English cricket has seen a remarkable rise in past two to three years. From a weak, timid side they have transformed into a ferocious and a ruthless unit. I was looking at some statistics. These statistics reinforced the dominance of England in past few years. In the past three years, England has played 35 matches and have won 18 of them and lost just 6 games. English team has great mix with enormous depth in the fast bowling unit. They have found a solid opening pair to whether the new ball and also a decent middle order. They have also found a very good off-spinner - a species which is very rare in England. With Swan, England get a great balance. Even the famous team under Vaughan had a spinner in the form of Giles, whose role was merely to contain. But now they have a spinner who can get the very best into trouble.
But if one looks at the statistics more carefully, one would find that, England have played 18 of the 35 test matches at home and have won 14 of them. 3 of the wins came in the Australia during the famous Ashes win and 1 in South Africa. All the wins in the past few years have come in conditions favorable for the faster bowlers.I am not trying to take the sheen away from the growth of England but they have not yet been tested in conditions which they do not enjoy very much. They are yet to win in the sub-continent. The hammering they received at the hands of Pakistan opens up the question if England can be the same dominating force in a place where the conditions are exactly opposite to what they find back home in the UK.
England find themselves in a juncture very similar to what the Indians found themselves last summer, just before their tour of England. India had come to England with a couple of 2-0 victories against Australia 1-1 against South Africa at home and away, victories against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and in the West Indies. England was the first real test and they failed miserably and the slide carried forward to Australia. England would be wary not fall into the same trap as India did.
Clearly, England have been fantastic in conditions which assist fast bowling. Their pace attack has a lot of depth and have found a great mix in the team which makes them a near-invincible unit. But, for the first time in quite sometime they are put in a very alien place. The English batsman have real tough task ahead of them- that is to play the spinning ball. Their batsmen are not used to the ball turning square, keeping low and 3-5 men around the bat making life even more uncomfortable. They need to figure out which ball spins, which does not and which one goes the other way. Spin at both ends with men around the bat on wearing pitch is the dish England have not tasted lately and it will be interesting to see how they react to it.
While playing Pakistan, their bowling will not tested to the same extent as their batting owing to the fact that the Pakistani batting is still very fragile. But if they come to India the test would be bigger. Suresh Raina would look a completely different batsman in India and Anderson will not get that vicious movement. Even Shane Warne did not make a huge impression in India, and Swan may not either.
England have a huge test in front of them. For this team Asia is the place where they are yet to stamp their foot and leave a mark. Will this English turn around and stamp its authority in Dubai or will they succumb to spinning ball?
One thing is assured. England would be one of the closely watched teams in the cricketing fraternity. Everyone would be looking forward to see if they can translate their dominance at home to the sub-continent. A huge test lies ahead of England and the question everyone is asking is will England conquer the 'Final Frontier'?
But if one looks at the statistics more carefully, one would find that, England have played 18 of the 35 test matches at home and have won 14 of them. 3 of the wins came in the Australia during the famous Ashes win and 1 in South Africa. All the wins in the past few years have come in conditions favorable for the faster bowlers.I am not trying to take the sheen away from the growth of England but they have not yet been tested in conditions which they do not enjoy very much. They are yet to win in the sub-continent. The hammering they received at the hands of Pakistan opens up the question if England can be the same dominating force in a place where the conditions are exactly opposite to what they find back home in the UK.
England find themselves in a juncture very similar to what the Indians found themselves last summer, just before their tour of England. India had come to England with a couple of 2-0 victories against Australia 1-1 against South Africa at home and away, victories against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and in the West Indies. England was the first real test and they failed miserably and the slide carried forward to Australia. England would be wary not fall into the same trap as India did.
 |
| Playing spin would be the biggest test for the English batsmen |
While playing Pakistan, their bowling will not tested to the same extent as their batting owing to the fact that the Pakistani batting is still very fragile. But if they come to India the test would be bigger. Suresh Raina would look a completely different batsman in India and Anderson will not get that vicious movement. Even Shane Warne did not make a huge impression in India, and Swan may not either.
England have a huge test in front of them. For this team Asia is the place where they are yet to stamp their foot and leave a mark. Will this English turn around and stamp its authority in Dubai or will they succumb to spinning ball?
One thing is assured. England would be one of the closely watched teams in the cricketing fraternity. Everyone would be looking forward to see if they can translate their dominance at home to the sub-continent. A huge test lies ahead of England and the question everyone is asking is will England conquer the 'Final Frontier'?
Just I said, England lost the second game as well. A huge spin test lies in front of them.
ReplyDelete