It’s been a long a tiresome 18 months for English cricket, but they have finally reached their goal of becoming the number one test nation in the world. A comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of India on home soil was the perfect way to toast their victory, but Andy Flower’s men aren’t done yet. The determined Zimbabwean coach has already set their targets on becoming the best one day team in the world as well. Great such as Ian Botham have claimed England will be top for the next 5-8 years, he even suggest placing a wager on it and his sports betting picks are often up there with the best.
So how did they mange to get their?
One of the main reasons was the sheer strength and depth of the team. They had cover for every position, and not just some journeyman, can’t quite cut it cricketer from the county scenes who have been rife in the English game for far too long, but quality players who could easily be in the team on merit. The depth f the squad is a great facet for any team. looking back at the great Australian team of the late 90′s and early 00′, players like Lehman, McGill, Martyn and Symonds are all fantastic cricketers who should have 50 caps each, never got a look in. The English team have adopted this ‘Aussie’ like mentality and have raised the bar in international cricket.
Their bowling attack has long been prised by many pundits and ex professional players around the world. They have the perfect balance with strong, quick fast bowlers (which are a dying breed in the modern game), with the guile and finesse of the number one spinner in the world that is Graeme Swann. The boys have worked tirelessly at their game and Swann is a great example to any young cricketer to never give up. It was only 4-5 years ago where Swann’s international chance has deemed to have come and gone. He has totally turned his career and life around to be one of the best English spinners of all time.
Their batting is also fearsome force with the team consistently posting scores of 500+ against India, Sri Lanka and Australia. This has largely been down to likes of Ali Cook and Jonathan Trott who both have scored heavily in three test series. There have been no fewer than 7 double hundreds made over the last 18 months. I dare say it’s probably a lot more than in the last 10 years put together.
Even when England rest players and make changes for things such as the one day series and T20 matches the young guns that are waiting in the wings seem to be really exciting prospects. Jade Dernbach looks to be as good as they come when it’s about bowling at the death. Jonny Bairstow, ScottBorthwick and Ben Stokes are breaking into the English ranks and it will be interesting to see how they fair on the sub continent against India in the one-day series.
The future is certainly bright for English cricket, there’s no doubt about that.