Michael Vaughan: England can stay at the top

England Cricket / Michael Vaughan / 17 August 2011 / 1

" class="free_bet_btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">

Graeme Swann has been a ket figure in England's rise

"Andrew Strauss' men can rule Test cricket for years to come."

Michael Vaughan explains why England's journey to the top of the world rankings began many years ago. He also nominates his key man and looks ahead to challenges to come.

As soon as England reached the summit of the world rankings fans and pundits began to speculate about whether or not they could stay there.

Personally, I think we should enjoy the moment - one that has been meticulously planned for and worked towards for a long time. However, I'm in no doubt that Andrew Strauss' men can rule Test cricket for years to come.

The current England team is as strong as any I have ever seen. They have a competitive edge, strength in depth and backroom staff who are amongst the shrewdest in the game. They have been excellent in their analytical approach to the game, something which they have been developing for years.

This is England's time. We've seen India, Australia and the West Indies all enjoy periods of dominance but now the cycle has come around to England. Their time is now and they have the players and staff to get better and go on to even greater things.

Andrew Strauss is an excellent as captain and Andy Flower has done a great job as head coach. However, for me, Graeme Swann has been the key man in England's rise. You don't become the best team in the world without a great spinner amongst your ranks.

Swann possesses the ability to bowl effectively in any conditions. He takes important wickets and has played some big innings too. His batting prowess means that England can field a sixth batsman. No offence to Ashley Giles but that was a luxury that I never really had as England captain. Giles did a great job for us and, although Swann was around back then, he wasn't quite ready.

I believe that England can stay at the top of the world rankings. They have a busy winter ahead of them and then a tough series against South Africa next summer. After that they go to India and that will be the real test. Beating India on their own patch will be an entirely different challenge to what we have seen this summer. To win a series on the Subcontinent would be perhaps the greatest achievement of all. At the moment, there is no limit to what this England team can achieve.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

(1)

neerajchopda | 23 August 2011

yours all 4 prediction is right......