England Have The Batting!,Have They Got The Bowling?.>

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by Ernest

I think it would be interesting both sides batting against the same bowlers, in the same conditions, who knows?.

Did you mean?

Strauss----or----Sehwag
Trescothick---or--Gambhir
Butcher/Key---or------Dravid VS Dizzy, Pigeon, Capser/Lee, Warne at a fast bouncy WACA pitch
Vaughan -----or----Laxman
Thorpe-----or--------Ganguly
Flintoff -----or----Mohammad Kaif

I'd say both teams would struggle to put 500, any team bar Australia's on batting line up would, but if you still want an answer I'll play safe, and put my money on India.

[Maranello]

And what about SRT? He hasn't retired you know.........

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Maranello

India..hmm...are you seriously suggesting
Vaughan + Tresco + Strauss + Thorpe + Key + Flintoff...
is better than
Sehwag + Gambhir + Dravid + Tendulkar + Ganguly + Laxman ....

Hmmm... let's get these matched up sensibly....

Sehwag vs Tresco is fair.. both taking the attack to the opposition: Sehwag all the way, even if Tresco is on form.
Gambhir vs Strauss is irrelevent: we know nothing much about either player.
Dravid vs Butcher is fair.. but no more of a contest than Sehwag vs. Tresco.
Tendulkar vs Vaughan is fair.. and hard on Vaughan.. who isn't really a weak link in the English side
Ganguly vs Thorpe is both fair and one up to England..
Laxman vs Flintoff is fair and facinating.. genius and wristiness vs. method power... but surely another clear Indian edge

The good news for England, of course, is that Jones.. whilst still relatively untested.. looks promising... Giles is an excellent no 8.. and Hoggard is turning himself into a promising no 9 (though perhaps no substitute for Vettori). Doesn't completely make up the gap.. but helps.

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by Maranello

And what about SRT? He hasn't retired you know.........

Oops, sorry! I guess I just forgot, but how could I forget adding Sachin to an Indian batting line up? I'll be carefull from here on onwards, I know he hasn't retired he's just 31 after all, and if his elbow stays alright he might play for anothe 5 years

[Maranello]

Good points ma'am, but India's nos 7,8,9 and 10 etc have done quite well of late too, eg Pathan, Patel (when he plays) or Karthik, Harbhajan, Kumble... The only one where England have a slight edge is GO Jones. Otherwise, England have tail-enders who can bat, eg Hoggard and Giles, but so can the Indians I have listed above... both sides still only have tail-enders, not batsmen who are good enough to bat at number six (which is the case for South Africa's no.8).

PS: so the gap is still there, maybe very slightly narrower (and if you and Ern had your way, GO Jones would not play anyway!)

[Maranello]

He is very fit physically, works harder than most... I'd say (and hope) another 7-8 years unless he has major injuries.

[Ernest]

A lot would depend on the form of Trescothick, and the mood of Flintoff.

If Flintoff is in his innings building mode, and
Trescothick is on form, then edge to England methinks

[Zainub]

Don't want to take any credit away from Giles, he is a fantastic number 8 no doubt, I absolutely love your player vs player annalysis Rach BTW, but you've forgotten to mention Irfan Pathan, who is no mug with the bat either , and he can boast of something Giles cannot, test 50s against the worlds best team.

[Alison]

I'm not entirely sure about lining the two teams up according to where they bat, and picking the best for each position, surely their batting positions aren't all set in stone are they?

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

Don't want to take any credit away from Giles, he is a fantastic number 8 no doubt, I absolutely love your player vs player annalysis Rach BTW, but you've forgotten to mention Irfan Pathan, who is no mug with the bat either , and he can boast of something Giles cannot, test 50s against the worlds best team.

I thought I did mention Pathan, Patel, Harbhajan and Kumble, all of whom can stick around as much as Giles and Hoggard can. Pathan and Patel though are much better than Giles or Hoggard, and have more potential as batsmen, both can develop into long-term Test no.6 or 7, if India ever had a batting crisis!