best team in world cricket right now

[Slifer]

weren't India getting totally smashed in England after winning the first test?

Yeah but at least they won a non dead rubber test. Nothing to be ashamed of. Outside of RSA, I can't see any team winning in England. But England have been annihilated in India. As has every team that's toured recently. England relatively speaking, did not annihilate India at home.

 

[honestbharani]

The pitches Australia serves up to its tourists tend to be the pitches that best suit the strengths of the tourists. That's why India always gets the roads and turning tracks. CA want to make sure that India don't get rolled in 3 days at the WACA.

If we stopped doing this wed start seeing more convincing wins by Australia at home.

India probably are better than Australia at the moment but it isn't by a wide margin at all. Very few teams are winning away series right now except to the west indies and Bangladesh/Zim.

The current ICC ratings are probably a fair assessment of each team. <20 points between 1st and 7th, with Bangladesh and the west indies far behind and Zim even further behind.

I was just about to say this in response to your previous post. While I don't think it's been a deliberate act to help touring teams, its definitely worked out that way quite a lot recently.

I've been of the opinion for a while that we should just prepare wickets purely to our strengths and opposition weaknesses, as a lot of other countries do as a matter of course.

Lol.. what a lame excuse. Let's write off the only time Australia won in India too coz the tracks were what Australia wanted.

 

[honestbharani]

tbf all I remember of that series is Ishant getting batsmen out on short balls in the test at Lords and then India getting spanked by Root and Co in the remaining 3 matches.

Well, you would but it's not all that happened, thankfully.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Lol.. what a lame excuse. Let's write off the only time Australia won in India too coz the tracks were what Australia wanted.

Excuse for what? Your post makes absolutely no sense

 

[morgieb]

I probably wouldn't go as far as stephen, but a lot of wickets produced in Australia seem to be more for the benefit of CA finances rather than the team.

 

[honestbharani]

Excuse for what? Your post makes absolutely no sense

My Post was stating facts... so I am not surprised

I probably wouldn't go as far as stephen, but a lot of wickets produced in Australia seem to be more for the benefit of CA finances rather than the team.

Not really. They played on tracks that maximized their advantage at least during the India series and there is no way any of the RSA wickets was designed to benefit CA finances either. As I said, they are just lame excuses for the team not playing as well as some people may have wanted them to.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Not really. They played on tracks that maximized their advantage at least during the India series and there is no way any of the RSA wickets was designed to benefit CA finances either. As I said, they are just lame excuses for the team not playing as well as some people may have wanted them to.

What, in the most recent series against India? They were some of the slowest, flattest wickets that Smith feasted on, and made for terrible cricket. The wickets the prior series, which were hardly green tops but sent Gambhir on a rant, were far more representative of normal Australian conditions.

 

[Zinzan]

What, in the most recent series against India? They were some of the slowest, flattest wickets that Smith feasted on, and made for terrible cricket. The wickets the prior series, which were hardly green tops but sent Gambhir on a rant, were far more representative of normal Australian conditions.

That's only because you guys don't seem to have any wickets left in Australia with any grass on them, outside of Hobart

 

[morgieb]

What, in the most recent series against India? They were some of the slowest, flattest wickets that Smith feasted on, and made for terrible cricket. The wickets the prior series, which were hardly green tops but sent Gambhir on a rant, were far more representative of normal Australian conditions.

Yeah exactly. If hb wants to pick out an example of proper Australian conditions he went for the wrong one.

 

[S.Kennedy]

All I know is the Sheffield Shield matches seem to have absurd amount of runs. Fill your boots if you're a batsman. Must be **** to be a bowler in Oz.

 

[vic_orthdox]

All I know is the Sheffield Shield matches seem to have absurd amount of runs. Fill your boots if you're a batsman. Must be **** to be a bowler in Oz.

They greened up the wickets a few years ago and it left guys like Copeland and Butterworth getting heaps of wickets (a la Masters, Jesse Ryder, etc.), so the instruction went around to ensure the pitches more reflected what gets prepared for Tests. It also ensured that the spinners got more of a role in Shield cricket, which they weren't getting.

 

[vic_orthdox]

That's only because you guys don't seem to have any wickets left in Australia with any grass on them, outside of Hobart

Doesn't stop everyone calling for four quicks and no spinner at Perth and Brisbane every year.

 

[S.Kennedy]

They greened up the wickets a few years ago and it left guys like Copeland and Butterworth getting heaps of wickets (a la Masters, Jesse Ryder, etc.), so the instruction went around to ensure the pitches more reflected what gets prepared for Tests. It also ensured that the spinners got more of a role in Shield cricket, which they weren't getting.

Still some hefty innings this season.

 

[honestbharani]

What, in the most recent series against India? They were some of the slowest, flattest wickets that Smith feasted on, and made for terrible cricket. The wickets the prior series, which were hardly green tops but sent Gambhir on a rant, were far more representative of normal Australian conditions.

Yeah exactly. If hb wants to pick out an example of proper Australian conditions he went for the wrong one.

Wickets were flat and yet bouncy which meant there was no way in hell any Indian bowler was going to be any kind of threat on those tracks, while the Aussies with their tall bowlers who can bowl at pace and spinner more suited to utilizing the bounce were far more likely to get on a roll at least a couple of times to win the test series. Plus their batsmen are also so much better in those conditions and are able to score quickly to force results. To me, those wickets maximized the differences between the sides while any green top would have actually got India closer to the Aussie side, given their tendency to never be far away from a lollapse.

 

[Zinzan]

Maybe India got lucky with the some of the wickets last time around, I can't recall myself, but you can bet your bottom dollar it won't be courtesy of CA.

 

[Furball]

Yeah but at least they won a non dead rubber test. Nothing to be ashamed of. Outside of RSA, I can't see any team winning in England. But England have been annihilated in India. As has every team that's toured recently. England relatively speaking, did not annihilate India at home.

Bang goes any credibillity you had on this topic.

 

[honestbharani]

Yep.. what a moron for stating facts.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Wickets were flat and yet bouncy which meant there was no way in hell any Indian bowler was going to be any kind of threat on those tracks, while the Aussies with their tall bowlers who can bowl at pace and spinner more suited to utilizing the bounce were far more likely to get on a roll at least a couple of times to win the test series. Plus their batsmen are also so much better in those conditions and are able to score quickly to force results. To me, those wickets maximized the differences between the sides while any green top would have actually got India closer to the Aussie side, given their tendency to never be far away from a lollapse.

Mind bowling that this is so hard to understand:

- The wickets were slow and low, ridiculously more than usual
- Australia would have had the biggest advantage if they were fast and bouncy, ie. the opposite of what they were
- The fact that they were flat, possibly meaning that the Aus bowlers had more chance of taking wickets, is purely because they're just better bowlers

My Post was stating facts... so I am not surprised





Not really. They played on tracks that maximized their advantage at least during the India series and there is no way any of the RSA wickets was designed to benefit CA finances either. As I said, they are just lame excuses for the team not playing as well as some people may have wanted them to.

The **** are you on about? Excuses for what? No one is making any excuses nor is there anything to be made excuses for.

At least start making some sense if you're going to keep posting

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yep.. what a moron for stating facts.

What are you talking about? We absolutely did get annihilated in England. First two tests were competitive and even halfway through the third it wasn't terrible, but after that it was embarrassingly one sided. England have been comprehensively beaten here but the way we just ****ing gave up on that tour was a disgrace. Didn't even get into half decent positions and throw it away, the team just didn't show up.

England haven't had a test anywhere near as good as the one we had at Lords but the 3 losses we suffered were much worse. Didn't show up with the bat, ball or in the field. Shambles.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Maybe India got lucky with the some of the wickets last time around, I can't recall myself, but you can bet your bottom dollar it won't be courtesy of CA.

This is mostly true. It's CA's fault for making them flat (trying to maximise time and profits), but there's now way anyone was deliberately thinking "let's give India the best chance of competing"

Basically as I said earlier:

I was just about to say this in response to your previous post. While I don't think it's been a deliberate act to help touring teams, its definitely worked out that way quite a lot recently.

I've been of the opinion for a while that we should just prepare wickets purely to our strengths and opposition weaknesses, as a lot of other countries do as a matter of course.

CA are not being charitable, it's just turned out that recently a lot of the Test pitches prepared have suited touring teams more than an average Australian pitch would. Also as I said earlier, I'm of the opinion we should start deliberately suiting pitches to our team.