Three of the England team to face India today — Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Joe Root — were voted into an all-time England XI in an online poll this week. You would think, therefore, that England might be a more powerful team than their fifth-placed world ranking suggests. High-class players they may be, but it is the rankings, on this occasion, that are more accurate than the pollsters. England are far from a great team. It was a point made by Cook himself this week, who knows what it is like to be part of a top-class Test team.

Source: The Times July 31, 2018 15:56 UTC