***Official*** England in India

[UncleTheOne]

According to Sky News tv channel Freddie has said he will be staying for the entire test series, even though his wife is due to give birth during the 3rd test.

 

[Barney Rubble]

According to Sky News tv channel Freddie has said he will be staying for the entire test series, even though his wife is due to give birth during the 3rd test.

What a hero - if he really is going to miss the birth of his child for his team when they need him most, that is the height of commitment and dedication. Good on him, I hope the birth goes swimmingly in his absence.

 

[Scaly piscine]

As for England v India....

I can't help feel that England are going to have to be incredibly lucky to get away with not losing this series...key players out through injury/other reasons, including the captain...doesn't bode well

Err how would it be incredibly lucky after all the bad luck with injuries as you mentioned?

I don't get this habit where people seem to blame every result on luck.

 

[wpdavid]

wtf? why is everyone oh-so pessimistic?

1. Absence of our best batsman over the last 2 years
2. Absence of our most incisive bowler
3. Plus Vaughan & Giles
4. Fitness or otherwise of Pietersen & Collingwood
5. Form of Strauss & Fred (with the bat)
6. Having to rely on 2 spinners making their test debuts
7. Conditions completely unhelpful to our remaining quicks
8. The thought of G Jones standing up to the spinners for much of the time
9. Six of our top 7 making their 1st test appearances in India
10. The whole side is massively undercooked anyway

 

[honestbharani]

I still think England will do well in this series. I think both sides will come out winners in this series, just this gut feeling that I have got, just like last time. India will probably win the series, but England will do well. They certainly won't go down disgracefully like some of the past English teams have done.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Err how would it be incredibly lucky after all the bad luck with injuries as you mentioned?

So the English wouldn't be lucky if they draw/win the series?

 

[UncleTheOne]

What a hero - if he really is going to miss the birth of his child for his team when they need him most, that is the height of commitment and dedication. Good on him, I hope the birth goes swimmingly in his absence.

Indeed although I do believe certain things are more important than your profession but it's a huge sign of commitment. England have never needed their main man to stand tall like they do now.

 

[marc71178]

Eng were ordinary even with a full compliment on that tour and were going to be smashed anyway - this is very different.

It was the best players we had and the reserves were going home injured. I think we actually lost the entire first choice bowling attack that time though - at least we're only 40% down so far...

 

[honestbharani]

So the English wouldn't be lucky if they draw/win the series?

You don't get it. Whenever England win, it is because they played well. And whenever other teams win against them, it is because

a. Key players were injured for England

or

b. They didn't treat it as a proper game


or


c. The conditions were specifically prepared so that the English would lose

 

[Scaly piscine]

So the English wouldn't be lucky if they draw/win the series?

Teams nearly always get what they deserve for their performance in Test series. For England to be lucky they'd have to compensate and then some for the bad luck they've had with injuries etc. that have happened at a bad time.

 

[Matteh]

You don't get it. Whenever England win, it is because they played well. And whenever other teams win against them, it is because
a. Key players were injured for England
or
b. They didn't treat it as a proper game
or
c. The conditions were specifically prepared so that the English would lose

Naah - i'll openly admit that during the 90s we lost becuase we were utter rubbish
in relation to India...the amount of first choice players out means that it's a clearly understrength England side on paper

 

[wpdavid]

It was the best players we had and the reserves were going home injured. I think we actually lost the entire first choice bowling attack that time though - at least we're only 40% down so far...

I'm trying to recall who we lost. IIRC Gough (already well past his best, judging by 2001), Flintoff (still ordinary in those days), Jones (who had played 1 test before the series), Giles & White. Oh, and Tudor & Silverwood came & went pdq.

tbh Marc, I think we were struggling anyway.

 

[honestbharani]

Naah - i'll openly admit that during the 90s we lost becuase we were utter rubbish
in relation to India...the amount of first choice players out means that it's a clearly understrength England side on paper

Actually, those are just some of the stupid things the British press often come up with when their team loses anywhere. Plus, that second point was mainly because Scaly keeps telling everyone that the only reason England haven't done well over the last year in ODIs is because those ODIs didn't matter and they didn't play FULL STRENGTH.

 

[nikhil1772]

1. Absence of our best batsman over the last 2 years
2. Absence of our most incisive bowler
3. Plus Vaughan & Giles
4. Fitness or otherwise of Pietersen & Collingwood
5. Form of Strauss & Fred (with the bat)
6. Having to rely on 2 spinners making their test debuts
7. Conditions completely unhelpful to our remaining quicks
8. The thought of G Jones standing up to the spinners for much of the time
9. Six of our top 7 making their 1st test appearances in India
10. The whole side is massively undercooked anyway

Bravo!...I gotta say...they are genuine excuses!!!

 

[Jono]

Bravo!...I gotta say...they are genuine excuses!!!

The injuries and fitness issues are genuine.

Stuff like Jones keeping up to spinners, form of Strauss and Freddy with the bat and the conditions not aiding some of their pacers are entirely the team's fault (if you keep selecting Jones that's what you get, it was bound to happen that he'd have to keep to spinners on turning tracks!) and/or part of adjusting to foreign soil. No point trying to be the number 1 team in the world if you can't do that.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Teams nearly always get what they deserve for their performance in Test series. For England to be lucky they'd have to compensate and then some for the bad luck they've had with injuries etc. that have happened at a bad time.

Oh yes, fair enough. There's no doubt that if England do win [or draw, for that matter] they will have played some extremely good cricket.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Actually, those are just some of the stupid things the British press often come up with when their team loses anywhere. Plus, that second point was mainly because Scaly keeps telling everyone that the only reason England haven't done well over the last year in ODIs is because those ODIs didn't matter and they didn't play FULL STRENGTH.

Not that they didn't play full strength exactly (although they still do muck around a little), more that ODI series are way down England's priority list and so they end up not really trying. Asian teams especially seem to care a lot more about ODIs than England. Anyway over last year England were 3-0 against Bangladesh, 2.5-3.5 against Australia and 2-3 against Pakistan. So not they've been not too bad anyway going purely by results. I expect these ODI series scorelines will pick up when it gets nearer to the World Cup, assuming can manage to field a team with 11 fit players.

 

[nikhil1772]

The injuries and fitness issues are genuine.

Stuff like Jones keeping up to spinners, form of Strauss and Freddy with the bat and the conditions not aiding some of their pacers are entirely the team's fault (if you keep selecting Jones that's what you get, it was bound to happen that he'd have to keep to spinners on turning tracks!) and/or part of adjusting to foreign soil. No point trying to be the number 1 team in the world if you can't do that.

Ya I know...my earlier post was synonymous with sarcasm...the only thing I want England to win is the Football World Cup...and if they dont...I gotta come up with some similar excuses in front of my friends who support other teams...

 

[wpdavid]

The injuries and fitness issues are genuine.

Stuff like Jones keeping up to spinners, form of Strauss and Freddy with the bat and the conditions not aiding some of their pacers are entirely the team's fault (if you keep selecting Jones that's what you get, it was bound to happen that he'd have to keep to spinners on turning tracks!) and/or part of adjusting to foreign soil. No point trying to be the number 1 team in the world if you can't do that.

With respect, they were never put forward as excuses. Someone else had asked why all the pessimism about England's chances, and I provided 10 reasons. Some of those involved the recent injuries, others were to do with existing weaknesses in the team.

 

[social]

Not that they didn't play full strength exactly (although they still do muck around a little), more that ODI series are way down England's priority list and so they end up not really trying..

Utter nonsense.

Eng have just been a relatively poor ODI side.