Second worst team in the world?

Can England push India for the title of only the second most embarrassing test team in the World?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-india-2012/engine/current/match/564782.html


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original post:
Second best team in the world (all formats)?
I posed this question about 10 months ago but it seems the forum has a pretty short memory

Anyway the answer is now clearly "not England" with them continuing their good test record (Pakistan series aside), continuing to dominate T20, and suddenly becoming a good ODI side (unless they are in India)

Tests
1 England 48 5614 117
2 South Africa 32 3709 116
3 Australia 46 5153 112
4 India 46 5103 111

ODI
1 Australia 53 6287 119
2 South Africa 30 3549 118
3 England 45 5290 118
4 India 55 6409 117

T20
1 England 15 23 1954 130
2 South Africa 12 20 1468 122
3 Sri Lanka 11 20 1268 115
4 Pakistan 19 31 2055 108


Yes Biltong your boys are second in every format. Congrats on being best of the rest. How the mighty have fallen, the bully boys of world cricket Aus and India have slipped and certainly in Aus' case seem to have serious issues with their team in all formats going forward.

This series has come at a great time, with both teams on a high and gives SA a chance to prove they arent second best after all. 3 tests, 5 ODIs, 2 T20s. They all matter (unless SA win they they didnt count)

Mate we have been second best for so long we have booked that spot.

Kinda like it there, it means we are always the main rivals to the top team always threatening their "little ranking" making them nervous, and eventually we choke.

there is a very clear 1 and 2 on rankings, the question who is 3!

To steal and adapt a line from Bill Shankly -

Second best team in the world is England Lions.

mystiroakey wrote:there is a very clear 1 and 2 on rankings, the question who is 3!

Aus by the rankings I guess, but they seem to be in decline.

However when England white rainbow wash South Africa on this tour, the Saffas wil drop to 4th in test rankings and 5th in the ODI rankings but just hang on to second in the T20s

The theyd be hotly contesting Australia for 3rd best team in the world status.

So Aus can be ranked 2nd in Tests by default... if SA loses? I hadn't thought of that.

It's all very close now, except for T20. To be a true No.1 (in my way of seeing things) a team needs to have at least 15 more rankings points (20 is better though) than your nearest rivals.

Linebreaker wrote: To be a true No.1 (in my way of seeing things) a team needs to have at least 15 more rankings points (20 is better though) than your nearest rivals.

Bitter

You see what I'm saying though?

To be honest, I was so god damn sick of them being on top for so long. I actually wanted them to lose a match here and there. All the gloating, etc was too much to bear. Maybe you had to be here to experience it in full swing.

Anyway... I guess I wished too hard!

Congrats on the ODI Series, Peter... and all the other England fans.
If there was a 5th - you'd have won that too. Now for SA.
I wish both teams the best of luck but that test ratings comment above.... we don't deserve to be No.2!

I remember only a year or two ago when india were almost no.1 in everything or the fans were crazy on becomining it- how times change!!

I hope your reign lasts longer. Should do.

The Indian one was painful. The old BBC site was hell for an Aussie... or anyone else for that matter
It was quite a shock (in a way) to see them 'up top' for a relatively short time then fall to pieces in a big way.

Rankings smankings, all I am interested in is winning the test series, being number one doesn't matter.

But the added benefit of this test series is going to be those nervous Englishmen concerned about their bragging rights when they could drop of the pedestal.

It's great when you can amass a few points... just for the fun of it Biltong but you know my feelings on the matter... don't you?

(They can mean a lot when your team is No.1; and sweet FA when they're not...)

Do you think they will fall off the golden pedestal whilst bragging though? They seem to be very focused on the field...doing it all under the pressure of the press 'bragging'. That's quite an achievement - the pressure to keep on winning must be immense.

Well they seem humble enough, but then most cricketers are, however the fans' concerns about the ranking is what I enjoy the most.

Either way - you win; you're No.1. You lose... well, let's not go there!

Maybe schedule a break from these boards if it hurts too much.
Or do what I do. Take a day or two to cool down, then stick your head in the posts here and see what happens.

Meh, you know me, I go into an introspective frenzy and analyse the hell out of it, first providing reasons as to why we lost, then if a referee is to blame will give him his 15 minutes in the sun, and then settle down.

One thing I hate though is gloaters, so you won't catch me doing that.

I don't think many on here rub it in when a series is won by their team.

No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1, No 1.

Nope didn't think so.

"15 minutes"?.... 15 months more like!

Linebreaker wrote: You see what I'm saying though?

To be honest, I was so god damn sick of them being on top for so long. I actually wanted them to lose a match here and there. All the gloating, etc was too much to bear. Maybe you had to be here to experience it in full swing.

Anyway... I guess I wished too hard!

Congrats on the ODI Series, Peter... and all the other England fans.
If there was a 5th - you'd have won that too. Now for SA.
I wish both teams the best of luck but that test ratings comment above.... we don't deserve to be No.2!

Yeah for sure. Although England have done enough to keep Sonic Boom of the forum for a while and even Demon Racer has been strangely quiet lately.

This series should give a clear number one in tests ( unless its rained off) . SA have every chance of winning it, on paper they look very strong if ABs keeping is up to it and it doesnt tire him out.

If Aus do leapfrog SA as a result of this series it will make them more of a floater than a solid number 2, either way we can still call you poo

biltongbek wrote:Rankings smankings, all I am interested in is winning the test series, being number one doesn't matter.

But the added benefit of this test series is going to be those nervous Englishmen concerned about their bragging rights when they could drop of the pedestal.

Too right, just like when your Rugger team came over here as world and 4N champs and got tooled by club sides featuring academy players.

Y'know, just bringing that up as an example

Wasn't the same champions side that played them my friend, but if it helps, hold onto that thought.

Linebreaker wrote:"15 minutes"?.... 15 months more like!

It has only been about 8 months.

biltongbek wrote:

Linebreaker wrote:"15 minutes"?.... 15 months more like!

It has only been about 8 months.

A little exaggeration never hurt anyone.... (it feels like 15 though)

Haven't been following SA in their warm up matches... how have they been going? Or have a few games been interrupted by rain?

They only had one, as far as I know, Morkel struggled, Smith got out cheaply, Kallis, Duminy and Amla had a good run out.

Yeah I kind off miss them crazy Indians on the old 606.. where you all gone!!!!

Linebreaker wrote:

biltongbek wrote:

Linebreaker wrote:"15 minutes"?.... 15 months more like!

It has only been about 8 months.

A little exaggeration never hurt anyone.... (it feels like 15 though)

Haven't been following SA in their warm up matches... how have they been going? Or have a few games been interrupted by rain?

They played half a game against Somerset. Boucher got injured and Kallis took leave so its hard to really say how they did, but Somerset had the first innings lead.
So not epic, but hard to read much into it at this point.

Is that enough do you think, Biltong?

I have a feeling your guys night get a little overwhelmed by England. It may sound irrelevant... but I reckon there will be a wave of confidence in the England team with the Olympics going on and it will rub off onto the nation's sportspeople as a whole. Bradley Wiggins is a prime example... so much planning and training to reach peak performance at the right time.

well its the two best attacks in the world that is for certain.

Gonna be a great series and I dont expect it to be easy

Linebreaker wrote:Is that enough do you think, Biltong?

I have a feeling your guys night get a little overwhelmed by England. It may sound irrelevant... but I reckon there will be a wave of confidence in the England team with the Olympics going on and it will rub off onto the nation's sportspeople as a whole. Bradley Wiggins is a prime example... so much planning and training to reach peak performance at the right time.

No LB I don't beleive it is, I said from the start we will be rusty in the first test and are more likely to lose it than anything else.

I have been concerned about how the Proteas prepare for test series for some time now

Yeah, it's not like the old days when they would play many matches before the 1st Test.
That 1948 tour... I think they played about 33 or 34 matches for the whole tour!

I'd say minimum 3 x 3-5 day games or more would be optimal but the calender is pretty jam-packed so it's nigh on impossible these days.

They have another 3 day game against kent then into the tests.
This is something England sharpened up on after the 5-0 drubbing they took in Aus

mystiroakey wrote:Yeah I kind off miss them crazy Indians on the old 606.. where you all gone!!!!

Who was that guy Swamy Cricket Ananda, he was a nut job!

Linebreaker wrote:Yeah, it's not like the old days when they would play many matches before the 1st Test.
That 1948 tour... I think they played about 33 or 34 matches for the whole tour!

I'd say minimum 3 x 3-5 day games or more would be optimal but the calender is pretty jam-packed so it's nigh on impossible these days.

Is it? SA hardly seem to play any international cricket these days.
the first column in the stats I posted are the games played over the qualifying period, England have played far more in every catagory yet they find time to play that many warm ups as a minimum, and usually 3 for a "serious" tour since the Aus 07 debacle.

If SA were really on it they wouldve found time to come a bit earlier, and then felt like idiots sat inside watching the rain for a week.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Linebreaker wrote:Yeah, it's not like the old days when they would play many matches before the 1st Test.
That 1948 tour... I think they played about 33 or 34 matches for the whole tour!

I'd say minimum 3 x 3-5 day games or more would be optimal but the calender is pretty jam-packed so it's nigh on impossible these days.

Is it? SA hardly seem to play any international cricket these days.
the first column in the stats I posted are the games played over the qualifying period, England have played far more in every catagory yet they find time to play that many warm ups as a minimum, and usually 3 for a "serious" tour since the Aus 07 debacle.

If SA were really on it they wouldve found time to come a bit earlier, and then felt like idiots sat inside watching the rain for a week.

Two tour games is pretty much the standard these days, and I would argue that that is desirable for a three Test series. SA's problem is that the game at Taunton was hardly a proper warm-up: not first class, 2 days, more than 11 a side. So, with all the weather around, they won't be well prepared for The Oval.

I must admit I felt that would be the case too. So did Biltiong.

Took em nearly a whole day to start trying.

So you guys think the English are getting nervous yet?

So long as we beat keep beating Aus its all fine.

Good to see you know your place. Keep raising the bar and it'll be fine I'm sure.