England cricket team now number one in the world

[RF]

Congratulations are due to Andrew Strauss and the rest of the England Test cricket team on reaching number one in the world cricket ratings. This follows a four nil walloping of India, the previous number one team, and of course retaining the Ashes ''down under'' at the start of this year.

[richtea]

Now the hard work begins.
Since the 51 all out in the Windies, the team have performed exceptionally well.
We have got to be number 1, now we have to strive to stay there and become known as a great team.
To do this we have to stay at the top of the table for some years.
Then we can be compared with the great teams like the old Windies and the Aussies.

[RF]

Looking at the current series in the UAE, we seem to be watching a contest to see which side has the most incompetent batsmen.

[richtea]

Once more England have gone on a tour under prepaired,
especially the batsmen.
A couple of knock about games after a break does not get a batsman ready for test cricket.
Bowlers can find their rhythm in the nets, batsmen need time out in the middle.
Regards
Richard

[RF]

Absolutely right - it happened to India in England last summer, and has happened again to them now in Australia.

The problem is too many compressed tours, very tight tour scheduling systematic of too much top level cricket being played at the expense of grass roots cricket.

Quantity isn't a substitute for quality.