So he is.
Was wishful thinking as i don't rate him. I assumed Hameed had come in to open in his place.
England v India 2021 Cricket Test Series
- Thread starter TheGame
- Start date
Was wishful thinking as i don't rate him. I assumed Hameed had come in to open in his place.
In 5 day cricket (on the rare occasions that happens with the UK weather) that can be really important. I think we've got a bit used to the shorter forms of cricket and being able to attack, but in the longer form it's very valid to have somebody holding an end to hog strike early-on and see out the new ball while not worrying too much about run-rate.
A lot of the reason we collapse so often (and games only last 3.5 days) is the openers get out and the batsmen from four onwards are playing against a new ball.
I don't' think Sibley is the man to hold an end for a day and a half mind, so isn't the one to do that job but we do need someone capable of it rather than a run scorer.
I don't disagree, which i alluded to in stating there is merit in it but you've also got to be able to kick on when you're 'in' and Sibley just doesn't have any shots or the ability to nudge the ball around and manipulate a field. Even when you're not getting him out, you'd fancy you could stop him scoring.
Admittedly i haven't seen him for a while, but i don't remember Hameed being very aggressive either, however, he does have a more varied shot selection than Sibley from memory.
Some terrific deliveries from Robinson, unlucky not to get the edge so far.
This is going to be a big score . England bowling first only because they have no confidence in their batting vs India in these conditions
Yep the whole atmosphere around English test cricket at the moment is all wrong.
I don't see where a test match win will come from.
Been quite a few tests since England took early wickets with a new ball in the first innings.
Never a fan of such a long tail. I know 4 quickies in these conditions are better but still to have Ishant as your number 8 is never good.
Good batting from India. Very patient so far.
They have certainly improved a lot in the batting since they last came to England.
Have they?
So far the openers have looked well setup in each innings, but the only time we've seen the rest of the batting it didn't hang around long.
Very early days yet.
England would hope for more rain. India would be really gutted if this Test also gets rained out.
I won't say that. Our middle order so far looks to have regressed. Rahul/ Rohit have done well so far but still there are worries.
Bloody hell mate we are only an hour in
Also the forecast is clear, it shouldn't even be raining now.
Surely Mark Wood should be bowling ahead of Sam Curran?
I'm guessing they would have been trying to make more use of the cloud cover with Curran as it has to swing for him to be anything like effective. Wood seems to be better with the older ball as he reverses it.
I know that Mark Wood lacks a little in accuracy but surely you'd want someone bowling 96 mph to be getting first dibs on a new nut.
It's not as if England have a wealth of options. I mean Curran ffs.
It's not as if England have a wealth of options. I mean Curran ffs.
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I'd be honest but Wood is two levels above Curran as a pace bowler, I don't see any scenario in test cricket where Curran should be bowling over him.
This is a struggle, again.
Rahul's defensive game has improved massively over the last two years. Nice balance to this opening pair.
He's honed his defensive technique perfectly in the IPL
Is this a record for the most one sided century partnership?
I think Sehwag had a similar one once IIRC
I think Sehwag had a similar one once IIRC
I haven’t been able to watch since lunch, but it’s another familiar first session for England. Bowling well enough, but just not good enough to make inroads.
India did bat really well in fairness, but I don’t believe Anderson of even a few years ago would have been wicketless in that session.
India did bat really well in fairness, but I don’t believe Anderson of even a few years ago would have been wicketless in that session.
Jimmy is still a freak and capable of producing something, but he has lost the 'zip'.
I don't disagree, however, Curran has been picked as a bowler and if he is going to do anything, it will be when the ball is swinging, hence why i would guess he bowled before Wood today when it was overcast. Curran's a good cricketer but he falls short with both bat and ball in test cricket.
Wood has never really done anything at test level either. Unless he's reversing an old ball, he seems straight up and down albeit at a decent lick.
Dunno what the record for tests is but there was one in the county championship a few months back where one player got 1 run in a partnership of 166.
The theory, I guess, is that Curran needs a relative new ball so he can swing it, whereas Wood will be quick through the whole innings so doesn't need to bowl so early.
The problem is that Curran is too limited as a bowler. His best chance of establishing himself in the team is to improve his batting to the point that he can bat 6 or 7 and play as a batting all-rounder. Stokes's bowling days will probably come to an end soon (at least in red-ball) so Curran can take over from him. He's definitely got the quality as a batsman - I'd even say batting was his strongest suit right now.
From what the journos say, Hameed has tried to be more aggressive recently. He got into a habit of simply hanging in there and is playing a few more shots now (although he's never going to be a Hayden or a Sehwag).
Definitely, that’s how it goes though. Rooney still scored crackers for us, despite generally playing at a bad level for the last few years. Not that Jimmy is having as detrimental effect as what I thought Rooney was
Played Rohit.
Unlucky for Rohit. Brilliant knock that.
India really need to look at staring the process of replacing Pujara.
Please let this be the end of Pujara.
Robinson has a similar sort of action to Hazlewood
Painful watching Curran with an old ball bowling at well set good batsmen.
Like watching a child.
Like watching a child.
What’s the forecast like for this match?
Surely it has to now. Even Rahane I will say if he doesn't fire soon.
Weather or result?
Weather: pretty good for the next few days
Result: Most predict an India win