England's Winter of Cricket 2020/21

[alfie]

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

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

[Duty281]

That is utterly stupid. 108 minutes of hard work on a slow, flat deck and Burns just gifts his wicket.

[alfie]

Ah that was a bit silly...

Burns had been playing very soundly...had scored an (orthodox) boundary already in the over : and then he produces a reverse sweep out of the blue - and gone.

Ashwin grateful for the gift.

Test for Lawrence now...

[eirebilly]

Oh dear Rory Burns...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Not sure I remember Burns playing a reverse sweep before - can see why.

[eirebilly]

Lawrence has a certain calm about him. I think he will do well on this tour.

[alfie]

Burns will doubtless be kicking himself.  I quite like him - not least for his Cap'n Jack Sparrow visage

But despite often seeing off the new ball , and some good innings , he still averages low thirties for a reason. If he wants to stay a fixture he needs to up that - and I reckon he's missed a good chance today.

[KP_fan]

Foolish of Burns to have given away his wicket on a flat pitch like this.
Bumrah back and will be searching some rverse

[alfie]

Lawrence has a certain calm about him. I think he will do well on this tour.

Thanks for that hex , eirebilly


England butchering a good start...

[KP_fan]

I think I wrote yesterday...don't be surprised if Indian seamers get 40% of the wickets in India with reverse.
Ishant and umesh & shami all are masters of it...and now Bumrah following in their footsteps

[king_carlos]

Oh dear Rory. Follows up a lovely four with a terribly executed reverse sweep.

With the pitch doing so little and a gap behind square it's not a terrible option in and of itself but he's late switching his grip, late getting down and ends up chopping down at the ball rather than sweeping it with his bat parallel to the ground. Rubbish technique. So disappointing on this surface.

Lawrence goes next. LBW to Bumrah. It's good captaincy to get the seamers on again early to Lawrence.

In the space of a few balls England go from rock solid to the old faithful line of, "hopefully Root can get a big score here".

[Duty281]

There we go. India get a lift from Burns' stupidity, they get the initiative, and Bumrah traps Lawrence dead as a result.

India's session and England will be at least two down at lunch; when the tourists should be going into the interval none down and feeling pretty good.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Burns will doubtless be kicking himself.  I quite like him - not least for his Cap'n Jack Sparrow visage

But despite often seeing off the new ball , and some good innings , he still averages low thirties for a reason. If he wants to stay a fixture he needs to up that - and I reckon he's missed a good chance today.

I’ll beat Guildford to this, and point out for a fair chunk of Burma’s early-mid first class career, this was an issue with him. Don’t think he’ll get the time he was rightly afforded at Surrey to “nail” it at Test level mind...big opportunity missed today.

Lawrence...yikes. Didn’t get near it! That wasn’t a promising few balls....

[Duty281]

Oh dear. Now Root nearly runs himself out. Why are they attempting a risky single a few balls before lunch? Stupid, stupid cricket.

[king_carlos]

67-2 at lunch. India's session in the end.

England need to be scoring 450+ on this pitch batting first so a long way to go after those two wickets.

[alfie]

Was a bit risky , eh ? But clearly home safely - blessed if I know why the TV umpire made such a meal of checking it.

67/2. And a lot of work to do .Really should have been 70/0 and a comfortable lunch break.

You really don't want to give them any free kicks like that , especially in the first session. Not that I am opposed to the reverse sweep : several England players use it rather well . But I suspect (a) Burns isn't one of them ; and (b) more importantly he didn't need to play it. . Things were going fine playing "normal" shots...

[KP_fan]

Eng had the opportunity to plant themselves on placid pitch and make the first two sessions count with 200 runs for no more than 2 wickets down

i think somewhere in 3rd session we should see more spin.
Eng still can make amends by not loosing a wicket in the second session....juts keep the reversing straight balls out from hitting the pads

[Duty281]

67/2 at lunch. England teetering after a solid start. The very definition of a good toss to win, and it's vital England pile up 400 minimum. After an encouraging beginning, Burns played a horrific shot to let India in, which allowed Bumrah to give Lawrence a good going-over with four top-quality deliveries, culminating in a satisfying dismissal with a corker of a ball.

Always amazing how a wicket changes everything. Before Burns got out there was barely anything for India. Suddenly Ashwin's now finding turn and Bumrah has a bit of movement to work with. England will start the afternoon on the back-foot, and if India knock over Root early then things could turn very unpleasant.

[msp83]

After a good start, some self-inflicted damage from Burns and a good one from Bumrah has brought India back into it, and I'd say with those late strikes in the session in which they controlled the flow of runs throughout, India take that session.

[eirebilly]

Lawrence has a certain calm about him. I think he will do well on this tour.

Thanks for that hex , eirebilly


England butchering a good start...

I never learn

[Pal Joey]

Lawrence has a certain calm about him. I think he will do well on this tour.

Thanks for that hex , eirebilly


England butchering a good start...

I never learn

It's a pity you're not in the tipping comp yet, eirebilly. We already miss your competitive nature.

There's still time to join if you want. You can even pick Root if you want.
Same goes for anyone else. Surprised Goose hasn't been seen around here? Usually you can't keep him out of it.

Without wanting to jinx... steady progress since lunch. Slow, sure and steady.

[Duty281]

Been a real tough grind for Sibley and Root. Bowlers definitely on top, runs hard to come by, Ashwin getting plenty of bite out of the surface.

Feels like a wicket is near.

[guildfordbat]

Morning all - joining play for the first time now. 81/2 after 38 overs. Probably would have settled for that when turning in last night but certainly appears to have been hard going. Sir Geoffrey's ''add 2 wickets'' seems particularly threatening atm.

Any chances? Any close reviews? How are the local umpires doing? Many thanks.

[Duty281]

No use of the review system yet. One LBW shout against Root, but it was comfortably going over, nothing else for the umpires to do.

Other than the 15 minutes of madness before lunch, England have batted competently on a typical Indian pitch, though India are certainly keeping the run-rate in check.

[eirebilly]

Morning PJ.

As much as i would love to join a tipping comp, i am not regular enough on here to update as i go sadly.

Even though Lawrence got out, i still feel he will have a decent impact during this test series.

[alfie]

Quiet first hour after lunch. England (understandably )watchful. Just 24 runs added - but no alarms.

Not sure I'd call it "hard going" , guildford : slow but safe start ; then Burns and Sibley were ticking along nicely until the former had an inexplicable brain fade and threw his wicket away.
Then after Lawrence failed to get started we've seen some pretty cautious stuff from Root and Sibley. But I wouldn't say they've looked unduly troubled.

Washington might be a little easier to score off than Ashwin...

[guildfordbat]

No use of the review system yet. One LBW shout against Root, but it was comfortably going over, nothing else for the umpires to do.

Other than the 15 minutes of madness before lunch, England have batted competently on a typical Indian pitch, though India are certainly keeping the run-rate in check.

Thanks, Duty. So far at least seems a proper opening day of Test cricket in India.

Thought Chef came across well during the drinks break. Unlike Butcher on comms - just can't warm to his pally humour.

[alfie]

One thing I've noticed today : Sibley shows signs he's learned from the Sri Lanka experience (albeit on a much less fizzy pitch at present). He's been using his feet much better against the spin - couple of very nice on side boundaries coming down and clipping through wide mid-on.
Never going to get style points ; but I like his application and dedication to finding a way to score.

Hope that doesn't hex him now

[guildfordbat]

Quiet first hour after lunch. England (understandably )watchful. Just 24 runs added - but no alarms.

Not sure I'd call it "hard going" , guildford : slow but safe start ; then Burns and Sibley were ticking along nicely until the former had an inexplicable brain fade and threw his wicket away.
Then after Lawrence failed to get started we've seen some pretty cautious stuff from Root and Sibley. But I wouldn't say they've looked unduly troubled.

Washington might be a little easier to score off than Ashwin...

Thanks also, Alfie. Fair enough. My ''hard going'' was just a scoreboard reading and interpretation that few runs had been gifted. I'll need to find out what Burns did.

A few more sweeps and runs since I've joined by all accounts. However, I accept Ashwin coming out of the attack might have more to do with that than me.

[Soul Requiem]

Sibley won't win rewards for style but he sure does know his game and even early in his test career he's shown an adaptability which can't be underplayed. Burns on the other hand is a more natural batsman but has a habit of getting himself out against spin when he's set.

[KP_fan]

If Indian bolwers & Kohli hold nerve a wicket to a sweep is coming soon
commentary from the indian broadcasters is garbage and reactive

[guildfordbat]

A very solid start so far from Burns and Sibley.

Early signs are that this pitch is doing absolutely nothing. That said I think Ishant in particular has started pretty slowly, he is coming off an injury layoff.

If Guildford were foolish enough to also be awake at 4:35am then I'm sure he'd remind me never to judge a pitch until both sides have batted and bowled on it!

Yep, I wasn't but I would have done!

[Duty281]

Tidy stuff from this pair. Got through some testing spells from Ashwin, Bumrah and Sharma in the opening hour, now they're scoring off the fourth/fifth bowlers without needing to be overly aggressive. Proper cricket.

[guildfordbat]

Burns will doubtless be kicking himself.  I quite like him - not least for his Cap'n Jack Sparrow visage

But despite often seeing off the new ball , and some good innings , he still averages low thirties for a reason. If he wants to stay a fixture he needs to up that - and I reckon he's missed a good chance today.

I’ll beat Guildford to this, and point out for a fair chunk of Burma’s early-mid first class career, this was an issue with him. Don’t think he’ll get the time he was rightly afforded at Surrey to “nail” it at Test level mind...big opportunity missed today.

Lawrence...yikes. Didn’t get near it! That wasn’t a promising few balls....

Happy to be beaten by a mile today! We're both right mind.

[KP_fan]

Kohli did not hold the nerve when both eng batsmen were sweeping nadeem and sundar
he should have persisted 3 to 4 more overs from them and a wkt would have come

[alfie]

Fifty for Dom

Played well. Crucial partnership here with the skipper after those two quick wickets...

Let's see how he handles the spin second innings when it turns a bit more ; but this innings is distinctly promising

[Duty281]

8 no-balls already from India!

Just think how many were missed, from all teams, in the days before the third umpire adjudicated.

Good fifty for Sibley. And superb defence to keep out that fantastic yorker from Bumrah.

[alfie]

Kohli did not hold the nerve when both eng batsmen were sweeping nadeem and sundar
he should have persisted 3 to 4 more overs from them and a wkt would have come

One of the beauties of such assertions , KP_fan , is that you can never be proved wrong

Anyway Root is sweeping Ashwin now ... We shall see.

[alfie]

Yes Duty... I have noted the no balls too. Blessed if I know why a spinner ever bowls one ...
In fact I'm not sure any professional cricketer ought to overstepping : the minuscule advantage gained from really pushing the line is surely not worth the risk of losing a wicket , quite apart from the run cost. And these fellows have run ups that really are so automatic they should rarely misstep .

Since free hits became the go in the white ball circus I notice the incidence of no balls has decreased

[KP_fan]

Kohli not showing patience on a pitch that requires the bowler and captian to bowl to a plan
choke Eng batsman down and wait for them to make a mistake
Blast away a wicket.....ain't gonna work yet

[msp83]

Fine comeback from England in that second session. Root and Sibley had to come through some real pressure periods against India's 3 senior bowlers. Needed real application particularly mentally to have done that. Yes the track is pretty flat and is offering nothing whatsoever for the bowlers. But Bumrah, Ashwin and Ishant bowled very well.
Root and Sibley though, capitalized on the inexperienced Sundar and Nadeem, and took their side to a strong position. A couple of wickets can still bring India back into the game, but on this track, against disciplined batting, it is going to be real hard work.
And this track makes it even more surprising that they didn't pick Kuldeep. His left-arm Chinaman would have been a greater challenge for batsmen here. And he has greater international experience than Nadeem both in tests and limited overs.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Genuine edge from Root off Ishant falls short of Pant...doesn't bode too well for the seamers the rest of the test that the ball isn't carrying on day one!

[msp83]

India should stay patient. Should try and control the runs, and challenge the batsmen to force the pace if they want to. Poor test match wicket, one of those olden days stupid flat road. The bowling is experienced and skilled enough to challenge the batsman to take the initiative though, and possibly that is the way to a wicket or 2.

[msp83]

SG had claimed that the ball being used for the series is likely to stay hard and in tact for much longer than what has been happening in recent times. But even before tea, it was really coming off at the seam...

[alfie]

Fifty for Root

Boundary courtesy of some poor out fielding but he won't mind. Carrying on the good form from Sri Lanka.

147/2 .

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

SG had claimed that the ball being used for the series is likely to stay hard and in tact for much longer than what has been happening in recent times. But even before tea, it was really coming off at the seam...

Is it a Kookaburra MSP?

[alfie]

Hi , msp

I too have been wondering why Kuldeep wasn't picked. (wasn't in Australia either ) I guess he can't bat for toffee but is that the only reason ?
Washington presumably required to shorten the tail. I really don't know a lot about Nadeem but he's not impressed me in the early part of this innings...

[alfie]

SG had claimed that the ball being used for the series is likely to stay hard and in tact for much longer than what has been happening in recent times. But even before tea, it was really coming off at the seam...

Is it a Kookaburra MSP?

SG ball , I think ...but a modified one.

[msp83]

England skipper passed 50. Weren't you saying he has a conversion problem or something?

[Duty281]

Nadeem started off decently, now his control and consistency has disappeared. Runs flowing, new ball still 19 overs away.

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