Another 4-0 whitewash for India- Good or bad for cricket?

The One wrote:i dont think the rest of the test cricket world should fear india losing interest. even if only 25% of the cricket fans still love tests thats more than the combined population of the other cricketing countries. india is still only one of 2 countries that can get crowds of 50,000+ for tests, not counting the millions watching on TV. it may suffer in relative comparison to the popularity of odis and t20s, but that mostly attracts the casual fans

what really seems to be the problem (besides an incompetent bcci, but thats always been the case) is that we are for some reason still not producing great bowlers. i have no doubt that the batting will sort itself out in time with the next generation having enough raw talent to succeed. if somehow, miraculously, we can find two bowlers who will average 25 with the ball over 7-8 years i think we will be ok. if not, the middle of the table will be where india sits. much like the 90s we will win at home and struggle away

Pathan, Nehra, Balaji, RP Singh, Ishant......India has no problems producing good bowlers. The problem is what happens in the 12-18 months after they make their debut for India. It would suggest a combination of poor workload management, which then leads to poor injury management, which then leads to the bowler feeling he has to cut down on pace in order to compensate for the workload and incompetent injury management.

Basically, India needs a team of damn good physios monitoring the fitness of the top 10 fast bowlers in the Country, and advising the Coaches when rest is needed, being open and honest when a bowler does pick up an injury (rather than being mysterious with the media....remember at Lord's last year when they said they were confident of Zaheer bowling in the second innings? Zaheer didn't bowl again for 4 months.....), and not rushing a bowler back after injury. This combined with weights programs tailored for each bowler might help keep them on the park and bowling at full pace.

At the moment, India's management of injury is out of date by about 50 years.

The One wrote:i know the saffies struggle to get that many over 5, but yeah

I can't recall the last time a saw anything nearing a crown at a test in India.

i think india needs a proper sports culture, i.e. people need to realise that cricketers today need to be at par with elite athletes in other sports. this is your job and you are getting paid a damn good amount for it. being lethargic, overweight and saying this is how it was always done and cricket is just a skills game is no excuse

the drop in pace, erratic lines and lengths can probably be put down to low fitness levels leading to poor comparisons with the strength and stamina of bowlers in other countries

taipan wrote:

The One wrote:i know the saffies struggle to get that many over 5, but yeah

I can't recall the last time a saw anything nearing a crown at a test in India.

cool

The One wrote:

taipan wrote:

The One wrote:i know the saffies struggle to get that many over 5, but yeah

I can't recall the last time a saw anything nearing a crown at a test in India.

cool

But true.

You always blame the low attendances on the fact that you have to buy a ticket for all 5 days.

yeah. the ticket rules keep on changing every match. almost always they are retarded. 5 day tickets. only one ticket outlet, which is a few kms from the stadium. etc

but we do get full houses every once in a while if we get a test in the bigger cities with good opposition or an interestingly poised day. in fact the last 2 days of the last test in india saw full houses

get an india vs aus/pak match at the eden and you may well see a 100,000

The One wrote:yeah. the ticket rules keep on changing every match. almost always they are retarded. 5 day tickets. only one ticket outlet, which is a few kms from the stadium. etc

but we do get full houses every once in a while if we get a test in the bigger cities with good opposition or an interestingly poised day. in fact the last 2 days of the last test in india saw full houses

get an india vs aus/pak match at the eden and you may well see a 100,000

So the exception rather than the rule.

yes. i didnt say we get crowds of 50,000+ for every day of every test. no country does

But the BCCI hardly uses Eden Gardens for tests anymore. It's the most criminally under-used cricket ground in India, considering its status as one of the iconic grounds of world cricket. When was the last time they had a big test match (ie v England, Australia, Pakistan, or South Africa) at Calcutta?

Idiots.

No, but I would say that both England and SA attract better crowds than India.

taipan wrote:No, but I would say that both England and SA attract better crowds than India.

Probably true. But again, you could probably put the whole blame onto the loathsome BCCI, who frequently schedule tests starting on a Monday.

Henry wrote:But the BCCI hardly uses Eden Gardens for tests anymore. It's the most criminally under-used cricket ground in India, considering its status as one of the iconic grounds of world cricket. When was the last time they had a big test match (ie v England, Australia, Pakistan, or South Africa) at Calcutta?

Idiots.

eden has hosted the most tests in the last 10 years, along with that abomination - mohali

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;home_or_away=1;orderby=matches;spanmax1=09+Jan+2012;spanmin1=09+Jan+2002;spanval1=span;team=6;template=results;type=team;view=ground

taipan wrote:No, but I would say that both England and SA attract better crowds than India.

lol. ok

Well, my real answer is WGAF? The FTP has been done, it's all sealed up. I don't really care whether their fans or media get disheartened by another thrashing. They're booked in. Personally, I don't think 'Cricket needs a strong xxxxxxxxxx team', it's a silly statement IMO. I do think that, after so many years of quntish dominance cricket needed a strong *anyone but Aus* but that time has passed.

As for attendance: England barely see a poorly attended Test. However, we play in poxy little grounds.

Like it or not, banindia are f**ked right now with an ageing cast of players ... going the same way as Aus did over the past 3 years ... so an imminent return to the top 4 is a distance away.

Cant see them readily filling the boots of the dwarf, stonewall, laxadasical or (when the mood takes him) dhoti. Their newbies are all showboats whose intent is more "get into the oppos faces" rather than "score a few runs/bag a few wickets".

A 4 - 0 whitewash?
They're getting used to it now, so it won't matter much to them with the IPL and all the bling attached to that circus just around the corner.

Shame if it does happen ... how the "mighty" have fallen ... and how fast!!

WGAF? Tests should be played with no quarter given or expected. As long as that happens everything will look after it's self.

As soon as we start moralising about one team winning or losing as 'good or bad' for cricket we're heading down into the abyss.

Invader Zim wrote:WGAF? Tests should be played with no quarter given or expected.

True that.

Henry wrote:

Pathan, Nehra, Balaji, RP Singh, Ishant......India has no problems producing good bowlers. The problem is what happens in the 12-18 months after they make their debut for India. It would suggest a combination of poor workload management, which then leads to poor injury management, which then leads to the bowler feeling he has to cut down on pace in order to compensate for the workload and incompetent injury management.

......... and steak with every meal.

I still think the famous 10-0 flogging of the poms by the windies (over successive series) was good for cricket and the natural order of things ..

As they say in my part of the world 'Allah say derna chahye" which means be afraid of God!
A few months ago they were the world champions and # 1 test team and now all of sudden there is a possibility of an 8 nil sweep....

Tooba Tooba!!

....and no another sweep will NOT be good for cricket.

Why won't it be?

Invader Zim wrote:WGAF? Tests should be played with no quarter given or expected. As long as that happens everything will look after it's self.

As soon as we start moralising about one team winning or losing as 'good or bad' for cricket we're heading down into the abyss.

To be fair though, I don't think Merls was suggesting a nice couple of games should be let slip to the Indians, to keep the backers happy.

Simply that it's a pity if Test cricket gains another Bangladesh (minus the effort).

Or maybe I am misinterpreting Merlin, and he has a couple of nicker on Bharat to nick one. And will sob into his pint if he loses his stake.

PlanetPakistan wrote:
....and no another sweep will NOT be good for cricket.

Why would it be bad, though? Surely it 'just is'. The beauty is the highs and lows. Not many in 2008 would've said that England would be #1, SA wouldn't have won a home series since, India's cracks had finally split the paper and NZ would draw a 'series' with Australia, in Australia?

From a historical perspective, I'd say it has been and will probably keep being quite an exciting period. I don't see how the mighty overlords having a bad period can harm things.

Surely it is part of sport that teams go through bad spells.

Any second now some twat will claim that LFC never winning the EPL is cheaping football.

How could they? They're Scottish.