irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 19, 2021 20:40:27 GMT
Not exactly inside information. But my Sikh friend says if England are going to win another test - it will be in the 3rd day/nighter. He doesn't think India have played a day/night at test at home? England seamers could do well under the floodlights. On balance, wait for the coin toss! And if India are still around 1-2 4-9 sort of thing... might be worth a go. Yes - he's absolutely right. This is definitely our best chance. It doesn't mean it's a particularly good chance though. The day/nighter is unknown territory. This is why England rested Anderson because if it does start doing something under the lights you would want him there. Not sure most people think it will though.
It certainly adds an intriguing extra element though. In normal circumstances India would be out of site favourites at this point I'd have thought.
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lostinspace
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Post by lostinspace on Feb 24, 2021 8:14:01 GMT
Noticed that the 3rd test is in the newly renovated stadium, capable of holding 110,000 people, but restricted this time to a mere 50,000 due to the virus!!
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 24, 2021 18:01:36 GMT
Noticed that the 3rd test is in the newly renovated stadium, capable of holding 110,000 people, but restricted this time to a mere 50,000 due to the virus!! Pretty amazing isn't it? Their Cornovirus restricted stadium still holds more than any cricket ground in England by about 15,000!
Pretty wretched day for England. They clearly gambled that this was their chance to win another match in the series by the pink ball doing a bit under the lights only to be completely undone by spin again. I'm not at all sure about the side that England picked for this game.
Can't blame the pitch this time. Not much deviated off the straight. There was bounce but really we just melted under the pressure. It was contagiuous. Proper rabbit in headlights stuff. They all got nervy and stuck in the crease. Root's dismissal was indicative of this. He's been so positive and good with his feet all winter but that was classic indecisiveness, caught in 2 minds and then trapped in front to a ball that really should not have gotten him out. They were all out like that to varying degrees. It was the angles and the bounce that mesmerised them - not the spin or the pitch. It was excellent from India but psychologically England lost it in that innings.
Leach bowled really well again as did Anderson with no luck. But they've not got much to work with and a lack of scoreboard pressure means India can dictate the pace of the innings to suit them. They should bat us out the game tomorrow but perhaps there's a small slither of hope here with Leach getting Kohli right at the end there. They have a relatively long tail in this game too, so a couple of (very) quick wickets in the 1st session may just give us a chance to get them out for around 200 if we bowl out of our skins which would just about keep England in the game But I fear that even 250 would be too much.
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lostinspace
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Post by lostinspace on Feb 25, 2021 12:07:33 GMT
Ha!! Who knows what about cricket 🤣!! Never ceases to amaze...
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Post by Nobbygas on Feb 25, 2021 14:15:37 GMT
130 odd runs for seventeen wickets in two sessions. Top quality batsmen like Kohli and Root scratching around. Magnificent stadium, paying spectators, but the pitch is shocking. Isn't a good game of cricket meant to be an even contest between bat and ball?
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lostinspace
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Post by lostinspace on Feb 25, 2021 18:47:26 GMT
Just wonder if the ICC actually take some sort of notice in the events of the previous and this test, yes it's India,you expect spin, but not for a game to finish in this shirt space of time
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Feb 25, 2021 23:35:01 GMT
Watched most the wickets tumble this morning and didn't stick around for the end. I don't like complaining about the pitch (we got to bat first!) as it sounds like sour grapes.
But this from my Sikh friend summed it up nicely: "One of the worst test matches I have seen. Poor pitch."
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 26, 2021 13:41:11 GMT
Watched most the wickets tumble this morning and didn't stick around for the end. I don't like complaining about the pitch (we got to bat first!) as it sounds like sour grapes. But this from my Sikh friend summed it up nicely: "One of the worst test matches I have seen. Poor pitch." It's a bit odd. I actually thought on the first day it was OK. I didn't think England had much cause for complaint in the 1st innings. It wasn't really misbehaving, there was bounce for the spinners but it was pretty consistent. It was challenging but not out of the orginary. We weren't really getting beaten by the turn so much as misreading the bounce and line which is bad batting. It was about what you would expect a pitch to do in Indian conditions. England just batted really really badly. Just tentative, lacking in foot movement, allowing pressure to build etc. It was a genuinely terrible batting performance that I don't think can be blamed on the pitch. There's no excuse for that 1st innings performance in my eyes - we were just flat out crap.
But the pitch broke up absurdly from then on. No way should Joe Root be taking 5-9! I can't imagine India were too happy about that either. At the end of the day if you have the World class spinners thgey do then you want a pitch where their class make the difference - not one where a part-timer can rock up and look like Muttiah Muralitheran! There's no real advantage in that. They definitely need to have a rethink on what they're doing. This should have been a marquee event - the first day/night Test in this massive new iconic stadium for Indian cricket. Instead they barely got the lights on in Day 2 before it was over! I can't imagine this was the plan because it doesn't make sense commercially for them to burn 3 days revenue like that and the TV companies would not be pleased either to lose out on that content.
But it was farcical. Looking at the way it broke up and the issues with the footmarks and run-ups I think it's possible that they have rushed the pitch prep to get the ground open and it hasn't bedded in properly. I did enjoy Root's comments about England 'slightly misreading' the pitch - I like his tongue in cheek approach to interviews, it's quite refreshing. |
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Post by Nobbygas on Feb 26, 2021 16:27:08 GMT
The team selection was rather odd. Who in their right minds thought it was a good idea to only have one specialist spinner for a Test match in India? With Stokes, we had four seamers! Utter madness.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Feb 26, 2021 19:21:36 GMT
The team selection was rather odd. Who in their right minds thought it was a good idea to only have one specialist spinner for a Test match in India? With Stokes, we had four seamers! Utter madness. Agreed - it was a very strange decision. It was also odd to go into a game in challenging conditions with a shorter batting lineup than we had in the previous Test where the batting also struggled. We had such a long tail in this game and it was totally unceccesarry. If we were determined to pick 4 seamers then why not pick Woakes ahead of Broad and strengthen the batting? I find that really peculiar. I think Root doesn't rate Bess for some reason.
I also think Foakes should be batting higher up the order since he's clearly better at playing spin than a lot of the guys in front of him and keeps getting stranded.
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Feb 27, 2021 8:56:44 GMT
Watched most the wickets tumble this morning and didn't stick around for the end. I don't like complaining about the pitch (we got to bat first!) as it sounds like sour grapes. But this from my Sikh friend summed it up nicely: "One of the worst test matches I have seen. Poor pitch." It's a bit odd. I actually thought on the first day it was OK. I didn't think England had much cause for complaint in the 1st innings. It wasn't really misbehaving, there was bounce for the spinners but it was pretty consistent. It was challenging but not out of the orginary. We weren't really getting beaten by the turn so much as misreading the bounce and line which is bad batting. It was about what you would expect a pitch to do in Indian conditions. England just batted really really badly. Just tentative, lacking in foot movement, allowing pressure to build etc. It was a genuinely terrible batting performance that I don't think can be blamed on the pitch. There's no excuse for that 1st innings performance in my eyes - we were just flat out crap.
But the pitch broke up absurdly from then on. No way should Joe Root be taking 5-9! I can't imagine India were too happy about that either. At the end of the day if you have the World class spinners thgey do then you want a pitch where their class make the difference - not one where a part-timer can rock up and look like Muttiah Muralitheran! There's no real advantage in that. They definitely need to have a rethink on what they're doing. This should have been a marquee event - the first day/night Test in this massive new iconic stadium for Indian cricket. Instead they barely got the lights on in Day 2 before it was over! I can't imagine this was the plan because it doesn't make sense commercially for them to burn 3 days revenue like that and the TV companies would not be pleased either to lose out on that content.
But it was farcical. Looking at the way it broke up and the issues with the footmarks and run-ups I think it's possible that they have rushed the pitch prep to get the ground open and it hasn't bedded in properly. I did enjoy Root's comments about England 'slightly misreading' the pitch - I like his tongue in cheek approach to interviews, it's quite refreshing. I can confirm the view from the Sikh boys was very similar. England batting in the first innings was pretty pathetic and a much bigger score was there to be had. India won fair and square. The losers were England (obviously), people who bought tickets for days 3,4 and 5, people looking forward to watching it with a civilised start time, the Indian cricket Board for loss of income, TV companies, sponsors, and the wider good of the game. Apart from that... |
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bluetornados
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Post by bluetornados on Mar 4, 2021 15:30:03 GMT
Well, England fell apart yet again, at least 3 wickets were just straight balls, Crawley and Lawrence had moments of madness on a typical opening days play.
England 205, India joined in the circus by losing a wicket in the 1st over, closing on 24-1.
Cannot blame the pitch or ball today, if anything it's a good wicket to bat on, hence Root winning the toss and batting first.
Still all very entertaining, just enjoying the spectacle and not worrying about winning, might go to monday, what are the odds on that?
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lostinspace
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Post by lostinspace on Mar 4, 2021 21:39:03 GMT
thought i was watching another el collapso program repeat!!. 4 day max game, surprised if it goes that long
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Mar 5, 2021 13:03:40 GMT
Well that was looking good... up until about 10am.
Giving Dom Bess the ball was a bit like giving Tom Nichols a penalty kick. Hopefully boost his confidence, but ends in disaster.
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bluetornados
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Post by bluetornados on Mar 5, 2021 14:59:31 GMT
Yes, We were ticking along nicely, bowling and fielding well enough, Ashwin out on 146-6, then it all went a bit Pete Tong we got kicked in the Pant(s).
Fair play to them, they nailed us with a 113 run stand, with wickets in hand they will probably end up at least 150 in front, then it's our turn again.
Anderson again so reliable and commanding great respect off the Indian batters, many of our top order have to do so much better, there are no gremlins.
Maybe a miracle could get us a draw, looking forward to another installment on saturday morning.
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lostinspace
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Post by lostinspace on Mar 6, 2021 9:39:30 GMT
Physiologically beaten in the last two tests, and when you look at Bairstow's dismissal looked as though he was ready to walk before even playing a shot, abysmal
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bluetornados
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Post by bluetornados on Mar 6, 2021 10:21:50 GMT
Well, it's all over, lost by an innings and 25 runs, only Lawrence of the batters can hold his head up, very pitiful indeed.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Mar 8, 2021 14:28:58 GMT
Physiologically beaten in the last two tests, and when you look at Bairstow's dismissal looked as though he was ready to walk before even playing a shot, abysmal Yes - he looks shot doesn't he. Like someone who would rather be anywhere else. Shame - I always thought he had a second coming in him as a Test player. Now I think he's done.
Ultimately, if youre batting lineup fail 6 times in 3 games you deserve to be comfortably beaten in any conditions. India are a formidable proposition in their home conditions, were motivated to get to the World Test final and predictably delivered the goods.
England started well but in the end proved to not be up to the trial by spin. The worry is how many of our batsman were out playing very tentative shots and also how many were out the same way over and over again which hints at technical flaws which other sides will exploit. I'm now particularly worried that we may have traumatised Ollie Pope who is supposed to be the next great hope of English cricket but returns from this winter with a very underwhelming looking Test reccord.
There were some questionable selection decision. A horrible pitch misread for the 3rd Test, the odd handling of Bess, the weird way in which we dealt with Moeen which means that we have somehow managed to mess up both our off spinning all rounders, the balance of the batting order often didn't feel right etc.
There are some good things here - Leach has emerged as our premier spinner and deserves to keep the job for the summer I think, Dan Lawrence showed some fight in a proper baptism of fire, our seamers actually bowled very well all winter and will no doubt reassert themselves in the summer. But overall we took the hiding we deserved really.
India v New Zealand at Lords could be a really interesting final. Proper clash of styles and approach. I quite like New Zealand to beat India in English conditions - reckon MCC might leave some grass on it!
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bluetornados
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Post by bluetornados on Mar 10, 2021 21:46:21 GMT
Former captain Michael Vaughan says "Test cricket is dead" if England rest and rotate players in the Ashes.
Coach Chris Silverwood has said England may continue to rotate the squad in this winter's tour of Australia.
Under England's rotation policy, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood missed parts of the winter series in Sri Lanka and India.
"If they need rest, you get it before the Ashes," said Vaughan.
"Test match cricket is becoming a joke if that happens."
Speaking on The Tuffers and Vaughan Cricket Show, Vaughan added: "You make sure you get your best players available for every single Ashes Test match."
England have opted to rest players in order to manage their workload, with 16 or 17 Tests and a Twenty20 World Cup being played in 2021.
"If you said to me that Jos Buttler is struggling and may only be able to play one of those, the T20 World Cup or the Ashes, I'd hate to think the Ashes comes second," Vaughan said.
"England have got a magnificent squad of white-ball players but they don't have a magnificent squad of Test match players, that's a fact," Vaughan said.
"They don't have a good enough batting unit to swap and change, manoeuvre the order."
"This is where it gets frustrating for England supporters, and many in the game, that these players will go and play in the full IPL," Vaughan said.
England also play a five-match home Test series against India this summer, as well as limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
"For seven Test matches in the summer, I just beg them to pick the best team they can," Vaughan added.
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bluetornados
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Post by bluetornados on Mar 12, 2021 15:58:27 GMT
1st T20 v India, England won the toss and are fielding first.
India 124-7 - Archer 3-23, Lyer 67.
England 58-0 from 7 overs, should be a breeze.
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