Savak
World Star
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2006
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Again the same puzzling debate.
England in the 2015 ODI WC were an ordinary side, they always had a quality domestic cricket structure in county cricket but the induction of players tailor made for ODI and T-20 Cricket, induction of baseball hitting coaches has completely overhauled their team
Look at Sri Lanka now and what the exit of Sangakkara, Jaywardene, Murlitharan, Dilshan, Vaas has done to them. At one point in time it was said that Sri Lanka's school cricket was the best in Asia and i don't think anyone raised too many eye brows over their domestic cricket overall but the fact is they just don't have the players right now.
South Africa is the biggest example for me. At one point in time South Africa's domestic cricket was as highly rated as the Sheffield Shield in Australia. Who would have imagined that a country which produced the likes of Keppler Wessel, Hansie Cronje, Gary Kirsten, Daryl Cullinan, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Lance Klusenar, Graeme Smith, Herschuelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, ABD Devilliers and co would be reduced to this today. Even when Pakistan lost to the South Africans at home, i knew full well it was because of Pakistan under performing rather than any outstanding brilliance from the proteas and it showed in the next series where the South Africans lost to the Sri Lankans at home. The poor South African economy, the Kol Pak rules have resulted in a massive drain of talent but this reinforces the point that South Africa's problem is not domestic cricket but the lack of talent in the team.
Australia is another example, the best domestic cricket structure in the world but they struggled on and off with the exit of their legends after 2007 and they struggled really badly in the abscence of Warner, Smith and you can see how solid their team is with the entry of these two individuals. But their case shows that their domestic cricket structure keeps afloat and that they are not immune to a massive exodus of players.
NZ's case is an interesting example They have always had a good domestic structure, they have also always played as a team and planned well against different oppositions. A well regarded captain like Stephen Fleming could perhaps have been an all time great captain if he was blessed with world class players. NZ's fortunes started changing when Vettori took on the captaincy and when players like Ross Taylor started to emerge, then Brendon Mccullam took over and changed the mentality of the side to go for the kill and then players like Bolt, Williamson emerged which uplifted the other average to decent performers in the team. I would say NZ's fortunes in the recent past only changed because of players like Mccullam, Williamson, Bolt which made Southee even more effective.
West Indies definately don't have the domestic cricket structure, but they have very good ODI and T-20 talent, their problem is the non-serious party animal attitude of their players and the fact they don't all come from one unique country which makes it hard to invoke patriotic feelings. But definately under Jason Holder the players see someone to look up to and follow so in their case they have a good example of how a good leader can make a difference.
India has the best of both worlds, an all time great reservoir of talent where they have all bases covered from aggressive openers, steady to aggressive middle order batsmen, aggressive medium pacer all rounders, aggressive wicket keeping batsmen, aggressive pacers, world class spinners, the modern day Kerry Packer T-20 tournament and perhaps the best paid domestic cricketers in the world who can now afford to focus primarily on their games, live a comfortable life style and not worry about having to put food on the table. No wonder India has now become the Heavyweight Australia of the Sub continent vs all the other Asian teams who are just Welterweights ride now. However it will be interesting to see if all the money in the world can compensate for the abscence of talent stocks as global history shows that even the best teams run into a paucity at some point for a certain period of time.
Bangladesh to me is an example of a country which has found its best players in this era where they have found an inspirational captain in Murtaza, a reliable middle order batsman in Mushfiqur, a world class all rounder in Shakib and plenty of good youngsters coming through. Good pacers in Mushfiqur and Tashkin. The BPL definately has done wonders for Bangladesh Cricket and it appears that Bangladesh's Domestic Structure and Club Cricket Structure must be on the upswing and it appears that the team's tremendous performances in the last 5 years has definately ignited a passion amongst the nation.
Lol now for Pakistan, what can i say, facts must be told, our talent stocks have never been lower, our domestic cricket structure has been a complete shambles especially in the last 10 years and to many factors have contributed i.e. the war on terror, the declining political and economic situation in the country has permeated to all segments to society and cricket is no exception. The worst part is that the players we have at our disposal do not have the discipline, professionalism of the western players which will allow them to punch above their weight in order to compensate for their world class talent. By and large i have seen many individual performances by the players in the team but none of them ends up translating into team wins. Having observed Pakistani Cricketers, i need to admit they lag behind tremendously in comparison to the Big 5 in terms of ability to think big, skills wise, professionalism, fitness wise. Sadly the players have just proven that they cannot be trusted as adults to uphold the highest standards of professionalism therefore the PCB will have no choice but to adopt a strict baby sitting, carrot/stick approach where the PCB will need to make it mandatory for players to meet minimum fitness requirements, hire a personal chef to make healthy delicious meals for the players and as long as the players are on the PCB payroll they need to stick to these meals for the rest of their lives or they lose the right to play for Pakistan. This is the only way now i am afraid.
But my opinion is that there is no substitute for having world class talent and players, a solid domestic structure may or may not help to bridge that gap but can certainly equip the players as best as possible to be thoroughly professional and to be prepared for international cricket by the time they reach the national team.
England in the 2015 ODI WC were an ordinary side, they always had a quality domestic cricket structure in county cricket but the induction of players tailor made for ODI and T-20 Cricket, induction of baseball hitting coaches has completely overhauled their team
Look at Sri Lanka now and what the exit of Sangakkara, Jaywardene, Murlitharan, Dilshan, Vaas has done to them. At one point in time it was said that Sri Lanka's school cricket was the best in Asia and i don't think anyone raised too many eye brows over their domestic cricket overall but the fact is they just don't have the players right now.
South Africa is the biggest example for me. At one point in time South Africa's domestic cricket was as highly rated as the Sheffield Shield in Australia. Who would have imagined that a country which produced the likes of Keppler Wessel, Hansie Cronje, Gary Kirsten, Daryl Cullinan, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Lance Klusenar, Graeme Smith, Herschuelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, ABD Devilliers and co would be reduced to this today. Even when Pakistan lost to the South Africans at home, i knew full well it was because of Pakistan under performing rather than any outstanding brilliance from the proteas and it showed in the next series where the South Africans lost to the Sri Lankans at home. The poor South African economy, the Kol Pak rules have resulted in a massive drain of talent but this reinforces the point that South Africa's problem is not domestic cricket but the lack of talent in the team.
Australia is another example, the best domestic cricket structure in the world but they struggled on and off with the exit of their legends after 2007 and they struggled really badly in the abscence of Warner, Smith and you can see how solid their team is with the entry of these two individuals. But their case shows that their domestic cricket structure keeps afloat and that they are not immune to a massive exodus of players.
NZ's case is an interesting example They have always had a good domestic structure, they have also always played as a team and planned well against different oppositions. A well regarded captain like Stephen Fleming could perhaps have been an all time great captain if he was blessed with world class players. NZ's fortunes started changing when Vettori took on the captaincy and when players like Ross Taylor started to emerge, then Brendon Mccullam took over and changed the mentality of the side to go for the kill and then players like Bolt, Williamson emerged which uplifted the other average to decent performers in the team. I would say NZ's fortunes in the recent past only changed because of players like Mccullam, Williamson, Bolt which made Southee even more effective.
West Indies definately don't have the domestic cricket structure, but they have very good ODI and T-20 talent, their problem is the non-serious party animal attitude of their players and the fact they don't all come from one unique country which makes it hard to invoke patriotic feelings. But definately under Jason Holder the players see someone to look up to and follow so in their case they have a good example of how a good leader can make a difference.
India has the best of both worlds, an all time great reservoir of talent where they have all bases covered from aggressive openers, steady to aggressive middle order batsmen, aggressive medium pacer all rounders, aggressive wicket keeping batsmen, aggressive pacers, world class spinners, the modern day Kerry Packer T-20 tournament and perhaps the best paid domestic cricketers in the world who can now afford to focus primarily on their games, live a comfortable life style and not worry about having to put food on the table. No wonder India has now become the Heavyweight Australia of the Sub continent vs all the other Asian teams who are just Welterweights ride now. However it will be interesting to see if all the money in the world can compensate for the abscence of talent stocks as global history shows that even the best teams run into a paucity at some point for a certain period of time.
Bangladesh to me is an example of a country which has found its best players in this era where they have found an inspirational captain in Murtaza, a reliable middle order batsman in Mushfiqur, a world class all rounder in Shakib and plenty of good youngsters coming through. Good pacers in Mushfiqur and Tashkin. The BPL definately has done wonders for Bangladesh Cricket and it appears that Bangladesh's Domestic Structure and Club Cricket Structure must be on the upswing and it appears that the team's tremendous performances in the last 5 years has definately ignited a passion amongst the nation.
Lol now for Pakistan, what can i say, facts must be told, our talent stocks have never been lower, our domestic cricket structure has been a complete shambles especially in the last 10 years and to many factors have contributed i.e. the war on terror, the declining political and economic situation in the country has permeated to all segments to society and cricket is no exception. The worst part is that the players we have at our disposal do not have the discipline, professionalism of the western players which will allow them to punch above their weight in order to compensate for their world class talent. By and large i have seen many individual performances by the players in the team but none of them ends up translating into team wins. Having observed Pakistani Cricketers, i need to admit they lag behind tremendously in comparison to the Big 5 in terms of ability to think big, skills wise, professionalism, fitness wise. Sadly the players have just proven that they cannot be trusted as adults to uphold the highest standards of professionalism therefore the PCB will have no choice but to adopt a strict baby sitting, carrot/stick approach where the PCB will need to make it mandatory for players to meet minimum fitness requirements, hire a personal chef to make healthy delicious meals for the players and as long as the players are on the PCB payroll they need to stick to these meals for the rest of their lives or they lose the right to play for Pakistan. This is the only way now i am afraid.
But my opinion is that there is no substitute for having world class talent and players, a solid domestic structure may or may not help to bridge that gap but can certainly equip the players as best as possible to be thoroughly professional and to be prepared for international cricket by the time they reach the national team.
