[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Marauder

It would be a miracle if they are not pummelled against Pakistan in UAE.

It'll be fun watching Yasir Shah if he is in form. Leggies have always troubled England.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by Marauder

I was just pointing out the hypocrisy of people who glorify and vilify T20 cricket at their convenience and look for soft excuses for the current situation.
I'm not saying that the current crop of batsmen have great technique but T20 is not the sole reason for their inadequacies.

Michael Clarke doesn't play T20 cricket, I don't see Chris Rogers in T20 leagues anywhere. Gary Balance, who was looking the most technically inapt batsman isn't a T20 superstar.

One of the major reasons why visiting teams struggle and we rarely see a team winning overseas is because of the scheduling and the amount of cricket every team plays.
Earlier, there used to be atleast 6-7 practice games on a tour. Nowadays, a touring team is given a 3-day warm-up match to get acclimatised to the conditions.
Look at England's schedule for the season;
-3 tests on dead pitches in WI
-7 tests at home
-2 month tour to dustbowls in UAE
-4 tests on green, bouncy conditions in SA

It would be a miracle if they are not pummelled against Pakistan in UAE.

Well, it might be more than just the scheduling of tournaments resulting in fatigue, or getting accustomed to conditions. For instance, this English test side pretty much plays only test cricket these days. Moeen and Wood are in and out of the team. Apart from Joe Root and Buttler, there isn't any regular limited-overs player in that side. And both are doing very fine.

In fact, in case of the Aussies, it seemed as if something was always playing on them. Which never allowed them to come out hard and strong. It couldn't have been the Edgbaston defeat. England are equally vulnerable after a good show. And Australia had also thumped them at Lord's. So there was enough source of inspiration. Plus they had a top notch side to field, that had also just won a world cup, and a cracking record last ashes. So there was enough inspiration to thump England.

Actually, it was the constant aggressive banter and hype that got to them. They were always the bigger team in the lead up to the series, and the ones whose success was showered praises at, and failure immediately raised harsh criticism at.
They were always hailed as the favourites before the first game, and immediately, a lot of questions were asked of them after the game had ended. A lost test match hadn't remained just a lost test match, and had suddenly turned into a pride-buster, a question mark on their abilities, and a threat to the future of their leader.
And that was because they were always the ones being watched closer, they were the fans' favourites, the pundits' favorites, the point of all the talk. Which ultimately did exert some kind of pressure on them, and didn't allow them to get going. The same incidentally didn't happen with England, which allowed them to go about their business much easily.

Joe Root got a hundred in the first match, but it was Steve Smith's failure to score big that was discussed more of. So Root stayed grounded, while Smith got under pressure straightaway. Next game, when Smith got the fantastic double ton, and in fact Root was the one who struggled, again Smith was the one hailed, which allowed Root room to breathe.
Similarly, Mitch Johnson's failures were talked of more than Anderson's successes, and Josh Hazlewood was the one always expected to contribute more, as opposed to the equally capable Mark Wood. Starc and Finn also are neck and neck in terms of talent and ability, but while the former stayed under scrutiny, the latter silently came in and delivered. Again, there was also the Haddin-Nevill conundrum that further added to the talks.
One player from the Aussies who never faced the heat was Nathan Lyon, and he actually quietly played his part really well, and contributed notably in the second and third games. So it did help his case.
As for the remaining players, Clarke kept doing badly, and Rogers kept doing well in pieces, in all circumstances. And both kept coming in the news regularly.

And it isn't just this Ashes or the Aussies. In fact, this is the reason all the big name teams playing Bangladesh recently have never been able to find their mojo, amongst all the hype and shock of losing to a team like Bangladesh, while Bangladesh themselves, who are in historical form, kept them all at bay, and eventually capitalised at the right time.

The same thing always happens with team India in every series, where either they are strong favourites in a home series, or highly hyped and looked forward to, even if it's an away tour. And an India side in an away tour against a strong opposition rarely does well. So all of a sudden, the same team becomes very disappointing. And in case of the individual star players like Dhoni and Kohli, the talk only gets bigger and louder. So every other failure is questioned, while every single success is cheered. And this hype and stardom has badly affected the team, besides the politics.

A similar story happened with New Zealand recently, who hardly anyone expected to make a serious mark. But once they did reach the world cup final, they're also heavily scrutinised, and looked at as the favorites in each series they play, and now are in fact losing to the likes of Zimbabwe.

And the same thing will happen to 'Ashes Winners' England before the tour of UAE, who will be termed as favourites against 'inconsistent' Pakistan, and loaded with expectations. And once they pack up against quality spin on the 'dust bowl' wickets, they'll be the ones on the radar of pundits and the famed English media, the ECB will come under criticism, Pietersen will be talked about again by the press, and futures of senior players like Cook, Bell, etc. will freshly be reconsidered.

[RedDevil_KP]

Originally Posted by Marauder

I was just pointing out the hypocrisy of people who glorify and vilify T20 cricket at their convenience and look for soft excuses for the current situation.
I'm not saying that the current crop of batsmen have great technique but T20 is not the sole reason for their inadequacies.

Michael Clarke doesn't play T20 cricket, I don't see Chris Rogers in T20 leagues anywhere. Gary Balance, who was looking the most technically inapt batsman isn't a T20 superstar.

One of the major reasons why visiting teams struggle and we rarely see a team winning overseas is because of the scheduling and the amount of cricket every team plays.
Earlier, there used to be atleast 6-7 practice games on a tour. Nowadays, a touring team is given a 3-day warm-up match to get acclimatised to the conditions.
Look at England's schedule for the season;
-3 tests on dead pitches in WI
-7 tests at home
-2 month tour to dustbowls in UAE
-4 tests on green, bouncy conditions in SA

It would be a miracle if they are not pummelled against Pakistan in UAE.

Originally Posted by Marauder

I don't know, when Brendon McCullum hits a first ball six in a test match everyone applauds and says how T20 has made Test Cricket exciting but when the same attacking approach doesn't come off people criticise T20 leagues.

Although it looks excellent on TV when you see the swash buckling McCullum do that in test cricket, the opposition will have a chance to send him packing any time. Any adherent cricketing fan or even a pundit would say the actual perseverance of a cricketer will be known when he prevails in Tests. If he does he can adapt to any form of cricket & not the other way round

Now with our favorite "IPL" showing off its true colors, it's clear that these shorter format leagues are purely for monitory benefits. I do like the fact that an unknown talent is unearth in such leagues, but I wonder how many would make it big in Tests.

[Chetan_Rao]

And there you have it!

England showing they aren't really much better (as the BBC commentary team would have you believe), just the rub of the toss going their way yesterday or it could easily have been them 'All Out' for chump change. They're collapsing as good as the Oz did yesterday morning, probably worse given they weren't under any sort of pressure after yesterday's rout.

Painfully bad batting technique on display from both sides.

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by RedDevil_KP

Although it looks excellent on TV when you see the swash buckling McCullum do that in test cricket, the opposition will have a chance to send him packing any time. Any adherent cricketing fan or even a pundit would say the actual perseverance of a cricketer will be known when he prevails in Tests. If he does he can adapt to any form of cricket & not the other way round

Now with our favorite "IPL" showing off its true colors, it's clear that these shorter format leagues are purely for monitory benefits. I do like the fact that an unknown talent is unearth in such leagues, but I wonder how many would make it big in Tests.

As long as IPL exists, we have no hope in test cricket.

Imagine yourself as a young 20 year old batsman. Would your goal be to make it big in test cricket by doing the hard yards, or play 5-6 IPL seasons and pocket a bucket load of cash?

Even unheard of names in the Indian domestic circuit are getting paid crores in IPL for two months of T20. I mean, where's the hard work? Even a bowler (who I believe has to work most hard in normal circumstances) has to bowl only four overs per game. IPL is just too easy money.

[AltoLXI]

That's it. England regain the Ashes beating Australia by an innings and 78 runs.. .

[Eddy]

So far so good in Sri Lanka

180/9

[Marauder]

Looks like India are going to make a hash of this game as well.
From having a lead of 192 to trailing by 110 at the moment. They are looking at a target of 200+ at a bare minimum, which might be tricky in the 4th innings.

[Eddy]

The biggest positive that can come out of this match is that Harbhajan may never play test cricket for India again.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Eddy

The biggest positive that can come out of this match is that Harbhajan may never play test cricket for India again.

They will be very well grooming a young spinner in his place. Was surprised to see him the team first place but then i think he cannot be left out of the playing XI

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Looks like India are going to make a hash of this game as well.
From having a lead of 192 to trailing by 110 at the moment. They are looking at a target of 200+ at a bare minimum, which might be tricky in the 4th innings.

Tricky it proved to be and India have lost the match.

[pratyush6]

What a morale sapping defeat for India. I honestly did not even check the scores till lunch and was zapped. Some really horrendous decisions by the umpires - but even worse by the Indian batsmen.
Herath bowled well. Congrats to BCCI for opposing DRS, well done you bunch of idiots.

And Rohit Sharma will still play and be the most talented player in India!

All congrats to SL and Sanga - one of my favorite players

[Marauder]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Tricky it proved to be and India have lost the match.

I don't understand how you can lose a match inside 4 days when you were leading by a 192 runs in the first innings.

But then this side has shown this ability at each and every tour in the past couple of years.
-couldn't win against SA after setting a target of 450+
-conceded 600 runs to the last 5 wickets in the 2nd innings against NZ.
-lost the series pathetically after leading 1-0 against England.
-lost matches against Australia after being in winning positions.

[anand_hc]

Originally Posted by Eddy

The biggest positive that can come out of this match is that Harbhajan may never play test cricket for India again.

, never understood why he was brought back in the first place

He has lost it few years back but just pushed on based on his previous performances. Now is time to stop this nonsense.

[Eddy]

Somewhere, I am happy that we lost this.

Playing No-hit instead of Pujara in a test match and Bhajji instead of any young bowler deserves a loss IMO.