England India 5th test

[Buxtonclaret]

It would be like reading stories from my old 1960s Hotspur comics, if I was asked to describe this series!
As unbelievable as it's been superb.
Just the wrong result.

[RVclaret]

Fair play Siraj.

Pathetic from Smith early on.

[ClaretTony]

No blame on Atkinson. Shocking batting from bethel onwards

Bethel & Smith looked like rabbits caught in headlights.

We were 301/3 in this second innings and looked certain winners.

[Casper2]

I hope this is the end of McCullum and his stupid Baz ball crap

[Guppyspotter]

What a series, congratulations India on coming back from the abyss

[Socrates]

I hope this is the end of McCullum and his stupid Baz ball crap

Absolutely idiotic comment.

It’s serving up the most incredible, entertaining Test matches.

[RVclaret]

Will England ever win a series again (against a decent side)?

[Longsidebovril]

What a series. Shame about the last result but you can’t say it wasn’t entertaining. Feels like a draw is fair across the 5 tests.

[Burnley1989]

I hope this is the end of McCullum and his stupid Baz ball crap

Yeah, nothing worse that drawing against one of the best sides in the world in one of the best series we've watched for a very long time. Nobody wants to watch that

[Casper2]

Absolutely idiotic comment.

It’s serving up the most incredible, entertaining Test matches.

My opinion, losing is not entertaining

[Holmechapel]

Couldn’t understand why Woakes wasn’t allowed a runner.

[Casper2]

Yeah, nothing worse that drawing against one of the best sides in the world in one of the best series we've watched for a very long time. Nobody wants to watch that

Best series my backside , media hype

[Casper2]

Couldn’t understand why Woakes wasn’t allowed a runner.

Not allowed anymore

[Ric_C]

Absolutely thrown it away. We'd have won that if Woakes hadn't got injured, oh well

[claretonthecoast1882]

In fairness India deserved something from the series so probably the right outcome

[RickyBobby]

All them dropped catches came back to bite us. Catches win matches.

[Clive 1960]

Congratulations to India but this morning Smith should have played is self in instead of going for it straight away, been a great series and caught wait for the Ashes..

[ClaretTony]

Couldn’t understand why Woakes wasn’t allowed a runner.

Haven’t they stopped it in international cricket

[Bordeauxclaret]

On the Bazball stuff, they’ve clearly reined it in at times this series. Which everyone knew they had to do.

Selection is the main problem now.
We’ve got an opener who averages 30 and a number three who averages about 35.
That’s a big reason why we lose as many as we win.

As for selecting Overton.

[Guppyspotter]

It's the entertainment business, would I rather England win or do I prefer a belting drama. I'm taking the draw and a lot of pleasure in watching it. It's not as if I have felt like a winner as I was sitting in my backside on a sofa. I have won regardless of the result.

[Culmclaret]

Brook, hero and villain. Hopefully he will learn from this that there is a difference between being good and being great. He has the potential to be great, but the real greats have focus and the killer instinct.

[AlargeClaret]

What an incredibly exciting finish . A fair 2-2 series result all things said ,and much as I’m disappointed at Eng losing this test , 3-1 wouldn’t have truly reflected the 2 sides overall . A truly great series of cricket .

[Burnley1989]

Best series my backside , media hype

Im sure I read its the most runs scored in a series or something along those lines

[Quickenthetempo]

There was high hopes of Smith becoming an outright Test batsman but this morning has cast big doubts for me.
3 balls on the trot with 3 consecutive mistakes. You have to reset after a poor shot.

[Burnley1989]

Haven’t they stopped it in international cricket

Stopped it full stop I believe, pretty sure you cant even have one in the LL anymore

[dvalley69]

Best series my backside , media hype

Clearly not watched much of the whole series if you think that.

[Goalposts]

I think India actually edged the series as the away side and with the injuries they had - outstanding. A draw fair result ,

[Goalposts]

There was high hopes of Smith becoming an outright Test batsman but this morning has cast big doubts for me.
3 balls on the trot with 3 consecutive mistakes. You have to reset after a poor shot.

Scored big in earlier tests - but mentally today was just not at the races when the pressure was on - calls into question character for me his shot choice attempts where truly shocking and he continued without it dawning on him

[Quickenthetempo]

I'm critical of our new style of cricket, but I'm not sure any other era/England team would even try and chase 364 down.
Although Stokes wanting to chase them down is another debate.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

A fantastic series. Shame it was crammed into such a short space of time.

[Ric_C]

Brook, hero and villain. Hopefully he will learn from this that there is a difference between being good and being great. He has the potential to be great, but the real greats have focus and the killer instinct.

Weirdly I'm of the opinion that the two key dismissals were Duckett in the first innings and Brook in the second. Both happened when we are well on top. There is a difference between controlled aggression and stupidity. Duckett tried the paddle scoop a few times before and was nearly out. It's as though he was in a charity match and wanted to give someone else a go as he's got bored.

And Brook just let his adrenaline get away with him. Especially when we had an inexperienced tail and a batter down. Even Aggers on comms was saying "Don't do anything stupid Harry". We need to know when to grind teams into the dirt when well on top, as we all saw, when the boot is on the other foot, we fold like a pack of cards.

[claretonthecoast1882]

A fantastic series. Shame it was crammed into such a short space of time.

Can't have a test series getting in the way of The Hundred

[CoolClaret]

There was high hopes of Smith becoming an outright Test batsman but this morning has cast big doubts for me.
3 balls on the trot with 3 consecutive mistakes. You have to reset after a poor shot.

He was very shaky last night as well.

Thoroughly disappointed with that tbh, feel as though we threw it away.

Brook is a tremendously talented batter, but you'd never see Steve Waugh give away his wicket in that manner during a run chase. Frustrating - he is excellent but could become an all-timer if he just picked his moments a touch better.

[ClaretTony]

Stopped it full stop I believe, pretty sure you cant even have one in the LL anymore

I’ve seen a runner employed on tv this year. I’m not certain but I think it was Livingstone for Lancs.

[ab1882]

That bowling line-up getting 20 wickets (more if you count all the drops!) and 3 batters getting the majority of 367 in a fourth innings is some effort. Ultimately India the better side this Test but you could see the relief at the end.

[Bordeauxclaret]

As a series it’s been right up there with the Australia series twenty years ago.

Both teams will feel they’ve thrown the series away at various points.

[ecc]

I’ve seen a runner employed on tv this year. I’m not certain but I think it was Livingstone for Lancs.

Didn't realise that. Can't really see why.

[Milltown1882]

Best series since Ashes ‘05. Could make an argument that both sides deserved to win it so draw is probably fair all around.

A few years ago we’d have lost this game by 150/200.

[Darthlaw]

I’ve seen a runner employed on tv this year. I’m not certain but I think it was Livingstone for Lancs.

Livingstone definitely had a runner in the T20 this year, as I was there. Must be an international thing.

That said, I only think we'd have got another 4 runs, had Woakes had a runner.

[quoonbeatz]

Brilliant series and the right result. The 17th time that a 5 test series has had play on every day. Proper.

[SonofPog]

Well that was tense. Fair play to India, probably a fairer result for the series overall.

Personally I think Brook was silly how he got out. I understand without his 100 we would have been no where near, but there was plenty of time to get the runs.

England need to find a way to get their reserve players actually playing cricket. Its stupid expecting players that have had no time batting in months and then expect them to perform under that kind of pressure.

[ClaretTony]

Livingstone definitely had a runner in the T20 this year, as I was there. Must be an international thing.

That said, I only think we'd have got another 4 runs, had Woakes had a runner.

Thanks for that. I thought it was him.

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Thought the awful shot from Bethel was the changing point
The Indian team and crowd had given up when he and Root were together and the England crowd were cheering every milestone ie Partnerships important scores like 250 and 300
When Bethel went Siraj and his fellow bowlers were fired up , Indian crowd louder than English crowd and runs then became a struggle against some tremendous bowling
Root then went and a different ball game

The only good thing will hopefully be that Bethell will be miles away from selection for Australia

[TheFamilyCat]

Thought the awful shot from Bethel was the changing point
The Indian team and crowd had given up when he and Root were together and the England crowd were cheering every milestone ie Partnerships important scores like 250 and 300
When Bethel went Siraj and his fellow bowlers were fired up , Indian crowd louder than English crowd and runs then became a struggle against some tremendous bowling
Root then went and a different ball game

The only good thing will hopefully be that Bethell will be miles away from selection for Australia

I'd go back earlier to the Brook dismissal. Absolutely cruising at that point, 70-odd to win with 7 wickets in hand.

[RVclaret]

How does everyone think we’ll get on this winter, down under?

Melt within the pressure cooker that Australia brings, or take it on and actually win a test or two there, with the way we play?

[Bacchus]

Not sure I'd be writing Bethell off. He was thrown in at the deep end with very little cricket under his belt and struggled in this match resulting in the frustrated swing we saw in the second innings. He's clearly a talent though.

The moment it changed was when Brook decided he wanted to win the match T20 style. You don't want to knock that swagger out of him completely because it's what makes him the player that he is, but he certainly needs to learn when to rein it in a bit. His cockiness exposed a couple of relatively inexperienced players in Bethell and Smith and a tail missing one batter who had his arm in a sling and India were ruthless in exploiting that.

[DAVETHEVICAR]

No blame whatsoever on Brook
He had destroyed the Indian bowlers hitting fours and sixes all round the ground and so he is bound to be out attempting another big hit
If we want him to bat like Boycott then fair enough

[TheFamilyCat]

Not sure I'd be writing Bethell off. He was thrown in at the deep end with very little cricket under his belt and struggled in this match resulting in the frustrated swing we saw in the second innings. He's clearly a talent though.

The moment it changed was when Brook decided he wanted to win the match T20 style. You don't want to knock that swagger out of him completely because it's what makes him the player that he is, but he certainly needs to learn when to rein it in a bit. His cockiness exposed a couple of relatively inexperienced players in Bethell and Smith and a tail missing one batter who had his arm in a sling and India were ruthless in exploiting that.

The thing with Brook is, he was playing risk-free cricket in that afternoon session and still dominating the bowlers. There was no need to change his approach. There’s a lot of times with this team when cruising in 5th gear is absolutely fine but they reach unnecessarily for 6th and often throw it away.

[ab1882]

How does everyone think we’ll get on this winter, down under?
Melt within the pressure cooker that Australia brings, or take it on and actually win a test or two there, with the way we play?

We've a chance as they're batting isn't great and their bowlers getting older but massively depends on the availability of Archer, Atkinson, Wood, Stokes plus bits from either Tongue, Carse, Potts, Hull and Bashir. They keep picking tall man Crawley for Aus so he has to come good. A lot has to go our way so probably 3-1 Aus.

[TheFamilyCat]

How does everyone think we’ll get on this winter, down under?

Melt within the pressure cooker that Australia brings, or take it on and actually win a test or two there, with the way we play?

We've got the batters to put us into strong positions but we've got to make it count when they do. We failed to do so in the first two tests in '23 and found ourselves chasing the series.

Two from Atkinson, Wood and Archer have to play every game. Al three together would be an absolute bonus.

And most importantly, Stokes needs to be fully fit.