So who was better in India, Australia or England?

[Savak]

The English set the Indians a target of 380 plus runs in the first innings. Its another thing that they lost. They didnt exactly disgrace themselves in the second innings either.

But i believe the English did have the Indian on the defensive at most moments in this series. Indians deliberately batted slowly in the second test because of the English teams tight bowling plans because they were under no pressure to force for a win.

I believe both the English and the Aussies are more or less equal now with both teams not having any notable spinner to speak off anymore. However the Balance could change strongly in England's favor if Monty rediscovers his form. Graeme Swann has had a good Indian tour, he kept things very tight and can turn the ball as well. But fingers crossed if he is really an X factor type spinner. The Aussies also have Kretza and Hauritz but Swann has a huge edge over Kretza when it comes to economy rate.

As far as the fast bowling attack is concerned. The Aussies pool of pacers are likely to be Lee, Johnson, Siddle, Clarke, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger, Tait e.t.c.

Lee- Horribly out of form, has lost pace and swing and can he rediscover it all?

Johnson- He is the leader of the attack right now but how long before his workload takes a toll on him and his form

Siddle- Inexperience, has pace but doesnt move the ball, question marks.

Clarke- The most economical and accurate bowler who can perform a Glen Mcgrath type role on bouncy pitches but is he as good as Glen Mcgrath. He is facing a career threatening elbow injury right now, can he make it back and will he be good enough?

Hilfenhaus, Bollinger- ?????????

Tait- Unpredictable, Wild, wicket taker certainly not a defensive bowler, showed signs of mental weakness but i believe he can provide the impetus the Aussie attack needs. After all he does swing the new ball at pace and reverse swings the old ball. Surely he cant do any worse than Lee at the moment.

The English pool of fast bowlers bowlers will most likely be Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Flintoff, Sajid Mahmood, Amjad Khan e.t.c

Steve Harmison- Is brilliant when on song and can be even worse than ordinary on an off day? But he can rattle the Aussies, the only question is will he do it.

James Anderson- Certainly a much improved bowler. But can he step up to the plate against the Aussies?

Stuart Broad- Another bowler who has improved by leaps and bounds. Has upped his pace recently. Looks handy with the bat but can he do it against the Aussies.

Ryan Sidebottom- Brilliant bowler, can move the ball at decent speeds in favorable conditions but two questions only. Can he remain injury free and can he do it against Australia?

Andrew Flintoff- No need to say more. Only question is Can he remain injury free?

Sajid Mahmood- An absolute legend. No need to say more

Amjad Khan- ?????

The Aussie top order batting is at par with the English batting and i hope the English team recalls Michael Vaughan. But the English tail is a lot weaker than the Aussie tail.

Too many uncertainties. But the most important thing to mention here is no Warne, no Mcgrath. The English batting can certainly have a breather now. They can bat a lot more freely against the Aussies and not have to worry about losing wickets easily.

Finally this ashes series is going to be really exciting with both team on par after a long long time.

[Amjid Javed]

Both teams lost as expected. S.A who toured there last year and got a drawn series looked better than Both. S.A only drew series in end after having one bad day across the whole series and were made to pay.

India are always strong at home.

[Rudi hater]

SA is next number one no doubt about it. rest are all same..

[On_the_up]

Both teams lost as expected. S.A who toured there last year and got a drawn series looked better than Both. S.A only drew series in end after having one bad day across the whole series and were made to pay.

India are always strong at home.
And India had to come up with a dodgy crumbling pitch in order to even get that draw.

[Rajan]

KP's electrifying century illuminated Mohali. was easily the best knock by a visiting batsman this year in India.

Flintoff demanded, commanded and deserved more respect than any other visiting bowler this year.

Swann was better than Krejza, White though he does not have the results to show.

Strauss scored more hundreds in one test than Aussie openers scored in 4 tests.

Aussies too had their moments in the first test and a few sessions in the remaining tests but over all England gave a better account of themselves under the circumstances.

[DHONI183]

I think England, because you really didn´t expect anything from them:|. Aussies on the other hand, being the number one team, got thrashed:boom:.

[Big Harvey]

Yes, England were definitely the better of the two. Both our matches produced some excellent cricket. In fact Day 5 at Mohali was the only day which didn't produce high quality and utterly gripping cricket.

For people like me who are slightly concerned about the future of Test cricket, the Australia series was bitterly disappointing. To have a dull deries like that just when we needed an exciting one looked like a disaster. However, England's visit has definitely shown that there's plenty of life left in the 5-day game, and people will still come and watch it if it's played positively.

[dblock]

England were better imo.

[The_Cricket_Devil]

England were definitely the better team of the two. Flintoff just needed more support though I am quite impressed by Stuart Broad and how he has improved. Batting wise, KP and Strauss were great with some minor stints from some of the others but they still looked more threatening than the Aussies ever did in the series. That is quite disappointing for the Australians.

[Tupac]

And India had to come up with a dodgy crumbling pitch in order to even get that draw.

SA also won on a juicy pitch. They still haven't mastered spin bowling.

[IronMan2009]

And India had to come up with a dodgy crumbling pitch in order to even get that draw.

India batted last. Shouldn't India have struggled on a "crumbling" pitch? SA had a chance outbat India. They didn't. That was just a lame excuse from SA coach.

[Robert]

The Aussie top order batting is at par with the English batting and i hope the English team recalls Michael Vaughan. But the English tail is a lot weaker than the Aussie tail.


Disgaree on both those points - I think their top six are a good deal better than ours. Cook has not got hundreds for some time for some time and Dingdong was never much cop, apart from in Pakistan. He'll usually bottle it under fire. A side with of Vaughan, Strauss, Shah, KP, Colly and Fred would be a lot better IMO, probably on a par with Australia.

Then at 8 and 9 we have Broad who averages 34 in tests and Swann who can bat a bit.

Should be an even series against Aus though - they have no terror bowlers any more. A nice mid-table clash. I'd love to see England dump Australia into the #4 spot.

[IronMan2009]

Dingdong :)) nice name for Bell.

[IronMan2009]

England beat SA in a Test right? I think England's bowling will look much better once Sibo is back. Infact it will be on par with or slightly better than South African bowling since England has better spinning options.

[Robert]

England beat SA in a Test right? I think England's bowling will look much better once Sibo is back.

Possibly, though he did best against minnows/NZ.

I think we would have beaten SA in the series if they had selected Hoggard, who has an excellent record against Smith, getting him out cheaply five times in five tests. In the end, Smith dropped down the order to get away from Hoggy.

[Dhonifan]

English team provided gripping cricket for 4 days in Chennai, India on the 5th. It was see saw the whole time. I'd say England wins out

[lollol]

England was about 10x better.... did u forget they almost "won" the first match? They really put up a big total for India to chase, and im sure almost everyone was thinking its Englands game...

[Savak]

Random Aussie, OZGOD any views on the topic?

[Guli Danda]

Both teams were not great but England on balance performed better especially considering their lack of preparation time.

India always seems to win at home tbh. They need to develop a consistent winning streak abroad to prove their real worth.

[saj786]

england were better, but if u compare the 2 teams aus batting is stronger, the seam department is similar, england have the edge in spinners

[IronMan2009]

Both teams were not great but England on balance performed better especially considering their lack of preparation time.

India always seems to win at home tbh. They need to develop a consistent winning streak abroad to prove their real worth.

They win Tests. But they don't win series. For instance in South Africa India won first test. 2nd test won by SA. 3rd Test India took a good lead. yet they for inexplicable reason they surrendered in the 2nd innings. That too debutant Paul harris played an indirect role in that win. Under Dhoni India would not have let that opportunity go by.

In England India didn't have much problem as RP singh and ZK did the job.
In Australia one forgettable last session compounded by forgettable umpiring cost India the series dearly. But it wasn't a bad effort at all. With just one practice game India did a decent job. Consistency is always their problem. SL is always a tough place to tour. But minus Dhoni India was expected to be thrashed 0-3. Sehwag helped India reduce that margin by 1-2.

[Guli Danda]

They win Tests. But they don't win series. For instance in South Africa India won first test. 2nd test won by SA. 3rd Test India took a good lead. yet they for inexplicable reason they surrendered in the 2nd innings. That too debutant Paul harris played an indirect role in that win. Under Dhoni India would not have let that opportunity go by.

In England India didn't have much problem as RP singh and ZK did the job.
In Australia one forgettable last session compounded by forgettable umpiring cost India the series dearly. But it wasn't a bad effort at all. With just one practice game India did a decent job. Consistency is always their problem. SL is always a tough place to tour. But minus Dhoni India was expected to be thrashed 0-3. Sehwag helped India reduce that margin by 1-2.

I agree to an extent but India have a long way to go and a lot to prove before even being mentioned as a great team. Australia over the last decade or more have been a great team. India at the moment are merely good/decent.

[IronMan2009]

I agree to an extent but India have a long way to go and a lot to prove before even being mentioned as a great team. Australia over the last decade or more have been a great team. India at the moment are merely good/decent.


India or any other team never going to be the Australia that we have had over the last 8 years not just India. No team is going to be. They had 7 top class batsmen and 2 outstanding legends, 2 more than adequate back up bowlers.

16 wins in a row.. twice? you think SA or India or anyone else can do that?
Never going to happen. SA might even be thrashed heavily in Srilanka. Infact SA lost to a sorry West Indies team in their own backyard. If anyone is going to get to no.1 spot he will barely cling onto it.

I would be happy if my team manages to be one of the top 3 teams. India doesn't have the resources to become world no.1. winning on all conditions against all kind of attacks.

[Random Aussie]

Random Aussie, OZGOD any views on the topic?

England were much better.

[Random Aussie]

India batted last. Shouldn't India have struggled on a "crumbling" pitch? SA had a chance outbat India. They didn't. That was just a lame excuse from SA coach.

Yes of course, that's why the ICC formally warned India about the pitch.

[Savak]

England were much better.

Impressive stuff RA. So what do you think will happen in the Ashes? Remember this time its going to be in England so England have the home advantage and there is no Warne and Mcgrath anymore.

[IronMan2009]

Yes of course, that's why the ICC formally warned India about the pitch.

That ICC's warning was debunked by then and there. ICC could warn all it wants. It was a good batting surface. I watched the entire match fully. There was no misbehavior. I remember i was telling in some other place this pitch was far better than the dual bounced Adelaide pitch India had.

[Random Aussie]

Impressive stuff RA. So what do you think will happen in the Ashes? Remember this time its going to be in England so England have the home advantage and there is no Warne and Mcgrath anymore.

Should be an interesting series. On current form we will be beaten but will wait and see how we go in the next 5 Tests first.

[Ghoshtbuster]

England played better - but I have only seen short highlights. Still, I would back the Aussies if they got into a winning position, as England would just lose.

[Random Aussie]

That ICC's warning was debunked by then and there. ICC could warn all it wants. It was a good batting surface. I watched the entire match fully. There was no misbehavior. I remember i was telling in some other place this pitch was far better than the dual bounced Adelaide pitch India had.

Good batting surface :))

The ICC were just being stupid obviously, it was a belter of a pitch and the series scoreline had absolutely nothing to do with the type of pitch that was produced for that game.

:D

[IronMan2009]

Good batting surface :))

The ICC were just being stupid obviously, it was a belter of a pitch and the series scoreline had absolutely nothing to do with the type of pitch that was produced for that game.

:D

India made 325 runs on that pitch. Must be demonic pitch!!

[Taurus]

England did alright, but let's not kid ourselves, they often do 'alright.'

KP did an okay job to say he went through the whole tour with a broken rib. Still a bit of promise from England, but how about picking the best eleven players? Then we might get somewhere.

Believe it or not there are some talented batsmen and bowlers in England, they just don't get a go. If Vaughan's recalled for the Windies ahead of Shah, Bopara and Patel, I'm not even going to pretend to control my rage at England's cronyism. And I just KNOW it's going to happen, 'cause Vaughan saved English cricket and there was no cricket before Vaughan...

...the arrogant tosser.

[Romali_rotti]

Yes of course, that's why the ICC formally warned India about the pitch.

Ofcourse ICC didnt warn wickets in NZ when home team and visiting team were barely crossing 100 in any innings... :D..


Oh waittt buttt New Zealand is......

[Random Aussie]

Ofcourse ICC didnt warn wickets in NZ when home team and visiting team were barely crossing 100 in any innings... :D..


Oh waittt buttt New Zealand is......

The Romaliltron fires up! :D

[Romali_rotti]

The Romaliltron fires up! :D

Mate I will always be around to speak out against hypocrisy & hyprocrites :D... Wish Mahanama was umpring the NZ test last time we were there :))

[IronMan2009]

Let us put it this way. England has a better bench strength than Australia. Ravi Bopara is a terror :D. He can singlehandedly demolish Australia with double hundreds and triple hundreds. Wait and see.

[salman24]

IMO Australia because they actually looked like they were trying whilst the English boys looked like they just came to play without any real intention of winning. When the Aussies lost, it actually looked like thay cared whilst the English team looked like they don't care. Well at least that's the feeling I got.

[Wasim_Waqar]

I reckon that England were generally stronger and created more problems for the Indian batsmen. The Aussies are in serious trouble...struggling at home to lowly NZ and losing this current test at Perth to albeit a quality SA (more the fashion of it), the rest of this series and the return in SA will tell us about the nature of their decline.

The English team is actually pretty strong- just not as strong as SA or India, but stronger than Australia, in my view.

[Random Aussie]

I reckon that England were generally stronger and created more problems for the Indian batsmen. The Aussies are in serious trouble...struggling at home to lowly NZ and losing this current test at Perth to albeit a quality SA (more the fashion of it), the rest of this series and the return in SA will tell us about the nature of their decline.

The English team is actually pretty strong- just not as strong as SA or India, but stronger than Australia, in my view.

Ah we won 2 nil

[PlanetPakistan]

England were clearly better but this is partially due to the fact that AUS had to bat last in three out of the four games.

[Wasim_Waqar]

Ah we won 2 nil

Hmm, but it was not only down on previous Aussie standards but it was also not according to the standards of other good teams. SA crushed NZ at home and the Indian team would do so too....the first test showed their weaknesses to the world.

Anyhow, let's see in the second test. Australia will fight very hard. They need massive runs...and hope that weight of runs does the trick...in Melbourne they'd wana bat first and score 400-450. For this they need a good start

I believe SA will want to bowl first again, take advantage of any early movement and have the Aussies on the rack. Even though the MCG is a slow wicket for Aus standards, I believe that Steyn, Ntini and this match, Morkel, can be extremely dangerous. Paul Harris should get some help from the track too.

[Random Aussie]

Hmm, but it was not only down on previous Aussie standards but it was also not according to the standards of other good teams. SA crushed NZ at home and the Indian team would do so too....the first test showed their weaknesses to the world.


Not meaning to have a go at you (but I guess I am :D) but if you knew the history of Australia v NZ you would know NZ always play well against us. Last time they toured I believe they drew the series.

So to take their form against the Saffers who always smash them or the imaginary game against India is misleading. Let us see if India can actually beat them in NZ first before making that judgement.

[mali9]

obviously australia was way to better then england becus england lost all odi matches but they were lucky to draw the test match, however they lost everything atleast australia gave good competition to india. even pakistan did better then aus and eng.

[Wasim_Waqar]

I do get what you mean random Aussie. But at that time, NZ were pretty solid and had the likes of Astle, Fleming, Bond and Vettori- that's a number of quality operators.

Ok, I do agree with India having to beat the likes of NZ away- they succumbed last time in an away series just before the 2003 World Cup, in two low-scoring encounters. Apparently, Danny Morrison said that India at the time didn;t look as though they could be bothered and Mark Nicholas said that India seemed to only want to turn it on against Australia, Pakistan and England.

But I sense a different India now. Wins in the WI and England, a close series in Aus and a loss in SA that they probably should have won and had dodgy umpiring too...all shows to me that they are capable of good away performances outside the sub-continent.

Australia will fight back hard today but I believe that they may struggle if they bat first again.