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.

Rishabh after that nervous start, was looking good. And he had the bowling in his grasps to make a big contribution. But he gave it away. I guess that is the thing you have to live with Rishabh...

That's rubbish (as Sir Geoffrey would say) from Shami. Jadeja can't trust the tail.

Sunil Gavaskar, in the last match was suggesting that Jadeja should trust the lower order a bit more and should start going for the leather only when number 10 or 11 are at the crease. We know why Jadeja things otherwise. He played with a great deal of assurance today, but now will have to try and thrash about and get whatever he can.

From 267-2, India have lost 5-69 here... Kohli's pathetic shot, coupled with his stupid selection, coming back to haunt the team.

Moeen's just taken out Shami alright, but Root should bring Anderson back on right away I feel.

England falling into a classic trap of focusing all their energy on getting the tail-ender on strike...completely forgetting that Jadeja is not Don Bradman and it's plausible to try and target his dismissal as well.

msp83 wrote:Moeen's just taken out Shami alright, but Root should bring Anderson back on right away I feel.

Might be a good idea. Though it is possible Jadeja - or even Ishant ! - might get tempted to have a swing at Moeen and hole out...

Wood ought to fancy having a go at the tail - if he can get Jadeja off strike.

England don't do this "batsman and tail ender " removal thing very well. If Jadeja is patient he might be able to add a fair few more yet.

Duty281 wrote:England falling into a classic trap of focusing all their energy on getting the tail-ender on strike...completely forgetting that Jadeja is not Don Bradman and it's plausible to try and target his dismissal as well.

They always do this. It almost never works. Definition of insanity , isn't it ? Basically relying on Jadeja losing patience and getting himself out.

Ah well . Nearly lunch. Guess we can call it England's session ; but I agree with eirebilly...they've no chance of winning from here.

Very poor end to that session from England, with the pace of the game slowing to a crawl.

First three balls - Load of rubbish easily dealt with by Jadeja.
Fourth ball - Easy single for Jadeja.
Fifth and six ball - Defended comfortably by Sharma.

Oh well. Commendable fightback from England, sparked by Rahul's poor shot, and still well in this game. And, yes, England can still win it from here. Need those last three wickets quickly, however, hopefully an Anderson/Robinson burst after lunch settles matters.

Eng might think its their session...Ind won't mind where they stand....the minimum expectation that they had of a first inning total has already been met most likely.
400 would be nice to have and is on cards.....if Jadeja bats until the end

From my P.O.V...India is one bowling all-rounder short...but Kohli's mistake didn't prove too costly

It would have had Ind's Nos 6 and 7 not delivered.....mind you...pant is still due....due for a run a ball 80+ score.,..he's merely gotten in in the 2 innings but not gone on...

Robinson looked tired and bowled medium pace  sub 80mph & Curran was even gentler.
I don't think Robinson's gonna last beyond T3

India missed the 20 odd runs that ashwin was likely to get with bat...won't miss him as a spinner...for they have Jadeja to exploit the rough and spin...and India seamers all faster than all Eng seamers barring Wood will have enough nip/ reverse and unevenness in the pitch.

Game nicely in India's control.....
Both Pujara & Rahane's neck is on the block...the one who fails of the two in second inning is surely out....I think time's up for Pujara & very little left for Rahane too
Mayank, Vihari, Shaw and SKY are all breathing down their necks

India still in control after Rahul/Rohit's fine knocks, but a good fightback this morning from England. Hopefully they can polish off the tail relatively cheaply, albeit Ishant is annoying as he can be difficult to remove.
If they can keep it to 375ish...then they have a shot if they bat well. The likelihood of that is remote, but it is a possibility nonetheless!

This is very sedate stuff, made sleepier still by the pleasant hum that Lord's brings.

Wood coming on now, might enliven proceedings.

All very cat and mouse in slo-mo at present...

Jadeja staying patient. Probably happy to tire out the bowlers and edge the score along slowly.

Nearly ! Buttler did well to get there but couldn't hold on...and now a missed run out : oh dear.Ishant living dangerously.

Duty281 wrote:This is very sedate stuff, made sleepier still by the pleasant hum that Lord's brings.

Wood coming on now, might enliven proceedings.

You could say that

Suddenly all action : Dropped catch , missed run out , swiped boundary...

That woke everyone up.

Lost count of how many run-out chances England have missed in this series.

Sharma somehow survives that over.

Now when Hameed does hit the stumps Sharma has managed to get in.

Oh goodness, now Bairstow misses a run-out chance he really should have got, unlike Hameed's miss.

Ishant doing his job here - with a little good fortune. He'd have been my choice to bat at eight.

Another run out missed. They only seem to hit when the batsman is home

So that's what , 25 this pair has added ? More annoying than big so far but it all adds up . If Bumrah gets hold of a few the 400 is still on .

Has Jimmy got him ? Given but reviewed ...no that's out. Needed that

Four for Anderson

English test cricket will be a horror-show when Anderson and Broad depart. Thankfully Anderson is eternal so that time will never come.

Been an oddly passive innings from Jadeja. Wonder if he'll step it up now?

Another dropped catch and run out chance double...

Wasn't easy to be fair to Burns. But the half- chances add up.

But Bumrah gone now : Jimmy of course...five for him

Thank heavens they didn't leave him out "as a precaution " !

Five for Jimmy as he closes every closer on Shane Warne. They shared the field for a few Ashes tests in 06/07...imagine thinking then that Anderson might one day overhaul Warne's test wickets total!

Really good fightback from England today. They didn't bowl too poorly yesterday, beat the bat plenty, just didn't have much fortune. Today they're back in the test.

alfie wrote:Another dropped catch and run out chance double...

Wasn't easy to be fair to Burns. But the half- chances add up.

But Bumrah gone now : Jimmy of course...five for him  

Thank heavens they didn't leave him out "as a precaution " !

Just the 29 overs he has sent down so far. At 39. After being an injury doubt. Go on Jimmy.

And all out as Jadeja skies Wood - to Jimmy of course.

364 a lot less than it might have been. Theoretically, England are back in this. We will see how that plays out.

If they are still batting on Sunday morning they'll fancy their chances

Unless they're following on , of course

And that's the end, Jimmy taking the catch. 267/2 to 364ao. The Indian openers the only ones confounding the low expectations placed on them, no. 3 downwards still looking ropey as anything.

Now it's time for England with the bat. Ideally we'd be talking about 450+, far from impossible on this wicket but likely beyond England's frail batting order. 350 would be good, however, and would give England a decent chance. Hope Hameed goes well as it's been some journey for him - making his test debut in India, then sinking to the depths in county cricket, before coming back with a resurgence this year.

I'm not convinced it undoes yesterday's damage but nonetheless an excellent recovery by England in the first half of today. I was pretty sure India would top 400 given their overnight position.

Brilliantly spearheaded by Anderson with useful support from Robinson, Wood and Moeen. Just Curran looking somewhat out of sorts.

Anyway, over to Burns and Sibley to carry on the good work .... or not ....

So last 3 for 1 run, 3 for 13 before that with Kohli, Rahul and Rahane. And despite that fabulous effort from Rohit and Rahul, India have ended up under-achieving with 364 all out. But overall, its a decent score... Lets see what can the 4 quicks and Jadeja do now. Jadeja might have a greater role to play with the ball, than he did in the last test.

It's all fun and games until England have to bat

Jimmy is a ridiculous human being, I wrote him off back in 2019 when he was injured a few balls into the ashes but here is two years later as good as ever.

26 wickets at 19.5 so far this year, that includes FOUR matches on the subcontinent.

Bumrah is such a good bowler, he has Sibley all over the shop.

Anderson's just a freak of nature at this point. In every calendar year from 2014 (with the exception of 2019 where he suffered injury) he's averaged under 24 with the ball. He's a marvel. This is currently his best year average-wise since 2017, and economically he's never had a better year than this in his entire career (2.19 is his economy in 2021).

Solid start from Burns and Sibley, despite some prodigious swing on offer. They've left on length, as the Indian openers did, sensibly. A few edges falling short are causing the odd heart-in-mouth moment.

Other stats of note - England have only won 21 tests after fielding first and conceding 364 or more in the first innings. Astonishingly, four of those occurred in the same summer (2004). The most recent was the win in Galle earlier in the year; the most recent at home was v the West Indies in 2012.

GSC wrote:It's all fun and games until England have to bat

It's the new variation of "never judge a pitch until both sides have batted", "never judge a pitch until Joe Root has carried his teammates on it".

Jokes aside England aren't in a bad place here if they apply themselves. The pitch is very slow so if batsman get in they should be able to score.

Ishant just isn't making the batsman play enough. Time for Shami or Siraj I reckon.

I'd still take the runs on the board with 364 but England fought back well. Thank god for Jimmy Anderson, hey.

This Jasprit Bumrah fella is rather good at cricket.

For years and years Anderson was held up as the gold standard of fielding for a fast bowler, and that athleticism that allowed him to field like he did is coming in handy now allowing to him to still be operating at this level at age 39. When most ‘normal’ athletes would be turning on their commentary mics. He seems to be bowling as fast as he has done for a few years too!

JDizzle wrote:For years and years Anderson was held up as the gold standard of fielding for a fast bowler, and that athleticism that allowed him to field like he did is coming in handy now allowing to him to still be operating at this level at age 39. When most ‘normal’ athletes would be turning on their commentary mics. He seems to be bowling as fast as he has done for a few years too!

His fielding, as with many fast bowlers, is the place where the age is showing a touch. He isn't quite as lithe and rapid over the ground as he used to be. Though he's still got great hands.

His bowling is just remarkable and the figures are there to show it. Just a magnificent bowler.

Getting Woakes back fit will be vital to allow rotating Jimmy if needed during this series though. With so many seamers unavailable there will be a temptation to play him for all Tests if fit which may not be the wisest thing at 39.

Two good sessions for England, fighting back well. Openers doing their job competently enough.

Will be a lengthy, 150-minute final session with 38 overs left in the day (inevitably some will be lost).

king_carlos wrote:

JDizzle wrote:For years and years Anderson was held up as the gold standard of fielding for a fast bowler, and that athleticism that allowed him to field like he did is coming in handy now allowing to him to still be operating at this level at age 39. When most ‘normal’ athletes would be turning on their commentary mics. He seems to be bowling as fast as he has done for a few years too!

His fielding, as with many fast bowlers, is the place where the age is showing a touch. He isn't quite as lithe and rapid over the ground as he used to be. Though he's still got great hands.

His bowling is just remarkable and the figures are there to show it. Just a magnificent bowler.

Getting Woakes back fit will be vital to allow rotating Jimmy if needed during this series though. With so many seamers unavailable there will be a temptation to play him for all Tests if fit which may not be the wisest thing at 39.

Yeah, and not that he was ever a KP with the bat I think his eyes and heart for getting in line with a 90mph fast bowler have gone a bit too! Only to be expected!

JDizzle wrote:

king_carlos wrote:

JDizzle wrote:For years and years Anderson was held up as the gold standard of fielding for a fast bowler, and that athleticism that allowed him to field like he did is coming in handy now allowing to him to still be operating at this level at age 39. When most ‘normal’ athletes would be turning on their commentary mics. He seems to be bowling as fast as he has done for a few years too!

His fielding, as with many fast bowlers, is the place where the age is showing a touch. He isn't quite as lithe and rapid over the ground as he used to be. Though he's still got great hands.

His bowling is just remarkable and the figures are there to show it. Just a magnificent bowler.

Getting Woakes back fit will be vital to allow rotating Jimmy if needed during this series though. With so many seamers unavailable there will be a temptation to play him for all Tests if fit which may not be the wisest thing at 39.

Yeah, and not that he was ever a KP with the bat I think his eyes and heart for getting in line with a 90mph fast bowler have gone a bit too! Only to be expected!

Agreed. The days of Jimmy the nightwatchman are long gone!

A good session for England. 23-0 from 14 overs at the tea break. Bumrah in particular bowled very well and there have been some tight play and misses but Rahul and Rohit had those early on too. Sibley and Burns weathered the first spell well.

Oh dear, Sibley. That's a dismissal like the first test.

Well that was a peach from Siraj, but not exactly a good shot from Hameed. England wobbling.

Oh dear, first Sibley then Hameed first ball

Everything on Joe Root's shoulders again.

I say again, this test is over for England. A draw is best they can hope for.

Joe we're going to need you to do the double hundred thing again

(Also, as I've noted before, bringing Hameed into the side at 3, when he's refound his form by getting back to opening the batting, and 3 was where he basically became a club batsman, is so horrendously England I hate it)

Not the best start after tea...

Another 141 to save the follow on. This could be a long summer.

Wasn't actually a peach from Siraj, it was just a straight ball and Hameed played down completely the wrong line. Very poor.

Still 340 adrift. Need Burns to bring some of his good luck and Root to be Root.

That was not good from Hameed at all, it was in fact so bad as to be quite worrying. Hopefully he does a bit better second innings otherwise the mental fragility he showed at Lancashire is going to come back into focus.

That's just how England's Test cricket is going at the moment, absolutely nothing seems to come off. Crawley averaging 10 might end up looking like a big loss!

alfie wrote:Not the best start after tea...

Another 141 to save the follow on. This could be a long summer.

Then another summer down here, Alfie. I haven't had the heater on for the last 3 days and it's still winter. Think it will be very hot again.
I was struggling to stay awake after tea and was just about to go to bed. Those two quick wickets have kept me up for a little while longer.
Was looking forward to see a bit of Hameed batting. I've heard so much about him but I haven't seen him play. Robbed of the chance by Siraj.

Root seems to be starting off from where he left off in the last test. So regardless of the double strikes, Indian bowlers should stay very much on target. Burns doing well to survive 19 overs, though he really hasn't looked in at any point.

Hameed does only average 3 more than Crawley in FC cricket. He’s playing because of those innings in India in 2016. I know he’s in decent nick this summer, but he wouldn’t be playing if not for those Test matches. Hopefully he can bounce back second dig…

Hameed looked frozen. Nerves I guess. Obviously the worst thing that could have happened on his return to the team. But at least he's guaranteed a second innings.

Bit of a worry that Sibley got out the same way again. They've got his number , you'd think. He played pretty well before tea and I was getting hopeful. Really could have done with one of his "grind them down" innings chasing 360.

Lot on Root but what's new ?

Pal Joey wrote:

alfie wrote:Not the best start after tea...

Another 141 to save the follow on. This could be a long summer.

Then another summer down here, Alfie. I haven't had the heater on for the last 3 days and it's still winter. Think it will be very hot again.
I was struggling to stay awake after tea and was just about to go to bed. Those two quick wickets have kept me up for a little while longer.
Was looking forward to see a bit of Hameed batting. I've heard so much about him but I haven't seen him play. Robbed of the chance by Siraj.

If they are allowed into Australia this year , PJ

Reckon the way England are going lately Australia won't have too much to worry about. The t20 outfit that just got smashed in Bangladesh might fancy their chances in fact.

Really not looking forward as much as usual to an Ashes Series. Without Stokes for the second tour in a row I can't see a contest at all. Perhaps if Smith decided to take the season off...