World Class list

[TumTum]

Azhar Ali is world class IMO. I don't care what teams he wouldnt make.

He's such a gun batsman.

Meh, stroke-less wonder. Much prefer Asad Shafiq myself

 

[Furball]

He has an excellent chance of succeeding though, and a much better one that people were willing to give him before this series.

At the same time, if I were Chris Tremlett watchinghis first innings in the first Test, I'd be looking forward to facing him.

I reckon Gambhir's got a good temperament, and England will suffer if they just mindlessly bombard him with short stuff. I think Gambhir will have a good series because he's a good batsman, but I don't think you can deny that some of his innings will have given England's bowlers some encouragement.

 

[cricfan077]

My list would be....



Seamers:

Steyn, Morkel, Broad, Anderson, Tremlett, Zaheer, Amir, Asif, Roach

Would depend on whether they'd make England, as Uppercut said, as all other sides have either no 3rd seamer (most sides), their seamers are always injured (West Indies) or their seamers are all on an even level and none of them are great (Australia). Outside chance that they could leave out Amir or Asif on 'character grounds', but I'd think they'd still pick them if they were available. Considered Malinga, but he's often injured so I don't know if all that many sides would take that risk.

No Malinga

 

[vcs]

At the same time, if I were Chris Tremlett watchinghis first innings in the first Test, I'd be looking forward to facing him.

I reckon Gambhir's got a good temperament, and England will suffer if they just mindlessly bombard him with short stuff. I think Gambhir will have a good series because he's a good batsman, but I don't think you can deny that some of his innings will have given England's bowlers some encouragement.

English wickets do not offer as much bounce as S. African tracks. He will struggle with the lateral movement in his first few innings there, as will every Indian batsman who is unused to such conditions. The heartening thing is he seems to be a quick learner and a gritty customer. There was a huge improvement in how he looked at Centurion versus at Cape Town, especially the way he was handling Morkel towards the end.

 

[smash84]

He has an excellent chance of succeeding though, and a much better one that people were willing to give him before this series.

awta. I was one of the naysayers before the series. He is mentally strong though and is willing to work on his deficiencies. Definitely comes out as a winner after the SA series Gambhir.

 

[Uppercut]

English wickets do not offer as much bounce as S. African tracks. He will struggle with the lateral movement in his first few innings there, as will every Indian batsman who is unused to such conditions. The heartening thing is he seems to be a quick learner and a gritty customer. There was a huge improvement in how he looked at Centurion versus at Cape Town, especially the way he was handling Morkel towards the end.

Cape Town was flat towards the end though, and in the first innings he looked pretty horrendous.

Ground it out though, which I'm happy to give him massive credit for. I love how willing he is to put away the loose off-side shots when conditions make it a bad idea, even though they're the shots he made his name playing very well. And you'd always back him to get enough runs elsewhere to more than make up for it. I'm a big fan of Gambhir.

 

[Howe_zat]

English tracks don't really offer that much for the bowlers any more. There'll often be some greenery on county tracks in April/May but for Tests in July?August there's really not likely to be anything there.

The key difference is that they will be playing with Duke balls in swinging conditions, rather than any tricks out of the deck.

Gambhir may well struggle to get used to it as he hasn't played county cricket, and too many international batsmen struggle with the moving ball. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

 

[smash84]

English tracks don't really offer that much for the bowlers any more. There'll often be some greenery on county tracks in April/May but for Tests in July?August there's really not likely to be anything there.

The key difference is that they will be playing with Duke balls in swinging conditions, rather than any tricks out of the deck.

Gambhir may well struggle to get used to it as he hasn't played county cricket, and too many international batsmen struggle with the moving ball. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

The Duke balls are quite different but given how Gambhir has been able to adapt to different conditions I believe he should be able to adapt in England as well.

 

[Prince EWS]

I would take Ryder and Broad out of PEWS list add Mo Yo rest will be the same maybe Sarwan?

Well Yousuf and Sarwan can't even make their own teams at the moment.

 

[smash84]

Well Yousuf and Sarwan can't even make their own teams at the moment.

 

[silentstriker]

I'm still not convinced by Gambhir's ability on bouncier tracks. Obviously output matters a lot more than how a batsman looks, and by that measure, Gambhir did very well in South Africa, but he looked utterly terrible a couple of times that I saw him. It's certainly not a given that he'll succeed against a good bowling and fielding unit like England's in England.

He's an opener, meaning he's had to face the full brunt of a fresh Steyn.

 

[GIMH]

The key word is 'unit'

 

[Prince EWS]

The key word is 'unit'

You're talking to SS, don't forget. He thinks one bowler is an attack; always has.

 

[silentstriker]

Not always (e.g Hadlee, Murali). Compared to England, Steyn + others are, however.

 

[silentstriker]

And in any case, he's an opener, is facing Steyn + Morkel that much worse than Anderson + Tremmlett/Broad?

 

[vcs]

And in any case, he's an opener, is facing Steyn + Morkel that much worse than Anderson + Tremmlett/Broad?

Yep, agree. I'd certainly take the former, until England's attack proves itself over a few more Tests/different oppositions.

 

[Teja.]

And in any case, he's an opener, is facing Steyn + Morkel that much worse than Anderson + Tremmlett/Broad?

It's pretty much impossible to put Tremmers anywhere. In the 2 series' he did play, He was exceptional. However, He did play only 2 series' in 3 years. It's not known whether he can sustain that level of performance over a longer term but it's only speculation to say he's only Morkel's level either. Only time will tell just how good Tremlett is. If he's as good as he was during the Ashes, he's darn close to Steyn as a bowler but we can't judge that of one series and use it as how he'll perform against India next summer. So yeah..

 

[vcs]

It's pretty much impossible to put Tremmers anywhere. In the 2 series' he did play, He was exceptional. However, He did play only 2 series' in 3 years. It's not known whether he can sustain that level of performance over a longer term but it's only speculation to say he's only Morkel's level either. Only time will tell just how good Tremlett is. If he's as good as he was during the Ashes, he's darn close to Steyn as a bowler but we can't judge that of one series and use it as how he'll perform against India next summer. So yeah..

Wouldn't say he was great in his debut series (promising, perhaps). Heck, Kumble got a hundred in that series...

Anyway, has he really been injured for three whole years since then?

 

[Howe_zat]

Wouldn't say he was great in his debut series (promising, perhaps). Heck, Kumble got a hundred in that series...

Anyway, has he really been injured for three whole years since then?

It's been on and off, but he wasn't considered to have matched his previous standard until he put in a properly top season performance (and really beefed up his fitness). 2010 was his first full season since then, certainly.

Interestingly, Tremmers being injured was what initially brought Broad into the side, with Sidebottom, Flintoff and Hoggard being the fixtures at that point.

 

[Uppercut]

And in any case, he's an opener, is facing Steyn + Morkel that much worse than Anderson + Tremmlett/Broad?

Mmm. Steyn is much, much less effective to the left-hander. And his best spell isn't usually his first. Morkel was the bowler that had him in trouble.

I think you can see off the South African attack though, whereas there's no one to target in the English one. And as good as Gambhir is against spin I don't think Swann is a non-factor when bowling to the left-hander in England. It'll be a different challenge in any case.