There've been more England-Australia matches in the last two-three years then India - Sri Lanka.
Cricket
- Thread starter EdWeatherall
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There've been more England-Australia matches in the last two-three years then India - Sri Lanka.
I have no idea from where this concept of Cricket should be an equal contest between bat & ball has actually come up, I think it is a contest between two teams to pick the best 11 for a particular set of conditions and beat the other team. If anything these flat tracks have taken away uncontrollable factors such as the toss, weather etc. Sri Lanka have batted first in three of the 5 matches and have not crossed 300 in any of them, so it's not just a matter of batsmen turning up and getting 350.
Tbf I have always enjoyed matches where the bowler has more of an edge compared to matches where there is nothing in the pitch for them. And yup,. nothing better than a world class fast bowler running in and causing all sorts of problems.
You guys are very likely to be in a minority. The crowd love seeing batsmen dominate bowling.
This is sadly true, hence the game moving towards a more batsman friendly format.
I'm talking about ODIs in particular on that part. Hence "there is too much cricket".
Agree. Tests the all round skill of a batsman and for me that is the enjoyable factor of cricket. There is an unpredictability going on which is very captivating. Bowlers have spells in which you can really unsettle and get on top of the batsmen however on the other point there is no slogging, hacking played to get out of trouble. Test cricket at its best. When the batsmen are settled more strokes are brought out. Dravid is an excellent example of this.
A game which ebbs and flows is far more enjoyable. Bowlers aren't given an opportunity to assert themselves. Maybe this is why lots of changes are made in personnel every series.
That is for a reason -- to not have Ashes coincide with the WC.
This game has been a good contest in fairness.
Just too good.
Kohli 
What a knock, easy conditions though
Can kohli do it on a cold Wednesday..
someone is very bitter.
am not even gonna respond to the stupidity in the rest of your post.
Yeah, sure, my posts in this thread so far suggest that I am a hero worshipping bitter. Nothing really slides past you, huh, my friend from across the border.
Thanks for sparing me the embarrassment by not replying to my "stupid" post. That's what a good neighbour would do.
Yes it was favourable conditions for batsmen to dominate today but only 2 did, and only one of them produced a match winning innings. Mathews bowled very well today in circumstances that favoured the batsmen.
What I love about Kohli is how calculated he is. India needed 60 off 40 (or something similar) and Kohli just dropped that pace, kept us them ticking along and caught his breath, and then with 4 over left just exploded. He hit some lovely boundaries but what I loved seeing is that 2 he powered across. Running in between the wickets as powerfully as he did after the number of balls he'd faced, phenomenal.
What I love about Kohli is how calculated he is. India needed 60 off 40 (or something similar) and Kohli just dropped that pace, kept us them ticking along and caught his breath, and then with 4 over left just exploded. He hit some lovely boundaries but what I loved seeing is that 2 he powered across. Running in between the wickets as powerfully as he did after the number of balls he'd faced, phenomenal.
I know they're meant to be half funny but @Insanity's posts are straight out of those Youtube page comments.
Why don't the ICC ban seams? Imagine the runs...
Steve Smith is batting like a god right now.
He's really won me over. A few years ago I thought he was just going to be another one of those younger guys who is hyped but never really does much. He's improved drastically though.
Great knock from Moeen Ali in the warm up game, 50 from 21 balls and 3 wickets as well.
The difference is the quality and enjoyment/entertainment between those two series. Cricket fans around the world are excited about Ashes every time. Nowadays, even many fans in India don't care about India-Sri Lanka. That series is running joke for long time.
If there is to be a analogy, England-Australia even if it happens multiple times, is like El Clasico, won't get boring. India-Sri Lanka can be at best Tottenham-West Ham or something. Nobody cares except few.
El Clasico
Ashes is hilariously overrated, I don't mind the cricket part but just the whole hoopla around it is cringeworthy.
El Clasico
Ashes is hilariously overrated, I don't mind the cricket part but just the whole hoopla around it is cringeworthy.
Well level-to-level England-Australia is not at Clasico level but I was talking about how El Clasico even happening 4-5 times a year is not boring.
I don't think it is overrated or cringeworthy...what is cringeworthy is almost everything associated with Indian cricket.
El Clasico
Ashes is hilariously overrated, I don't mind the cricket part but just the whole hoopla around it is cringeworthy.
I don't think anyone 'over rates' Ashes cricket. Ashes is good, traditional cricket. The 'hype' around it in the build-up is just mostly good well written journalism from English newspapers and I find it enjoyable. The fans actually care about the quality of the cricket.
The actual contest brings in so many fans to the ground. The quality of the cricket is pretty good and if it is not, the cricket is almost always dramatic.
Ashes is popular because of the history and because of the hype that is created every time it comes along.It is somewhat like the premier league where they keep putting it in our head that hey this is the greatest league in the world as the quality is the best .
Same. Which is why I barely watch cricket anymore. OnLy when india tour Australia or England or something. I have zero interest in watching a lopsided contest. Shame, because I was an obsessive cricket lover some years ago.
Which series would you put above the ashes?
If you want to just look at the quality of cricket I would say South Africa vs Australia is better any day.
India vs Pakistan
Australia Vs South Africa is The marquee series in world cricket today.
When I was growing up and really enjoyed cricket in the late 80's and 90's England were consistently getting trounced by Australia in the Ashes. At that time too, I liked the Australia vs West Indies contests better. Watching Ambrose and Walsh at full pelt was a sight to behold for cricket lovers. Lara's 277 @ SCG is still my favortie innings in test cricket. That era was real cricket - Waqar, Wasim, Ambrose, Walsh, McGrath, Warney, Donald, De Villiers and others didn't need helpful pitches to get wickets. The support cast were better than the main bowlers of today.
I like the Ashes too; more for the history, grounds, crowds & commentary. The quality of cricket is decent, nothing phenomenal, at least in my life time.
When I was growing up and really enjoyed cricket in the late 80's and 90's England were consistently getting trounced by Australia in the Ashes. At that time too, I liked the Australia vs West Indies contests better. Watching Ambrose and Walsh at full pelt was a sight to behold for cricket lovers. Lara's 277 @ SCG is still my favortie innings in test cricket. That era was real cricket - Waqar, Wasim, Ambrose, Walsh, McGrath, Warney, Donald, De Villiers and others didn't need helpful pitches to get wickets. The support cast were better than the main bowlers of today.
I like the Ashes too; more for the history, grounds, crowds & commentary. The quality of cricket is decent, nothing phenomenal, at least in my life time.
Australia has dominated that series historically, only now with their decline and SA rise are the two teams somewhat even.
India vs Pakistan
We dont play each other nearly often enough for it to be a series and most of the matches are runfests on dead pitches.
Erm?
Looking at the rest of them makes me sad about the state of cricket nowadays..
I liked Fanie and his unusual bowling style. Always used to give India a hard time.I would rank Pakistan against Australia & England in those countries as a better series during that era than the Ashes too. I used to be jealous of their bowling talent, but also secretly rooted for them to do well in those countries. As we used to go and inevitably get beaten. The tag, 'Tigers at home, Lambs abroad' suited us perfectly. Whereas Pakistan was more than a match for them. Wasim and Waqar with Aaquib and Mushy supporting them...awesome. Even your so called 'street' batsmen performed better on those pitches. And those pitches were fast, or had juice in them. Now you get belters in New Zealand too.
Yes. He was good.
Hate Srinath for breaking his nose and destroying that beautiful face.
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Thats more to do with our fans being insane tbf
I would rank Pakistan against Australia & England in those countries as a better series during that era than the Ashes too. I used to be jealous of their bowling talent, but also secretly rooted for them to do well in those countries. As we used to go and inevitably get beaten. The tag, 'Tigers at home, Lambs abroad' suited us perfectly. Whereas Pakistan was more than a match for them. Wasim and Waqar with Aaquib and Mushy supporting them...awesome. Even your so called 'street' batsmen performed better on those pitches. And those pitches were fast, or had juice in them. Now you get belters in New Zealand too.
Ahh, I started watching cricket around 1999 hence had no idea about him.
That makes me sad, akhtar came around that same time as well and we had saqlain. Such a good team with stars everywhere, shame it underachieved like hell
Ahh, I started watching cricket around 1999 hence had no idea about him.
That makes me sad, akhtar came around that same time as well and we had saqlain. Such a good team with stars everywhere, shame it underachieved like hell
They did well. Won a lot of test matches abroad, iirc. Won consistently in England and New Zealand; were more than a match for the Aussies. I would say with West Indies declining, they were the 2nd or 3rd best team in the world (and in real terms, not with the farcical rankings they have now).
In ODI's too. Won the '92 WC, were only beaten by an insane Jadeja innings in '96, and made the final of the '99 WC against most odds. The '99 final was a downer though. Only if Donald ran, you could have faced South Africa
. The Australian juggernaut was something else; first you, and then us in '03. Ponting . I sure Srinath still has nightmares.They did well. Won a lot of test matches abroad, iirc. Won consistently in England and New Zealand; were more than a match for the Aussies. I would say with West Indies declining, they were the 2nd or 3rd best team in the world (and in real terms, not with the farcical rankings they have now).
In ODI's too. Won the '92 WC, were only beaten by an insane Jadeja innings in '96, and made the final of the '99 WC against most odds. The '99 final was a downer though. Only if Donald ran, you could have faced South Africa
We probably would have beaten South Africa as well although they had an awesome team as well.
By domination, I meant on the level of Australia. If you look at that pakistani team we had talent everywhere, from the openers to a strong middle order, the lower order was extremely destructive and second best bowling attack in the world. Compared that to our current team and its a joke but the inconsistencies are still the same.
I think Australia defeated Sri Lanka in 07 as well, three straight world cups wins against Asia's giants. Kinda weird coincidence.How on earth has been the quality of cricket been good?
The last two series have resulted in 3-0 and 5-0 to the home team with one-sided contests. Australia vs South Africa is usually the much better series in quality.
What do you think our team for the WC will be?
Guessing something like:
Dhawan
Rahane
Kohli
Rayudu
Raina
Dhoni
Patel (Better than Jadeja imo)
Ashwin
Umesh
Bhuvi
Ishant
After a couple of games, it will become obvious that Dhawan is shit and Sharma will replace him, who will also be shit.
Guessing something like:
Dhawan
Rahane
Kohli
Rayudu
Raina
Dhoni
Patel (Better than Jadeja imo)
Ashwin
Umesh
Bhuvi
Ishant
After a couple of games, it will become obvious that Dhawan is shit and Sharma will replace him, who will also be shit.