Just how good are England

It used to be such that England were as good as their squad for the next game, at least in the last five years anyway. England were probably the first team (after the West Indies) to go through a full makeover and regeneration. Unlike the WIndies however, they have come out the better for it. It is a testament to their coach and team management that they have been able to progress out of that regeneration phase. I suppose that the bowling attack has the ability to go through the Indian batting lineup, even though, as it stands, India has a batting lineup much stronger than that of Australia's. With Flower as their coach, and Strauss as the (Test) captain, I would be very surprised if none of their bowlers had success against India.

I think there are two major factors for England's rising fortunes. One is the rise of Greame Swann as a spinner. Not only has that given them a variety in their bowling attacks, it has also given their batsman enough practice to play spin. So now they are more confident against spin. The other factor is the calming influence of Stauss and Flower. Even when the team has had their mandatory one collapse per series, the combo has stayed cool and resisted making any knee jerk decisions. So England is definitely a top three team in the test teams list!! Cheers! Ram

No doubt, This English cricket team is a damn good unit. In fact this is looking the most balanced team of all. Good pace attack & the best spinner ( at least ranking wise). Good steady openers & an aggressive batsman in Peterson. The biggest reason this team should be feared is their bench strength. They had their 2 strike bowlers down with injury yet they could find two other match winners.Bresnan is developing into an excellent allrounder & in Monty Panesar they have a good back up spinner, Morgan who will replace collinwood, is the brightest English future prospect. The transition seems complete & they will be good team for a long time. They really made Australia look worse than the team actually was.

Well they are blossoming under their new coach,they were a normal team just before 5 months.I though England was gonna fall as cricketing nation.But they really are back and back with a bang! Now they at least in top 4 teams in the world behind India and South Africa.

England is a much improved side compared to their earlier versions. Players like Cook has improved a lot, Petersen is always a good player, Tremlett, Swan has improved the balling department. But I will attribute beating Australia 2-1 in their own den more to decline of Australian standard than to the improvement of English side. The improvement in English side will now be ascertained when they tour Indian sub continent for the world cup.

I think it's a combination of both, really. The Australians are kind of in a mini-crisis right now, what with all the "OG" retiring relatively close together, and have essentially been left with what isn't a very experienced squad - especially in tests, and especially against England. This is contrary to how England have really been filtering in talented young players for the last few years, many since the winning series five years ago. It's a lot less of a "shock" to the team line-up than perhaps the Australian one has been. England have their injuries, but there's always someone just as talented to cover for them - look at Tremlett and Bresnan, for example. With Australian form at the moment, and so many players being dropped simply for poor form without even being injured, they kind of have their backs against the wall. Consistency has been a real issue for Australia this series. Their batsmen rarely made a mark, their bowlers were relatively ineffective most of the time. They won one match by nearly 300 runs, and lost three more by more than an innings. That would worry me, personally, more than just losing them all. For some reason, even though they obviously can win (and we know they can), they aren't. I do think, though, that Australia will be "stuck" like this for a while. At least until their team gets more used to its roles, the new guys get more experience, and more players start being added. Consistency also needs work. To be honest, all I can see is England getting stronger in that time. That the Australians have to do this in the first place should worry them. I believe it was Shane Warne who said it - the rest of the world has now "caught up" with Australians. They need to find new ways.

Hi thekelz, Life has both ups and down and so is the game of cricket. One time was there when Even would not dare face the pace of the Aussies. But now the atmosphere has change and there are bowlers in the England team who can rip through the very back bobe of the opposite. England win of tee series would not e just s fluke . They really deserve a series win.