Predictions for England winter tours in IND & PAK

[tooextracool]

Not Really !

Tresco, Butcher, Vaughan, Hussian, Thorpe/Ramprakash,Flintofff , White

Vs.

Tresco, Strauss, Vaughan, Bell, Flintoff, KP

Which team would you rather have bat in subcontinent ?

its actually 'Thorpe/Vaughan', which makes a big difference, because the presence of ramprakash(who played all 3 tests) makes any batting side look ordinary. not to mention the fact that Thorpe in the only test that he did play was about half the player he can be, because of the problems that were haunting him at the time.
and while flintoff isnt a very good player of spin now, there isnt much doubt that hes a far better player now against pace and spin, than he was at the time. you only have to look at some of his dismissals in that series to figure that much.

 

[tooextracool]

Dude Craig White was an allrounder, In the subcontinent he batted better than most English batsman. He will replace KP/BELL any day.

actually when craig white toured india last time he wasnt an all rounder any longer, he was pretty much playing as a batter who could bowl a bit(thanks to the injur he had suffered before the 2001 summer), and it was evident, because as the series progressed he was thrown the ball less frequently

 

[tooextracool]

yeah wasn't stewart an established bunny of warne's?

not exactly a bunny, just someone who he struggled significantly against. bunny would be what atherton was to mcgrath.

 

[Indian god]

India will win the test series , as india as always been strong at home , and in the past 19 years only 3 other teams have beaten india in one test series in india. India no doubt will win the odi series as they got a stronger more expierneced side than england , and india will be back to thier full strength squad.

 

[aussie]

Stewart, one of England's best players of spin? That's pushing it a bit!

well looking at the side that England took to India in 2001 its fair to say that he was one of the better players of spin missing from a very inexperienced batting line-up againts quality spin.

 

[honestbharani]

England are quite frankly a better team than either India or Pakistan. That is the fundamental basis on which to base a cricket team...talent. India have it but rarely convert it..Pakistan dont have as much of it .

Of course a series in India is always going to be tough for any opposition. People said Australia would struggle...in the end Australia outplayed India. I honestly think England have the tools to negate Indians spinners to some extent. Flintoff in fact can play the spinners pretty well, once in, thats the key for Flintoff...but India would have to get through KP as well, that would be an interesting battle

India will not have faced as hostile fast bowling attack at home since a waning Wasim and Waqar attack in the late 90's, when Pak won 2-1...before then you have to go back to the late 80's with Pakistan and WI...and India lost. When England last went out to India, England actually outplayed India for very large chunks of the series...England are better now, India I dont think are. Players like Simon Jones and Flintoff can do well in India with the ball..even Hoggard could be a factor like last time out there. Indias pace attack will no bother England in the slightest, the main danger man for me would be Harby, who is top class when on top form. I think this series will be a lot tougher for India than maybe a lot of people think.

With Pakistan, I just dont think they will be good enough

In ODI's, its a lottery really, none of the 3 teams is THAT good so who knows

March/April = negates bounce and pace. The component that England have to their advantage is the reverse swing. If England are smart (and they are, I think) they would OR SHOULD concentrate on the same bowling attack, maybe a spinner or a batter for Hoggard, but essentially they should have the rest of the attack as the same. They don't need another spinner if Jones and Flintoff do their reverse swing stuff right. My point is that, given Harmison's home sickness, they may not have another quality option at the top.

 

[honestbharani]

reality: India have played 22 tests at home this decade vs teams who arent Zimbabwe..won 8 , lost 6 and drawn 8

It is a myth...INDIA ARE IN FACT BEATABLE AT HOME..teams tend to play into Indias hands at home...teams who are aggressive beat India..and this England team is about as aggressive as you would ever wish to see

We are still a good 6 months away from the series. Maybe if the series were to be played now, then yes, England would beat India in India, but six months is a long time. Trust me, you haven't even won the Ashes yet.

 

[honestbharani]

by that I think you mean people think it will be a cake walk for England...

I certainly dont think it will be a cake walk...it will be a very tough series for England, its just that England have all the bowling tools to really trouble the Indians

And quite honestly, India have all the bowling tools to shake up England. First of all, a couple of points about this series that people are not taking into account...


a. The series will be played in March/April and ONLY SA have defeated India when a series was played at such a time and that was against a heavily demoralized Indian side, with their captain already announcing his resignation and was simply pushed on to lead for the series as no alternative was ready.


b. India will be battle hardened, unlike against Australia last year. Trust me, a series against Sri Lanka in India is as tough as it gets for India at home and with so much cricket, I think they will be in good shape to handle all the reverse swing and pace.


It will be a close series and while it is true that England have a good bowling line up that can bowl out India for even 150, I am still convinced that Kumble/Harbhajan can definitely trouble everyone of the English batsmen in March/April.

 

[Swervy]

We are still a good 6 months away from the series. Maybe if the series were to be played now, then yes, England would beat India in India, but six months is a long time. Trust me, you haven't even won the Ashes yet.

trust me, we have had the ashes for the last 16 years

 

[Swervy]

b. India will be battle hardened,

It will be a first

 

[luckyeddie]

We are still a good 6 months away from the series. Maybe if the series were to be played now, then yes, England would beat India in India, but six months is a long time. Trust me, you haven't even won the Ashes yet.

I don't think that winning the Ashes has anything to do with beating India - we've won the Ashes quite a few times in my memory, but winning a series in India doesn't always follow. We've certainly held the Ashes since we last won a series in India (20 years or so).

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that we won't win either - hope I'm wrong on both counts.

 

[Indian god]

TRUST ME , It will be very very hard to beat india at home , as though india will have strong support crowd , thier full strength squad back , Its been since 1984 that the last engish side have beaten india , and its been since 1987 that only 2 test playing nations have only beaten india at home , and that is south africa back in 2000 , and australia with a little help from the rain and bad umpiring decisions in 2004. In the last 7 test india vs england IN INDIA india 5 , england 0 . It will be very though to beat india at home , not to forget the soaring burning heat conditions.

 

[honestbharani]

trust me, we have had the ashes for the last 16 years

I meant that to the English fans. I know you are an Aussie, lol.


BTW, even YOU haven't still won THIS Ashes.

 

[honestbharani]

I don't think that winning the Ashes has anything to do with beating India - we've won the Ashes quite a few times in my memory, but winning a series in India doesn't always follow. We've certainly held the Ashes since we last won a series in India (20 years or so).

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that we won't win either - hope I'm wrong on both counts.

I meant from the confidence of the players PoV.

 

[luckyeddie]

I meant from the confidence of the players PoV.

Well, they have been 'on a roll' for some time now, so I doubt there's a more confident bunch in world cricket at the moment.

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah, but I don't think they will feel all that flash if they lose the Ashes from here, esp. if they lose it 2-1, after having had such a close shave to winning the last test.

 

[Swervy]

no-one has ever said it will be easy for England, but the facts are that there is no hotter team in world cricket now than England..and so in reality India will be facing a real stern test themselves.

People didnt really give England a chance in Pakistan and Sri lanka a few years back..and they won both series....people though India would crush England in India..India won 1-0 but in fact England were the better team for most of the time, people thought England could only draw with WI in West Indies 18 months ago..England won 3-0, people didnt think England would be able to beat SA in SA, but England won andquite easily looked the better team. No-one gave England a hope vs Australia and they have been the better team this series...so in fact England are making a habit of defying peoples expectations and it wouldnt surprise me if they did ok in India and Pakistan for the simple reason that they are a better team than either one of those two....it will be tough and home advantage is in Indias favour, but if a team can beat India like Australia did recently, then Engalnd are probably the team to do it..regardless of whether they beat Australia in these Ashes or not

 

[Run like Inzy]

England will find the Tests a close contest (England will probably win if they carry on with similar from) but the ODI series may be more difficult. They were not consistent this summer in the ODI's and the last two Natwest Challenge games showed a big lapse in perofrmance from England.

 

[greg]

Yeah but i doubt Darren Gough will go to Pakistan will he? He thought that India on the last tour was too dangerous!

 

[Swervy]

England will find the Tests a close contest (England will probably win if they carry on with similar from) but the ODI series may be more difficult. They were not consistent this summer in the ODI's and the last two Natwest Challenge games showed a big lapse in perofrmance from England.

but less important