England has some more hurdles to cross before becoming the super power of cricket – Part 1
England has been playing some extra-ordinary cricket since the last couple of years under the captaincy of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 and has beaten almost all the top Test teams of the world. Recently England ascended to the throne of the number
one ranked Test team of the world as they crushed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the four match series at home.
India was the top team of the world before the series started and the cricket analysts all around the world were anticipating a very competitive series as the two top teams of the world were about to compete. However, the Test series turned
out to be an anti-climax and the cricket fans all around the world faced a huge disappointment by seeing the number one ranked side thrashed so badly.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 faced a torrid time in International cricket since the last couple of decades as almost all the top teams of the world defeated them badly. The counties stopped producing high quality cricketers and as a result the English cricket
suffered terribly.
However, the fortunes have changed for England and now Andrew Strauss and company have become a formidable force in International cricket. They are the best Test team of the world without a shadow of doubt; however, the same cannot be
said about their credentials in limited overs cricket.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 dominated the cricketing world for the last decade and a half but this is not the case anymore as the rule of nature is that every rise has a fall. It remains to be seen that for how long England would be able to maintain its
dominance in Test cricket.
Former England captain and legendary all-rounder, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ian-Terence-Botham-c63998, feels that the current English team has the potential to rule the world of cricket for at least the coming five years, because majority of the English players are young
and they have a lot of cricket left in them.
Botham said, "I can't see them getting moved for at least five or six years, maybe eight. I think for five or six years they'll stay pretty much as they are now. Two players - the captain and Pietersen - might be the two that in four or
five years' time might fade out."
Although Botham feels that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 and Andrew Strauss are the two players who do not have a distant future in International cricket as they are older than the rest, but he believes that England has a very good bench strength at
the moment and the younger boys would not let the team down.
"But they're already making plans for that. The rest of the side will go on and on with the back-up that they've got and a manager/coach that will keep their feet on the ground," he added.
Botham seems to have a point because the top performers in the series against India were http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026. All of them are in their 20s and have long careers ahead of them, which augurs well for the future of English
cricket.
To be continued in the next part …
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