The top 5 can beat each other, both home and away, and it just depends on whether they can get on a run, injuries, a bit of luck and making the most of it. They are all roughly equal. Australia lost their dominance but they are only fell into the mix and are not down and out. Some good selection policies could see Australia dominating again within a year.

 

In 6th spot is Pakistan, who, in spite of not being able to host, not to mention losing 3 players to the spot fixing scandal, can still surprise on occasions. In 7th spot is New Zealand, who can still upset occasionally, both away and especially at home. In 8th spot is West Indies, who are really only competent at home, and even then usually lose to the better sides. In 9th spot is Bangladesh, who rarely challenge the top 5 but of late have been mixing well with 6-8. In 10th spot is Zimbabwe, though they are dominating Bangladesh, albeit at home in Zimbabwe and we will see how well they go away from home and against better teams.

 

But I will focus on the top 5, and on their strengths and weaknesses.

 

England have a good all-round side without any particular strengths. Currently Alastair Cook is in an unbelievably rich vein of form, which reminds me of Graeme Smith just after he took over the South African captaincy some 10 years ago or so. Or of Hashim Amla last year. Jonathan Trott has had a good start to his career, which is reminiscent of Michael Hussey's start a few years ago, but not quite as good. Graeme Swann, in spite of not looking like much, remains the world's most consistent spinner. The rest are serviceable without being magnificent. But the real strength of the team is in their teamwork. Nobody in their side would be in a current World XI, though the 3 mentioned above would be just outside of it. They can't beat South Africa at all, are only beating Australia because of poor selections, and can only beat India in England and even then only due to poor preparation from the Indians. They struggled against Sri Lanka and even Pakistan. But they keep trying. Their World Cup campaign of win-loss-win-loss, losing games they should win and winning games they should lose just sums them up really. Good for them that they are currently ranked number 1, but it isn't really a very meaningful ranking. Just a number really. They have to do a lot better to get ahead of the top 5 let alone to be dominant.

 

India, as always, rely primarily on batting, though their spin ranks are a bit thinner than they have been in the past, with Harbhajan Singh being significantly worse than past Indian spin greats. Somewhat surprisingly, India have some decent fast bowlers, especially Zaheer Khan though Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Ashish Nehra and a number of others are quite decent, at least in subcontinental conditions. The big problem with their fast bowlers is that they aren't really fast, which means that outside of the subcontinent they are somewhat useless, possibly except for Zaheer Khan. At home, they are close to unbeatable, except perhaps against fellow subcontinental teams and South Africa, who somehow have figured out how to play in the subcontinent. Away from home they are improving but still have a way to go. Their batting still usually does well away but their bowling suffers and a powerful bowling line up becomes impotent. Even still, they manage to win a lot more away than they did in the past and if they can just get a real fast bowler then they could be dominant.

 

Sri Lanka have for a long time been a 1-man or perhaps 2-man team but nowadays we can increase the number up as high as 5 or 6, with Tharanga, Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jayawardene at the top of the order and Malinga the great fast bowler being backed up by any one of a number of good spinners, including Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Randiv or many others, while Angelo Mathews on his day is also good. Just the same, they have an almighty great hole in their batting line up anywhere beyond the top 4, their fast bowling aside from Malinga stinks, and Malinga himself is basically restricted to T20s or at least the shorter games nowadays, and the spinning can be somewhat hit or miss. If they were able to produce an XI that had all 11 being test quality, they could be the best in the world. But it is testimony to just how good their best are that in spite of carrying so many players they still manage to be one of the best in the world. When those stars fire, they can be just about unbeatable. Right now they have the most quality spinners in the world and if international player auctions ever happen it will be Sri Lanka that supplies the world's spinners.

 

South Africa have a very good all-round team that is somewhat classical in nature, and has England covered in absolutely every element, from openers, to middle orders, to all-rounders, to wicket keepers, to fast bowlers to spinners. Yet somehow they always seem to be number 2 in the rankings and when England overtook India as the top team, South Africa went from 2nd to, well, 2nd. Dale Steyn leads the way in the bowling department though new spinner Imran Tahir looks likely to back him up ably. The openers Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla especially are in great form while A B de Villiers is in a rich vein of form. Mark Boucher is still the best keeper in the world while Jacques Kallis is still the best all-rounder, probably only behind Garfield Sobers as the best in history. They also have good backup in every aspect of their team and can cover injuries easily. The team mixes and matches well. They are a very professional outfit too. Other teams have to work really hard to beat them, both home and away, and England especially struggle to compete with them. Indeed, many of England's best players, such as Trott and Pietersen, come from South Africa, and historically this has been the case for a significant period of time now. They often struggle to beat Australia, though they managed to beat them 2-1 in Australia last time, though failed to capitalise on that by losing 1-2 at home. Against every other team they dominate, though India managed to keep them at bay in their last series and Sri Lanka have done well against them. In World Cups they seem to choke and in tests for some reason or other they always seem to be 2nd, never 1st. "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride" seems apt.

 

Australia were until just a few years ago dominating world cricket. Indeed, even after the retirements of Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, not to mention the likes of Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Stuart MacGill, Brad Hogg, Justin Langer and many others coming to the end of their careers, they still were on top for some time but lately have come back to the pack. This has coincided with the emergence of Shane Watson, who is now undoubtedly Australia's greatest ever all-rounder, surpassing Richie Benaud, and is probably up there with Shakib al Hasan and Jacques Kallis as the best in the world, realistically on form probably ahead of both of them. Michael Hussey continues to be a powerhouse while the hit and miss Mitchell Johnson, when hitting, can dominate. Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris continue to be the two best bowlers, though oddly they aren't always picked, and there is a slew of other fast bowlers who can provide able backup, though on occasions they seem to for some bizarre reason overtake them. Poor selections are killing them with many of the best in the Australian domestic circuit missing out while there are a lot of odd choices being tried. The insistence to play a spinner for the sake of a spinner hurts them gravely while they also refuse to pick bowlers who can compliment each other. But, in spite of all of that, when it all comes together they are still unbeatable. The only other team who can match their all-round ability is South Africa, but Australia have a history of regularly beating them and hence seem to continue to do this. They still struggle against India in India but have no problems against them in Australia. New Zealand can provide some upsets against Australia but overall Australia are a long way ahead. The real hole for Australia isn't in any aspect of their game but in the selectors and management of it. With any luck, that will be fixed up in the next month or so and after that, they could quickly head straight back to the top of the rankings.

 

This is an exciting time in world cricket, where 5 teams are roughly equal.

 

In the next couple of months, we could see England lose their newly attained top spot to South Africa, while Sri Lanka or Australia could also head up to 2nd. And India could take it back as well. This is the first time in history that we have had this many teams all equal best. Never before have we had more than 3 that were equal best, and we only had 3 on a few occasions - in the early 1960s (England, South Africa, Australia), the late 1960s (West Indies, South Africa, Australia), the late 1970s (England, Australia, West Indies) and the late 1980s (Pakistan, West Indies, England). This is the first time ever we have had 4, let alone 5. Exciting times indeed.

 

By : Adrian Meredith