So, England have lost to Pakistan. The final test had
started by looking like it could save some face, but for the third test in a
row the batting line up looked like, well I don’t know what they looked like, I
personally cannot remember an England Batting line up being so comprehensively
dominated throughout a series (not even the 2007/08 whitewash matches it).
Personally I think has a lot to do with having a horrifically unbalanced middle
order but I can’t think who I’d want in a Collingwood role so I won’t go into
it.
To be fair the bowlers once again laid claim to the position
of truly the greatest attack in the world, but Pakistan’s own attack now must
be eyeing up that accolade (especially if they can rush Amir back) along with,
what appears to be, an extremely potent Australian attack who are already
starting to look like some form of a finished article.
But when it comes down to it, did anyone really expect an
England win in the Emirates? A place with tracks highly conducive to spin, against
a side containing Saeed Ajmal – who I believe is the most talented spinner I
have seen in my life (slightly better than Murali and as far as I can tell
Warnie got most of his wickets off the back of just being Warnie); a place
where no number 1 side has ever won a test series (yeah I know, clutching at
straws). But most importantly we were playing Pakistan, I’ve never been
confident when England are up against Pakistan, admittedly in the late 90s I
wasn’t confident against anyone but those dark days are gone now and England
are number 1 in the world… still, just, I think.
In fact I’m almost glad England lost, I can’t help thinking
that this series and particularly the result has been unbelievably good for
test cricket. To start with it managed to get everyone to shut up about spot
fixing for a little while, a topic that I’d been getting staggeringly bored of.
But even better than that is the only talk I’ve heard recently of the ‘death of
test cricket’ have come from people who only bothered to watch the funereal
proceedings out in Australia. In fact I honestly believe the form has never
been healthier, with five sides within ten points at the top of the ICC’s test
rankings and Sri Lanka in sixth position perfectly capable of beating any of
those sides above them on their day. Test cricket is now, for the first time in
a long time, completely unpredictable from series to series. Each nation is
awash with young talent ranging from Australia’s recently called up Pace attack
or South African spinner Imran Tahir to the simply astounding potential of the
batsmen bossing the international second tier for the England Lions or Pakistan’s
fairly recent fantastic find in Azhar Ali. Even the Indians have a lot of young
cricketers hammering down the door to push their old idols out of the side but
unfortunately the selectors appear to be ignoring them for now, a move that
could well hamper their attempts at a return to sitting on top of the very
pinnacle of cricket’s most prestigious form.
This flooding of the test game with prodigious talent and
the incredible potential on display or waiting in the stockroom for their big
exposition across most of the ‘big’ test nations can only mean that test
cricket will continue to flourish. Personally, I can see there being constant
reshuffling at the top of the rankings with any one of the current top 5
capable of sitting at the top of the pile for a short while before some other
side will likely come along to knock them off their perch. India are likely to
make a strong case to return to number 1 without any trips away from the
subcontinent for quite a while. England v South Africa should be a straight
shoot out for world number 1 this summer, so long as both teams perform as
expected away from home in their upcoming series against supposedly ‘weak’
sides. And Australia and Pakistan both give the impression they could quickly
become unbeatable on home soil, even if – in Pakistan’s case – that soil isn’t
actually in their own country. I know there are arguments against each team
being able to be number 1: India can’t win away, England batters don’t think
enough, Australia and Pakistan are teams in transition and who knows what is
going on with the Saffies, they are simply mercurial. But that is what ought to
make this five year period leading up to the inaugural ICC test championship so
enthralling; no one side is likely to be truly dominant like the great
Australian and West Indian teams were, but they are all pretty evenly matched
in the right conditions, all this should lead to plenty of swings and
roundabouts and any other number of playground apparatus in the landscape of
test cricket over the next 5 or so years. Test cricket should continue in rude
health to be the most enthralling game on the planet for many years to come and,
if all these sides continue to compete at on or around the same level, it will
be amazing unpredictability that makes it so.
Test cricket will never die… just don’t ask me to bet on it.
Very nicely written !!
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