***Official*** India in England 2014

[Jono]

He's about to be the leading wicket taker, 99 Tests as a quick who's had a few tough injuries. Took us to #1 in the world, spearheaded a win in Australia, played a massive part in our first Test win in India for 20 years and then our first series win there in even longer.

The past couple of years have been hard to swallow as an England fan but the last five have been some of the best in relative terms and Anderson was essential to them

I don't think he's our best ever but it's not as ridiculous as CW likes to make out

This is a good post.

 

[DriveClub]

What's actually the point of you?

Nothing, just like English cricket.

I admit I suffer from Englishcricketitis, just like Bob Willis and Scaly !!!

 

[Howe_zat]

Yeah I made a post after the last Test about their records since Broad started bowling well in the 2009 Ashes, think there was less than 0.5 between their averages.

Broad definitely gets his head called for unreasonably quickly; presumably because of his personality. And he does have bad games but more than makes up for it

Would imagine despite the similar records Broad has more 5Fers in that period. Which tells you he's won more games single handedly but contributed less to the team with the ball across series as a whole. Maybe.

Jimmy 236 wickets at 27.58, 9 five-fors
Broad 209 wickets at 27.53, 11 five-fors

Broad took an extra couple of years to get any kind of consistency though

 

[CWB304]

Jimmy 236 wickets at 27.58, 9 five-fors
Broad 209 wickets at 27.53, 11 five-fors

Broad took an extra couple of years to get any kind of consistency though

So they're as near to being as good as each other as it's possible for a bowling partnership to be. Given that Broad is 28 and has at least five years left of operating at the very top level I expect to see him end up with comfortably better overall figures than Anderson.

 

[Daemon]

I understand that the Ashes are incredibly important to England and in that context Anderson being very good down under in 10/11 is significant but Broad's performance vs. India in the billed 1 v. 2 series in '11 is something several planes above anything Anderson can ever imagine doing though.

Overall, I agree that the vamp has been very slightly better in the last five years with Broad being better now but the difference in attitudes and respect people have towards their bowling is insane when there is such a small gap in quality.

Very intriguing stuff Teja. By any chance do you happen to have an opinion on where Sreesanth stands in this debate?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

So they're as near to being as good as each other as it's possible for a bowling partnership to be. Given that Broad is 28 and has at least five years left of operating at the very top level I expect to see him end up with comfortably better overall figures than Anderson.

Yeah, we basically had this discussion after the ashes at home last year, most agreed Broad would end up with more wickets at a lower average than Jimmy.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

One thing I would say about Jimmy is he has more control of his variations than Steyn and can at will bowl the inswinger with very little difference in action. The fact that Steyn is just a far better bowler with his outswinger and is destructive with his pace matters not a jot to Cook I guess.

 

[Daemon]

One thing I would say about Jimmy is he has more control of his variations than Steyn and can at will bowl the inswinger with very little difference in action. The fact that Steyn is just a far better bowler with his outswinger and is destructive with his pace matters not a jot to Cook I guess.

Cook never compared Steyn to Anderson did he?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Cook never compared Steyn to Anderson did he?

Well if he is saying Anderson is the most skilfull around then he is isn't he?

 

[Adders]

"No disrespect to Dale Steyn, but the way Jimmy can swing the ball both ways - I don't think Dale can do that quite as well as Jimmy but Dale has the advantage of being able to bowl quicker. Dale has been the No. 1 bowler in the world for quite a long time in terms of the number of wickets he takes. He always picks up wickets. And those two are in the same class.

Cook's not the first from the England camp to describe Jimmy as the "most skillful" bowler in the world, but no one has said he's the "best".

Steyn clearly better and it would be impossible to lodge any argument against that, but as for skill sets......that's opinion and if Cook or Flower (think it was him that said it previously) believe that Jimmy is the more skilled then that's their opinion.

 

[ImpatientLime]

I think possibly there may still be a little frustration where Broad is concerned......his ceiling is higher than Jimmy's but he still has this reputation (getting more unfair by the day though) that he only delivers once a series.

This, definitely.

When he pitches it up, he is as devastating as any bowler in world cricket. So it inevitably drives people absolutely insane to see him banging it in back of a length every 3 out of 4 innings.

I don't know whether it's a lack of intelligence, a plan he's being asked to bowl to, a fear of getting whacked to the boundary. But it drives me insane.

He should average sub 30, but I'm fairly sure he'll end up over that mark come the end of his career.

 

[Daemon]

Well if he is saying Anderson is the most skilfull around then he is isn't he?

Cook's not the first from the England camp to describe Jimmy as the "most skillful" bowler in the world, but no one has said he's the "best".

Steyn clearly better and it would be impossible to lodge any argument against that, but as for skill sets......that's opinion and if Cook or Flower (think it was him that said it previously) believe that Jimmy is the more skilled then that's their opinion.

ah that clears it up. I thought the only quote was the one where he said Anderson was the best English bowler ever.

 

[Howe_zat]

'skillful' can mean just about anything, it's #2 behind 'talented' in descriptions that don't have to be substantiated at all

 

[Stapel]

'skillful' can mean just about anything, it's #2 behind 'talented' in descriptions that don't have to be substantiated at all

Though they indeed don't have to, they can be.

If we compare Steyn and Anderson, I'm inclined to say Steyn is the most talented. IMHO, talent simply means howmany times one can, after a decent amount of practice, actually make the ball land on the spot one aims for, at he pace one intends to. Skill has more to do with swing, controlling the amount of swing and variation in swing.

However, I can see others completely disagreeing with the above.

The lack of a common settlement of the meaning of such words, gives commentators around the world a very nice opportunity to get away with useless phrases.

 

[Adders]

Could be another nightmare first session for India coming up here.

 

[King Pietersen]

Jadeja out, Binny in. What a selection that is! Ishant back in place of Pankaj too.

Nice to see us bowling first, just hope we make the most of the conditions.

 

[91Jmay]

I agree with Binny>Jadeja. Better batsmen (for English conditions at least) from what I've seen and on a greenish pitch he won't go that much worse than Jadeja whose bowling is largely useless.

Whether it should be Binny replacing him though is another matter.

 

[King Pietersen]

Botham in talking up Stokes shocker. Surprised it's taken this long for him to bring him up.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Have a really bad feeling about this.

 

[Adders]

Hey Jono.........what time you getting your Biryani delivered?