

If every team doesn't do 9 at some point, they're all a disgrace.

Sports science is absolutely elite worldwide. About time cricket gets there.

 

[GIMH]

England didnt played SA ,INDIA and Sri Lanka in England for five years i think so.........Last time when ENGLAND visited INDIA the were washed away 5-0.....

Yes they have improved a lot...But they have to beat the best if they want to be the best....

Well done for completely missing the point

 

[aussie tragic]

Great OP and I really enjoyed the read...totally stopped me posting "because they have half their team born outside England" ....or maybe not

 

[slowfinger]

Would be interesting to compare this with Pakistan...

1. Arrive as late as physically possible at touring country.

2. Net practice Confidence building exercise for the seamers.

3. Fielding drills Pray.

4. Wicket-keeping drills Pray even harder.

5. Team building exercise: Selectorial musical chairs.

6. Team meeting Listen to Ijaz Butt.

Gold Gun post...

 

[Pratters]

Seriously speaking, I think England have a pretty good team right now. Some serious talent in there in the likes of Morgan.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Would be interesting to compare this with Pakistan...

1. Arrive as late as physically possible at touring country.

2. Net practice Confidence building exercise for the seamers.

3. Fielding drills Pray.

4. Wicket-keeping drills Pray even harder.

5. Team building exercise: Selectorial musical chairs.

6. Team meeting Listen to Ijaz Butt.

That's absolutely priceless.

 

[VFE]

I like Simon Hughes, he knows what he is talking about.

The fact is all those things will help but unless we have the bowlers we wont be a perminent number one.

 

[Sir Alex]

I like Simon Hughes, he knows what he is talking about.

The fact is all those things will help but unless we have the bowlers we wont be a perminent number one.

Batsmen too.

Can't see in this age a no.1 team dominating without a single batsman having a 50+ avg (ok min. innings criteria etc)

 

[VFE]

I am not so sure about this. Remember half our matches are in England where 45 is a superb average. We dont have the flat tracks to inflat the averages. Sure it would make it easier but 6 batmen averaging 45 would be more than enough with a keeper averaging 40 and 8/9 averaging 25. Thats average totals of 360+. More than enough to win every Test if our bowlers average sub 30.

 

[Sir Alex]

I am not so sure about this. Remember half our matches are in England where 45 is a superb average. We dont have the flat tracks to inflat the averages. Sure it would make it easier but 6 batmen averaging 45 would be more than enough with a keeper averaging 40 and 8/9 averaging 25. Thats average totals of 360+. More than enough to win every Test if our bowlers average sub 30.

Team records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

Since 2000, India and SA batsmen average 42 among themselves in England. English batsmen average 37.

In contrast Indian batsmen enjoy an average of 40 in India since 2000.

What you said is a statistical possibility. But if you check history, every number 1 ranked team since 90s have had atleast one if not two or more batsmen averaging above 50.

 

[GIMH]

By the time we reach number one, KP will be back above fifty, someone else can follow him

 

[Jono]

Gonna have to do better than beating minnows like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Australia to convince me you'll get to number one.

 

[Pratters]

Haha this is the third time I have seen you bag Australia. You are really relishing Pakistan's victory over them.