Sky sports has reported in an interview with England captain Kevin Pietersen that he feels Australia are in Decline.
The Kevin Pietersen article as reported by Sky sports is written below:
Aussies are in decline
Retirements have weakened Ponting's men, says England skipper.
England captain Kevin Pietersen says Australia will be taking a "backward step" if they recall Shane Warne for next year's Ashes.
Australia's spin cupboard is empty following the retirement of Warne and fellow wrist spinners Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg in the last 18 months.
Leg-spinning all-rounder Cameron White has been unsuccessful in filling the void during the first two Tests of their current tour of India.
Warne, who took 708 wickets in 145 Tests, has previously stated he would consider an Ashes comeback if asked by Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
"I've already had a text from him saying he might play in it next year," said Pietersen, who played with Warne at Hampshire.
"If he does I think it will be a real backwards step for Australia. If they did decide to pull somebody out it would show how much it did mean to Australia, certainly.
"There is still a long way to go before we play them and there is room for improvement - but they certainly aren't the team they were when we played against them last year. Definitely not.
Hammered
"They took Test cricket to a new level with the side that they had and absolutely hammered us. They really hurt us.
"But the side that is playing for Australia now is certainly not the one we played against two years ago.
"They don't have Glenn McGrath they don't have Adam Gilchrist they are missing some pretty dangerous players. They are missing Justin Langer at the top of the order."
Warne claimed 40 wickets during the 2005 Ashes series but Pietersen insists England would not be fazed if he was to pull on the Baggy Green again.
"To be honest it really doesn't matter if he plays or not. I don't have a problem with it and our guys play Shane pretty well. I enjoy facing Shane," added Pietersen.
Pietersen is currently in Antigua with England's limited-overs squad preparing for the Stanford Super Series.
England then travel to India and the West Indies before the 2009 Ashes summer gets under way.
Pietersen wants to tackle Australia on the back of successive series victories, as they did in 2005.
"We have a very important next few months," he said.
My View:
In my humble opinion; KP is probably right, although I wouldn't want to rile the Aussies too much. It's impossible for a team to lose some of the greatest players of the modern cricketing era and not take a step backwards; Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist are unquestionably modern greats with Langer, Hog and MacGill all top drawer players that can have a significant impact on the result of a match. Australia have got quality players to replace the before mentioned players but it will take time for them to fully establish themselves in the test arena and as stated in the Sky sports article Australia are currently lacking in the spin department.
Although I concur with KP's opinion I can't help but think that if Warne were to decide to come back for Australia during the Ashes in 2009 that he would play a significant role. I'm sure if Warne was to make a return he wouldn't comeback half cooked and would make sure that he would be bowling well!
As an Englishman I would rather not see him return; as a cricket fan it would be great to see him bowl again (if he could find some of the old form as he was a magnificent bowler).
Showing posts with label England Cricket Team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England Cricket Team. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 October 2008
The Ashes Can Be Ours says Harmison
Rejuvenated England paceman Steve Harmison says he is concentrating on the 2009 Ashes series despite the huge amount of money on offer in the Stanford 20/20 (the winner-takes-all match on November 1 against the Stanford Superstars). The $1 million per man on offer for the winner of the Stanford match is the biggest individual team prize in the history of sport!
"This is going to be an exciting and intense 12 months of cricket and I cannot wait. People will go on about the Stanford series and the money that is on offer, but every single Englishman knows the Ashes series against Australia is the one to really win," said the Durham and England fast bowler. "The money on offer for the Stanford tournament is a lot, but you've got to win it first. We are going out there to represent our country, just as we will do in India and the West Indies this winter."
Harmison defended himself from critics who said he returned to England's limited-overs side for the Stanford millions. "I think we will get a certain amount of stick about playing in the Stanford games, but it was the ECB who organised it, not the players," he said. "We'll get stick if we win and we'll get stick if we lose. I even offered not to play because I knew people would say I've only started playing one-day cricket again for England because of the money, but that wasn't the case."
As far as I'm concerned, if Harmison delivers and performs as he did in the final test and one day matches against South Africa then he should play, if on the other hand he returns to the Steve Harmison that had been playing for the past two years (which led to his eventual overdue dropping from the team) then he should be dropped immediately as England had to carry him the last time.
Harmison said winning the Ashes next year was a "realistic goal". England won the memorable last contest on these shores, in 2005, but were demolished 5-0 in Australia in 2006-07. "I do feel I've got a bit of a score to settle. I know what it's like to win the Ashes and I know what it is like to lose the Ashes 5-0. It's the same for Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss."
"I think it can happen, I really do, but we've got a hell of a lot of cricket to play between now and then. I think we've got ten different series in the next 12 months and I'd like to play in and win them all."
Harmison forced his way back into the England fold after being dropped with a very impressive county season for Durham; he finished with 60 wickets in 12 games and Durham won their first Championship title. Harmison was recalled for the final Test against South Africa at The Oval, under new captain Kevin Pietersen (who obviously has great belief in the bowler and thinks of him in very high regard), and was later persuaded to return to the international limited-overs version of the game.
"It is a season which began with me at my lowest ebb, but it is one I will look back on with an enormous sense of satisfaction," Harmison said. "I've achieved my own personal goal of getting back into the England team and Durham have won the title, I couldn't have asked for much more. This has been a fantastic season for me, unbelievable really. We had our disappointments at Durham, losing in two semi-finals, but we kept on going."
"This is going to be an exciting and intense 12 months of cricket and I cannot wait. People will go on about the Stanford series and the money that is on offer, but every single Englishman knows the Ashes series against Australia is the one to really win," said the Durham and England fast bowler. "The money on offer for the Stanford tournament is a lot, but you've got to win it first. We are going out there to represent our country, just as we will do in India and the West Indies this winter."
Harmison defended himself from critics who said he returned to England's limited-overs side for the Stanford millions. "I think we will get a certain amount of stick about playing in the Stanford games, but it was the ECB who organised it, not the players," he said. "We'll get stick if we win and we'll get stick if we lose. I even offered not to play because I knew people would say I've only started playing one-day cricket again for England because of the money, but that wasn't the case."
As far as I'm concerned, if Harmison delivers and performs as he did in the final test and one day matches against South Africa then he should play, if on the other hand he returns to the Steve Harmison that had been playing for the past two years (which led to his eventual overdue dropping from the team) then he should be dropped immediately as England had to carry him the last time.
Harmison said winning the Ashes next year was a "realistic goal". England won the memorable last contest on these shores, in 2005, but were demolished 5-0 in Australia in 2006-07. "I do feel I've got a bit of a score to settle. I know what it's like to win the Ashes and I know what it is like to lose the Ashes 5-0. It's the same for Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss."
"I think it can happen, I really do, but we've got a hell of a lot of cricket to play between now and then. I think we've got ten different series in the next 12 months and I'd like to play in and win them all."
Harmison forced his way back into the England fold after being dropped with a very impressive county season for Durham; he finished with 60 wickets in 12 games and Durham won their first Championship title. Harmison was recalled for the final Test against South Africa at The Oval, under new captain Kevin Pietersen (who obviously has great belief in the bowler and thinks of him in very high regard), and was later persuaded to return to the international limited-overs version of the game.
"It is a season which began with me at my lowest ebb, but it is one I will look back on with an enormous sense of satisfaction," Harmison said. "I've achieved my own personal goal of getting back into the England team and Durham have won the title, I couldn't have asked for much more. This has been a fantastic season for me, unbelievable really. We had our disappointments at Durham, losing in two semi-finals, but we kept on going."
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