England's Summer of Cricket 2021

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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.

Soul Requiem wrote: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.

England slippers are not in great supply lately. Probably a good choice to try Jonny in there... Though for some reason off duty keepers don't always like to field there. He took that one nicely enough , so might fancy the job...

Virat, You have no option to fail today, Remember you should!!!

Anderson 14 overs , 2/28

The rest 38 overs , 0/129.

And to think we were contemplating this match without him just a day ago...

India still well placed at 157/2 . Someone else will need to come to the party after tea...

157/2 at tea, Anderson giving England some life.

A fast start to the final session could see India 175/4, so naturally the next thirty minutes of play will be quite important. If England get Kohli before he settles they'll be bouncing in the field for a little while.

So that's tea. Think advantage India at the moment. But it can all change rather quickly. Kohli short of runs of late, Rahane, like Pujara, is struggling a bit.
And I think with Kohli in, they would give Anderson a couple more after Tea straight away?

alfie wrote:Anderson 14 overs , 2/28

The rest 38 overs , 0/129.

And to think we were contemplating this match without him just a day ago...

India still well placed at 157/2 .  Someone else will need to come to the party after tea...

Bowled a lovely spell there, but he was not good for his first 10 or so overs (far too short and wide for my money). Definitely been part of the poor bowling overall so far...lets hope that spell was the kickstart of the whole attack turning things round!

Those were two vital wickets to claw things back for England but I still feel India are well on top. The pitch is quite slow so might flatten out on days 2 and 3 but I just fear that this England batting lineup can make anything north of 250 look a good score at times.

Bumrah, Shami, Sharma, Siraj and Jadeja might leave a long tail but I think they will bowl as a unit which England have failed to do thus far.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:Anderson 14 overs , 2/28

The rest 38 overs , 0/129.

And to think we were contemplating this match without him just a day ago...

India still well placed at 157/2 .  Someone else will need to come to the party after tea...

Bowled a lovely spell there, but he was not good for his first 10 or so overs (far too short and wide for my money). Definitely been part of the poor bowling overall so far...lets hope that spell was the kickstart of the whole attack turning things round!

His pitchmap on cricinfo didn't really support that though , Olly. Could have been better , sure...but in truth I think he was mostly in the right areas , just lacking the late movement needed to skewer the bats. Think we tend to assume the bowling is worse than it is sometimes when the results haven't come - whereas if the exact same stuff draws a couple of lucky breaks we think it's been brilliant.

Robinson started well after tea. Need a spell from him I think.

Going to be hard to turn this around though. Reckon India are on for a very decent score , weak tail and all. Just hope England can respond when they get to bat.

Anderson on to his 9th of the spell, and 17th of the day. With Kohli still new at the crease, they have every reason to give Anderson another go, but considering he came into the game under a bit of a fitness cloud, this might be pushing it just a little bit, also he should be coming back on with the 2nd new ball in all likelihood...

The way Rahul's playing the short ball at the moment, perhaps its time for Wood to come back.

Sam's back on, for Robinson. Might just be Wood from the other end. Not sure getting Moeen on from the other end like they did earlier would be the way to go.

Decent spell between Anderson and Robinson after tea, but unable to get the third wicket, though they did beat the bat on a few occasions.

Curran coming in now and starting with two terrible deliveries. Very poor series from him thus far.

Sam Curran back. Really needs to be on his game in this spell as if he goes round the park now India are going run away from here...

He's been the big disappointment of the day for me - and I've picked him for my Tipping Contest !

Kohli taking his time settling in.  He can afford to as Rahul is going along very nicely.

Wood getting the ball to go away a bit off the pitch - but they're starting wide enough not to be a worry for the bats. Has been a day where anything on the stumps has generally gone straight on - and been regularly worked to leg ; while most of the away movement has been either minimal or too wide to be effective.  

This really looks a good pitch for batting at present. May harden up and get a bit quicker next day or two I guess but doesn't look like one on which bowlers can expect to run through a team. But will revisit that thought when England try batting on it

It's been a poor bowling performance.

Broad, Archer, Woakes and Stokes is so much firepower to be missing.

Wood and Surran have both been poor. Anderson improved a lot after that weak opening spell but has been well below his best. Robinson whilst very accurate is thus far wicketless having had the new ball and largely bowled during the pick of conditions for bowlers.

With Broad, Archer and presumably Stokes out for the series England direly need Woakes back ASAP.

I have to feel that if England do not get a wicket before the new ball, they will really struggle this evening. Granted, its been a struggle all day but it looks like Kohli and Rahul could take the game out of sight from England here.

I'd say Curran has been very poor, though he has caused some issues with the angle he generates. Wood has been OK and about what I expect from him in English conditions. Robinson has bowled well, just not got the requisite fortune to get in the wickets column. Anderson same as in the first test - started poorly, then gradually grew into proceedings.

It's a good batting wicket, England didn't do the damage when conditions were favourable to them, now it's a tough grind in the field.

Think this is more about India playing really well

Robinson back on. Curran, after a poor start to the spell, has at least managed to slow the flow of runs. Kohli taking his time to try and get himself set.

Perhaps its time for a bit of Moeen. England need to change things around a bit. Time for Kohli to ease Rahul through the 80s and 90s. He has had a few issues in there earlier as well, before he lost form and his place in the side.

And on queue, comes Moeen.

GSC wrote:Think this is more about India playing really well

England have been poor but Rohit and Rahul have batted very well.

This India side have continued getting better over the last few years. They are a much tougher unit now than 2018 and will apply themselves well in difficult situations outside their home conditions. Rohit and Rahul have shown that today.

India are simply a far far better Test side than England at the minute but I'd still expect England to bowl much better than this at home and in overcast conditions.

If we don't get another wicket today then India will be well set to bat deep into day 2. It's a slow track that I can see being very good to bat on for day 2 and 3.

This is over already. When did England last win a Test conceding a big first innings score when the other side batted first. Genuinely can't remember it happening for a long time. England either win by batting first and setting the game up that way, or rolling the opposition cheaply then ending up a fairly small total to chase

Just not England's day as another loose shot from Kohli finds the grass.

GSC wrote:Think this is more about India playing really well

So do I. Sure England could have been better , as a group. But I think you have to hand it to India - well Rohit and Rahul at least - for playing proper Test Cricket. When the ball was doing a bit early (though in fact it never did anything extravagant - certainly nothing like they'd hoped when sending India in. Which is why England tried so hard to get the ball changed) they left well , got forward to combat movement , and made sure nothing dramatic happened. Then as conditions eased they've just gone on with the job and scored at a very decent rate.
Outside of Anderson's spell before tea and a couple of lively overs from Wood the batsmen have looked pretty comfortable on what is a decent surface for batting. I'd like to think England will be able to respond in kind but they've not been very good at responding to scores of 400 or so lately. Can probably already say only one team is a chance to get a result in this match...

Wood's back on. Think he should be on for a quick 3 over spell trying to test the batters with some short stuff. Don't think he's going to nuance out a batter here. Go flat out, don't bother the runs...

Still just over an hour's worth of play left. If England bowl better with the second new ball than they did with the first, then they can still finish today in a decent position.

Rohit and Rahul batted well to put India in a strong position. But I remember England bowlers turned things around from similar situations in the New Zealand series. Of course their batting wasn't up to mark even then, but this is no done deal by any stretch of imagination. The new ball is just a few overs away...

Duty281 wrote:Still just over an hour's worth of play left. If England bowl better with the second new ball than they did with the first, then they can still finish today in a decent position.

Love your optimism but I cant agree. England already face a massive uphill challenge to even get a draw from this position. I would say that they weather is the only way England will get a result in this test match.

Well done K L Rahul, that was a well deserved century.

Good century for Rahul.

Duty is still up with the optimism , I see. But I am afraid I can't share it.
Just can't see them grabbing three or four wickets quickly - and anything less is just setting things up for the chopping block tomorrow.

Draw is perfectly possible - if they can actually bat properly for once and Root gets decent support. Not holding my breath.

Hundred for Rahul : well played indeed

Splendid hundred for KL Rahul! What a fabulous come back to test cricket this has been!. He had dropped out of the reckoning for the opening position, and has been in the squad more as a middle order cover, as Mayank Agarwal had overtaken him as the reserve opener. Then Gill got injured, Agarwal got hit on the head on the eve of the first test, and Rahul got an unexpected opportunity and he has taken it and how!

On a day Both Sam Curran and Mark Wood leaked plenty of runs, the much maligned Moeen Ali stands out for his decent economy.

Remember Daniel Lawrence picking up a wicket against New Zealand in one of to-new-ball spells. Perhaps Joe Root should have rolled his arm over for an over 2 before the new ball. Just 1 ball away from the new ball now.

alfie wrote:Duty is still up with the optimism , I see.  But I am afraid I can't share it.
Just can't see them grabbing three or four wickets quickly - and anything less is just setting things up for the chopping block tomorrow.

Draw is perfectly possible - if they can actually bat properly for once and Root gets decent support. Not holding my breath.

Hundred for Rahul : well played indeed

New ball time means we're about to find out. 280/5 would be a decent position for England overnight.

How much more play will we have? The over rate it has to be said, has been decent from England.

msp83 wrote:On a day Both Sam Curran and Mark Wood leaked plenty of runs, the much maligned Moeen Ali stands out for his decent economy.

Just because people criticise Mo's inconsistency doesn't mean he's the only cricketer ever criticised. There are plenty of England fans who don't rate Curran and wonder why Wood gets picked so much at home.

New ball taken straight away, and its Robinson. Expect Anderson to take over at the other end.

king_carlos wrote:

msp83 wrote:On a day Both Sam Curran and Mark Wood leaked plenty of runs, the much maligned Moeen Ali stands out for his decent economy.

Just because people criticise Mo's inconsistency doesn't mean he's the only cricketer ever criticised. There are plenty of England fans who don't rate Curran and wonder why Wood gets picked so much at home.

Of course, Carlos,
But had it been Moeen in place of Curran or Wood, we would never have heard the end of it!

Time for Anderson v Kohli again!

Wood and Curran have both carried more threat than Moeen today. Moeen is a nothing selection, has been easily milked and posed little danger to India. Root could have bowled Moeen's overs and achieved the same result (or perhaps a little better).

Robinson looks knackered it must be said. A long day for England.

The worst thing is that had we batted first in the conditions from earlier in the day with our batting lineup we'd probably have struggled against Bumrah and friends.

Nothing too dramatic from Anderson's first over with the 2nd new ball, other than the somewhat overconfident pull shot that Rahul didn't execute that well.

msp83 wrote:

king_carlos wrote:

msp83 wrote:On a day Both Sam Curran and Mark Wood leaked plenty of runs, the much maligned Moeen Ali stands out for his decent economy.

Just because people criticise Mo's inconsistency doesn't mean he's the only cricketer ever criticised. There are plenty of England fans who don't rate Curran and wonder why Wood gets picked so much at home.

Of course, Carlos,
But had it been Moeen in place of Curran or Wood, we would never have heard the end of it!

This is rubbish. There are constant moans about 5/6 England players and I include myself in that, Wood is the one that gets me really going.

Poor lines from Robinson with the 2nd new ball. Perhaps, regardless of his poor day, Root should experiment with Curran with the new ball.

Even when set, Anderson can still unsettle Kohli. luckily for the skipper, the edge land safely

Robinson gets Kohli. He couldn't see the day through. Gives England an opening. When you have Ishant at 8, needed a great deal more than this wasted start from the captain!

And the most disappointing thing about that Kohli dismissal was the way he got out. Trying to defend a ball that he needn't have played at! Not unfamiliar for Virat. He had made a habit of it in 2014. Just what an untimely waste from Kohli!.

Sam does indeed get a spell with the new ball, replacing Anderson.