England's Winter of Cricket 2020/21

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Rum sort of field for Nadeem to Sibley...two short covers ???

Not noted for getting caught there , is he ? Strange theory...

I believe India's no-ball count has now gone beyond the entire number of no-balls they bowled in the test *series* against Australia.

I genuinely don't understand it. Why are they bowling so many?!

Why is Nadeem bowling ? Jos is surely delighted to get a chance to settle in against him

Bumrah getting Root has potential to disrupt the England plan. These two are well capable of scoring quickly but there's not a lot more batting to come so they might feel a bit constrained. Guess it depends how many they think they need.
Certainly nothing wrong with the run rate in this session , despite the wickets. Which suggests they're aiming for a more aggressive declaration than we might have expected from past experience.

Definitely a number of balls keeping low for Bumrah. Might not be such great news for the Indian bats later...

Duty281 wrote:I believe India's no-ball count has now gone beyond the entire number of no-balls they bowled in the test *series* against Australia.

I genuinely don't understand it. Why are they bowling so many?!

I was thinking that too. Weird : and it is spinners bowling them.

Perhaps they've always bowled a lot of no balls and it just wasn't picked up until this new caper of having the third umpire call them came in ?

guildfordbat wrote:

Duty281 wrote:That was some delivery. India's intensity has been ferocious.

Some credit to Root for accepting the clearly correct decision and not wasting a review. Too many don't do the right thing.

Especially in a situation such as that when he's been batting incomparably better than anyone else.

39 overs left in the day and 360 ahead at tea. I think I'm still erring on the side of getting 20 overs at India in the evening session. So probably try to bat at a similar rate until they hit the 400 lead and if either of these two are still there tell them to unleash everything they've got once the lead hits 400. Maybe they will get out instantly but maybe they add some quick runs in only a few overs.

My one worry would be either (or both) of this pair getting out before we have a 400 lead and then getting bogged down with overs evaporating quickly.

The currently lead should be enough but a bigger buffer allows more aggressive field with less pressure on the bowlers. That could be important with Leach having got some tap yesterday and Bess looking pretty knackered in his spell this morning.

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I believe India's no-ball count has now gone beyond the entire number of no-balls they bowled in the test *series* against Australia.

I genuinely don't understand it. Why are they bowling so many?!

I was thinking that too. Weird : and it is spinners bowling them.

Perhaps they've always bowled a lot of no balls and it just wasn't  picked up until this new caper of having the third umpire call them came in ?

BBC's Cricket Social commentary, so basically TMS, was suggesting that bowlers having bowled a lot of no balls and getting away with it might be a factor. Umpires seemed to stop calling them as much with wickets frequently being ruled out after the front foot was checked with the batsman most the way back to the pavilion. It does seem some bowlers picked up on the umpires getting lackadaisical and followed suit with some old fashioned net bowling.

Not going to call for Ajinkya to take over the test team as Kohli has played a great role in molding the team this way and creating that never say die attitude, but Virat isn't really helping himself with his usual one idiotic selection per test, and bizarre on field tactics.

king_carlos wrote:

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I believe India's no-ball count has now gone beyond the entire number of no-balls they bowled in the test *series* against Australia.

I genuinely don't understand it. Why are they bowling so many?!

I was thinking that too. Weird : and it is spinners bowling them.

Perhaps they've always bowled a lot of no balls and it just wasn't  picked up until this new caper of having the third umpire call them came in ?

BBC's Cricket Social commentary, so basically TMS, was suggesting that bowlers having bowled a lot of no balls and getting away with it might be a factor. Umpires seemed to stop calling them as much with wickets frequently being ruled out after the front foot was checked with the batsman most the way back to the pavilion. It does seem some bowlers picked up on the umpires getting lackadaisical and followed suit with some old fashioned net bowling.

The general rise is down to them all being checked now, which should have the opposite effect, but why specifically in this game their spinners are so collectively bad is an oddity. Its not like Englands pair were bowling them. The numbers in Australia weren't good, but this test has taken it to a level of absurdity.

Good little cameo from Pope as England stride towards 400...hopefully Archer if he gets a go can show some of his IPL batting form rather than his test form!

Gotta love that Root may well end up top scorer in the innings despite striking at 125.

Smart play by India. Slowing the over rate and getting Nadeem to bowl around the wicket at Bess's legs. He's a solid defensive player no doubt but is just padding up in a position where England need to be scoring.

Jof is padded up so clearly England want a few more.

king_carlos wrote:My one worry would be either (or both) of this pair getting out before we have a 400 lead and then getting bogged down with overs evaporating quickly.

2 runs from the last 3 overs...

Yep, game's just slowing up. Bess has a very tidy test average which is just below 30, but he's not the type to take the bowler on with rampant aggression.

Not sure how long England will give themselves tonight. An hour at most? There's still 33 overs left in the day but there's virtually no chance of getting them all in.

India doing well to slow things down. (Run rate and over rate !) guess England want a few more as they're not exactly throwing the bat at everything now - in fact they are being more careful than immediately after the last wicket.

May be they are happy to take say , twenty or so overs tonight at India ? And just want to keep batting up to that point. May need to make sure they have time to get the overs in , in that case...

It has gone a bit weird last few overs , to my eyes.

When would we see Washington in action with the ball? Nadeem has slowed things down a touch with the leg line, but really sick of all those no-balls that he has been bowling.

Get Jos on strike now!!! Bess has eaten up over 120 balls in this match for little benefit.

Of course they may also have a wish to limit the amount of time their bowlers have to work this evening - counter intuitive though it may seem. Perhaps the plan is to have a fierce short burst tonight and still have all bowlers as fresh as possible for day five. And ensure a second new ball well before the close tomorrow of course. Just seems a bit risky to cut down their overs too much - and unnecessary, really ; the target is already about at the area record. Surely a frisky few hits now should be enough ?

Soul Requiem wrote:Get Jos on strike now!!! Bess has eaten up over 120 balls in this match for little benefit.

The odd thing is Jos isn't exactly going after it when he does get the strike either. Is one of these rather baffling periods of play : and rather at odds with their approach through most of this innings.

Hope they know what they're doing.

Has got a bit stodgy hasnt it. England aren't under that much pressure to score quickly though. Interesting comments for Cook regarding them wanting a hard one in the morning (think thats what he said)

Bess trundling along like a canal boat.

It feels like England have a predetermined number of overs they want to bat and bowl in this session. That's fair enough but I just don't understand batting this aimlessly.

Since Pope got out England are scoring at around 2 runs an over. Simply frustrating.

king_carlos wrote:What a catch. Ben Stokes. Just freakish how easy he makes that look.

80 runs and 4 wickets from just over 20 overs in the morning session. An engrossing day so far. A shame for Sundar to get stranded in a excellent innings.

England lead by 241, confirmation that they wont enforce the follow on.

With England needing around 150 runs as quick as possible I'd certainly consider altering the batting order now.

Unlike some of you early birds, I wasn't up when Stokes caught Bumrah to end India's innings. However, I saw it during the tea break. Utterly brilliant. Unlikely to influence the outcome of the match ... although I'll certainly return to it if we win tomorrow with only a few minutes to spare.

Bess's inability to rotate the strike until the final ball of the over is...frustrating. Presumably they're wanting to take a few more overs out of the pitch, and give themselves a chance both tonight and tomorrow morning with a new-ish ball

guildfordbat wrote:

king_carlos wrote:What a catch. Ben Stokes. Just freakish how easy he makes that look.

80 runs and 4 wickets from just over 20 overs in the morning session. An engrossing day so far. A shame for Sundar to get stranded in a excellent innings.

England lead by 241, confirmation that they wont enforce the follow on.

With England needing around 150 runs as quick as possible I'd certainly consider altering the batting order now.

Unlike some of you early birds, I wasn't up when Stokes caught Bumrah to end India's innings. However, I saw it during the tea break. Utterly brilliant. Unlikely to influence the outcome of the match ... although I'll certainly return to it if we win tomorrow with only a few minutes to spare.

It reminded me of Mark Waugh in catching positions. Waugh would seem to stand in strange positions, closer than other slippers to the quicks, wider the other slippers to the spinners, etc but would just grab ridiculous catches out of nowhere. Stokes is in that category of fielders who can 'make catches' as well as 'take catches' if that makes sense.

This is pathetic, you have top order bats like Pope and Stokes adversely affecting their averages for the best interest of the team and then you have this.

Cook not convinced himself but suggesting we might want to bowl for about an hour tonight and then still have the hard ball to start in the morning.

Maybe but, unless we're scared of being skittled now, it doesn't explain the current go slow.

Admittedly I don't know the state of the England bowlers now but this - or at least us batting on unnecessarily taking time out of the game - is a main reason why I was keen before today's play to consider enforcing the follow on.

Another maiden over bowled. That suits India. From here, the hosts will surely be happy to take the draw.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Bess's inability to rotate the strike until the final ball of the over is...frustrating. Presumably they're wanting to take a few more overs out of the pitch, and give themselves a chance both tonight and tomorrow morning with a new-ish ball

The best thing for England right now would honestly be Bess getting out. I like the young offie, he has improved a lot as a spinner, scored important runs and has character, but this is futile.

Vaughan clutching for straws suggesting that England want to offer India so few overs to chase that it isn't realistic going for the win, so they play for the draw and get stuck in negative mindset with poor footwork.

Buttler needs to farm the strike here.

This surely has to be a strategy? I don’t think Bess would be doing this on his own back. He seems like a guy who would do what he was asked.

A couple of quick boundaries for both of them. Lead over 400. Got to be coming.

Finally some intent and the lead over 400.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Bess's inability to rotate the strike until the final ball of the over is...frustrating. Presumably they're wanting to take a few more overs out of the pitch, and give themselves a chance both tonight and tomorrow morning with a new-ish ball

I guess that must be it. Means (a) they actually think they have enough runs already. And (b) they're confident something like 105 overs is going to be enough to do the job as long as they're kicking off tomorrow with a ball that hasn't degenerated into a mass of old fabric...

If it works , fine. Seems a bit like putting all your eggs in one basket though. And I still can't see it would hurt to whack a few into the stands before they do close...if one of these gets out they've still got three players to potter around for a while if they have to.

Jos Buttler has had his lucky rabbits foot in his pocket this match. Caught behind in the first innings and survived because India had no reviews left ...and now plumb lbw and they didn't call for the referall though they had it up their sleeve ! Did look a bit close to pitching outside leg but I was giving it out live .

Umps have done pretty well generally so far , especially for new boys

Lead 402. Not much more I think.

This doesn't surprise me. Root is primarily concerned, first and foremost, with not losing rather than winning. He remembers his generous declaration against the West Indies in 2017 and how he got his fingers burnt for doing so. Doubtless he knows what India did in Brisbane last month, and he might even be thinking back to 2008.

Root's taking the Indian win out of the equation before he lets his bowlers attack.

JDizzle wrote:This surely has to be a strategy? I don’t think Bess would be doing this on his own back. He seems like a guy who would do what he was asked.

A couple of quick boundaries for both of them. Lead over 400. Got to be coming.

Yeah definitely a strategy from the dressing room. Bess hitting a few boundaries now...think it's coming soon. He's having himself a decent game so far!

Buttler donates his wicket to Nadeem...perhaps England want to keep him in the team

But still no declaration . Drink break . Strange.

Duty281 wrote:This doesn't surprise me. Root is primarily concerned, first and foremost, with not losing rather than winning. He remembers his generous declaration against the West Indies in 2017 and how he got his fingers burnt for doing so. Doubtless he knows what India did in Brisbane last month, and he might even be thinking back to 2008.

Root's taking the Indian win out of the equation before he lets his bowlers attack.

Recognised and understood although I have my doubts as to how often we'll be in such a dominant position during this series. I would therefore favour a more attacking approach even though I often err on the ''don't lose it'' side. Our ending up with a draw in this one will feel like a kick in the guts.

Is it me or have Buttler and Bess looked slightly despondent whilst batting and after getting out? Somehow doesn't feel like the body language of a side massively on top in the game.

guildfordbat wrote:

Duty281 wrote:This doesn't surprise me. Root is primarily concerned, first and foremost, with not losing rather than winning. He remembers his generous declaration against the West Indies in 2017 and how he got his fingers burnt for doing so. Doubtless he knows what India did in Brisbane last month, and he might even be thinking back to 2008.

Root's taking the Indian win out of the equation before he lets his bowlers attack.

Recognised and understood although I have my doubts as to how often we'll be in such a dominant position during this series. I would therefore favour a more attacking approach even though I often err on the ''don't lose it'' side.. Our ending up with a draw in this one will feel like a kick in the guts.

I agree, I'd have declared at least 30 minutes ago.

Now Bess is out but England will still bat on. This is taking safety-first a bit far - India will need to go at nearly 4 an over to win from here!

king_carlos wrote:Is it me or have Buttler and Bess looked slightly despondent whilst batting and after getting out? Somehow doesn't feel like the body language of a side massively on top in the game.

They should be delighted at getting out...?

Duty281 wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:

Duty281 wrote:This doesn't surprise me. Root is primarily concerned, first and foremost, with not losing rather than winning. He remembers his generous declaration against the West Indies in 2017 and how he got his fingers burnt for doing so. Doubtless he knows what India did in Brisbane last month, and he might even be thinking back to 2008.

Root's taking the Indian win out of the equation before he lets his bowlers attack.

Recognised and understood although I have my doubts as to how often we'll be in such a dominant position during this series. I would therefore favour a more attacking approach even though I often err on the ''don't lose it'' side.. Our ending up with a draw in this one will feel like a kick in the guts.

I agree, I'd have declared at least 30 minutes ago.

Now Bess is out but England will still bat on. This is taking safety-first a bit far - India will need to go at nearly 4 an over to win from here!

#


Cooks theory was they want a hard ball to bowl with tomorrow morning. Not just a case of what India can chase down, but also that more overs might not directly equate to more chance of taking wickets in the given number of overs available. Sounds odd but I kinda trust he knows what hes talking about.

Important to remember that England can afford a draw and still win the series 3-0 to make the World Test Championship final...

Seeing two tail enders defending is bizarre though (leach hits a boundary as I type!)

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Is it me or have Buttler and Bess looked slightly despondent whilst batting and after getting out? Somehow doesn't feel like the body language of a side massively on top in the game.

They should be delighted at getting out...?

Obviously not. They didn't look particularly like a pair of players enthused with how they were batting though, which suggests they might be under instructions that they don't completely agree with. England usually bat with a lot of energy and aggressive running between the wickets, particularly Buttler. There's been so little shown so far this session. It's pretty bizarre.

Gooseberry wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:

Duty281 wrote:This doesn't surprise me. Root is primarily concerned, first and foremost, with not losing rather than winning. He remembers his generous declaration against the West Indies in 2017 and how he got his fingers burnt for doing so. Doubtless he knows what India did in Brisbane last month, and he might even be thinking back to 2008.

Root's taking the Indian win out of the equation before he lets his bowlers attack.

Recognised and understood although I have my doubts as to how often we'll be in such a dominant position during this series. I would therefore favour a more attacking approach even though I often err on the ''don't lose it'' side.. Our ending up with a draw in this one will feel like a kick in the guts.

I agree, I'd have declared at least 30 minutes ago.

Now Bess is out but England will still bat on. This is taking safety-first a bit far - India will need to go at nearly 4 an over to win from here!

#


Cooks theory was they want a hard ball to bowl with tomorrow morning. Not just a case of what India can chase down, but also that more overs might not directly equate to more chance of taking wickets in the given number of overs available. Sounds odd but I kinda trust he knows what hes talking about.

Yeah, I did hear that. I kind of understand what he's angling at, but I'd rather have 120 overs at India, than the less than 105 overs and a hard ball tomorrow morning that England will actually get.

JDizzle wrote:Important to remember that England can afford a draw and still win the series 3-0 to make the World Test Championship final...

That's a relief, I was getting worried for a minute!

Goodness, Anderson's got his pads on. Are England going to try to bat into day five?

I'm actually hoping India manage to draw from here, you do not deserve to win overseas test matches doing this.

JDizzle wrote:Important to remember that England can afford a draw and still win the series 3-0 to make the World Test Championship final...

That's what makes this so bizarre - England's need to win the match is greater than India's, and yet they are playing over-cautiously. Of course, it might not matter if they bowl well and win comfortably anyway, and if India win they'll have had to bat extraordinarily well...

Surely though it's just about time to declare, gives us say 13 overs tonight and all day tomorrow

alfie wrote:Buttler donates his wicket to Nadeem...perhaps England want to keep him in the team

But still no declaration . Drink break .  Strange.

Fred Trueman used to say [so it probably isn't true but still gives me a ] that at official receptions before the start of an Ashes series the Australian officials and players would big up lesser England players to England's selectors in the hope that they would be picked ... and they often were!

Anderson comes out to bat. I don't have a clue what England are doing now. This makes Strauss look like an aggressive captain.

WTF?

Well that was pointless.

JDizzle wrote:Well that was pointless.

Disagree - it got me more points in the tipping competition

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Well that was pointless.

Disagree - it got me more points in the tipping competition

Came here to post that

Well done Ashwin. Has contributed to a potential England win with those two wickets, and bowled well throughout that innings.

England have a maximum of 103 overs to bowl India out. There will definitely be 90 tomorrow, and whatever can be squeezed in tonight in 50 minutes of play.

Still narrowly favour the draw, though we are seeing some low bounce and sharp turn. It is tough to take wickets when the ball gets soft. Can England get at least two tonight?