To be honest, apart from the aussies all nations hype their players.
Most Indian fans rate Pathan and Harbajhan as world class bowlers - of course they are . Indias batting line up is also still the strongest in the world .

Of course, South Africa dont choke, and they are a better test side than everyone apart from Australia who they are level with ..... and so on. All countries hype themselves up. However when the English get knocked out of the world cup we wont be in a state of shock / surprise like all other nations, we expect to get knocked out (except for Ern).

Panesar isnt hyped by the English. All we have said is that he has had a promising start to his test career and has potential to be very good. How is that too much hype??

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Mark.

From the commentaters to the newspapers. I think that only SA can rival england for hype. Constantly on sky sports they are kissing the **** of KP and Panesar. Drives my crazy

And it is not just exclusive to cricket, but with football, rugby, athletics...


ARRRRGHHHHHHH

I dont know, I would say India and Pakistan more than rival England, just read some of the threads on here .

The English press only hype players up so they can knock them down when they fail, they have done it for years and I guess they will continue to do so. Its the same as Sky they hype everything up to make it sound more exciting, hyperbole should be Skys middle name.

If you speak to any real England fans, you will soon find out that we dont hype thing up, far from it.

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Mark.

I am sure it is just the media getting to me.

It more than likely is. I try not to believe anything i read in the English media, they are only looking for a story, not necessarily the truth. Even the more respected press still has journalists who tend to think they are "experts" on the game, without having an ounce of ability to play the game!

At the moment Monty is being hyped - yes some of that hype has to do with him being a British Sikh. But as soon as he has a bad couple of games, and he will eventually, he will get knocked down.

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Mark.

I know what you are saying PC, but there is a difference. As far as hyping up is concerned, India are a 'gone case' - well beyond the point of no return - at least as far as the current generation of players is concerned. One only hopes that they might now learn a lesson after the World Cup debacle.

In England, one feels that there is a slight amount of journalistic sadomasochism involved in hyping up new and potentially good spotsmen (and women). It is as though the media do it just so that they have the right ammunition to flay them if they should fail to live up to that promise. Whereas the Indian hero-worship, media notwithstanding, is based largely on the fans' own perception of the players (real or imagined), in the UK it is more media-orchestrated.

Well KP is rated officially as the world #1 ODI batsman, so no suprise he gets a bit of hype. Monty gets lots because of his personnality and the fact that he is the first decent actual spinner of the ball that England have had in a while.

But I would point out that if England are such a hopeless case for hyping players, then how come Colly isn't splashed across all the front pages, 1 He holds the record for an all round performance in a ODI 6 wickets and a century in the same game, 2. back to back centuries vs the Aussies, 3. he has hauled England out of the mire on numerous occassions.
Yet Colly is always first on some peoples list for players on the edge of being dropped.

KP will get the hype, Vaughan did when he was #1 batsman in Test cricket, Warne has always got hyped (with good reason).

Monty does spin the ball more than say Giles, but then again Giles has/had more guile IMO than Monty, only time will tell.

Colly I think has done a Flintoff,who was always talked about for being dropped, 2004 changed all that, as 2006 has for Colly.

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Ern

Simple. Collingwood has medium height and build, does not sport a daft hairstyle, is a happily married man with a wife & daughter, has not been caught drunk and disorderly, has not beaten his wife or had affairs, answers correctly and to the point when asked a question instead of waffling meaningless phrases that could be twisted to something 'interesting' and above all works hard at improving his game and services to his team. How much more "ordinary" can a guy get? Can you imagine the media being interested in him or even like to have him around? Collingwood is the sort of guy that gives The Sun & News of the World nightmares.

Come on Ern, did Giles ever have guile?? At his peak he never had as much guile, control or loop/spin that Panesar has shown so far in his brief career.

Giles was an average spinner who carved himself an important role in the England side with their 4 man pace attack. Purely as a bowler they are in differant divisions.

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Mark.