Second best team in the world ( all formats?)

South Africa?

ICC test rank : 2
ICC ODI rank :2
ICC T20 rank : 2
Total point : 353

Or England

ICC Test rank :1
ICC ODI rank : 5
ICC T20 rank : 1
Total points : 358

England may have struggled in ODIs but they are massively ahead of field in T20s, the deserved world champions. Of course theyw ill probably shortly lose their snazzy test mace to SA, and Id say their all formats number one spot with it.

We may well get to see this summer.

Thats why Im having the debate now while we can calim to be top still

We still will be come September

We may even pip them in the ODI's as well.

Australia look like the best team in the world at present in the Test Match Format.

england is the best team in the world- not the second

mystiroakey wrote:england is the best team in the world- not the second

England may be the best team in the world in test cricket at the moment purely on the world ranking system, however it is likely Australia will overtake us by the time the next ashes test series is played in England.

and if that happens- we will just beat em again and take it back

mystiroakey wrote:and if that happens- we will just beat em again and take it back

But Australia are now a better team than when we beat them last year.

and so will we be!


and we will be at home

mystiroakey wrote:and so will we be!


and we will be at home

It could be 1989 all over again

dont let a slip up against pakistain allow you to think we are rubbish at test cricket- and certainly dont let it sway you that we arnt the best in english conditions!!

we have the best players and we will be dominant or close to dominant in all formats very soon!!

yes i am optimistic- however I and all england fans have a right to be-However I do realise that most england cricket fans are serial pessimists!

Sorry boys, but second spot has been reserved for SA for more than a decade.

If you compare win loss ratio's of the last 15 years, you will find, OZ no 1, and SA no2.

Sad but true.

yep and today you are second spot behind england

Well I stand by my assertion that at this points they are the all round number one team, but SA should soon overghaul them.

Aus are a long way behind in T20s and have a fair bit to prove yet in tests. they are still carrying a few old boys, still have a problem with spinners and their new generation pacemen havent proven themselves able to exploit English or Asian conditions yet.
They may well be resurgent, but the win against India doesnt really prove that. They clearly hate travelling at the moment, and their bowling is even worse in aus than in england.

Yeah, the opponents change, but the view to the top remains the same.

You just see a different a..se

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Well I stand by my assertion that at this points they are the all round number one team, but SA should soon overghaul them.

Aus are a long way behind in T20s and have a fair bit to prove yet in tests. they are still carrying a few old boys, still have a problem with spinners and their new generation pacemen havent proven themselves able to exploit English or Asian conditions yet.
They may well be resurgent, but the win against India doesnt really prove that. They clearly hate travelling at the moment, and their bowling is even worse in aus than in england.

So much worse that Mitchell Johnson cannot get into their starting test XI now - I think not.

how good is mitch at test level- he has had a very rough time of it! amazing one day bolwer - yes. But he is buffet time for englands batters at test level!!

mystiroakey wrote:how good is mitch at test level- he has had a very rough time of it! amazing one day bolwer - yes. But he is buffet time for englands batters at test level!!

He was the number one bowler in the ICC Test Rankings I believe around 2009.

yeah untill the england bat got hold of him

It is no surprise that Johnson can't make the OZ team.

From 2008 to march 2010 he took over 100 wickets in 21 tests.

Then since then he has only taken 35 wickets in his lst 13 tests

A strike bowler who takes less than 3 wickets per test will never be seen as a good enough choice.

Australia don't need Mitchell Johnson anymore now that they have uncovered the new Glenn McGrath Mark II in Patrick Cummins. Cummins definitely looks likely to take over the pace bowling spearhead mantle of being the Aussie demon terror bowler who can quickly desmantle England's fragile batting lineup in an innings, following on from such illustrious predecessors such as Fred Spofforth, Jack Gregory, Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Billy McDermott, Glenn McGrath.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Well I stand by my assertion that at this points they are the all round number one team, but SA should soon overghaul them.

Aus are a long way behind in T20s and have a fair bit to prove yet in tests. they are still carrying a few old boys, still have a problem with spinners and their new generation pacemen havent proven themselves able to exploit English or Asian conditions yet.
They may well be resurgent, but the win against India doesnt really prove that. They clearly hate travelling at the moment, and their bowling is even worse in aus than in england.

I think this is a fair assessment. Australia played some very good cricket against India (the first test was a good contest at least, from the moment Ponting and Clarke got going in the second it stopped being a contest), but at the moment are ranked about right at no 4. Their batting is still fragile with the no 3 slot a question mark. Haddin is on his last legs, although Wade has taken to international cricket like a duck to water. I don't think Aus have that much of a problem with spinners though: Lyon did very well in Sri Lanka, and ok against India who you have to admit play spin almost ridiculously well. In ODIs Doherty does the job they want perfectly adequately. And as you point out, their pace attack has potential, but is far from proven as yet.

Adding to that, Australia's pace attack still has to be classed as injury prone for me. Cummins and Pattinson are two youngs bowlers who have both had bad injuries, and I hope that they are able to stay fit and become the bowlers they should be but their is always that nagging doubt that they will keep getting injured. Harris is made of glass and needs to wrapped in cotton wool because he is very decent when he plays. Hilfenhaus has regained his nip for now, and he should be very effective bowling in England but I don't think he is a long term answer in the Aussie bowling unit.

Overall, they have some great potential but still have a lot to proff whereas England have 6 or 7 seamers who have done it in Test cricket already.

gb- if mitch kept his form they would have kept him in the side- he isnt up to test level at present- its simple as that.

To me, England are the best team overall. SA will have something to say about that soon but right now its still England.

Having watched the Aussies destroy India in the test series, i cant see much difference between them and England right now though. Interesting 18 months of cricket ahead i feel

gboycottnut wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Well I stand by my assertion that at this points they are the all round number one team, but SA should soon overghaul them.

Aus are a long way behind in T20s and have a fair bit to prove yet in tests. they are still carrying a few old boys, still have a problem with spinners and their new generation pacemen havent proven themselves able to exploit English or Asian conditions yet.
They may well be resurgent, but the win against India doesnt really prove that. They clearly hate travelling at the moment, and their bowling is even worse in aus than in england.

So much worse that Mitchell Johnson cannot get into their starting test XI now - I think not.

I was talking about the Indian bowling.

And Mitch can be considered the Aussie Hamrisson. He lost it comepletly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjoGpmqrJMk

Interesting discussion. I'm happy for Australia to be rated well behind both England and SA as those two coutries fight it out for bragging rights to the world crown in the various formats of the game.

Australia is improving but the new brigade need to prove they can play with passports in their pockets. In fact the next team to go to England to contest the Ashes may yet be rated "the worst to ever leave our shores". One can only hope.

I think the Aussies will have something to say about the rankings come year end.

They have a number of bowlers who are consistently performing at home and with SA going there end of year they will be very confident off the back of the disastrous tour India had there.

It will be tough for SA this year as they play their two main rivals away from home.

im gonna be honest, i think its 50-50...

literally nothing between them at all.

Well thanks to the rain it looks like SA are staying the second best team in the world for now

will be a cracking series between ENG AND SA in the summer