From the Editor :
Here's a question: Just how good are Pakistan, really?
Certainly Misbah-ul-Haq's team are on the rise - lest we forget, it wasn't that long ago that they drew with the West Indies.
Yet their ability to gradually impose themselves on opposition in Asian conditions is obvious now. They still have occasional moments that are sublime, but gone are the days when they relied on those moments to win matches.
Instead they go about their business in methodical fashion, their persistence grinding the other side into the dust over a course of many hours. It may not be thrilling, but it does have a certain beauty.
Equally clear is the goodwill flowing through their squad. In Misbah and Mohsin Khan they have two good men, and suddenly Dav Whatmore may be surplus to requirements on the coaching front.
What remains to be seen is whether they can triumph in less familiar conditions. What a pity that we won't find out until the end of the year, when they travel to South Africa.
That'll do us for now. Over to you.
Team C365,
Dhirshg you know the old saying right? When a player is feared the most he is ridiculed the most. Who can blame the Commonwealth and Aussie supporters. Smith has almost won two series single handedly against both of them on their home turf.
@ Emerlander , I do wonder why some of the boards just accept it and dont push for more games for the respective teams. I guess revenue from different series play a part as well. I have very little faith in CSA.
@ibtisam, I agree. Pakistan is greatly disadvantaged in not being able to host Tests at home. Until that is sorted out the rankings will be skewed somewhat against Pakistan. Can't be helped.
lol why are australia stealing sa playing kit colours - stick to your yellow!
as for smith, under him, sa have only lost 1 test series since 2006 - so someone please explain how it is deduced that he is the worst captain ever???
@SAman, nope, my account only. Steyn is real class. He also loves the Kiwis. He took almost 5 every time last played against them. Amla also made his comeback against them and got plenty, so he should get a few more tons to warm up for England. Looking forward to see how Big Vern does in English conditions. That should be interesting. I know he played for Middlesex about 4 or 5 years ago & was not too impressive but then he didn't know his game like he does now. And of course he is about 4 /5 years older/better. Got my tickets booked for Lords already.
England are a guarantee to win today even with my ropey predictions they cannot fail unless an annual rain day is coming.
@Emerlander you have solid points but what i m talking about is no test and onedays played by Australia, India and England. They remain on top most of the times like Sri lanka and India have two bilateral series in 1 year same as Ashes excluding IPL. So there should be balance. Pakistan will go to SA and Australia after 5 years and they cant play at home. In FTP teams are not even bothering to abide by it in case of Pakistan. PCB says teams can decide where they want to play we are ready as no player in IPL too.And that 130 rating points Australia started loosing matches after that i think. But why teams don't go above 130 ratings
basically wt i cant understand is y there is not equal amoint of games played against same opposition over a period of time. secondly i dont rate indo pak matches and same for ashes. yes i watch it for the sake of my love for the game but not( as each of these countries always hype it up )as best series. its so awkward wen foreign teams come to lords and put into a corner on tv wen asked wts best cricket ground and they have to say lords becaus they dont want to b rude to hosts
@Vic010, what? Did you log in to the wrong account, Mitch? XD
Of course Smith was pretty much the reason that Vaughan and Hussein retired. Although Dale Steyn had a hand in the Vaughan retirement.. the poor bloke couldn't spot an outswinger to save his life (or his team, for that matter).
SAcricket, yes that is a problem. I guess the lower a team is in the ranking, the longer it takes to get to the top. But once a team is near the top and thereabouts, things become easier. The top ranked teams' points are always around 120. If SA has 130 points in Tests and doesn't play for 8 or 9 months, it'll still be on top simply because it's very unlikely for any team to go past 130 points in Test rankings. If that happens you can bet some will say that you're high on the rankings simply because you play less games and hence have lesser chances of losing. ;) Also, I wonder whose fault it is that they play less games. If the boards really want it they can arrange tests for their teams right?
@Engima, Always carry on in what you want to write fellow, I do not always agree with your comments, but I enjoy reading them, your views are just as important and everyones else, never let anyone stop you. @Dhirshg, You think England vs Aussies is most important head to head, I would never see any public form either from the both nation causing riots and all that if one beat another, these things are certain to happen in India and Pakistan game in a high pressure cooker game which India have not experinced yet in losing lol. @ibtisam, I never said of those words being mentioned, it was engima, but facts are facts and pakistan do have a habbit of stiring things with India and come out on the losing side in bi games, I know it, you know it, we all know it! Enough Said!
I feel that SA team's standing is elevated beyond its true worth by some of our bloggers over here. Kallis, Smith, Steyn, ABD.. Four players of geniune class. Maybe Amla joins them too. But still we are left with 6-7 run of the mill cricketers. I struggle to see what more Smith could have done with this team in test cricket. It's not like they are the Aussies from the first half of the last decade.
51_all_out / MadZuluBoy said "Kirsten offered the poisoned chalice of the SA captaincy to Amla and Botha (you forgot De Villiers)".
Having said that Smith is still the captain. For the LAST TIME man the players and the management agree that Smith is truly the only qualified Man for the job right now. In my opinion I would throw Amla into the deep end. He is the Man for the job in my opinion but if he does not want the job then how do you force him? This goes to show really what a true Man Smith is to have taken over the job at age 22 and in my opinion has not done a terrible job as you (as usual) make him out to have.
/troll off....
albie says...
Have Your Say
Posted 10/02/2012 @ 13:46
I told you I'll be back.pakistan and I are the greatest at what we do.we whitewashed the best team on foreign conditions.we took it easy on them and did not play wahab riaz or umar akmal. Pakistan are world number 1