England will stuff the aussies

[Batters]

I agree with Rachael on this one!!!

In the past Englands coahces used to show videos of the Aussies thumping the poms for some kind of motivation.. this has never worked for a long time... since ive been alive anyway.

Granted England are playing well and playing against the South Africans will be a big test for England and i hop e they beat them... England deserve their number 2 ranking currently.. but are still along way behind the aussies..

It will be a good series next year but i still believe we will outclass them in the overall series!!

[kiran]

Originally Posted by Batters

I agree with Rachael on this one!!!

England deserve their number 2 ranking currently.. but are still along way behind the aussies..

you are forgetting somebody....India is the only team that almost beat AUS in AUS...they beat AUS in india
also they just beat Pak in Pak...nobody (except SA) has one a test series in india for almost 2 decades...
only team they have failed against is the SA....

[Nikhil]

Originally Posted by kiran

you are forgetting somebody....India is the only team that almost beat AUS in AUS...they beat AUS in india
also they just beat Pak in Pak...nobody (except SA) has one a test series in india for almost 2 decades...
only team they have failed against is the SA....

Kiran,

Even though I would love to see India at no 2, this moment, I think the rankings are fair. The simple reason being, England have played more matches and won more matches than India. The rankings are quite correct.

I hope India beats Aussies and Saffers this fall, and India will be the no.2 team for sure then.

Cheers,
Nikhil.

[NZBeth]

Um, I must agree. Winning against the Aussies would take a lot of luck but hammering them is just out of the question. Although England have made a few wins lately it is right to draw attention to who the opposition of these wins is. As was mentioned, a win against the Windies or NZ is not of the same calibre of winning against Sri Lanka or OZ. England may have one a few games here and there but Australia have won consistently and no other team is near thei rankings both in ODI or test cricket. You have to admitt it would take a heck of being at the right place at the tight time sort of chances to get near Australia and their superior record. Australia is a very strong team with a huge batting capability and some of the best bowlers in the world. Beating OZ is not an easy task. In saying that, I still think that it can be done. Eventually. Although I'm giving my honest opinion here please bear in mind how difficult it is for me to lavish praise on my opponents from accross the ditch.

[Batters]

I agree about india.. they are a good side with several top class players in there... but its is very hard to beat australia and i think that india should learn to start to win a bit more away against top class opposition - i am including sri lanka and also pakistan in this - once they start to win a bit more away then they will get their rankings back up, but right now the rankings are correct. Im looking forward to Australia vs Rest of the World matches next year. Definatly going to be a good match and worth while watching!!!

[Beny]

England Hammer Australia? Why this new found belif all of a sudden? Who have you beaten this last summer?

India came close, in fact they probebly should have won if it wernt for the rain. But even then it was against a side lacking among others... Mcgrath, Warne, Lee (although he did return in the second test, and got hit for 200 runs) and lehman.

So long as we have a man who averages 52 batting number 7 for us (gilly) and everybody else in the lower order averages between 46 and 60, i'll refuse to acknowlage that Australia can loose a series in normal circumstances.

Most exciting series of the up-coming summer: Aus v NZ.

I'll bet its a tight run series in the one-dayers and and exciting display of cricket in the tests.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Batters

I agree about india.. they are a good side with several top class players in there... but its is very hard to beat australia and i think that india should learn to start to win a bit more away against top class opposition

India have always been a good batting team, at times the best in the world, but the one thing that will always be against them is thier bowling attack, they have good spinners when bowling in India, but they dont have a pace attack of any consiquence, and this will always hold India back away from home.
In all the years I have watched cricket, this has always been the case.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Beny

England Hammer Australia? Why this new found belif all of a sudden? Who have you beaten this last summer?

Most exciting series of the up-coming summer: Aus v NZ.

New Zealand.

Originally Posted by Beny

I'll bet its a tight run series in the one-dayers and and exciting display of cricket in the tests.

Tight run thing Australia V New Zealand.

A good reason for Englands new found optimism, England thrashed New Zealand, that was not a tight run thing.

[Beny]

yeah but there is tradition between Aus and NZ. NZ have always been strong against us even when other, 'better', teams havent. Best way to beat an aussie is to think like one.
They probebly came the closest to beating us during the world cup (granted, on a really bad pitch) but still, on the same pitch England dident trouble us.

As for the Indian bowling attack. I sort of agree but it would be dangerous to call their bowling 'weak'. Pathan gave us hell last time he was over and Sihng (sorry about the spelling) has always been strong, especialy on the sub-continent. But in principle I agree.

[deep-point]

Whilst the point that their opposition has been fairly weak is a valid one, you still have to win those matches, and a few years ago England would have found a way to throw away those winning positions. Now they are winning matches having been in a losing position.

You don't win 10 tests out of 11 without being a good team, and as we have seen, New Zealand are capable of giving any one (even Australia) a run for their money so they can't be written off as a poor side.

As someone who has only ever read about a close Ashes series, this would be a start, but I definitely think England have the best chance they have had for years against a pretty old Australian side.