Afridi until we don't get the home games we will struggle to make it into the top 4. Home advantage counts for so much in test cricket. For the 2013 test championships the top will be:

1) England
2) South Africa
3) Austrailia
4) India

Agreed kash, but realistically, that isnt going to happen anytime soon.... paks did relatively ok against saffers in middle east, just a matter of getting used to it.

Problem is Afridi on those sandy tracks the wickets are so flat that its almost impossible to get a result. This is why Pak should have chosen Sri Lanka as the home venue to take on England.

I think India is a lot better than people give them credit for.I think Tendulkar,Dravid and Laxman will still be around till the Test World Championship in 2013.And as long as they are there,India will continue to do well.

SA will be coming up in the next few years.

Finally they have a good coach in place who will impliment the right structures. SA fans will have infinite patience for Kirsten and his plans and will really get behind the team like never before.

Kirsten and Donald, the dream coach combo!

shanky,

Point is when india lose those players, they will struggle (initially anyways), just as the aussies have done with their bowling attack.....

Is Donald coaching SA now (bowling) ?

5-10 years is long time and can you say where the new players will come from, especially batsmen.

That's right. He is the full time bowling coach and will also work closely with the emerging team and junior teams

I still think we missed a trick with Donald - although Saker is proving his worth

"comment by hopeforthebest (U3251) posted 17 minutes ago

5-10 years is long time and can you say where the new players will come from, especially batsmen."

Cook, Trott, Bell, Pietersen, Morgan and Prior may well all still be playing in 5 years time. Non of them are more than 30 IIRC. Playing on 'til they're 35-36 at least is not at all implausable

Add to that players like Taylor, Hildreth, Patel, Bopara, Hales, Stokes, Kieswetter, Davies etc.

England atm have got great squad dept compared to most Test nations.

Only posistion England may be lacking is cover for Swanny but Bowlers & Batmen are cover for years.

Cook, Pieterson, Bell, Trott, are the backbone for batting for at least 5 years min.

Anderson, Broad, Swann, Tremlett, Bresnan are hte backbone for bowling for at last 5 years.

Hoggy I see you chose 5 years rather than 7 or 8.
In 5 years some of your suggestions will be close to 30 years of age.
Please don't include Bopara it hurts my sensibilities.

"comment by hopeforthebest (U3251) posted 3 minutes ago

Hoggy I see you chose 5 years rather than 7 or 8.
In 5 years some of your suggestions will be close to 30 years of age."

In 7 years time Trott, Bell and Prior will be 36-37, so will be on the verge of retirement. Pietersen would be 38, probably too old.
Cook'll be 33-34. Morgan 31-32.
But most of England's current batting line-up could be around for at least another 6-8 years.
As well as those I've mentioned, who knows who might come through the ranks in that time period.

Please don't include Bopara it hurts my sensibilities.
_____________________________________


He aint that bad,....

isn't that good either

England have been very slow to blood batsmen in the test side. Since Flower became coach only Bopara, Carberry and Morgan have been tried.
Against the weaker test sides some experimentation is surely necessary.
In particular who could open in place of Strauss?

He aint that bad,.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Afridi
Yes thats true mate.He isnt that bad.He is even worse.

The reason England have been 'slow' to blood youngsters over the last few years is because the current crop are too good to lose their places! who are you going to drop?
I like that because it puts more of an onus on fringe players to put consistent performances together. Look at Lyth as an opener - good last season but this season can't scrape 50 runs together. Yet a lot of good judges were saying 'put him in'

I didn't say 'youngsters' I said batsmen, age shouldn't come into it.
It concerns me that if two batsmen are woefully off form or injured simultaneously, we have no experienced batsmen ready to come in.
Games against Bangladesh, West Indies and maybe Pakistan should be used to look at possible options.
Lions games are a poor substitute for the test arena.

The reasoning is the same wether it be batsmen, bowlers or age. Ramprakash hasn't got in either despite being Englands leading runscorer. The POINT of having a succesful team is that IF someone is injured then they get the chance to come in & they know they have to succeed, otherwise they get dropped for the next game in favour of the player who has retention. I personally don't see why we need to experiment, and games against lesser opposition are to me as important to win as those against the likes of India and South Africa. We want to STAY at the top of the tree don't we?

Pakistan have a quality bowling line up, but as usual will probably struggle to find enough quality batsmen to climb into the top 4……..

-------------------------
I think Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq have brilliant test futures Younis Khan will still be around then also The main thing is playing at home, and we can't do that

4 years time, M Amir could be back also

Staying top of the tree is for me totally unimportant. Maintaining a strong team capable of testing all opposition is what counts. If we just hang onto the same players without reliable support we shall end up like Australia and now India, losing a bunch of ageing players and making wholesale changes with untried talent.

England have been very slow to blood batsmen in the test side. Since Flower became coach only Bopara, Carberry and Morgan have been tried.
Against the weaker test sides some experimentation is surely necessary.
In particular who could open in place of Strauss?

------------------------------
Englands main aim is to get to no1 hense playing all the big nations and having to play their best test team. Some small tours should be organised vs teams like Bangladesh and New Zealand to blood more youngsters. Even playing Zimbabwe would be good.

Staying top of the tree is for me totally unimportant....

Well, I guess that puts us as total polar opposites then because I LIKE us to win!

"If we just hang onto the same players without reliable support we shall end up like Australia and now India, losing a bunch of ageing players and making wholesale changes with untried talent..."

Thats not the case at all - Australia stayed at the top of the tree by blooding new players, they have lost out in recent years because that top talent just isn't coming through! Doubt that? Look at who they have now and tell me players like Katich are as fearsome as Ponting or the Waugh brothers? Some of their fast-bowling talent is just plain shoddy. Same with India - Raina and Mukund are very ordinary.
Name me one youngster who looks like cast-iron talent from either the sub-continent or the southern hemisphere at present? Can't think of any? Neither can I!
No, i just think that these things arevary from decade to decade and England happen to have a very talented pool to pick from. Long may it continue but all these runs come to an end sooner or later. The Aussies are typical of that