I have the fortune of being able to support two cricket teams, India (where I spent the first half of my life) and England (where I’m spending the second). That means I follow a lot of cricket. [And when the two countries meet, I'm not conflicted. The Tebbit Test has me supporting India when they play England. ]
So when it comes to playing against Australia, I’m doubly privileged. Two sets of Ashes to watch, the original ones and the new ones. At least that’s how it felt to me. I really felt that India-Australia had reached “Ashes” status over the last decade or so, that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was competed for as passionately as the Urn.
I wondered whether it was just me, or whether the statistics would bear me out. Here’s the summary of Australia versus Everyone Else over the last ten years:
Versus England: Played 25 Won 17 Lost 5 Drawn 3 Win-Loss 3.40
Versus West Indies: Played 16 Won 13 Lost 3 Drawn 0 Win-Loss 4.33
Versus Pakistan: Played 12 Won 10 Lost 0 Drawn 2 Win-Loss —–
Versus South Africa: Played 13 Won 10 Lost 1 Drawn 2 Win-Loss 10.00
Versus New Zealand: Played 11 Won 7 Lost 0 Drawn 12 Win-Loss —–Versus India: Played 20 Won 10 Lost 7 Drawn 3 Win-Loss 1.42
Now if you bear in mind that those statistics include the recent Sydney Test, you get an idea of just how competitive the match is. I hope that everyone has learnt from the last two Tests, and that in the end cricket won.
Just thought the cricket-mad amongst you would be interested in these figures.
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Agreed. For a while now, I’ve thought that India V Australia is THE big cricket rivalry – the new clash of the titans.
Great post – I knew it was close, but didn’t realise quite how close it was between the teams.
Also – interesting comment plugin. How do you like it ?
Thanks … I had never heard of the “Tebbit Test” before. That made for an interesting walk through Wikipedia.
The passion of The Ashes is driven partly by the political history of the two countries. A good example of this being the amended words to the national anthem used by the Barmy Army at Ashes matches. “Long to rule over you” is the taunt to the Australian fans.
I am not aware of any such political frisson in Australia-India matches, which while competitive and hard-fought, are merely sporting contests, n’est-ce pas?
India-Pakistan, on the other hand…
Dom, I think you can’t separate cricket from politics anywhere, especially in India. One of the more unusual aspects of the current Indian team is the number of players who have done “wilderness” time:
Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Kumble, Dhoni, Harbhajan and Pathan all come to mind. People who have been left out of squads as a result of form.
OK, in that respect I agree. CLR James teaches us that cricket is politics, which is why Beyond A Boundary has in its index Truman, FS preceded by Trotsky, L.
JP,
The Indian ODI team has just been announced and it is another round of “wilderness ” time for a few senior cricketers or perhaps end of the road !!!
I look forward for a great Adelaide match which perhaps is the last test match in Australia for Tendulkar,Dravid,Ganguly,Kumble and Laxman.
Let’s hope the stats after that match look like
Versus India: Played 21 Won 10 Lost 8Drawn 3 Win-Loss 1.25