Pakistan Top Rankings
After a few topsy turvy series, in which England, Pakistan, India and Australia all could have ended up on top of the Test Rankings, and after Pakistan came back to snatch a draw in their series here in England, Australia were butchered by Sri Lanka and rain prevented India from beating the West Indies more than 2-0, it is Pakistan who rise to the top of the rankings with 111 points, seeing off India on 110, Australia (108) and England (also 108).
Now I personally think that the rankings themselves aren't particular good or even a reasonable gauge of where each individual team is at. But what it is useful for is as a helpful visual metaphor for the current state of international cricket. Less than two years ago, South Africa were the dominant side in test cricket, and now they sit in 7th place in the rankings, after failing to beat Bangladesh in a two match series in the subcontinent, and then being hammered in the subsequent series by India and then finally humbled in their own back garden by England.
Now, the international test game is blown wide open. There are four sides all snapping and jostling for position, all of them confident that they can be the best. New Zealand are vastly improving and Sri Lanka will fancy their chances of climbing the table when they go to South Africa for a three test series at the end of the year.
The big test at the moment is who can secure results away from home, in unfamiliar and uneasy circumstances. Increasingly in test matches, we're seeing teams win almost all of their test series at home and then lose away in different conditions. And when we do see teams win series' away from home like India in Sri Lanka, Australia in New Zealand and England in South Africa to an extent, it's because they're playing very similar teams in very similar conditions. Yet Australia, who can go to win in New Zealand, and turn over anyone on their own pitches, go to the subcontinent and get spun out by a mediocre Sri Lanka side who were pummeled in English conditions a couple of months earlier.
The truth is that we're seeing the best teams in certain sets of conditions rising to the top. England and South Africa have very similar styles of team, but England are better so rise to the top. India and Sri Lanka play in similar conditions, and India are better. Australia and New Zealand again. And then there's Pakistan, who are now deservedly on top of the test rankings having gone to Sri Lanka and won, and now come to England and secured a draw, no mean feat.
What we're seeing at the moment is a power vacuum in test cricket. Test cricket usually has one dominant side, whether it's the West Indies sides of the 80s, the Australian sides of the early 00s, the England side of the late 00s and early 10s or the South Africa side of the last few years. And now, there is no dominant side, and the gap is there for one team to seize control.
And for me that team has to be England. In a few months time, Pakistan will face the first test of their supremacy, now that they have established it, as they go to Australia. Based on their performance in England, I have every confidence that Pakistan will be extremely competitive in that series, as they're arguably the most well-rounded best side in terms of style. But at the same time, England travel to the subcontinent, to face India in India.
This for me, is a critical series both for England and for the future of test cricket. Australia are a weakened side, and are not fit to be near the top of the leaderboard, something that I think Pakistan and South Africa will expose later this year when they both go down under. I think South Africa's pace bowlers and Yasir Shah for Pakistan will cause Australia all kinds of problems and their bowling attack is not what it used to be, although I expect they'll cause Pakistan problems. And England have a serious chance to not only establish themselves as serious contenders, but to topple India in the subcontinent, which would send a major message after their 2-0 defeat to Pakistan in the UAE last year.
England currently hold 6 of the possible 7 trophies against the top test nations. They blew the chance to collect the final one with their capitulation against Pakistan and looking at this England side, its strengths and weaknesses are obvious. They have the best pace attack in world cricket, with Woakes, Broad and Anderson, not to mention Stokes and Finn. They have two of the best, if not the two best batsmen in world cricket in Cook and Root and both of them mercifully, can play spin admirably. They have a destructive and dangerous lower order in Woakes, Stokes, Moeen and Bairstow. But they are also prone to serious collapses and the upper middle order is a serious concern with Ballance and Hales with something to prove.
But by far the biggest question over whether England can win in India again is the quality of their spinners. England have won three series in a row against India and when they won in India nearly four years ago, they had Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann in full throttle mode. There are still major question marks over Moeen Ali which puts a lot of pressure on Adil Rashid, who will undoubtedly play in the subcontinent.
I personally think England have to be brave and back Rashid. Even if he gets hit for a few runs, he will take wickets and is capable of performing on the highest stage. Cook has to be brave and give him a run in the side, let him bowl long spells and trust him to adjust. Hopefully, the two test series against Bangladesh will be a good warm up and by the middle of the India series, Rashid will be in full flight.
Do I think England can win in the subcontinent? Yes. We have more than enough matchwinners in our side to win against India and show Pakistan that we are a force to be reckoned with. England should have beaten Pakistan in England this year, we were nowhere near our best in two of the four tests and still drew the series 2-2. England have the quality in their batting line up, they have the pace bowlers and to be honest, if they give Rashid a chance then they have the spinners too. The big question is in their mentality. Do England have what it takes to go and bat hard and trust their spinners and topple a dangerous and powerful India side, in the subcontinent? Only time will tell.
But in order to seize the top of the leaderboard, England need to prove that they can win away from England consistently. They beat South Africa, now they need to beat India, so that when we go to Australia in 2017, we go in knowing that beating them makes us the best team in world cricket.
Because England are the best team in world cricket when they put their minds to it. And it's long past time that they showed that.
The Hard and Fast Section
- West Brom out the EFL Cup on pens to Northampton.
- As are Watford to Gillingham 2-1. Yikes.
- But no problems for LFC, beating Burton 5-0.
- White ball cricket today. Roy and Buttler. Excited.
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