What makes this team better IMO is the ability to spring back to victory after literally looking at defeat in the face. The present day cricket is much more competitive than in the 70's and 80's. The margin between victory and defeat is much less than what used to be in those days. This Australian team is stronger mentally than any other team in the history of cricket. Whether it's the most talented team ever is a little debatable though.
I have not checked the test record of the then WI team, but I will not be surprised if this Australian team shows a better record than the WI team in tests.
England lost this match rather than aussies winning it. Yes they bowled really well and took the oppurtunity presented to them BUT another 50 runs and this match would have been a draw.
Comparing teams from different eras is a bit unfair. It’s like comparing best batsmen from different eras. But just for the record if you combine the captaincy stats of Clive Lloyd and Viv and compare them with those of Taylor, Waugh and Ponting you can see that there is little to choose between arguably two of the most successful eras in cricket history. I still think the Windies side of the 70s and 80s was a superior side. They used to strike fear in the hearts of the opposition while this Australian side is more ruthless and clinical in its execution and probably mentally tougher.
- Lloyd and Richards’ era: i.e. 16 years from 1975-1991
LLOYD: 36 wins and 12 losses in 74 tests as captain
RICHARDS: 27 wins and 8 defeats in 50 tests as captain
- Mark Talor, Steve Waugh and Ponting’s era i.e. 12 years from 1994-2006
TAYLOR: 26 wins and 13 losses in 50 matches as captain
WAUGH: 41 wins and 9 losses in 57 matches as captain
PONTING: 24 wins and 3 defeats in 32 matches as captain
GILCHRIST: 4 wins and 1 loss in 6 matches as captain
yeah....what the heck happened to them...5th day...nothing to loose, 9 wickets in hand, and then they fell like dominos....
I mean....give me a break...
ENG is nothing but pomp....
Aussies are deadly....
I think rest of the teams should get together and come up with a joint strategy on how to defeat them in the next WC...
otherwise....
WC07 has Aus. name written all over it ....
First of all the match and result you presented as a counter example is invalid because of two reasons. It was a one day match, not a test and it was an exciting match with both teams playing to WIN. Whereas England lost today because they were playing for a draw where they could have forced the issue and could have pushed for a win themselves.
GoldenAsif, thansk a bunch for finding the stats. IMO, Mark Taylor’s team should not be considered while comparing the best AUS team with the best WI team.
Greatness has to be measured over a period of time. It would be unfair to compare 16 years of one era with just 6 or 7 years of another era (I know Australia have been really dominant since 1999). Besides Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell both rate Taylor as a better captain than Waugh or Ponting.
Though Australia will still be the favorites for WC’07 but you can see that in ODIs any team can bring their game up and kick in Aussies behind, even BD has managed it once and WI have done it more than once (in a tournament), so don’t write off other teams… now :insha: Pakistan will be in contention as well.
*Love it whenever *English are beaten like this .When they were getting huge splices of luck in series against Pakistan those were just *part and parcel *of the game,Now that a couple of them have gone against them, they have become absolutely Shocking and dubious Umpiring decisions.
Keep it up Australia .
From now onwards i think themost respectful score line for Eng. at the end of the series will be 4-0 at best, and Pakistan will be back at no.2 in rankings,untill the SA tour atleast,lol
West Indies did beat them recently but in the knock-out games Windies were their usu. pathetic selves. Let's face it Australia simply don't lose matches which really count, i.e. SFs and Finals of one-day tournaments, atleast that has been the trend since their WC triumph over Pakistan in 1999.
Re: England V Australia - 2nd Test – Australia wins last session thriller by 6 wickets!
David Gower: “England will find it very hard to believe there is a way back now. Having been 6 for 551 declared, a man scoring a double century (Collingwood), another man scoring 158 (Pietersen), a man taking seven wickets (Hoggard) - how they ended up on the losing side is anyone’s guess.”
what 5th day :k: Aussies still rock man!
