England's Summer of Cricket 2021

First topic message reminder :

Jacks, Crawley, Hain, Stokes, Salt (WK), Lawrence, Gregory, Overton, Saqib, Ball, Parkinson?

Will MacPherson suggests Hales won’t be picked, which is a bit odd given they hinted he would get a chance this summer.

You also have Vince, Duckett and keep an eye out for Harry Brook.

KL did his best to nearly get out there...

Can England get fined for asking the umpire to change the ball so often?

Moeen's made them play almost everything, and varied his trajectory nicely, giving some air to a few...

So reactive from England. They need to be more proactive.

Curran is becoming a bit of a problem, he doesn't have the pace or accuracy to trouble the batsman at the moment, there's at least one boundary ball every over. As soon as Woakes is available it's a no brainer.

Rohit's started taking Moeen on. He's managing to stay the right side of the line between positive and reckless at the moment.

Sam Curran not having the best of days. I'd have thought he'd like the early conditions but he really didn't get it right - and that over of his that went for 16 really changed the tempo of the innings ; rather took a bit of pressure off the batsmen after some economical early overs.
Still hasn't looked much of a threat in this spell either : when it isn't swinging and nothing doing off the pitch he tends to look a little like cannon fodder .

Hopefully that might jog his "golden arm" into action

And finally, after the Sehwag-Gambhir era, India have an overseas test opening partnership going pass hundred for the first time!

Allowing Sharma to become over confident and more attacking may be the only way England will get him out...

alfie wrote:Sam Curran not having the best of days. I'd have thought he'd like the early conditions but he really didn't get it right - and that over of his that went for 16 really changed the tempo of the innings ; rather took a bit of pressure off the batsmen after some economical early overs.
Still hasn't looked much of a threat in this spell either : when it isn't swinging and nothing doing off the pitch he tends to look a little like cannon fodder .

Hopefully that might jog his "golden arm" into action

It's frustrating seeing the selectors make the same mistakes over and over again. Look at Mark Wood for instance, he's not comfortable to face but he doesn't take that many wickets in England so he looks good but isn't a genuine threat to the batsman, the same with Sam and his swing.

eirebilly wrote:Allowing Sharma to become over confident and more attacking may be the only way England will get him out...

Yes. At the moment it seems the only way England are getting a wicket is through a batsman having a brain fade.

With all due respect to the Benaud doctrine of judging at end of day , I think we can say right now that this was a good toss to lose. Nothing there for the bowlers at present - and India are well away at 106/0 , going at over three per.

Maybe a run out will happen ?

alfie wrote:Maybe a run out will happen ?

Not if England's fielding last week is anything to go by! Time to go back to Anderson.

Rohit's had his bit of luck today. Can't grudge that in these conditions, but edges going pass the stumps, balls not middles going over the fence. Will he make it count more?

Think Rohit with his approach, has made batting look easier than it actually is. Look at KL Rahul, he hasn't looked much troubled, but he has had to stay very disciplined and hasn't scored that many... All the more reason for Rohit to stay on the right side of the line, batters who would follow him, may not find things that easy, particularly as the big 3 are struggling for form in recent times.

Moeen's gone at only 2 an over, but there isn't much for him to work with. Perhaps time for Anderson and Robinson to return.

Nelson. Will it be the opening for England?

Sam and Moeen, not able to put much pressure on the batters. Moeen's been able to keep things quiet, but Sam's been milked around easily at the moment.

That's almost a good hour of low pressure. Root's not having a good day in office.

Still early but England are miles behind already. It didn't look a terrible decision to bowl first, but really hasn't come off and not looking like the long tail will be a problem for India

Now Rahul decides its time to open up. Taking the attack to Moeen, who otherwise, has kept it quiet so far. Its already 2 overs too many for Ali in this spell.

Very gloomy out there, think the floodlights are on, not sure why Root is persisting with spin from one end. It's good conditions for Anderson and Robinson.

Moeen has been very steady so far. They've not really looked to go after him yet : in fact they haven't really been over aggressive against anyone at all (bar a few hook shots from Rohit) ; just picked off anything full on leg or short outside off. Very sensible batting. And making it look pretty easy since lunch.

Oho...now Rahul launches it for six... That might encourage Moeen. Should keep tossing it up ...

121/0. What's par on this ? 350 ?

Duty281 wrote:Very gloomy out there, think the floodlights are on, not sure why Root is persisting with spin from one end. It's good conditions for Anderson and Robinson.

He heard you.

Better hope Jimmy can bring some magic here or this is threatening to be one of those "why oh why didn't I choose to bat first" days...

So Anderson's back on. Rohit and Rahul shouldn't do anything silly. He wouldn't have another 8 over spell in him at this point, likely to be a shorter spell, just see him through...

Good comeback over from Anderson, probably the best he has bowled today. Got some late movement there, the old fox.

Bringing Wood on is going to have the umpires rushing to get the light meter.

Not Robinson, but Mark Wood back on for a fresh spell. Lets see how Rohit will play this.

Duty281 wrote:Bringing Wood on is going to have the umpires rushing to get the light meter.

Won't be the worst for England. If Wood can disturb their focus and get through this partnership, then great. If the umpire's take them off, not the worst thing for England as they would want to break the momentum of the partnership.

Jimmy! Ends a good innings from Rohit. The door opens at last.

At last ! Jimmy does for Rohit ...beats him on the outside , then brings one in. Relief for England.

Was just thinking he deserved a hundred today - really did play splendidly and fully entitled to the couple of lucky breaks he got against Wood. Top notch innings

Now the somewhat under pressure Pujara : England must go after him...

I went away for a few minutes and returned to see Rohit gone. But It was a fine innings, he didn't give it away, had to really be dismissed by a fine bit of bowling by Anderson. Full credit to the bowler there.
Cheteshwar Pujara, how is he going to play it here?

Poor review, but good to see Anderson firmly 'on it' now. One has to bring two and three for England to get on top.

Mind you it has started to rain. India would welcome an interruption.

That was a review born out of pure desperation. It always looked high to me.

On KL Rahul, as scratchy and slow as he has been, he is adding very valuable runs. Its actually a very good innings from him so far.

alfie wrote:At last !  Jimmy does for Rohit ...beats him on the outside , then brings one in. Relief for England.

Was just thinking he deserved a hundred today - really did play splendidly and fully entitled to the couple of lucky breaks he got against Wood. Top notch innings

Now the somewhat under pressure Pujara : England must go after him...

I'm always on the flipside, those lucky breaks mean I don't think he deserved a century. It's a good innings but not one i'm too concerned with for the rest of the series, he'll fail more often than not in England.

Another bad call from Root, poor review, always looked high. Real waste!

Ha. Wasted review. Thought it was too high.

Still Anderson is bowling very well now : hope he can get a lot of balls at Pujara as he's not been in great form lately...but let's not burn any more reviews like that , eh ?

Tea near, bit of rain around, a shaky and out of form Pujara in the middle, and Anderson only 3 overs into his spell. Dangerous little passage of play for India.

eirebilly wrote:That was a review born out of pure desperation. It always looked high to me.

On KL Rahul, as scratchy and slow as he has been, he is adding very valuable runs. Its actually a very good innings from him so far.

Not sure it was desperation , exactly. They already had the first wicket. More he was tempted ; and just couldn't resist...

Probably calculated it was likely to be umpire's call at worst...but a couple of inches wrong. They've not been doing very well with reviews this season at all !

alfie wrote:

eirebilly wrote:That was a review born out of pure desperation. It always looked high to me.

On KL Rahul, as scratchy and slow as he has been, he is adding very valuable runs. Its actually a very good innings from him so far.

Not sure it was desperation , exactly. They already had the first wicket. More he was tempted ; and just couldn't resist...

Probably calculated it was likely to be umpire's call at worst...but a couple of inches wrong.  They've not been doing very well with reviews this season at all !

Looking at the body language of Anderson when Root went for the review, he did not look remotely confident. I think it was a desperation myself.

That said, the reviews from both teams so far has been pretty shocking to say the least so not real surprise Root went for the review.

I really hate gaps in slips

Pujara not looking good there. Playing at balls he should have left, not finding the middle of the bat, an overall shakiness about his batting. Real test to come through this Anderson spell.

I mean what's the point ? If you think edges are coming , risk adding a fourth slip...but for heavens sake why leave a blasted hole for a perfectly normal edge to go through?

Calming down gradually...rant over. But I hope that one doesn't come back to haunt them on a day when chances are like hen's teeth...

If Robinson can keep it tight here, he should be able to tempt Pujara into a nick. Aim at the top of off stump Robinson.

alfie wrote:I mean what's the point ? If you think edges are coming , risk adding a fourth slip...but for heavens sake why leave a blasted hole for a perfectly normal edge to go through?

Calming down gradually...rant over. But I hope that one doesn't come back to haunt them on a day when chances are like hen's teeth...

Ah sure, going by England's slip catching of late, it was a 50-50 chance in slips.

That will please ye alfie

Well that gap in the slips didn't cost too much. One brings two, as expected, and India suddenly look vulnerable. Just three more to get until Jadeja, four more brings out the tail.

Where on earth would English test cricket be without the handsome James Anderson? Good spell, this, and a little dart at Kohli before tea.

I'm not sure if i've ever seen Bairstow in the cordon before? He is of course one of the finest outfielders in the world.

Jimmy

Slips back in their proper places so Pujara didn't profit much. Hope springs...

On the flip side I jumped up and spilled my whiskey, alas

Good 50 from KL Rahul, slow and scratchy but he gets the runs.

Pujara never looked comfortable all throughout his 3 innings in this series. This was a particularly poor dismissal, but seemed always on the cards right from the first ball.